Explosions of Grace
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning! Welcome to CHCC. If you are new here today or are visiting, we want to extend a friendly welcome. We have been making our way through Luke’s gospel for two years and now we come to the cross. We will not conclude the passage of Jesus’ crucifixion this morning, but rather His approach to the cross and will instead conclude the entirety of the cross next week.
While we have taken a couple of months to go through the past two chapters, the reality is that everything we’ve recently studied has happened very quickly—within 24 hours. From the last supper in the Upper Room, to Jesus’ prayer and arrest in the Garden, to His trial at the house of Caiphas, to his trial before Pilate, then Herod, then Pilate again.
And last week we concluded with Pilate giving in to the shouts of the crowd to crucify Jesus. Although PIlate has proclaimed Jesus innocent twice, the crowds go so far as to blackmail Pilate and he gives in. But what is more, the crowds also clamored for the release of Barabbas, and instead have Jesus take his place.
As we looked upon this passage we considered the reality that we are all like Barabbas. Now you may be no insurrectionist or murderer, but the reality is that we are all sinners. And the wages of sin is death. The cross that was meant for Barabbas became the cross that Jesus would die upon. And as we consider that, we come to understand that this whole moment of Jesus taking the place of Barabbas is a microcosm of the gospel. That it is here for us to truly consider the cost of our sin.
And so this morning, we will walk alongside Jesus as he trudges up the Via Dolorosa, cross beam upon His shoulders. We will come across a character that enters the scene for just a moment—a Simon of Cyrene—as he, too, will be an illustration for us as believers.
And we will continue to see the heart of Christ on display, even through unbearable agony, weariness, and brokenness—in fact, three explosions of grace will mark the pages of our passage this morning.
If you have your Bibles with you this morning, please turn with me to Luke’s gospel, chapter 23, as we begin in verse 26.
PRAY
SIMON OF CYRENE
SIMON OF CYRENE
And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.
As we approach this passage this morning, we would do well to not forget the mental, spiritual, and physical torture that Jesus has endured leading up to this moment. Jesus is now making His way to the place of His crucifixion under the weight of the cross beam—walking what is known today as the “Via Dolorosa” which translates to “The Sorrowful Way” or “The Road of Sorrows.”
But the night prior, Scripture reveals the weight of Jesus’ sorrow in the Garden.
And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”
The heaviness of Jesus’ sorrow and anxiety was so great that it tells us He sweat drops of blood—a medical condition known as hematidrosis. At His (illegal) religious trial at Caiphas’ house it tells us he was struck on the face a number of times by the temple guards.
When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”
Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him.
Then again under the political trial of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, Jesus was scourged.
So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
A scourging was done by a Roman instrument known as the flagellum. It was a whip that had tied on its end sharp pieces of bone and lead. Sometimes sharp glass and rock as well. It was a brutal torture device.
The Christian historian, Eusebius, who wrote in early 4th century, gives barbaric details to the effect of the flagellum. He writes of martyrs who “were torn by scourges down to deep seated veins and arteries, so that the hidden contents of the recesses of their bodies, their entrails and organs, were exposed to sight.”
I know it’s an awful visual, but I don’t want us to ever undermine the great cruelty of which Jesus received for you and me. And this was done, in part, as a fulfillment of prophecy.
As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
And finally, before Jesus would even take up the long walk of sorrows, the Roman soldiers, as a mocking gesture—although true!—would present Him as “The Coming King.” And in so doing, they pressed upon his brow a crown of thorns. His purple robe—which presented royalty, that was also a mocking gesture—was dripping with blood from these wounds.
And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.
The customs of the crucifixion were well known throughout the Roman Empire. The convicted prisoner would be paraded through a throng of people. He would be accompanied by four Roman soldiers. His own patibulum—or crossbeam—would be placed upon his shoulders. Some historical estimates of the cross beam would have it weighing roughly 100 pounds.
And so we can visualize Jesus, with all these previous injuries from the beatings, now carrying this crossbeam uphill approximately 2000 feet to Golgotha. Before Jesus, on a placard was written Jesus’ crime, as recorded in John 19.
Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
The route to the place of crucifixion was often the longest possible route and the street would be lined on each side with thousands of people, mocking, spitting, throwing things at the criminals. It was brutal in so many ways; physically, mentally, emotionally. And for Jesus, the ordeal also took on a brutality in a spiritual sense as well.
And while the Roman soldiers may have been used to such crucifixion events, there were some surprising explosions of grace they would experience that day—the likes of which they would never before or after experience again.
Now Jesus was no slouch. He was a carpenter, and likely in prime physical condition. He walked constantly, and was 33 years old. But this whole ordeal is another further example of His humanness alongside His deity. His prolonged agony and beatings has drained Him entirely of strength and energy. We see this as His crossbeam is given to another in the crowd to carry for Him.
The soldiers discerned that Jesus would not even make it to the cross if not for intervention. In fact, we will come to see that the soldiers were surprised at the quickness at which Jesus succumbed to His injuries on the cross; and so they call out one in the crowd to carry the cross of Jesus.
