A Message from the Cross

A message from the Cross.

For our message we are going to zero in on Luke 23:39-43

There are three men whose words are recorded, two criminals and the Son of God. Each of these men is in excruciating pain, they are all nailed to a cross for a total of three crosses. Each of them has been sentanced to death, and that sentance is crucifixion.

Its obvious to me the value of recording the words that Jesus spoke on the Cross. He is the Messiah. We know that he is the Son of God, I want tp hear what he has to day.

Why are the words of the criminals hanging beside Jesus recorded?

-What do their words mean for us?

-They are criminals, what value can they offer us?

These men, although sentanced to death, were fortunate to be in the presence of God at the end of their lives.

It was God’s design that Jesus should be crucified between two criminals

Both of these men had equal access to the Saviour of the World.

Both could read the sign above his head, “This is The King of the Jews”

Luke 23:39 HCSB

39 Then one of the criminals hanging there began to yell insults at Him: “Aren’t You the Messiah? Save Yourself and us!”

The word Messiah is one that all Jewish people were familiar with. Because they were all looking forward when God would send a messiah. The word means, “Anointed”, and it refers to the person chosen by God to save the people.

But the criminal on the cross has turned "Messiah” into an insult.

How could a Messiah, one anointed to save people, be on a cross, helpless and about to die?

Surely, if Jesus was the one chosen by God, he could come off of the cross. From that criminals perspective, it looked like Jesus was a helpless Messiah.

The Criminal wasn’t alone in his opinion. The Pharisees, who were the Jewish Religious Leaders, were also mocking Jesus. He had tried his best, but now they were the ones coming out on top. He was on a cross, they were watching him die as their plan worked to perfection.

The crowd of people were mocking Jesus. The sign above his head mocked them all. Rome was saying, “This is your King, and we’ve nailed him to a cross”.

What did that criminal yell?

Save Yourself and us!

Maybe inside of the insult is a hidden plea for imediate relief from his suffering. Save me from this cruel death. But is he convinced that Jesus has the power to save.

Luke 23:40 HCSB

40 But the other answered, rebuking him: “Don’t you even fear God, since you are undergoing the same punishment?

What makes this criminals rebuke even more interesting is what we learn from the perspective found in Matthew 27. There we see that both criminals are guilty of mocking, insulting, and essentially saying the same things to Jesus.

My logical conclusion, as we put these two passages side by side, is that something must have changed in the mind of the second criminal. Because he has gone from shouting insults, to a whole new level of understanding.

Luke 23:41 HCSB

41 We are punished justly, because we’re getting back what we deserve for the things we did, but this man has done nothing wrong.”

What do you think he was guilty of? What could he have done that would have meritted death by crucifixion?

The Roman punishment of crucifixion was as much a message to Israel as it was a punishment for the condmned. It was a horrible death that served as a fear tactic, and pointed the absolute power that Rome excercised over its subjects.

Crucifixion was for those who were rebelling against Rome. It was for those who were part of an insurrection, an uprising, an attempt to break away from Roman chains and rule.

What did the Roman Empire do to those who dared to push back?

Rome nailed them to a cross, and showed the world what happens to those who mess with Rome. It was a way of preventing riots and revolutions.

Do you think that the criminal on the cross was saying that he got what he deserved from Rome? It doesn’t sound like the words of a freedom fighter to me.

I think that instead, the Criminal is speaking of punishment from God.

We are getting back what we deserve for the things we did

He’s not wrong. Sin against God is serious. The punishment for sin is seperation from God which leaves you dead in every respect, spiritually, relationally and eventually physical death. (Romans 3:23)

Clearly, something has happened in this criminals mind where it makes sense to him. He’s gone from mocking, to defending Christ. He’s changed from hurling insults, to seeing that he is fully deserving of his punishment, if not from Rome, then from God.

But Jesus has done nothing wrong.

Jesus has not sinned against Rome, the human race or God. He is spotless. The criminals are getting what they justly deserve, Jesus has done nothing wrong. He is fullly righteous, in everything thing that he does, says and his hearts motivation is pure.

The first crimal asked to be saved from the cross. But the second criminal sees the eternal picture.

Luke 23:42 HCSB

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!”

There is no doubt that this criminal sees Jesus as the Messiah, God’s chosen one.

Maybe this man had seen Jesus teach before, and now on his cross, the words of Jesus made sense.

Maybe he had seen the miracles, and now he recognizes how they were signs of Jesus divinity.

Maybe he heard Jesus pray on the cross, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”, and he realized that Jesus was very very different from him.

But Surely, it was the Grace of God, it was the work of God, that this man was able to understand that Jesus is the Messiah, the one who has an eternal Kingdom, and that Kingdom is for everyone who recognizes Jesus as their King, even those who would cry out for salvation as they are hanging froma cross.

