“The Cross, The Thief, the Empty Tomb”

Series: “The Gospel Truth”

Text: Matt 27:32-44; Luke 23:39-43; John 20:1-18

Introduction: (What?)

The events of Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection must have seemed to last an eternity to those nearest to Him. In reality, the time span was very short. Once Jesus was nailed to the cross it seemed that everything happened in slow motion. He continued to minister to those around Him even on the cross. And then…glorious day! The tomb was empty and heaven was opened for all who believed.

Examination: (Why)

1. The Cross (Matt 27:32-44 )

“As they were going out, they found a Cyrenian man named Simon. They forced him to carry his cross. When they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of the Skull), they gave him wine mixed with gall to drink. But when he tasted it, he refused to drink it. After crucifying him, they divided his clothes by casting lots. Then they sat down and were guarding him there. Above his head they put up the charge against him in writing: This Is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Then two criminals were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” In the same way the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him and said, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He has put His trust in God; let God rescue Him now---if He wants Him! For He said, ‘I am God’s Son’.” In the same way even the criminals who were crucified with Him kept taunting Him.”

The “Via Dolorosa” (Way of Suffering) is the proposed route that Jesus took to Golgotha. It is about 2,000 feet, or just over half a mile. Jesus was bearing the crossbeam (pitabulum) which weighed about 125 lbs. After His extreme agony in Gethsemane, a sleepless night of being shuffled back and forth between Herod and Pilate, His beating by the soldiers, and His scourging, He was at the point of death. Once they reached Golgatha, His wrists were nailed to the crossbeam and then it, with Jesus hanging on it, was lifted to the top of the “stipe” which may have been a tree trunk, cut off at the top. Then His feet were crossed and a single spike was driven through them into the stipe. There He hung for six excruciating hours. During that time Jesus continued to minister. He prayed for the forgiveness of those who were carrying out the orders for His death. He gave salvation to a repentant thief, and He made arrangements for His mother to be cared for after He died.

2. The Thief (Luke 23:39-43)

“Then one of the criminals hanging there began to yell insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other answered, rebuking him: “Don’t you even fear God, since you are undergoing the same punishment? We are punished justly, because we’re getting back what we deserve for the things we did, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Only Luke mentions the dialogue between the repentant thief and Jesus. According to the other gospel accounts he had been deriding Jesus along with the other thief and the crowd at the foot of the cross. However, at some point he began to see that there was definitely something different about Jesus. Perhaps he had heard the stories about the Messiah. Bible scholar J.C. Ryrie wrote about this event.

“The first notable step in the thief's repentance was his concern about his companion's wickedness in reviling Christ. "Do you not fear God," he said, "seeing you are in the same condemnation."

The second step was a full acknowledgment of his own sin. "We indeed are just in condemnation. We receive the due reward of our deeds."

The third step was an open confession of Christ's innocence. "This man has done nothing amiss."

The fourth step was faith in Jesus Christ's power and will to save him. He turned to a crucified sufferer, and called Him "Lord," and declared his belief that He had a kingdom.

The fifth step was prayer. He cried to Jesus when he was hanging on the cross and asked Him - even then - to intercede for him.

The sixth and last step was humility. He begged to be "remembered" by our Lord. He mentions no great thing. Enough for him if he is remembered by Christ.

These six points should always be remembered in connection with the penitent thief. His time was very short for giving proof of his conversion. But it was time well spent. Few dying people have ever left behind them such good evidences as have been left by this man.”

Paul wrote in Romans 10:13 “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” The repentant thief did exactly that…He called on the name of the LORD…and he was saved. Today if you recognize that you are separated from God because of your sin and you call on His Name, surrendering your life to Him, you also can be assured of eternity with Jesus in Paradise.

3. The Empty Tomb (John 20:1-10)

“On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she went running to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said to them, “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him!” (the fact that she said “we” indicates that, as Luke mentioned, the women who had been in Jesus’s entourage were there, even though John only mentioned Mary Magdalene.) At that, Peter and the other disciple went out, heading for the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first. Stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then, following him, Simon Peter also came. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. The wrapping that had been on his head was not lying with the linen cloths but was folded up in a separate place by itself. The other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, then also went in, saw, and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying.”