A man from the North African city of Cyrene is singled out and commanded to carry the cross.
And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.
The wording here—specifically “seized”—suggests that this was not voluntary. Interestingly, Jesus’ humiliation now becomes Simon’s humiliation. Now, it is important to note that every one of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) make a point to mention Simon taking the cross. Why?
First, let us think about the visual here. Simon hunched over carry the cross of Christ as he walks in Jesus’ footsteps. This is exactly what is required to be a disciple of Jesus!
Remember all the way back in chapter 9—four score and seven years ago—Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” And Peter replies, You are “the Christ of God.” And shortly thereafter Jesus tells His disciples what is required of those who would be His followers.
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
To the crowds a little while later He would share with them the same lesson.
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
It is as if these lessons were foreshadowing the visual of Simon of Cyrene bent double carrying the cross of Christ. As on pastor commented:
Jesus sovereignly created the symbol, even when he appeared most helpless. The image is sobering, because if we do not feel the weight of the cross, if there is no sacrifice, if there are no occasions of humiliation, we are not following Christ.
Secondly, while not confirmed in Scripture, most Biblical scholars agree that Simon became a follower shortly thereafter. All three Synoptic Gospels give the impression that Simon was both unknown and coerced into carrying the crossbeam.6 Yet Mark’s Gospel lists the name of Simon’s sons—“Alexander and Rufus”
And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
I do not believe Mark would have named the sons of Simon if there wasn’t intent. It would seem that the original audience of Mark’s gospel would have been familiar with Alexander and Rufus. This is the view of the great scholar, Raymond Brown, in his incredibly detailed study called The Death of the Messiah.
And this isn’t the only time we see Rufus in the New Testament! Mark’s account was written to the church in Rome. And in Romans 16, Paul mentions Rufus again.
Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.
By this understanding it is likely that not only did Simon become a believer, but his entire family as well. R. Kent Hughes point out:
What we have here is a huge surprise of sovereign grace during one of the most outwardly helpless moments of Christ’s life. Simon of Cyrene happened upon the gruesome parade at the precise moment of Christ’s extremity, was forced to carry the loathsome crossbeam, unwillingly saw every movement and heard every word of Jesus who staggered before him, observed the execution, and at some time during that day or the following days believed in Jesus Christ.
Here is the first explosion of grace in a sorrowful moment. We then come to see that as Simon follows behind Jesus, there is a group following behind Simon.
THE MOURNERS
THE MOURNERS
And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him.
These women here aren’t to be confused with the followers of Jesus. These were likely professional mourners; devoted women of Jerusalem; most probably women who often came out for these events of execution. I believe they were there with good intentions, even if they did not believe or understand the reality of who Jesus is.
But there loud cries and their outward expressions of mourning pave the way for Jesus to give a lament of sorts for the people of Jerusalem.
But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
I find this response to be incredibly beautiful and both shocking and not shocking at all. Here is Jesus on the verge of death. Gripped with exhaustion and agony, so much so He is unable to carry the crossbeam Himself. The cross just moments away. And even so, His thoughts go not to Himself but to His people. It is shocking in the sense that who could possibly think like this. But it’s not shocking because this is exactly who Jesus is as we have seen throughout our study of Luke’s gospel. The epitome of selflessness and grace.
But there is also a connection to the Old Testament here that is easy to miss. Raymond Brown helps us understand the Old Testament pattern Jesus follows here of addressing women as representatives of the nation of Israel. And the message is heavy: Don’t weep for me. Weep for yourselves. These words, as we will read, are followed by a terrifying prophecy and proverb.
THE PROPHECY
For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’
Jesus has alluded to this coming judgment on an earlier occasion as you may recall. In His triumphal entry into the city it tells us that Jesus pasued before Jerusalem and began to weep bitterly as He foresaw its coming destruction.
And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
And again, here as Jesus speaks to these wailers and mourners, he tells them that the future destruction will be so terrible that prior curses would be seen as blessings and the pain so terrible that they would see the crumbling of the mountains upon their heads a way to put them out of their misery. In Jesus’ time to be barren was seen as a curse and children were seen as a blessing.
But with the destruction of Jerusalem, people would begin to see it the other way around. Blessed are those who wouldn’t have to see their children through this horrific moment. What is more, the coming judgment was so unbearable that Jerusalem would cry out with Old Testament language of an unfaithful generation.
The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,
shall be destroyed.
Thorn and thistle shall grow up
on their altars,
and they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
and to the hills, “Fall on us.”
THE PROVERB
For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
New Testament scholar John Nolland explains this proverb well:
Trees do not naturally burn when they are green, but they are highly flammable when dry. Righteous (green) Jesus was not a natural object of disaster. But the sinful (dry) nation was. The how-much-more aspect of this proverb was terrible.
So what, ultimately, is the message Jesus is relaying here in this prophecy and proverb? First, the fact that Jesus relays this message to these devout women—and thus to devout Israel by extension—means that not everyone who would face this judgment deserved it. Not all of Israel was hostile to Christ.