I’ll quote Timothy Keller here,

This second thief shows us you have to start to get more concerned about your soul than your skin.

Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

What’s more important? Being saved from the cross, or being saved for Eternity. His soul was more valuable than his skin.

Maybe that’s an easier distinction to make when you are hours away from death. There is a certain eternal perspective that comes to play in life’s final moments.

It can be nerve wracking, it can be moments of intense anguish, “When this body is gone, What will become of me, where will I be?

Luke 23:43 HCSB

43 And He said to him, “I assure you: Today you will be with Me in paradise.”

Let’s not forget the agony that Jesus was in on the cross. For most of us, compassion and mercy is not what we offer when we are in agony. Agony can draw out our selfish nature, it can make us think of only ourselves.

Jesus is agony, Jesus is being crushed by the weight of sin, as he suffers a sinners death as the sacrificial lamb. He is physically suffocating on a cross, with nails in his hands and feet, and thorns pressed into his skull. He is being mocked … and he is still willing, still wanting, to save even the worst of criminals who are crucified justly beside him.

Lets focus in on the first three words that Jesus says to that criminal.

I assure you

Assurance from Jesus is the real deal. If Jesus assures you of anything, you can be sure that he will carry forward his promise.

Whatever he is going to say next to this criminal, the criminal can be sure that Jesus will carry it through.

I assure you, Today you will be with Me in paradise.

Paradise, that’s where human history began?

The Garden of Eden was a paradise, and the word paradise is a Persian word for Garden.

Paradise takes on a much deeper meaning as the theme develops in the Bible.

Isaiah 51:3 makes a promise that there will be a sort of recreation, what has been broken because of sin can be redeemed, remade, reborn by God. This is the work of the Messiah.

Isaiah 51:3 HCSB

3 For the Lord will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places, and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.

Paradise offers a hope for the future.

Looking forward to eternity, Rev 2:7 says

Revelation 2:7 HCSB

7 “Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the victor the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in God’s paradise.

Jesus assures the criminal on the cross,

“Today you will be with me in paradise.”

There is something mysterious about the afterlife, because Jesus can say, “Today” to the criminal who is about to die. Its not at the end of time, its immediate.

There is another important aspect there as well. Because, on his cross, at that moment of confesion, the criminal began eternity with Christ.

He could die in peace, knowing that he had assurance from Jesus.

The criminal might have asked Jesus the question,

“You say that I can be with you in Paradise, How can that be?”

The answer is that even though the criminal was on the cross because of the work of Roman soldiers, Jesus was on his cross because of the sin of the world.

The criminal was suffering the physical pains of crucifixion.

Jesus was suffering those physical pains as well, but in addition to that we read in Isaiah 53:5 that ...

Isaiah 53:5 HCSB

5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds.

In essance. Jesus could answer the criminals question of how like this.

Because I am on the cross dying in your place before God, that is how you can be with me in paradise. I’m going through this right here for you, so that you can be with me forever.

And that message stays true for all of time.

Jesus has gone to the cross to pay the penalty for sin. Because of his sacrifice, we can be assured that we will spend an eternity in paradise with Jesus, IF, we do what that criminal did.

He acknowledged his sin.

We are punished justly

He believed that Jesus was the Messiah, Son of God and Saviour of the World

Jesus, Remember me when you come into your kingdom

and he recieved salvation for his soul from Christ.

“I assure you, Today you will be with me in paradise.”

The Pharisees mocked Jesus, they were taunting him from their position of victory. They had defeated him.

I’m sure that Satan did the same. He knew who Jesus was. To see Jesus die would have been Satan’s greatest moment.

But there is hope for us all.

Darkness has no defense for light. When the light shines, no amount of darkness can extinguish it. The world was never darker, than when the son of God died a sinners death.

The forces of evil must have celebrated. But they had no defense for God’s light.

This cross is the death blow to death. Jesus was dying so that we could live. He has saved our souls.

On Sunday, we are going to Celebrate that Jesus rose from the dead. Light has overcome darkness. On Easter, we are going to celebrate the ultimate symbol of hope, an empty tomb. Because the grave did not hold Jesus.

Why are the words of the criminals hanging beside Jesus recorded?

There is hope in their words. You could find the gospel in those words. And by the criminals testimony, we see that Even the worst of us, in the worst place in our lives, can have the assurance from Jesus Christ that we can be given eternal life.

God values you and me just as much as he valued those criminals.

Your words, and your life are important to God, and our sin is a serious offence to him, and it seperates us from him.

But that’s why we celebrate this crucifixion day with the title, “Good Friday”. We remember today that Jesus died in our place, taking on the punishment of God for sin, so that we could be made righteous in his sight.

Its not about God saving our own skin as much as it is about God saving our souls.

May you find your hope in Jesus today, and may we all follow the example of the repentant criminal who found a sure and a certain hope in Jesus Christ.