The Unveiling
Good Friday • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?
41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon,
45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”
39
I want to take a moment to look at these two criminals.
Some folks like to stir the pot, even unto their dying breath they are going to talk junk.
In my line of work I spend some time looking at mugshots to see if any of my regular customers are locked up so that I know they are safe.
I have always found it interesting seeing the ones who are smiling real big and smug.
Then you have those who you can see their brokenness, their remorse.
The criminal insulting did more than just send hurls of insults the word used here is blasphēmein which is where we get our word blasphemy.
The Gospel according to Luke The Crucifixion: Jesus Completes His “Exodus” in Jerusalem (23:26–49)
Luke is interested not in his identity but in his insult, “Save yourself and us.” “Save yourself” recalls the disbelief that Jesus first encountered in Nazareth at his inaugural sermon, “Physician, heal yourself!” (
39 One of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us!”
I share this because this is a refection of the heart of man, until the Holy Spirit lifts the scales off of our eyes.
(The Man Born Shortsighted and legally blind had cataracts removed and now sees clearly)
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?
41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Just like the mugshots of the remorseful this man understands what he has done.
Our first step in salvation is to recognize our depravity, to recognize how messed up we are.
23 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,
Jesus is the only one that had done no wrong.
Now look closely at the next two verses
42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
43 Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
This guy did not go through the how to join the church 101 class,
He didn’t get baptized
He didn’t do good works, in fact he was a criminal
He did three things,
He recognized that he was a sinner
He believed that Jesus was who he said he was
He asked Jesus to be in His Kingdom
So many times we as the church try to complicate the most simple parts of the gospel message.
44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon,
45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
It was torn from top to bottom in Matthew’s account
51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from the top to the bottom. And the ground shook, and the rocks split apart.
This Veil was roughly 60 feet tall, and 4 inches thick. There’s accounts that it took 300 men to just move it.
When God makes a statement He does it in a way that no one can question with a sound mine the origins of it.
This was not just any veil, this was the veil that separated a wretched mankind from a Holy God.
This moment in history changed everything.
Before this we had to rely on another man to once a year take the blood of a lamb and sprinkle it onto the mercy seat inside the Holy of Holys.
Some may say that we need a mediator, a priest, a holy mother but what does the Word of God say?
5 There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
When that veil was torn we became able to go straight to the throne room of God Boldly as we can see in Hebrews 4:16.
46 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He gave up the spirit.
47 When the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God and said, “Certainly, this was a righteous Man.”
This is one thing that I wish Luke shared with the other two synoptic gospels Matt 27:54 and Mark 15:39. In the other two they quote the centurion as saying
“Truly this was the Son of God”
54 When the centurion and those with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they feared greatly and said, “Truly He was the Son of God!”
39 When the centurion who stood facing Him saw that He cried out and gave up the spirit, he said, “Truly, this Man was the Son of God.”
As a seasoned man of war, that centurion had seen a great deal of death.
Never before had he seen such a thing where someone was able to Cry out with a loud voice than then die.
Even in Hollywood we see images of someone fading off
Then on top of that to be able to command His Spirit into the Hands of the Father.
I can see that Centurion leaving that place, going home and taking his gear off, just in such shock about the day. and just sitting down to ponder.
My only take home question is this, Have you said yes to Jesus
as a reminder the criminal came to grips with three things…
He recognized that he was a sinner
He believed that Jesus was who he said he was
He asked Jesus to be in His Kingdom
Do you believe that Jesus is who he says he is?
Lets Pray
