Living in Reality

Introduction:

Thank you all for your invitation to be in services with you for a fourth straight year. This has become one of my favorite few days of the year. Your church and pastor always treats me so graciously and generously. Hopefully, in return, you have been taught the truth and challenged to evaluate your lives and thinking in light of God’s Word.

The first two years we looked at the Seven Churches of Asia from Revelation. Last year, we considered different reactions to Jesus from the early part of Luke. This year, I thought we might remain in Luke but look at the end of Jesus’ life.

For a few minutes, I want you to think with me about what biblical Christianity is. What does the Bible present?

It is not merely a matter of personal experience or feeling.

It is based in historical claims:

1 Corinthians 15:1-12.

Paul is very clear that if just one of these events did not happen, namely the resurrection, then our faith is in vain. There is no actual value to Christianity IF the resurrection did not occur. This is a truth claim, a claim about reality.

Conversely, if the resurrection occurred, then, it would also be the case that the Bible alone presents the truth to humanity.

Luke presents history, but as he does so, he also pursues additional themes.

Genuine faith.

Different rejections of Jesus.

Jesus as teacher:

What is God’s nature?

The historical disobedience and rebelliousness of the Jewish people (proven by their rejection of the prophets, and for Jesus’ generation, the Messiah).

God’s forthcoming judgment upon them for their rejection of Messiah, the Son of God.

Where we begin tonight, Pilate has sentenced Jesus’ to be crucified, and now, movement begins.

As is often the case in Luke, as Jesus moves from one place to another, he teaches.

We will see three things tonight:

A historical account, including some unexpected participants.

Jesus teaching and warning.

Human delusion and its consequences.

The need for proper Bible interpretation

Unexpected Participants

Simon of Cyrene:

Luke begins this section by breaking away from Pilate as the primary focus.

An unidentified “they” lead Jesus away.

We are left, on our own, to fill in the soldiers (and perhaps the mob).

They, briefly, remain the drivers/doers of action.

We know three things about Simon in addition to his name.

His hometown (Cyrene in North Africa, modern day Libya).

He was coming from a village, or even a field, so, most likely, he had not been in the city while everything else unfolded.

They forced him to carry Jesus’ cross behind him to the place of crucifixion.

The historical truth is in the consistency of the details.

All the Gospel writers mention this.

Mark makes it clear why (see Mk. 15:21).

Women:

At Jesus’ crucifixion, women play an important role.

They watch from a distance.

They watch where the body is hastily buried.

They attest to all three of the important phases: death, burial, and resurrection.

Here, Luke includes unnamed women who are part of the mob/crowd following Jesus’ along to the crucifixion.

They are treating Jesus’ imminent death like a funeral.

Notice the funerary terms look uses to capture what these women are doing as they follow Jesus.

Are the women correct? Is this a sorrowful situation?

Jesus Corrects Their Perspective:

To be fair, these women have no greater misunderstanding than the rest of Jesus’ generation.

Human beings are capable of misunderstanding their own times. This is part of our fallenness.

Jesus often raised the point that His own generation could not discern the “signs of the times.”

Jesus, most likely, commands them to “stop weeping for me.”

He then gives them an exception:

They should week for themselves.

Jesus is not the one to be sorrowed over here, they are.

He will explain the reason by quoting Hosea 10:8.

Other passages where similar warnings have been given:

Luke 13:34–35 NA28

Ἰερουσαλὴμ Ἰερουσαλήμ, ἡ ἀποκτείνουσα τοὺς προφήτας καὶ λιθοβολοῦσα τοὺς ἀπεσταλμένους πρὸς αὐτήν, ποσάκις ἠθέλησα ἐπισυνάξαι τὰ τέκνα σου ὃν τρόπον ὄρνις τὴν ἑαυτῆς νοσσιὰν ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας, καὶ οὐκ ἠθελήσατε. ἰδοὺ ἀφίεται ὑμῖν ὁ οἶκος ὑμῶν . λέγω [δὲ] ὑμῖν, οὐ μὴ ἴδητέ με ἕως [ἥξει ὅτε] εἴπητε· εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου.

