The Revealing Cross
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
If you were to ask people today what the cross means…
You would hear a lot of different answers.
Some will say that is some hokey religion.
Some would say:
it is a symbol of love
Others:
it is a tragic injustice
Some might say:
it is about sacrifice
And many would say:
“It just makes me feel something.”
And all of those things have some truth in them.
But here is the problem:
You can feel something about the cross…
and still not understand the cross.
The cross is not just meant to make us feel something, it is meant to show us something.
It shows us:
who we are
what we deserve
and who Jesus truly is
And that is what Luke wants us to see.
At the cross, God reveals the true condition of humanity, the righteousness of Christ, and the only way of salvation for those who respond in faith.
And that means the cross is not just something to observe.
It is something that confronts us.
The cross shows us our need for mercy and invites us to trust in Jesus as our only hope.
So as we walk through this passage together, here is what we are going to see:
The cross is not just something that happens to Jesus.
The cross reveals something about us.
I hope for us to leave here this morning not simply knowing the answer of what happened to Jesus, but asking ourselves the question
What am I doing with what has happened to Him.
25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will. 26 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. 27 And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. 28 But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 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!’ 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” 32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 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. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” 39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
I. The Cross Reveals Our Need for Mercy (Luke 23:26–31)
I. The Cross Reveals Our Need for Mercy (Luke 23:26–31)
We begin this morning not at the cross itself—but on the road to it.
Verse 25 ended saying that Pilate had delivered Jesus over to the will of the Chief Priests and religious leaders.
Yet, before the the first nail is driven, Luke helps us to see that the cross is not just something that happens to Jesus.
The cross is something that reveals the hearts of man.
As Jesus is led away, a crowd has gathered to bear witness to His execution.
Matthew and Mark tell us that Pilate ordered Jesus scourged before delivering him to be crucified.
This punishment was brutal.
It was physically as well as mentally draining.
Roman scourging involved two soldiers positioned on either side of the condemned, each wielding a whip with three leather straps roughly three feet in length.
The whips were fitted with lead weights that were dumbbell-shaped and inflicted deeper internal damage than sharper implements, even though they didn’t immediately strip away flesh.
The two soldiers alternated blows across the victim’s back, striking from right to left and back again, with the goal of inflicting maximum pain while keeping the condemned alive.
Jewish law allowed for no more than 39 lashes, but the Romans were not bound by this.
Some experts believe Jesus received up to 125 lashes.
His skin and muscles were ripped by the event, causing him to lose blood from the deep wounds.
Jesus’ face was cut and disfigured by lashes that wrapped around his head, leaving him in such a state that he could scarcely have been recognized, with the scourging exposing even his veins and arteries
Even before the actual crucifixion, Jesus’ physical condition was at least serious and possibly critical.
Many people did not even survive the beating that Jesus was given.
The combination of blood loss, dehydration, sleep deprivation, and psychological trauma left him in an extremely compromised state when he was led to Golgotha, which explains why we see here in Luke Simon of Cyrene being seized from the crowd to carry Jesus cross behind Him.
Cyrene was in North Africa.
Simon was likely a visitor in Jerusalem.
Possibly he was in town for Passover
His selection appears to be merely circumstantial.
Most likely he was the closest able bodied man that the soldiers saw when they realized Jesus could not bear the cross beam for himself.
We need to take a short rabbit trail here because God is not about coincidence.
God used Simon and used this moment in His life.
This is a moment that Luke very intentionally wants us to see.
Back in Luke chapter 9, Jesus fed the 5000, Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, Jesus foretold his death, and then taught his disciples
23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
Simon here, is literally taking up a cross and following Jesus.
What makes Simon’s story significant is how it transforms a moment of seeming chance into discipleship.
By bearing the cross, Simon becomes a model for Christian discipleship,
His following Jesus along the way while carrying the burden of God’s broken heart—a role that contrasts with Simon Peter, who feared to follow Jesus to the cross.
Though initially unknown, Simon became a Christian and follower of Christ.
Mark’s Gospel (15:21) identifies his sons Alexander and Rufus by name, and Mark would not have named them had he not come to know Simon, which greatly suggests Simon’s conversion.
Mark mentions the names of his two sons (who do not figure in the plot) because they were known to the first readers of this Gospel.
Paul also in Romans references “Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother” in Romans 16:13, if this is the same Rufus, it shows that Simon’s family became part of the church in Rome.
Also the names Simon, Rufus, and Alexander are Hebrew, Latin, and Greek names, respectively, and hint at the universality of the gospel, which will reach across cultures to the ends of the earth.
Simon is literally bearing Jesus cross, following Him, and becomes one of Jesus disciples.
Did Simon volunteer?
No.
He was compelled.
And that is often how people first come face to face with the cross.
Not by seeking it—but by being confronted with it.
