Sunday of the Fulfillment 2007 (Series C)
“Our Hope is Christ the Crucified King”
Luke 23:27-43
“He saved others; let him save himself, if He is the Christ of God, his Chosen One [Luke 23:35]
The Scriptures declare that, “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” [Galatians 4-5]. Jesus knew what the outcome would be when He set His face toward Jerusalem. He knew the city’s history, “one that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it” [Matthew 23:37]. He knew that there in the midst of blood thirsty cries of “crucify him” He would pick up His destiny, His cross and suffer and die and in so doing usher in a new creation of redeemed saints. Yet He also knew the carnal expectations of the people of Israel. He knew that they were dreaming of an earthly king, a greater David, a warrior with a flashing sword, who would cut down their foes, and force kings to bring them tribute of gleaming gold and sliver coins. They were looking for a king who would change their slavery into mastery, and their present taskmasters into slaves. And so when the roman guards nailed His naked and scourged body to a cross and hoisted Him up for all to see, this pitiful man alongside two notorious criminals, they could not help but scoff at His words of being the promised Messiah, the “I AM,” “the Son of God.” They could not help but shout, “he saved others; let him save himself, if He is the Christ of God, His Chosen One” and “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself” [Luke 23:35,37].
Oddly enough, these accusations are true, just not in sense the speakers intended. Certainly that faithful band who had been with Jesus from His humble beginnings lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes, to His throne, the tree of life, where He would make all things new, had believed, had so entered the Kingdom of God through child-like faith. So also you, in the continual hearing of the Gospel, know the story of Jesus. You know that as shepherds were watching their flock by night an angel of the Lord came to them proclaiming, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” [Luke 2:11]. You know that from the beginning, Jesus has been both Savior and Christ. You know that Jesus, in His baptism was confirmed as the Father’s anointed Son and was anointed with the Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ. You know that He was born and baptized into the divinely planned role that included rejection, humiliation, and death. You know that throughout His life He saved others by releasing them from bondage to demons, sickness, leprosy, sin, and even death. Now you see Him in all His glory, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Savior of the nations as He is baptized into death for the life of the world. For you see, Jesus is no where more “the King” than when He mounts His cross to fulfill His work of saving mankind. For this He came into the world.
When Jesus came into the world, born of Mary and crucified under Pontius Pilate, this was to be the crucial moment upon which all people would be judge. The stage has now been set in the vision of the cross and in the preaching of Christ crucified. The lines have been drawn. There is no middle ground. There are no gray areas. You are either in or you are out. The day of salvation has come in Christ and His cross is both judgment and salvation. The day of fulfillment is here and Christ has come as Judge and Savior to reap His harvest, a harvest that is separated as far as the east is to the west. The sheep will scatter from the goats and the children of the light are not found in the midst of those who desire darkness. The holy ones, the elect ones, are now blessed with the holy things, Baptism and Supper, as they worship in Spirit and in Truth the Lamb who was slain. While the unholy stand outside the gates of the city of God, crying Lord, Lord. This sharp separation between believers and unbelievers is illustrated for us by the two evildoers who die alongside Jesus.
It had been prophesized that Jesus, the Suffering Servant, would be “numbered with the transgressors” [Isaiah 53:12; Luke 22:37], and thus two criminals were crucified with Him, men who were murderous robbers. Yet the two evildoers would respond to Jesus as the King who suffers for His people in two utterly different ways. Though both could read Pilate’s inscription, “This is the King of the Jews” [Luke 23:38] and both watched Him as He suffered greatly, giving up His life, so that man, washed of his sin, might live forever with Him in His Paradise, their quickly approaching eternal destiny would be very different.
One thief, a mocker, rejected the divine plan. He rejected the King of all creation who humbles Himself to the point of death for the sake of His children, born from His breath and formed by His hand. This thief represents all those who reject Jesus, who mock the idea of a suffering Savior, of the reality of the cross which seen through the lens of human reason and wisdom is as St. Paul declares, “folly to those who are perishing” [1 Corinthians 1:18]. The other thief is the confessor, the penitent one who fears “Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” [Matthew 10:28] as he says steeped in the agony of being crucified for his sins, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds” [Luke 23:40-41]. This penitent thief knows the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” [Psalm 111:10] the wisdom that brings redemption out of sin, and life out of death. This penitent thief shows the proper response to Jesus’ absolving words, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” [Luke 23:34]. He sees in greater clarity than Mel Gibson the passion of the Christ and confesses by the Spirit of Jesus’ absolving words that this meek and Suffering One is indeed the Messiah long promised to the people of Israel and to all who are born of woman. From the brink of death and hell, this penitent sinner is the first to be converted by Jesus’ announcement that sin is forgiven by virtue of His cross.
What Jesus does for the penitent thief upon the cross, He does for you and for all who would believe. Here upon the cross, fitted with a crown of thorns, our King fulfills His destiny as the Savior of the Nations, He does exactly what His critics, His mockers call for—“Save yourself and us” [Luke 23:39]. For it is from the agony of the cross that Jesus delivers the promise of the Kingdom. Justly condemned sinners, you and me, are now “remembered” and “redeemed.” In His being lifted up for the life of the world He “delivers us from the domain of darkness and transfers us to kingdom of His beloved Son,” [Colossians 1:13]. On this great day of fulfillment our High Priest enters the holy of holies, and sprinkles His blood on the mercy seat for the cleansing of the sins of the world. But the cross of Jesus Christ, this divine mercy is the final act in this divine drama. Now, no more sprinkling of blood is needed upon the mercy seat. For in the fullness of time “God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” [Colossians 1:19-20]. Jesus, the crucified King, is the hope, the source of forgiveness for all—even the worst, the least, and the last.
And he said to him, “Truly I says to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” [Luke 23:43]. With these words Jesus engrafts us into Himself, into the Body of Christ, which He is the head. This is the promise which the penitent thief is given, a promise which bears fruit in time and will blossom forever in eternity. The Paradise of God is the gift of the King to His people, a gift that is received through the means of Holy Baptism as St. Paul writes, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” [Romans 6:5]. The certainty of such language cannot be underestimated. As it was with Mary and the penitent thief, so it is with you. The Lord was with Mary as the Word became incarnate in her womb. The Lord was with the penitent thief whose hope lay in the crucified King who brings in His body the Paradise of God. And the Lord is with you, no matter how old you are or how close to the grave you are, or what you have done, the Lord has forgiven it and you now rest securely in the Eden of new life.
You need not wait for this new life. You have peace now and by faith the new heavens and the new earth. The Crucified King promises that He will give to you the fruit of the tree of life, in the Paradise of God. In His life, death, and resurrection He shows Himself to be the awaited Messiah, the King of glory who will open the gates of paradise, remove by His death the sword which has threatened us from the beginning of our transgression and give to us, His saints, all that which was lost and more. And so to be in paradise is to be with Jesus. And to be with Jesus is to be in paradise.
Now From that tree of Jesus’ shame Flows life eternal
In His name; For all who trust and will believe,
Salvation’s living fruit receive. And of this fruit so pure
And sweet The Lord invites the world to eat,
To find within this cross of wood The tree of life with every good [v.4]
The Tree of Life/ [LSB 561]
In the Name of the Father and of the Son+ and of the Holy Spirit. Amen