Lk. 19:41-44.

Lk. 20:20-24.

Understanding Jesus’ exact meaning is difficult. Perhaps he has the Romans in mind. Jerusalem will face terrible destruction. Right now, conditions for injustice do not exist. God restrains them. But, what will they do, and how terribly will they act when God uses these same people to execute divine wrath on the city?

Introduction: Part 2

Our overall theme is that historical fact is essential to the Word of God.

Our faith is not self-validating.

It can only be true/sound/efficacious if it is based on actual events that really took place (1 Cor. 15).

We saw Jesus correct human confusion in the ladies who treated his death like a funeral.

They did not understand the situation.

Even while Jesus was fulfilling prophecy, his generation could not see the truth in front of them.

Jesus concluded with the statement in Lk. 23:31.

Understanding Jesus’ exact meaning is difficult. Perhaps he has the Romans in mind. Jerusalem will face terrible destruction. Right now, conditions for injustice do not exist. God restrains them. But, what will they do, and how terribly will they act when God uses these same people to execute divine wrath on the city?

We should be alarmed by the human capacity for evil.

Tonight, we will see it contrasted with the graciousness, faithfulness, self-control, and forgiveness of God.

The Full Setting:

Luke sets the scene for the events that take place before and during Jesus’ time on the cross.

He explains that two other criminals were lead to be executed.

He then puts everyone in place.

“Skull” is the location of the crucifixion in all four gospels.

The soldiers are in charge of events at that location.

We see the soldiers treating this occasion like any other.

It was customary for the soldiers in charge of the crucifixions to divide up the victim’s belongings for themselves.

Here they cast lots, draw straws, for Jesus’ clothing.

Psalm 22:19 is being fulfilled; the first part of that Psalm fulfilled during the events.

This is our first example of Jesus’ character on display:

He doesn’t threaten.

He doesn’t fight back.

He prays for the soldiers’ forgiveness because they are ignorant of what they are doing and to whom they are doing it.

Note there is no such similar prayer for his generation.

They knew what they were doing, and they reveled in it.

Four Sources of Insult:

Luke places the people there, but they stand watching/observing while three others move into action to ridicule Jesus.

Leaders #1:

Luke uses the verb from Psalm 22:7: “All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;” : πάντες οἱ θεωροῦντές με ἐξεμυκτήρισάν με, ἐλάλησαν ἐν χείλεσιν, ἐκίνησαν κεφαλήν

They raise doubt, which they already possess, that Jesus is the Messiah.

He can demonstrate if he is by saving himself like he saved others.

What an act of mockery!

Soldiers #2:

They too sport with Jesus in two ways:

Offering him a sedative.

Repeating what they have heard from the Jews and what they have learned from the day’s events.

The Sign #3:

In Luke’s Gospel, this customary sign is also a form of mocking Jesus.

Notice what this shares in common with the previous two.

One of the criminals #4:

Luke employs the word “blaspheme” here to refer to the act of verbal slander directed toward Jesus.

His insult also challenges Jesus’ as Messiah and challenges him not only to save himself but also the two criminals.

How does Jesus show he is the Messiah?

Would have preferred him to descend from the cross, or would you have preferred for him to remain.

By remaining on the cross, he shows he is the Messiah.

It isn’t the through the act of self-preservation that Jesus proves he is the Messiah. It is the through the act of selfless, obedient sacrifice in fulfillment of scripture.

Gracious, Forgiveness on Display:

One of the criminals has a change of heart.

The other synoptic gospels have both criminals blaspheming Jesus.

As he thinks things through in his final hours, one has a change of mind.

He censures his fellow criminal.

Does he not fear God, because he is the same predicament?

He admits the criminals justly deserve execution.

