A Little Validation Goes a Long Way s1

Salient points in the sermon, Good Friday, April 14, 2017 Luke 23:39-43 “Savior, Remember Me”  "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" (Luke 23:42 , NIV). It was not a very strong appeal, but it was directed to the right persona. Beneath this simple request was an unspoken plea for forgiveness. In mercy, and in love Jesus answered, "Today you will be with me in paradise" (v. 43 NIV), Today stood in contrast to a distant time in a future kingdom. And the thief would be more than "remembered.'' He would be with Jesus in the dwelling place of God. Jesus assumed responsibility for all of the thief's sins and granted him full, free forgiveness.  Freeness of forgiveness makes it possible for all people to be forgiven at any place and any time in life. Though the story of the thief does not encourage us to wait for deathbed repentance, it does encourage us to believe that it is never too late to turn to Christ. God forgives freely and fully.  God is a God of forgiveness. In the death of his Son on the cross, God made full provision for the forgiveness of our sins. Now he awaits our response. Will we, like the thief, ask him to forgive our sins and become the Lord of our life?

Luke 23:46 “Father, Into Thy Hands I Commend My Spirit”  Stephen's prayer was, "Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit" (v. 59). It was not a prayer of panic or fear. It was not a prayer of desperation or bargain. It was a prayer of trust and affirmation. He was saying, "I have always trusted you in life, and now I trust you in death." Following the model of the way his Lord had died, he quoted a familiar Jewish children's prayer found in Psalm 31:5: "Into your hand I commit my spirit." These are almost the exact words of Jesus from the cross: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit" (Luke23:46). He had learned that whether he lived or died, he was the Lord’s.  Have we ever walked in on the middle of a movie? We did not see the beginning. And the ending is still a mystery to us. All that we know is what we see going on directly before us. And the cast is a jumble of unknown characters. The plot is confusing. The same is true of our human predicament. We have walked in on the middle of a grand drama of sin and salvation, death and deliverance, pain and progress. But we only see what is before us. We missed the beginning of the drama. The ending is still a mystery to us. Like Mary, the mother of Jesus, we stand at the foot of the cross and witness the awful bloodshed of innocent suffering. The question that may be choking in our throats is: "God, why? Why does my loved one suffer so? Why is my career ending my dreams for bigger and better things? God, why? Why the pollution, the earthquake, the famine? Why cancer and car wrecks? God, why?  Like the faithful disciples who stood by watching and grieving, we need to get the whole picture. We need to see the beginning of the drama, a world created by God and called good. We need to see our rebellion and disobedience following the example of Satan. And we need to see ourselves so broken that God had to come himself to heal us. We need to stand at the foot of the cross and look up to Jesus and remember at what a high price our salvation is bought. But we must not stop here. We must see Good Friday, but we must also see Easter. We must view the cross, but also see the crown! The tomb goes with the resurrection. As the rainbow follows the storm, so the ascension follows the crucifixion. Do we get the big picture! Listen to the whole story! There's a new world coming! We will not only look into the open, freshly-dug grave. We will look out from the empty open tomb at Paradise!