Therefore Jesus left open the possibility that God, who was in the process of redeeming Simon’s heart, could also redeem the hearts of those who were lamenting what was being done to Jesus.
And this would be seen in some ways through the early church. Because as Jerusalem was surrounded and the temple subsequently burned to the ground in A.D. 70, many followers of Christ were spared due to prior persecution and being forced to flee the city.
This conversation between Jesus and the dedicated mourners on the Via Dolorosa is another explosion of grace. It should encourage every person throughout the ages and into present day to turn to Jesus for mercy and grace before His final judgment.
REMARKABLE FORGIVENESS
REMARKABLE FORGIVENESS
After passing along His prophetic words of grace, Jesus turns back to make His way along the Way of Sorrows to the final place of His crucifixion. And Luke, a man who gives perhaps the greatest detailed historical account ever in ancient history, wastes no words here.
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
The Skull—known as Golgotha—was aptly named for its appearance. SHOW IMAGE
Simon of Cyrene was finally able to drop the crossbeam to the ground. Jesus was then thrown upon it with spike driven through His wrists. The crossbeam was then lifted up—with Jesus hanging from it—by the four following Roman soldiers and fastened to a single standing post known as the crux simplex. Then Jesus’ feet were also nailed to this post as Jesus began His prayers through agonizing and clipped breaths, struggling upward for air and back down in exhaustion.
Beside Jesus are two convicted criminals; some theologians contend they were a part of Barabbas’ group—were placed to His right and left. The message was intentional—Jesus, front and center, was a criminal among criminals.
However, the intentional disgrace to Jesus also fulfilled Jesus’ prophecy the night prior in the Upper Room which Jesus took from Isaiah 53.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
I encourage you today to read Isaiah 53 in its entirety. You will quickly see that Jesus fulfilled every. single. word. of that passage. This entire moment is so heartbreaking and heavy. R. Kent Hughes encapsulates it beautifully. He writes:
The cosmic trauma had begun. There never had been such pain as physical and spiritual evil now came against Jesus in terrible conjunction. Body and soul recoiled. The initial shock of crucifixion had rendered him paralyzed and quivering. Physical disbelief screamed from severed nerves. And even greater spiritual horror closed in—he would soon become sin.
But in this painful and dark moment, another explosion of grace hits the scene!
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
First, we need to understand these words. The “them” in Jesus’ statement is meant solely for the Roman soldiers, who, in truth, did not understand what they were doing. As David Gooding remarks, “False sentiment must not lead us to extend the scope of the prayer beyond his intention.”
Secondly, Jesus did not forgive them here for their sins or sinful condition. Rather, the forgiveness is for a specific sin. Nevertheless, the amazing and beautiful reflex of Jesus’ crucified heart is to forgive. Amazing grace, indeed!
And I am giving spoilers here to future sections of our study through Luke, but I can’t help it! Because for one Roman soldier, Jesus’ prayer met Him.
Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!”
The crucifixion, for this soldier, was His first and powerful experience with amazing grace!
CONCLUSION
As Jesus made His way one agonizing footstep after another towards the cross, we are met by these flashes of beautiful brilliance; these explosions of grace. Luke’s gospel is all about revealing to the reader the power and authority of Christ. But in that, He also reveals time after time after time the love, selflessness, mercy, and graciousness of Jesus’ heart.
In this portion we read as Jesus walk to Way of Sorrow, we are given the image of what it means for us as believers to live for Christ through the portrait of Simon of Cyrene. The cross upon his shoulder, stooped over, shuffling his feet one after the other as he follows after Christ. Simon unwittingly modeled the posture of true discipleship. Beautiful grace!
And for us, I pray this image of grace would encourage us to follow after Christ.
The second explosion of grace marks the scene as Jesus turns to the mourners and tells them to mourn for themselves rather than for Him. Dripping blood upon the road, His face and body unrecognizable due to the torturous beatings, Jesus thinks not of Himself but of others. Jesus to the very end urged the people to repentance. Remarkable grace!
Then, as the the spike pierced His wrists and feet, exhausted Jesus used His strength to forgive those who drove the nails through His body, for they knew not what they were doing. Amazing grace!
Three explosive examples of grace here in Luke—from Simon, to the mourners, to the Roman soldiers. Jesus evangelized on His way to the cross and even from the cross! These moments are meant to capture our hearts and rend them to Christ. They are meant to grip our souls and bring them to repentance.
And here is the real beauty; these explosions of grace are meant for you! If you have not yet come to Him, He can and will save you. But you say, “My sin is too great! My past is too ugly!” No it’s not. No matter how deep your sin; no matter how dark your past, Jesus’ love and Jesus’ mercy and Jesus’ grace is greater, still.
If you have not yet done so, I would urge you to come to Jesus today. And if you do, you will live in eternal amazement and perpetual joy. You will come face to face with Amazing Grace!
PRAY