People often come to the cross through
suffering
loss
conviction
truth they cannot ignore
But there is a deeper reality, Simon carries Jesus cross, but Jesus is carrying the sin and guilt of man.
And that is where the shift begins.
Because before the cross can save you—
it must show you:
You cannot carry what Jesus is carrying.
It is not just Jesus, Simon, and the soldiers on the way to the cross.
There is a crowd following as well.
Luke says a great multitude of people.
Within that crowd was a group of women who were mourning and lamenting for Him.
They are expressing real grief.
They do not understand all that is taking place.
They know only the injustice that has taken place.
This innocent man, probably their friend, has been beaten within an inch of His life.
But they do not yet comprehend why He is suffering.
Only Luke includes this interaction and that is not accidental.
Luke is very intentional remember, writing an orderly account that his readers will have certainty concerning the thing they have been taught about Jesus and salvation.
Jesus here, even in His destitute state, turns to these women to teach them.
On the way to the cross!
Jesus used the women’s sympathy to teach an important lesson: while they wept over one man’s death, he was looking ahead to the terrible destruction of the entire nation of Jerusalem, a judgment that was wholly justified.
Rather than accepting their compassion, Jesus told the women their pity was misplaced and they were shedding tears for the wrong person, redirecting their concern toward themselves and their children
The “Daughters of Jerusalem” represented the nation of Israel as a whole, so whatever Jesus said to them, he was really saying to the whole city.
His words functioned as both warning and call to repentance—urging the women to recognize the gravity of their nation’s rejection of him and to prepare for the consequences that would follow.
Through this Luke is showing us that you can feel something about Jesus and still miss the truth about Jesus.
There are many today who:
feel moved by Jesus
admire Jesus
are emotionally stirred by the cross
But still do not understand:
Why He had to go there.
They think they are still good enough.
Jesus is describing here Judgment So Severe It Changes Everything
People saying it is a blessing to not have children, who are a blessing from the Lord.
Desiring for the mountains to fall on them and the hills to cover them.
A natural disaster would be better than what is to come.
This is not exaggeration.
This is prophetic language of terror under judgment.
People will prefer death over facing what is coming.
Jesus’ words to the women of Jerusalem echo Hosea 10:8, where people call on rocks to cover them.
A passage that also appears in Revelation 6:15–17.
The connection reveals a pattern of divine judgment spanning Scripture.
In Hosea, the cry “Fall on us” and “Hide us” anticipates people’s reaction to divine judgment, specifically judgment that comes through foreign nations gathering against Israel.
By directing this prophecy to the daughters of Jerusalem, Jesus tells that that Jerusalem will be ravaged by the Romans.
The green tree/dry tree imagery reinforces this:
destruction at Roman hands becomes Jesus’s own fate, signaling that he stands as a healthy and faithful Israelite in contrast to the faithlessness he anticipates in the later generation.
Most naturally understood:
Green wood → Jesus (innocent, righteous)
Dry wood → the people (guilty, ready for judgment)
If this is what happens to the innocent Son of God
What will happen to those who are actually guilty?
As this extends forward to Revelation’s eschatology.
Jesus’ vision extends beyond the destruction of Jerusalem to point toward the judgment of the last day.
In Revelation, kings and powerful people hide in caves calling to mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb”.
In each case, people under judgment have a death wish for their own destruction.
What unites these three passages is not merely identical language but a theological trajectory:
those rejecting Christ through obstinate unbelief will find themselves preferring annihilation to existence, calling upon hills to crush them, but finding no escape.
This is sobering.
Because it reminds us:
The greatest danger is not suffering in this life.
The greatest danger is standing under God’s judgment without mercy.
Jesus stops and teaches that they are not seeing what is happening clearly.”
The cross reveals:
We misunderstand our greatest problem
We focus on visible suffering instead of spiritual reality
We stand in need—not of sympathy—but of mercy
Jesus wants to show that even on the path to the cross, our greatest need is not sympathy—but mercy.”
It is possible to:
feel emotional about Jesus
be moved by the cross
even admire His sacrifice
And still miss the point.
The cross is not first asking:
“Do you feel bad for Jesus?”
It is asking:
“Do you see your need for mercy?”
Because until you see that:
you will not run to Him
you will not trust Him
you will not be changed by Him
Once we see our need for mercy, a response is required.
II. The Cross Reveals Our Response to Jesus (Luke 23:32–43)
II. The Cross Reveals Our Response to Jesus (Luke 23:32–43)
Jesus was not alone on the path to the cross.
Luke tells us 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.
We have different terms for this that all mean the same thing.
The Skull is the Greek word kranion (we get cranium from this)
The Greek word translated into Latin is calvaria
Golgotha is the Aramaic term meaning skull.
Luke tells us that Jesus was placed between the two criminals, one to His right, the other to His left.
He is placed right in line with these other convicted criminals, counted among the guilty, treated as they were, yet He had done nothing wrong.
