A WORD OF PROMISE (Second Word from the Cross)
#069 A WORD OF PROMISE (Second Word from the Cross)
Scripture Luke 23:39-43, NIV Orig. Date 3/18/62 (3/80)
Rewr. Dates 3/12/87
Passage: 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[a]”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Purpose: The second of a seven part series with an emphasis on the meaning of the crucifixion.
Keywords: Christ, Redeemer Easter Cross God, Word of
Timeline/Series: Words from the Cross
Introduction
It is interesting that the antagonism faced by Jesus was the antagonism of the religious. Oh, there was some of the other kind, but Jesus had been friend to sinners. He was on the cross now to die for sinners. He has taken His place between two thieves.
The religious leaders had been careful to create an atmosphere of suspicion relative to Jesus, and many of the people were afraid to look with openness at what He was doing.
Mark 15:31 “the chief priests . . .said . . . with the scribes ‘he saved others; himself he cannot save.’”
Luke 23:35 “. . .the rulers also scoffed at him.”
Matthew 27:41 “. . . the chief priests mocking him.”
Of these two men with whom Jesus is dying, one “railed” v39 blasphémeó —"to speak evil of.” The other “rebuked” v40 epitimaó—charged.
It was not by accident that Jesus came to die between these two. Two nameless souls, they, who were suddenly thrust into the gaze of eternity. All of Jesus life He had been the friend of sinners. He would not be separated from them in death.
Who they were, no one knows. Bandits perhaps, like those in Jesus’ story of the Samaritan. It has been put forth that they were associates of Barabbas. Insurrectionists, like him. He was the one released by Pilate (Matthew 27:15). The insurrectionist movement was begun to oppose Roman domination but it had degenerated into a habitat for thieves and criminals.
In this context, one suddenly faced up to himself, and then his accomplice. This man between them was also dying. But He was doing so courageously. There was even something regal about His bearing. He prayed for the soldiers “Father, forgive them.” For His antagonists among the leaders and on-lookers, “Father, forgive them.” He suddenly perceived Jesus to be, not an enemy, but a friend. It is that awakening that has brought untold millions to the awakening of faith over the centuries. He no longer saw a cross, but a throne; not thorns about His brow, but a crown; the blood he saw no longer meant death, but life.
I. In This Context, We Must Note First a Promise Defied. V39 “And one of these criminals blasphemed him saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself, and us.”
This man seems almost to believe. We know that Jesus could have done so. Could relieve them of this dying sting. But this man! Can he believe this of Jesus? Like so many, his first thought is of his fleshly body, not his eternal soul.
His anger at being here confuses the promise.
Anger is not of itself a bad thing.
James 1:19 “be slow to anger.”
Ephesians 4:26 “Be angry and sin not.”
Matthew 5:22 “Whoever is angry without cause.”
Anger, and the anguish it espouses, can be a good thing for the believer. Emily Brontë wrote in Remembrance—“Once drinking of that divinest anguish, how could I seek the empty world again?” Anguish, you see, can be an ally leading to honesty, and faith, and Christ. And not that only, it is the truest friend of repentance.
But this man’s anger and anguish turn to arrogance. He stands ready to sacrifice everything to his own self-interest. Proverbs 26:12, “Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him.”
Anguish, born of arrogance, will find no relief. Not unlike Oscar Wilde in his poem Ballad of Reading Gaol,
“The vilest deeds like poison weeds bloom well in prison air;
It is only what is good in man that wastes and withers there:
Pale anguish—anguish—keeps the heavy gate, the warder of despair.”
I Peter 5:5 “. . . All of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble.”
II. Notice Now a Promise Subscribed. V40 “But the other answered . . . 42 Jesus, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.”
Some who had approached Jesus, and some at the cross now, insisted on some sign of power. Just a sign, Jesus, and we will believe: Many in the world today, some in this room today.
But Jesus had spoken all that there is to say. “The only sign that you will be given is that of Jonas”: a sign of death, a sign of submergence and submission, a sign of dependence and selflessness. And too many of us, like too many of them, will have none of it.
“Give us something to help us remember Golgotha.” Give us proof or forget it. Write out a check for the bottom line.
Here was one man who needed no further sign. I remind you, it was not death that converted him. It was life, Jesus’ life. He saw through new eyes. In fact, he saw through no eyes at all, but through his heart. John 6:40, “This is the will of him that sent me, that everyone that seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life.” John 4:42 (Samaritans) “We have heard him ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”
He, here and forever, makes himself accountable to Christ. Have we done so? You and I? “Well, no,” you say, “But I am not a thief.” When you keep for yourself, what belongs to another, you are a thief. This has nothing to do with possessions. It has to do with us. We belong to another. But we selfishly, greedily withhold what He desires the most: ourselves, our friendship, or time and presence and growth.
III. There Is a Final Element to the Promise. It Is a Promise Supplied. V43 “And He said unto him, Truly I say to you that today you will be with me in paradise.” It was a promise of compassion. Without hesitation the promise is made for Jesus recognizes faith. He opens Himself to the hurting offender. The one who sincerely seeks will always find. He will find all that he wants and more.
But it is essential to see Himself as He is. If we would know Jesus, we would, as well, know our sin, our need. In that comprehension of self, Jesus stands the more revealed. Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour, and I will give you rest.”
As it was a promise of compassion, it was also a promise of comprehension. Jesus meant every word that He spoke. It was a promise of God’s blessing. He didn’t have much of that left. For us, it is a promise of life purpose.
It was a promise of forgiveness. Story of adoptive parents who used an old, tattered, dirty pair of shoes to remind the child from what he came as discipline. Our heavenly Father does not bring out the tattered memories of the past, but promises that through Jesus “our iniquities He will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34).
It was a promise of death-watch. Jesus has already told them to weep not for Him. He will next “commend” His spirit. He has spoken to the thief urging upon him this new life.
It was finally, then, a promise of salvation. Heaven is a place. It is immediately accessible. It is presided over by Christ. It is a place for sinners.
Conclusion
Thus, Jesus herein sets His final seal of satisfaction on what He had given His life to fulfill and declare: “This day thou shalt be with me.” It is not fantasy, but reality.
As declared by James S. Stewart, “The Life and Teaching of Jesus” (p. 170), “. . . that in a single moment from the dust heaps and cinder heaps of life any ruined, hopeless soul, bound in affliction and iron, may pass straight to the perfect release of forgiveness, and wear the white robes of a saint.”