You Can Suffer with Hope (Luke 23:26-56) (2)

Good morning! Turn in your Bible to Luke 23:26–56.

Today we’re looking at Luke’s account of Jesus’ death and the people surrounding the cross. And we’re talking about suffering with hope — when you’re overlooked, when you experience judgment, when you don’t get your way, and when all hope seems lost.

Let’s begin at v26.

Last week we saw Jesus on trial before Pilate and Herod. Now the scene shifts from the courtroom to the cross, and then from the cross to the tomb, and Luke highlights several characters we might overlook if we just focus on Jesus’ death.

Simon of Cyrene,

the women in the crowd,

the two criminals,

the religious leaders,

the soldiers,

Joseph of Arimathea.

Some mocked Jesus. Others mourned for him. Some stood close by; some watched from a distance. Some were just passing by.

The cross demands everyone's attention, it doesn’t matter if you want to look at the cross. It doesn’t matter if you try to ignore it. The cross is unavoidable.

But here’s the good news. The cross says you can suffer with hope. No matter what you’re going through. The cross intersects with all of our lives. Somehow, someway.

The first thing I want you to see is this...

1) You can suffer with hope even when you’re overlooked (v26–31, 49, 55–56).

First, notice Simon of Cyrene. He was just passing by when Roman soldiers seized him to carry Jesus’ cross. It was a thankless job. Simon wasn’t important to them — just someone who could lift a heavy beam. Yet God wove him into the story of redemption. Luke remembered his name, and the early church remembered his family. In Romans 16, Simon’s son Rufus is one of the people Paul sent greetings to. We don’t know anything about Simon before this moment, but apparently this event changed his life and his family's future.

Then notice the women. They appear throughout the story — mourning, lamenting, following Jesus to the cross, and later preparing spices for His burial. While the male disciples fled, these women stayed. They had washed Jesus’ feet, anointed Him, served Him, and supported His ministry. In a world that overlooked them, He called out, “Daughters of Jerusalem.” Overlooked by the world but seen by Jesus.

We still live in a world that struggles to treat women rightly. But in the church, we should reflect Jesus — who treated every person as an image-bearer of God.

Women often remain faithful when men give up. You notice the disciples are nowhere to found in this story? Many of us can look back on seasons of life where everything fell apart — and it was faithful women who kept praying, kept serving, kept showing up.

God designed the world, the church, and the home to thrive when women are valued. It should not surprise us one bit to see the state of our world, dying churches, and broken homes when women are not cherished.

Jesus warned these women about the coming destruction of Jerusalem — a time when the vulnerable, especially women and children, would suffer most.

And it’s still true: where the gospel thrives, women and children thrive. Where the gospel is suppressed, they suffer.

Maybe you’ve lived in an environment where the gospel hasn’t thrived, and you’ve suffered for it. But that can change.

You can suffer with hope when you begin to see that Jesus sees you. You’re not overlooked by Him. When you didn’t get the job you hoped for. When you didn’t get accepted into that school. When you got turned down in a relationship.

2) You can suffer with hope even when you experience judgment (v32–33, 35–43).

Consider the two criminals crucified beside Jesus. Luke doesn’t tell us what they did, only that they deserved the death penalty. One mocked Jesus; the other repented.

The first criminal joined the religious leaders and soldiers in their insults: “He saved others; let him save himself!” “If you’re the king, save yourself!” “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

Everyone wanted salvation without the cross. That’s still the air we breathe — we want rescue without repentance, forgiveness without judgment. That’s the irony Luke wants us to see. We want salvation on our terms, under our conditions. And those conditions don’t require judgment and death.

The second criminal rebuked the first: “Don’t you fear God? We are punished justly… but this man has done nothing wrong.”

This man understood true justice and repented:

He owned his sin.

He accepted just punishment.

He defended the innocent.

Only then did he request, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Our culture hates the idea of judgment. Even in church, we sometimes drift toward cheap grace — grace without accountability, love without righteousness. That’s not grace. True grace is costly because to receive grace means someone took the blow for you. It requires death — Jesus’ death.

The repentant criminal fixed his eyes on Jesus. He didn’t deny his guilt; he entrusted himself to the One who could forgive him. Jesus responded, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

Pain doesn’t automatically make you stronger. It reveals what’s in your heart. For one criminal, suffering exposed deep seeded resentment. For the other, it revealed a heart of repentance and faith.

3) You can suffer with hope even when you don’t get your way (v50–54).

Look at Joseph of Arimathea. Luke calls him a “good and righteous man.” He was a member of the Sanhedrin, yet he disagreed with their plan to condemn Jesus. He believed Jesus was the Messiah. I imagine he fought hard to persuade the others — and he lost.

What do you do when you want something good and right, but you don’t get your way?

Joseph shows us: you do the next right thing.

He couldn’t stop the crucifixion. But when the moment came, he stepped in. He asked Pilate for Jesus’ body, wrapped it in linen, and placed it in a new tomb.

Most crucified victims were left on the cross for birds to pick the skin off the bone. Joseph refused to let that happen to his Lord. He did not fear being associated with the crucified Messiah.

Some of you are in situations where you want what is good and right for people you love, but you can’t control the outcome.

These are the moments when you have to trust God and be ready to step in as an agent of grace when the opportunity comes.

Joseph didn’t get his way — but he still acted faithfully. And God honored it.

4) You can suffer with hope even when all hope seems lost (v34, 44–48).

Finally, consider the cross itself. Before the resurrection, the cross was the most hopeless place imaginable. Yet Luke doesn’t portray Jesus as a helpless victim. He shows Jesus as a sovereign King.

We see it in His prayers.

In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me… yet not my will but yours be done.” He was preparing to drink the cup of God’s wrath — something He had never experienced.

But on the cross, Jesus kept praying. Even in the darkest moment - the sky was dark and “the sun failed” - in other words, creation itself was proclaiming, “this is the darkest day in world history!” Yet, Jesus prayed. When all hope seemed lost, Jesus prayed.

First, he prayed for the soldiers who crucified him, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they’re doing.”

And then, before taking his final breathe, he called out in a loud voice: “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.”

How do you suffer with hope when all hope seems lost?

You have to understand what Jesus knew. God was still good. He never gave into the lie that the Father abandoned Him. Despite the suffering, Jesus knew this was the only way to prove God’s love for the world. And he gave himself up willingly for our sake. The religious leaders didn’t kill Jesus. The soldiers didn’t kill Jesus. No, Jesus as the sovereign king, laid down His life for us.

And the result? Forgiveness and salvation.

Immediately following His death, the first prayer was answered. The centurion saw what happened and glorified God, saying, “This man really was righteous!”

Jesus’ death secured salvation for Simon, just a random guy walking down the street. For the women who remained faithful until the end. For the crucified rebel hanging beside Jesus. And even for a man who put Jesus on the cross.

We are about to take communion together as a church family. And this story is a perfect picture to what communion is. Each of these people were changed by the cross. No matter what they had done, they were forgiven. When you take the bread and the cup, remember what Christ’s death on the cross has done for you.

That’s how we suffer with hope, because in Christ, all hope is never lost.

Let’s pray.