Even though Jesus had spoken often of His resurrection, Mary Magdalene’s shock at seeing the open tomb seemed to block her memory of what He had said. She immediately thought that the Romans had moved Jesus’s body over night. She ran back to where the disciples were staying and breathlessly told Peter and John (the disciple whom Jesus loved) that she and the other women found the stone removed, the body gone and suspected that He had be moved. Peter and John ran to verify what she had seen. John takes care to report that he outran Peter, but did not enter the tomb first, he only peeked in and saw the burial cloths lying there. Bold Peter immediately entered the tomb and noticed that the “face cloth” which had been wrapped around Jesus’s head was folded up in a separate place from the linen wrappings that had been around His body. Evidently when the glorified body of Jesus just came out of the linen and then He removed the head wrapping and folded it neatly. This would negate any idea of “grave-robbing”. When Lazarus came out of the tomb, he was still wrapped with the grave clothes. Grave robbers, would not have taken the time to unwrap the body. In the first place, the body would be easier to move wrapped up. In the second place, the decomposing body would stink.

Even though Peter and John were convinced by what they saw that the body was gone, the also didn’t remember what Jesus had said about His resurrection; they just went home. However Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb, crying. John 20:11-18 “But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb. She saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’s body had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “Because they’ve taken away my Lord,” she told them, “and I don’t know where they’ve put him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus. “Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it that you’re seeking?” Supposing he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve put him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” Turning around, she said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”—which means “Teacher.” “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus told her, “since I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the LORD!’ And she told them what HE said to her.”

John McArthur suggests that perhaps the reason Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene was “to demonstrate grace by His personal, loving faithfulness to someone who formerly had a sordid past; but clearly also because she loved Him so dearly that she got to the tomb before anyone else.” She, along with the other women, had come to finish the preparation of Jesus’s body for burial by bringing more spices to anoint the body.

Application: (How should I respond to this message?)

The remains of a Buddha, Mohammed and other founders of various religious leaders are still in their burial places.

There is clear evidence that the tomb in which Jesus body lay was and is empty. In His book, “Evidence that Demands a Verdict” Josh McDowell wrote;

#1: The Roman Seal was Broken: The seal represented the full power and authority of the Roman empire. Anyone seeking to steal Jesus’ body would have been very aware that in doing so they were taking on Rome. Would Jesus’ disciples have dared to do so? No way! They were confused and afraid, and most were in hiding. Even Peter, who swore he’d be willing to die for Jesus, denied knowing Christ three times before the crucifixion!

#2: The Stone was Rolled Away: The first thing that impressed the people who approached the empty tomb that morning was the unusual position of the massive stone that has previously covered the tomb entrance. Not only had the heavy stone been rolled away, but it had been rolled up an incline. The Greek word for roll is kulio. In his Gospel, Mark added the preposition ana — which means “up or upward” — to the word to explain the position of the stone. So anakulio can mean “to roll something up a slope or an incline.”

In his Gospel, Luke used the same root word kulio, but added a different preposition, apo. Apo can mean, according to Greek lexicons, “a separation from” or “distance from.” Apokulio, then, means to roll one object from another so that it is “separated some distance from it.” John, in chapter 20 of his Gospel, used a different Greek verb, airo, which means to “pick something up and carry it away.” Bottom line: Jesus’s disciples, if they had found the courage to steal His body, wouldn’t have wasted the time or energy to move the stone so far away — particularly if they were also having to fight off the Roman soldiers.

#3: The Graveclothes Remained: Jesus was gone, but His graveclothes bore witness to His resurrection! If you recall from the last blog post, Jesus’s dead body was wrapped in linen cloth containing aromatic spices mixed with a gummy substance called myrrh. The myrrh would have adhered closely to Jesus’ body, making it almost impossible for anyone stealing Jesus’ body to remove the linen. As Reverend Michael Green says, “No grave robbers would have been able to enact so remarkable a thing. Nor would it have entered the robber’s head. He would have simply taken the body, graveclothes and all.” Indeed!

#4: Guards Paid to Keep Silent: The Jewish leaders immediately understood they had a problem. Not only could they not produce Jesus’ missing body, but they needed to quickly hush the live witnesses! So they bribed the soldiers with a good chunk of change, and promised them protection should Pilate seek to punish them for failing to guard the tomb. Obviously, the Jewish leaders must have inspected the tomb and realized that the guards were telling the truth. Why else would they cover for the guards and pay them money to spread the lie that they fell asleep?

#5: Christ Seen by Many. We know that Jesus appeared to the women, and His disciples, numerous times. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul writes: Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and He was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, He was seen by more than 500 of His followers at one time, most of whom are still alive. Says New Testament scholar C. H. Dodd, “There can hardly be any purpose in mentioning the fact that most of the five hundred are still alive, unless Paul is saying, in effect, ‘the witnesses are there to be questioned.”

The only question that remains to be answered is “What will you do with Jesus? Will you accept Him as the Risen LORD? Have you surrendered to Him?