7 EXPRESSIONS OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS

WELCOME

We will look at the progressive message of the cross as revealed in the final expressions of Christ on the cross.

THE FIRST EXPRESSION: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." Luke 23:34

OFFERS FORGIVENESS

Jesus of Nazareth is looking down from the cross just after he was crucified between two criminals. He sees the soldiers who have mocked, scourged, and tortured him, and who have just nailed him to the cross. He probably remembers those who have sentenced him - Caiaphas and the high priests of the Sanhedrin. Pilate realized it was out of envy that they handed him over - see (Matthew 27:18, Mark 15:10). Is he also thinking of his Apostles and companions who have deserted him, to Peter who has denied him three times, to the fickle crowd who only days before praised him on his entrance to Jerusalem, and then days later demanded his crucifixion? He knows all things; what was, what is, and what is to come, so He is also thinking of us, who will often daily forget him in our lives?

Right up to his final hours on earth, Jesus preaches forgiveness. He teaches forgiveness in the Lord's prayer: "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us" (Matthew 6:12). When asked by Peter, how many times should we forgive someone, Jesus answers seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21-22). He forgives the paralytic at Capernaum (Mark 2:3-12), the sinful woman who anointed him in the home of Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:37-48), and the adulteress caught in the act and about to be stoned (John 8:1-11). During the the Last Supper, Jesus tells them to drink of the cup: "Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:27-28). And even following his Resurrection, his first act is to commission his disciples to forgive: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:22-23).

THE SECOND EXPRESSION: "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." Luke 23:43

FORGIVENESS THROUGH REPENTANCE

Now it is not just the religious leaders or the soldiers that mock Jesus, but even one of the criminals, a downward progression of mockery. But the criminal on the right speaks up for Jesus, explaining the two criminals are receiving their just due, whereas "this man has done nothing wrong." Then, turning to Jesus, he asks, "Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom"

Luke 23:42 NLT

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

THE THIRD EXPRESSION: "Jesus said to his mother: "Woman, this is your son." Then he said to the disciple: "This is your mother." John 19:26-27

PROVISION FOR THIS LIFE AND THE NEXT

John 19:26–27 NLT

26 When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” 27 And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.

Jesus and Mary are together again, at the beginning of his ministry in Cana and now at the end of his public ministry at the foot of the Cross.

THE FOURTH EXPRESSION: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34

THE HORROR OF SIN AND SEPARATION

This was the only expression of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Both Gospels related that it was in the ninth hour, after 3 hours of darkness, that Jesus cried out this fourth word. But does this not have to happen? Does this not have to occur if Jesus is to save us? It is in defeat of his humanity that the Divine plan of His Father will be completed. It is by His death that we are redeemed.

1 Timothy 2:5–6 NLT

5 For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. 6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.

2 Corinthians 5:21 TPT

21 For God made the only one who did not know sin to become sin for us, so that we who did not know righteousness might become the righteousness of God through our union with him.

THE FIFTH EXPRESSION: “I thirst." John 19:28

HUMANITY REVEALED

The fifth word of Jesus is His only human expression of His physical suffering. Jesus is now in shock. The wounds inflicted upon him in the scourging, the crowning with thorns, losing blood on the three-hour walk through the city of Jerusalem on the Via Dolorosa to Golgotha, and the nailing upon the cross are now taking their toll.

Hebrews 4:15 LEB

15 For we do not have a high priest who is not able to sympathize with our weaknesses, but who has been tempted in all things in the same way, without sin.

THE SIXTH EXPRESSION: When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished;" and he bowed his head and handed over the spirit. John 19:30

HUMANITY OVERCOME

The agony was finished, the atonement was finished, the power sin, sickness, and disease were all finished.

1 Peter 3:18 TPT

18 Christ suffered and died for sins once and for all—the innocent for the guilty —to bring you near to God by his body being put to death and by being raised to life by the Spirit.

THE SEVENTH WORD: Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." Luke 23:46

Jesus was obedient to His Father to the end, and his final word before his death on the Cross was a prayer to His Father. Jesus left His earthly body, living on by His spirit to return to His Father. We will all live forever, all of us, good or evil. The question isn’t eternal life, but rather eternal destination.

John 3:16 NLT

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.