Right in the middle of all of this chaos and pain, Luke includes a prayer that Jesus offered.
34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
We must ask who is the them that Jesus is referring to here.
It is not the Jews that are present, they knew exactly what they were doing.
The immediate context is the detail of Roman soldiers that is carrying out the task of crucifixion.
And immediately after Jesus’ plea for forgiveness, the text states “they divided up his clothes.
Earlier in his ministry, Jesus had taught his disciples to “pray for those who persecute you,” and now, even hanging from the cross, Jesus is practicing what he preached
The soldiers executing him were operating under orders, performing their duty without comprehending the cosmic significance of what they were doing.
Jesus’ prayer for them—the very men driving nails through his flesh— provides the clearest example of his teaching on loving your enemies and establishes a pattern for his followers to forgive even those who commit the most inexcusable wrongs.
Jesus is praying and asking for mercy for these men, and they are not even paying attention at this point.
They are playing a game.
As Jesus hung upon the cross, the mocking continued.
The rulers called out - He saved others, let Him save Himself!
The soldiers repeated the phrase, if you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.
Luke says an inscription was placed over Him, This is the King of the Jews.
The sign was meant to be a joke, or a warning.
A way of saying, here is what happens to your kings.
Even one of the criminals who was being crucified alongside Jesus mocked him.
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
We can feel the desperation, anger, frustration.
He wants relief, not rescue form sin.
If you really are who you say you are Jesus, get us out of this.
That is still how many people come to Jesus.
They want Him to fix their situation, to make their lives easier, but not to deal with their hearts.
The second thief chimes in -
40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?
His attitude is different.
We are guilty.
We deserve this.
41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”
This man on the cross sees more clearly than anyone else around him.
He doesn’t make excuses, he doesn’t shift the blame, he doesn’t minimize his wrongdoing.
That is the posture that he comes to Jesus with.
42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
What does he see?
No crown
No throne
No victory
No followers
Only: suffering, weakness, death
And yet—
He believes:
“You are a King.”
“You have a kingdom.”
“This is not the end.”
This is faith when everything visible says:
“This cannot be true.”
This is saving faith.
Not: perfect understanding, full clear theology
But: Seeing enough of Jesus to entrust yourself to Him.
He is not asking Jesus - Get me off this cross, fix my situation.
Just - Remember me.
I have nothing to bring, nothing I can fix, nothing to offer.
What does Jesus say to this man?
Truly - with certainty. This is the Greek word Amen.
① strong affirmation of what is stated
I say to you, today
Not someday, not after proving yourself, not after earning it.
You will be with me in paradise.
Not in a random place, but with Jesus.
Restored to life and peace.
This man is saved:
with no works
no baptism
no opportunity to change his life
no future obedience
He is saved by faith alone, because he trusted in Christ.
These two men with the same sentence of death have two very different outcomes.
Not because one was better, not because one had more time, not because one had more knowledge.
One resisted, one surrendered.
Each of us listening to this story today it not simply an observer, but we can put ourselves in the place of one of these two men.
The cross is not asking:
“Do you understand everything?”
It is asking:
“Will you entrust yourself to Jesus?”
Some hear this and say:
“Prove more.”
“Do more.”
“Give me something else.”
Others say:
“Jesus… remember me.”
Alistair Begg tells a story about this moment that has stuck with me and many others.
He imagines what it would be like for that man—
that criminal—to arrive in heaven.
And the angels ask him:
“How did you get here?”
And he does not have an answer.
They ask him:
“Did you understand justification by faith?”
He says:
“I have no idea what that means.”
“Do you understand the doctrine of Scripture?”
“No.”
“Well then, on what basis are you here?”
And the man answers:
“The man on the middle cross said I could come.”
Let that sit.
That is it.
No résumé.
No record.
No explanation.
Just:
“He said I could come.”
That is what Luke is showing us.
That man had:
no time
no works
no opportunity to fix anything
And yet he had everything he needed.
Because he had:
Jesus.
That is grace.
Not:
earned
deserved
achieved
But given.
And that means:
If anyone is ever going to stand in the presence of God—
It will not be because they can say:
“Look what I did.”
It will be because they can say:
“Jesus said I could come.”
That is the gospel.
Not:
“I cleaned myself up”
“I figured it out”
“I earned my way”
But:
“He said I could come.”
And that means—
if anyone stands in the presence of God…
it will not be because of what they have done.
It will be because of what Jesus has done.
Now bring it directly to them:
And that means the question for you this morning is not:
Have you been around church?
Do you know the right answers?
Do you feel something about Jesus?
The question is:
Which man are you?
Are you the one who says:
“Fix my life… prove yourself… do it my way…”
Or are you the one who says:
“Jesus… remember me.”
Because that is where salvation begins.
Not in performance.
Not in improvement.
But in surrender.
And if you come to Him like that…
you will find that He still says:
“You can come.”