They are receiving worthy of the things they did.

Jesus, he acknowledges, did nothing “out of place.”

He asks Jesus to remember him “whenever you might enter your kingdom.”

What does that imply?

Jesus tells him that we will be with him in paradise, today.

God’s Nature vs. Human Nature:

Jesus does not lash out.

He does not threaten or slander in return.

He remains in control of himself.

He prays for forgiveness.

He assures the second criminal of salvation.

On the human side, we see:

Sin: insults, reveling in someone else’s humiliation.

Bad Bible interpretation: they fulfill Ps. 22 in ignorance.

Injustice.

Unbelief.

Introduction: Part 3:

We have seen in the women and in three of the four insults of Jesus a misunderstanding of God and the role of Messiah.

God cannot win. Every way he turns and acts, we sit in judgment of him concluding he is unjust.

We know our lives are filled with difficulty and tribulation. Often things don’t go as we planned, relationships fail, disasters happen, and diseases spread.

All of this we blame on God. We question why he would let things happen to us for, as the young lady said in quote, God’s role is to be supernatural protector from anything bad or unsavory.

But, if God were to assert his sovereignty and rule over us, we would complain that he is too brutish and oppressive, and he should let us have a say in our own lives. We want free will until others use theirs against us. Then God should have done more. If God enforces universal laws of righteousness, good, and evil, he’s gone too far. Eternal judgment, is too much. The prophet Habakkuk grappled with the same problems. He first complained to God that His law was being broken without retribution among his people. He questioned how long God would let that go on. In other words, God wasn’t doing enough. But, when God answered that he was bringing the Chaldeans against Judah, Habakkuk recoiled in horror insisting that God could not be just to use a people even more unrighteous than the people of Judah as their judgment.

This illustrates something. It isn’t that God hasn’t done anything. It’s that we have to learn to see, and even to grasp, what He has done.

1 Corinthians 15:1-3: A tripartite structure

Death

Burial

Resurrection

One of Luke’s goals seems to be to emphasize the supernatural evidences that accompanied the crucifixion of Jesus.

Jesus’ words and those supernatural aspects, especially the darkness, work together to cause the reactions to the death of Jesus by the centurion and the crowds passing by.

Three Attention Getting Events:

Unlike Mark, who provided a meticulous chronology, Luke only writes about time once.

When he does so, he consistent with Matthew and Mark.

During the three hour window, from noon to three in the afternoon, darkness came to be over the whole land.

Note how such prolonged darkness means it was a naturally occurring eclipse.

Divine judgment is indicated both to Jews and non-Jews.

God is calling attention to this event.

A second portent or supernatural event occurs, associated with Jesus’ crucifixion.

The vail of the temple, most likely the Holy of Holies vail, was divided in the middle.

The third thing that direct attention toward Jesus are his final words per Luke.

He quotes from Ps. 31:5.

What Jesus’ opponents taunted him with while he hung on the cross actually occurred under more difficult circumstances. Jesus triumphed over death after death.

The language in the quotation along with the Hebrew of Ps. 31:5 indicates this is a statement of trust.

Before Jesus dies, he quotes from Psalm 31:5. The Hebrew “commit,” in this case means to deposit or to entrust.

Jesus was trusting God with his spirit. No doubt we should take this as an expression of confidence by Jesus. He had no doubt that he would receive justice from the Father.

We probably should also understand in this a confident expression about the resurrection. Jesus did not die affrighted. He wasn’t hysterical. He didn’t declare man’s gross injustice. He exposed man’s injustice by expressing his assurance in the righteous judgment of God.

Three (for now) Witnesses to Jesus’ Death

The centurion in charge of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Having seen what happened, he glorified God and declared Jesus was righteous.

All the crowd who were around at the “spectacle.”

Having seen the things that occurred, showed outward signs of grieving over Jesus.

They left (it was over). Sadness is not the same as regret or repentance.

Those who knew Jesus and the women who followed him.