Introduction
A
number of years ago I had a customer, Susan (not her real name), who hired me
to do some remodeling in her home. She had gone through a divorce and got the
house as part of the divorce settlement. At first, she didn’t have the heart to
make changes to the house she and her husband bought together. After some time
had passed, she was ready to make some changes to her home to reflect more of
her personality—so she called me for help. It was quite a bit of work that took
me nearly six months to complete. During that time, we spent lots of time
talking and she shared many details about her life and her family with me. I
shared with her that I was a pastor and that I did carpentry work to pay for
the ministry expenses. Over the months, she had more and more questions about
God and I had many chances to share the message of Jesus Christ with her. She
told me that when she was a young girl, she went to church with her mom and dad
every Sunday but then something happened between her mom and the church they
were attending and her mom was deeply wounded by the incident and they stopped
going to church altogether and never talked about it at home. After a few
months, she told me that her mom and dad were moving to a retirement facility
near her because her mother, who was battling Alzheimer’s Disease, was getting
worse by the day and couldn’t be left alone. I thought I knew God’s plan with
respect to Susan, and maybe she was part of the plan, but God has His sights
set on another.
One
day, as I was finally coming to the end of the project, I walked in to Susan’s
home to find her sobbing on the floor. It took me a while to comfort her so
that she could tell what had happened. I thought perhaps her mother had passed
away during the night but instead, she was distraught because her mother wouldn’t die. Don’t get me wrong, it’s
not that she wanted her mother dead, she was just so tired of seeing her
suffer. Susan said something that has stuck in my head all these years. She
said, “I feel like mom has some unfinished business and she won’t let go until
it’s done.” I asked her what she thought it was and she told me that she
thought it had something to do with what happened so many years ago at church
and the subsequent abandonment of her faith. So she asked me; actually she begged
me, if I would be willing to visit her mother and pray for her. Of course I
told her that I would do whatever was needed. By this point it was afternoon
and I told her I would follow her to the retirement home. When we got to the
lobby of the facility where her mom and dad were living, Susan briefed me on
the condition of her mother so that I could be prepared. She hadn’t received
any food for at least a week and her eyes had been closed for the last few
weeks. For the last 2-3 days her mouth was constantly open. The doctors told
her that it was normal for someone in her extremely emaciated state. It was
likely that she couldn’t close her mouth at this point. When I walked in to
their apartment, her father was in the living room waiting for us. The mood was
somber and Susan didn’t want to waste any time so she led me into the bedroom
where her mother was lying in bed. I thought I was prepared for what I would
see but I had never seen a live human being in such an extremely emaciated
condition. Her mother was essentially a skeleton covered in a thin veneer of
skin. I found her just as Susan described her—eyes closed and mouth open. Her
father asked if I wanted a chair but I told them that I preferred to kneel next
to the bed, which I did. With Susan and her father standing behind me, I set my
Bible and a small vile of water on the nightstand next to the bed and I put my
hand on the mother’s exposed arm and spoke softly to her. I told her my name
and that I was there to pray with her. I told her that her husband and daughter
were also in the room with us. She just lay there quietly, barely breathing. I
reached for my Bible and opened it up to the gospel of John and began to read
to her. By the time I got to the end of the first chapter, I heard Susan gasp
and when I looked up from my Bible I was a bit shocked to see that her mother
had closed her mouth. Susan began to weep and I resumed my reading until I got
to John 3:16. At that point, I prayed for her salvation, baptized her and
prayed that God heard the words she wasn’t able to say. I have no idea what
happened right at that moment but I did what I could and left the rest to God.
Susan was still weeping and by this point so was her father. They both thanked
me and I showed myself out. I got a call from Susan about six hours later
telling me that her mother had died.
The cynic would
see this as mere coincidence but I choose to believe that God had a plan for
His child and dying while she was separated from Him was not part of that plan.
Throughout her life, she had countless chances to repent and turn back to God
but for whatever reason she continued to resist His call—until, perhaps, a few
hours before she died. I’ve been in awe that God allowed me to be part of the
events of that day. There was a profound lesson in it for me, one I already knew
from the biblical record, but I had never experienced it first-hand. I
prejudged why God brought Susan into my life. I thought it was because she
needed to hear the Gospel message—and she certainly did. But God had a more
urgent mission for me—an 80-pound, emaciated woman trying to find her way back
to God in time. Of all the lessons I learned on that day, the one that follows
me around whenever I share the gospel message with someone is that It’s Never Too Late to trust Jesus and
be reconciled to God.
Subject Text
Luke 23:32-43
32Two other men, both
criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33When they
came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the
criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34Jesus said,
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they
divided up his clothes by casting lots. 35The people stood watching,
and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save
himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” 36The soldiers
also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37and
said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” 38There was
a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the Jews. 39One
of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ?
Save yourself and us!” 40But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t
you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41We
are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man
has done nothing wrong.” 42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when
you come into your kingdom.” 43Jesus answered him, “I tell you the
truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Context
Jesus’
earthly ministry is coming to an end. He was wrongly accused of blasphemy by
the religious leaders at a sham trial where the line of questioning led Jesus
to announce to the religious leaders that He was the Son of God; that he was
equal with God. In the weeks leading up to Jesus’ arrest the religious leaders
had been looking for a way to get rid of Jesus as His popularity and influence among
the people began to grow. Jesus, riding into town on the back of a donkey to
the chants of “Hosanna to the Son of David” in the temple area, seemed to be
the last straw for the religious leaders. With thirty pieces of silver in hand,
the religious leaders easily found an accomplice in Judas who betrayed Jesus by
providing the religious leaders with the information that led to Jesus’ arrest.
Once Jesus was arrested and in custody, the wheels were set in motion for Jesus’
conviction for blasphemy because He claimed to be equal to God. The only
problem was that they couldn’t carry out the sentence. So they enlisted the
help of the Roman authority and turned Jesus over to Pontius Pilate to carry
out the sentence for them. The Romans, however, had no vested interest in the
matter and Pilate attempted to return Jesus to the religious leaders claiming
that it was a religious squabble and not the business of Rome. The religious
leaders had to think quickly. They weren’t going to let Jesus slip through
their fingers again. Knowing that Rome was intent on maintaining peace
throughout the various provinces (known as the Pax Romana—“Roman
Peace”), the religious leaders claimed that Jesus was inciting the people and
disrupting the peace. Afraid that Rome might think there was an uncheck
uprising in the Judean province, Pilate accepted the claims of the religious
leaders and sentenced Jesus to death but not before he allows the religious
leaders to put the last nail in their own coffins in God’s eyes.
The Jews, and
especially the religious leaders, hated Rome’s rule over them—but they hated
Jesus even more. Last week I told you about how the religious leaders tried to
trap Jesus with the question of paying taxes. I said that one of the possible
reasons the Jews hated paying taxes to Rome was because Caesar’s inscription
was on Rome’s currency and the Roman’s declared that Caesar was divine. I also
said that it was possible that they just didn’t want to part with their wealth.
Well the events Jesus’ sham trial, make me believe it was more the latter than
the former. When Pilate parades Jesus in front of the crowd calling for His
crucifixion, he asks them, “Shall I crucify your King?” To which the religious
leaders answer, “We have no king but Caesar!” How convenient! The religious
leaders adopted the ancient Arabic proverb, “The enemy of my enemy is my
friend,” when they needed Rome, who they hated, to do the dirty work of getting
rid of Jesus, who they hated even more. However, none of the events, no matter
how horrific, would stop God’s plan of reconciliation between the Creator and
His creation as we will come to find out when one final sinner reaches out to
Jesus for salvation as he was dying on a Roman cross right next to Jesus.
Text Analysis
32Two
other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33When
they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with
the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.
I also want you to note something
else from the text. Jesus is crucified at Golgotha,
which means “place of the Skull.” “The very name of which has gruesome
connotations. It may have received its identity on account of the shape of the
hill or rock spur on which crucifixions were held. It was the nature of this
form of Roman execution that it be held in a public place to ensure maximum
traffic and, therefore, maximum deterrent value for people subject to foreign
rule.”[2] Here
is another picture worth a million words. You have to go back to almost the
beginning of the Scriptures to find the possible metaphor. Let me try and set
it up for you. Who are the main players here at the cross? Think first before you
answer too quickly because they may not be who you first think. It’s not the
Romans or the religious leaders or the disciples or the crowd. It’s not Simon
the Cyrene who carries Jesus’ cross for Him nor is it really the two criminals.
You’re right if you said Jesus was one of the two primary players in the events
of the cross. Still not sure who the other one is? Let me give you the relevant
Scripture as the clue:
“So
the LORD God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, cursed are you
above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between
you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your
head, and you will strike his heel (Gen 3:14-15).’”
Do
you see how the prophecy is fulfilled at Jesus’ crucifixion? Although Jesus
dies on the cross (“strike his heal”), we know that death could not hold him
and Satan was, in fact, defeated (“crush your head”)—the Cross of Christ
crushes the Skull of Satan!
34Jesus
said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And
they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
Imagine
for a moment being betrayed by a friend, falsely accused, arrested, condemned
by the testimony of false witnesses, nearly beaten to death, and finally
sentenced to a death in the most gruesome, painful, and protracted way
possible. I know that some of you don’t have to imagine all of these elements
because you’re living some of them right now. I know that many of you have
experienced some degree of this and after some period of time you’ve been able
to forgive and maybe even seek reconciliation. But what was your attitude while
you were in the middle of it? Where was your heart and mind? Was your primary
goal one of self-preservation? Were you trying to figure out how you could
shift blame? Were you too frightened or grief stricken to think about anything?
Were you blind with rage and already devising a plan for retribution? Could
anyone really blame you for having any or all of these thoughts and emotions?
But that wasn’t Jesus’ way. Like pretty much everything Jesus does, we are just
left shaking our heads in amazement when Jesus asks the Father to forgive His
persecutors for their ignorance. And not only for their ignorance, but for
their insolence as well while they basically rolled dice at the foot of His
cross to see who won the honors of keeping the clothes He left behind. I don’t
think there is a clearer illustration of the difference between Jesus and the
rest of us—or maybe I should say it is the biggest difference between Jesus and
me. I think on my best day I could probably muster up the courage to be
ambivalent toward those who hurt me and I could probably build up the courage
to forgive them after some period of time had passed but I know myself well
enough to know that forgiveness probably wouldn’t be my first, let alone my
immediate, reaction to an offense. I’m working on that because that’s exactly
who Jesus was according to v. 34.
Jesus’ first and immediate reaction to the horrific events leading up to and
including His crucifixion was to pray for forgiveness for His persecutors.
Does
this tell us something that Jesus did or does it tell us something about who
Jesus is? The answer is that Jesus did it then and He does it now according to
Paul when he wrote that “Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised
to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us (Rom
8:34b).” Jesus was then and is now an outspoken advocate for the sinner. Jesus’
primary mission then and now is the same—the reconciliation between God and
humanity. “Despite the precedent of Old Testament prayers for vengeance, Jesus
prays that God will forgive his persecutors. Those who were executed were
supposed to say, ‘May my death atone for all my sins”; but Jesus confesses
instead the sin of those who falsely convicted him, who under Old Testament law
were liable for his penalty before God.”[3]
35The
people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved
others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” 36The
soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37and
said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. 38There was a
written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the Jews.”
Funny
how a mob gives people courage to do and say what they wouldn’t do or say by
themselves. Well the mob was fueled and ready to go with front row seats to
witness their devious handiwork play itself out. No doubt there were at least a
few people who were there who grieved the events, but Luke focuses our
attention in vv. 35-38 on those who
seemed at best ambivalent and at worst applauded the gruesome spectacle. The
“people” stood and watched. The religious “rulers” sneered at him. The Roman
“soldiers” mocked him. There’s something else that happens when there is a mob,
the minority, for the most part are silenced. Do you notice a group of people
who are largely absent during these events? That’s right the disciples! They
scattered when Jesus was first arrested and went into hiding and we won’t hear
from them for three days. I’m sure it wasn’t Luke’s intent but he manages to
illustrate how people seem to relate to Jesus. The “people” who are essentially
spectators—Believers when it benefited them and unbelievers when it became
inconvenient. The religious “rulers” who were hypocrites—Witnesses to the
presence of God while blind to His presence. The Roman “soldiers” who were
selfish and self-centered—Unbelievers with no room for belief in God because
life is either about making it or taking it for yourself. Only the weak look to
God for help. The “disciples” are a work-in-progress—Believers who don’t always
know what it means to be a faithful “follower” of Jesus Christ.
None
of those present understood Jesus’ mission. They mocked Jesus’ seeming
inability to “save Himself.” The religious leaders could never accept that the
Christ; the Chosen One of God would allow Himself to be put to death. They
constructed a theology of God and Jesus didn’t fit that construct. The Romans
simply thought it was a joke that some homeless Jew would consider Himself to
the divine Son of God. They demonstrated their mockery by taunting Him to “save
Himself” and offering Him vinegar to drink. The final insult was put in writing
on a plaque the read, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS” and placed on the cross over
His head. The irony that this picture paints is so thick you could cut it with
a knife. Jesus’ mission was never to “save Himself,” it was to be the sacrifice
that would save others and that salvation couldn’t be accomplished by anyone
other than the divine KING as the sign above His head correctly labeled Him.
“Pilate had authorized a placard to be placed above Jesus’ head to describe his
crime. Jesus’ crime was claiming to be king of the Jews. Again, this had both a
religious and a political dimension. This mocking placard, however, proclaimed
eternal truth for those who would listen. Jesus is truly the king of the Jews,
the promised Messiah, and as such is the only hope for the world. Those who
would be part of an eternal kingdom must believe on him as their king.”[4]
39One
of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ?
Save yourself and us!” 40But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t
you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41We
are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man
has done nothing wrong.”
Luke
now turns our attention back to the two criminals in vv. 39-41. Lost in the indifference of the people, the arrogance of
the religious leaders and the insolence of the Roman soldiers, are the two
criminals sentenced to be crucified alongside Jesus. We now come face-to-face
with both of them. The text doesn’t tell us what they were convicted of but the
Greek word that translates as “criminal” is an accurate translation but can
also be translated as “good-for-nothing’s” or “evildoers.” “Good-for-nothing”
is a painful reminder to me because it’s one of the things my dad used to call
me whenever I made a mistake. I wasn’t a criminal but I wasn’t valuable in his
eyes either. The two men who were crucified with Jesus were “criminals” and
probably even “evildoers.” But who determines their value? The screaming majority?
The governing authorities? The religious leaders? None of those! They may be
rejected by the majority. They may be sentenced as criminals by the governing
authorities. They may be condemned as evildoers by the religious leaders. But
humanity’s true value can only be determined by God!
The
dichotomy of humanity’s relationship to God is on full display in the two
criminals. One is defiant and presumes upon Jesus to save Himself and to save
them. He joins the religious leaders and the soldiers in mocking Jesus. Keep in
mind that at this point all three have been nailed to their respective crosses
yet this one criminal is still defiant. The other criminal, however, displays
the complete opposite attitude. Unlike the defiant criminal, he knows that he
has reached the end of the line. There’s no use pretending; no use lying to
himself or anyone else; no use putting up a defense. He knows that they are
guilty of the charges against them and that Jesus is innocent of the charges
against Him. He knows that they deserve what’s coming to them but Jesus doesn’t
deserve what’s coming to Him. One relates to Jesus with a heart of defiance and
the other relates to Jesus with a heart of surrender. One seeks to be rescued
from his earthly death sentence while the other seeks to be rescued from his
eternal death sentence. I recently told a friend that people react in one of
two ways when they are confronted by Jesus (in our case, the “Jesus” that
people see in us)—they either turn toward Him and are transformed by His saving
grace or they turn away from Him and instead embrace the sin that entangles them.
“The
irony of this situation is not lost on the second criminal, who rebukes the
first just as Jesus had rebuked the evil spirits (e.g., [Lk] 4:35, 41). The
mistake of the first is threefold: (1) Rather than fearing God, he maligns
God’s instrument of salvation. (2) He assumes Jesus is guilty when, in fact, he
is innocent. (3) In his sarcasm, he fails to recognize that this Suffering
Righteous One will be delivered not from but through death, and that he will
continue to exercise his role as Savior. What is more, in admitting his own
guilt, the second criminal distances himself from Jesus (as had Peter in [Lk]
5:8 [when he said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”]), thus
presenting himself, according to the Lukan calculus, as a candidate for divine
beneficence.”[5]
42Then
he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43Jesus
answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Think
about the monumental events taking place on this day within both the earthly
and the spiritual realm of creation. There is a war taking place between the
“have’s” and the “have not’s” in the earthly realm and between “good” and
“evil” in the spiritual realm. However, all this appears to be pushed to the
background leaving Jesus and the repentant criminal on center stage in vv. 42-43. Those who spent virtually
every day with Jesus for the tree years before this day saw in Jesus’
crucifixion the end of a hoped-for earthly kingdom. But this lone criminal saw
in Jesus the hope for the coming eternal Kingdom. Jesus’ mission was the same
from the beginning of His ministry to the end—to seek and save that which was
lost (Lk 19:10). Jesus’ heart wasn’t filled with anger and hatred, it was filled
with mercy and grace. Mercy doesn’t give us what we deserve—punishment and
eternal death. Grace gives us what we don’t deserve—forgiveness and eternal
life. And all this just for the asking. The criminal has confessed his sin; his
shortcoming, and now he is asking Jesus to forgive him; to save him. The
criminal had nothing to offer and his time was nearing its end. All he had left
was to ask Jesus for help—not to preserve his earthly life but to preserve his
eternal soul. All it took was three simple words—“Jesus, remember me” and by
grace he went from being separated from God to being able to spend eternity in
paradise with Him. “The dying criminal had more faith than all the rest of
Jesus’ followers put together. By all appearances, the Kingdom was finished.
How awe inspiring is the faith of this man who alone saw beyond the present
shame to the coming glory!”[6]
Application
In
about a month, those of us who have likewise looked beyond our present shame to
the coming glory will be celebrating the event that takes place three days
after out Subject Text—the
resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Jesus is always the object of our
affection and on Resurrection day He stands alone as the primary focus of our
attention. However, for the last few days, I’ve been thinking about the
repentant criminal from our Subject Text.
We don’t really know much about him, not even what he did to deserve death. We
don’t even know his name. I’m sure he had one. I’m also sure he had a mother
and father. We don’t know much about them either. We assume all those who were
present were there to witness Jesus being crucified. I wonder though if anyone
from the criminal’s family might have been there; maybe his father or his
mother. What if they were there watching the events unfold before their eyes?
What if he were your son, or husband, or brother, or uncle, or neighbor, or
friend? You’ve tried everything possible to point him to God but God always
seemed like a kill-joy and sin was so much more fun. So for years you’ve been
praying for him to repent and seek God but nothing seemed to change. It’s as if
God didn’t care because He didn’t appear to be doing anything. And now the fun
of sin has caught up to your son or husband or brother and he’s been sentenced
to death. You spent years pointing him toward God without success. You spent
years praying for him to turn to God without success. Now, the end is at hand
and it’s too late with death lurking just a few short hours away. All that you
can hear echoing in your head is, “It’s too late! I’m never going to see him
again!” At that moment, you would trade places with him to give him more time
because you know where you’re going but you need for him to have more time;
another chance; a second chance; a thousandth chance to repent and give his
life to God so you could have the chance to see him again one day. But you
can’t so all you have left is to despair the senseless loss.
Suddenly,
through all the shouting, crying and wailing you hear a familiar voice; the
voice of your son, your husband, your brother, your uncle, your neighbor, your
friend. He’s saying something to the other criminal that has also been
sentenced to death but you can’t quite make it out so you push your way to the
front of the crowd so you can be closer and just when you get to the front, you
see him look over at Jesus and you’re able to hear the three words that will
give you the strength to endure life beyond this day. You hear him say, “Jesus,
remember me.” Just when everything seems lost; just when everything seems
darkest; just when everything seems hopeless, at that moment the power of Jesus
is strongest. Until a person draws his or her last breath, It’s Never Too Late for Jesus’ saving grace.
[1] Darrell
L. Bock, Luke—The NIV Application
Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), p. 598.
[2] Joel B.
Green, Luke—The New International
Commentary on the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 1997), p. 819.
[3] Craig S.
Keener, The IVP Bible Background
Commentary—New Testament, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), p.
254.
[4] Trent C.
Butler, Luke—Holman New Testament
Commentary, (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2000), p. 394.
[5] Joel B.
Green, The Gospel of Luke—The New
International Commentary on the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), p. 822.
[6] Bruce
Barton, Philip Comfort, Grant Osborne, Linda K. Taylor, and Dave Veerman, Live Application New Testament Commentary,
(Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), p. 356.
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