Luke 23 27-43 2007
Last Sunday of the Church Year: Sunday of the Fulfillment (Proper 29), November 25, 2007
Text: Luke 23:27–43
“The Most Important Story”
Introduction: This is the Sunday of Fulfillment. What is fulfilled? This Sunday pushes our attention to the last things, the end of the story, and the Lord’s final say about the things of this world. We wait for Jesus’ promise to return in judgment to be fulfilled. On that Last Day, the resurrection of the dead will bring body and soul together and a new heaven and earth. Sin and Satan will be conquered forever. All things promised will be completely fulfilled in Jesus’ glorious return. However, the readings for today push us back to the cross, where Jesus fulfills the ancient prophecies of the Christ, the Chosen One. He delivers his people from darkness and into his kingdom, through the forgiveness of sins, because he is the firstborn from the dead (Epistle, Col 1:13–14, 18). Those in the book of remembrance, the book of life, are God’s treasured possession, for they feared the Lord, served him, and esteemed his name (Old Testament Reading, Mal 3:16–18).
We know the happy ending of the story: God’s promises are fulfilled on that day of final resurrection. One day, Jesus will come back. On the Last Day, everything will come to an end. Everything will begin anew again. One second we’re eating a meal or driving a car or at work, and the next instant we’ll see Jesus in all his glory. On Judgment Day, those who have believed in Jesus enter into the final glorious heavenly life forever.
We know the end of the story. But we know it is not over yet. We live on this fallen planet contaminated with rebellion from God, sin, and death. As Christians we are mocked by unbelievers. We are mocked by our constant fight with our sinful natures and we are mocked by death. Nothing has changed. Jesus was mocked too. The happy ending that He proclaimed was ridiculed. It is still ridiculed. What are the mocking messages that we hear? “How can you believe Jesus is coming back? It’s been so long. Perhaps he’s forgotten about you. Perhaps He’s missing in action. This life is all there is, and you make the most of your life now because that’s all there is.” Why do you waste your time with all that church stuff?
What is worse though is that death makes even a greater mockery of our faith. Our bodies stop breathing; our hearts stop beating. Death mocks us: “I’m it. I’m all you have to look forward to. I’ll swallow you up and take you away from everything you love and want and hope for. Jesus can’t do anything about it. I will claim every one of you sooner or later. Believe it, not that Jesus stuff.” Even the strongest Christians struggle with death’s mockery, and the grave’s ridicule. There was a woman named Joy. Joy was sixty-one, and she had battled cancer for almost eighteen months. A dedicated Christian, Joy openly shared her faith in Jesus with anyone who came to her home. But now the cancer had taken away her strength, and it was just three days before her death. She was sleeping most of the time, barely conscious. Her family told her it was okay to go to be with Jesus, that she didn’t need to fight for every breath. She woke up ever so briefly and whispered two words, “I’m scared.” She was scared even though she believed. Her personal testimony was all about Jesus and his strength and peace. But near the end, death’s ugly voice caught her ear and mocked her faith (Lk 23:39).
Jesus was mocked. He was mocked by unbelievers. He was mocked by the religious establishment. He was mocked by gawking soldiers. He was mocked by the criminals that were crucified on each side of Him.
Then there is a sudden reversal in the story. One of the criminals turned to Jesus in faith. The criminal deserving of the sentence of death receives eternal life instead, and because of Jesus death on the cross so do we. The criminal is broken and asks for Jesus to remember him. As for the criminals, both revile Jesus at first (see Mt 27:44). In Luke, just the one speaks against Jesus, and you can hear the contempt in his voice. He is defiant, angry, and sarcastic as he joins in with the mocking. But the second criminal is broken and beaten. He sees himself as the lost and condemned man he truly is. Honest admission of his guilt leaves him with only one hope. He turns to Jesus and sees more than a dying man, more than the blood and agony. Others see a failed and fallen messiah, but he sees the Messiah the Son of God, his Savior. How difficult it had to be. His eyes look at Jesus in moments of complete humiliation and utter torment. But in an act of faith, he places himself into the outstretched arms of Jesus Christ. He sees Jesus as innocent, as the One who can save him. He confesses Jesus as the King, someone who has a kingdom he wants to live in. He receives more than he could imagine—paradise. Jesus answers the criminal’s request, giving him paradise. Jesus speaks, “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (v 43). The criminal’s happy ending is assured. The mockery can’t take Jesus’ words away. Death is swallowed up in this gift of paradise. On the cross, the criminal sees that this is the King of the Jews” (v 38), and believes. The One who doesn’t save himself saves others by his death. It’s not that Jesus couldn’t save himself as the mockers claimed, but that he wouldn’t. He needed to take our punishment on the cross, so that on the Last Day we would be judged innocent, free to enter into his presence with body and soul joined together forever. Jesus is the King who saves us because he did not save himself.
Even though our Lord was mocked by suffering and death even their mocking voices are silenced. Three days later, the women who had watched him die are the first ones to see him mock death. The grave is empty. It could not hold Jesus. He destroys the power of death. HE destroys the power of death over us. Death is swallowed up in victory, and because his body rose from the dead, so will ours on the Last Day. The Son of God silences those who make fun of him. Their mockery will die away and never be heard again. Jesus lives, and his words will never fade away. So we look forward to that day of fulfillment when He silences all mockery with our final resurrection from the dead.
A wise prayer for every day is “Lord, remember me in your kingdom” (see v 42). Jesus answers our prayer the same way he did the criminal’s prayer. At the baptismal font we hear these words of promise: “I baptize you. . . . We receive you in Jesus’ name as our brother(s)/sister(s) in Christ”. These are words of promise, of paradise given, and of the final resurrection to come.
At the beginning of the service today you admited, just like the criminal, that you are broken and helpless. In your helplessness you confess that you need to be saved. “I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You”. Then come words of promise, of paradise given, of the final resurrection to come. Your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
At the altar: You kneel and take a small wafer and a sip of wine. “Take, eat; this is the true body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, given into death for your sins”. These are words of promise, of paradise given, of the final resurrection to come and an end of all mocking voices.
Two days after Joy’s death, the church was filled for the visitation. As people signed the guest register, they saw a one-page personal testimony from Joy. The final words she wanted others to hear from her were about Jesus and his promises. In that testimony, she highlighted a verse from Romans 10, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (10:9). Then she wrote out her favorite Bible verse, Is 26:3–4, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” Her last words on that testimony were, “It will give me great joy to know I can see many of you in heaven, as we walk the golden streets together.”
Now Joy is in paradise with the criminal and everyone else who has died in the Lord. They are waiting just as we are for the final chapter of story to be written. One day Jesus will return. Souls in paradise will be rejoined with their bodies. Those who believe will stand before Jesus in perfect peace and joy. And we will enter into his kingdom forever and fully.
Conclusion: We know the end of the story, and until then, we keep praying just as the criminal did, “Lord, remember me.” He promises paradise, then a final resurrection and an eternal kingdom with him, with Jesus, with our King. If God promises, He will faithfully keep His promise. Amen.
Rev. Glenn A. Nielsen, STM, MA, PhD, director of vicarage and professor of practical theology, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri