BETWEEN TWO THIEVES the Urgency of Easter, Part 7 Luke 23

BETWEEN TWO THIEVES o We’ll also look at Jesus’ death towards the end of this message. The Urgency of Easter, Part 7  After Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, He Luke 23:26-49 (CSB) was taken to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas the high priest. First Baptist Church, Kerens  After that, He was taken to Caiaphas himself. Caiaphas and Sunday, March 29, 2020 10:50 AM the Jewish council (the Sanhedrin) found Him guilty of blasphemy. They also conjured up false charges against

Him.  This morning, we continue to look at the urgent final hours of  They took Him to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Jesus’ life, leading up to Easter. Judea. o Previously, we saw His betrayal by Judas and the  Pilate passed Him off to Herod, who was responsible for abandonment by His disciples as they scattered once Galilee, because Jesus was FROM Galilee. He was arrested, despite their previous claims that they  Herod didn’t find anything to charge Him with, so He was would die before they would deny Him. sent BACK to Pilate. o We saw our own similarities to Peter and even to  Pilate declared Him to be innocent. Judas.  There was an uprising of people (many of whom were these o We looked closely at Jesus’ agonizing time in the same Jewish religious leaders) and they wanted Jesus put to Garden of Gethsemane, as He had to drink the bitter death. cup of our sin, becoming sin for us and experiencing o They were shouting for Pilate to crucify Him. They separation from God the Father. wanted the cruelest form of torture and punishment o Last week, we saw the results of Jesus’ arrest and saw known to man to be carried out against Jesus! three perspectives about Jesus, from Herod, Pontius o They believed He was a troublemaker and a blasphemer Pilate, and Barabbas. against God!  This could easily be a fifteen part sermon series and even o They also tried to convince Pilate that Jesus was a threat then, we probably would not cover all the details surrounding to the Roman Empire. Jesus’ arrest, crucifixion, death, and certainly, resurrection.  There was a custom that at Passover every year, a  So we surely won’t cover them all now. But, this will end up prisoner would be released to go free. The Jewish people as an eight-part series. got to decide who it was. Pilate asked if they would like Him  This morning, we’re going to look at some specifics of to release Jesus or Barabbas, a rebel and a murderer. Jesus’ time on the cross.  They cried out that they wanted Barabbas to go free instead o Our focus is His crucifixion alongside the two thieves and of Jesus. They wanted Jesus crucified. the implications that it has for us. John 19:1 says, “Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.”  I’ll give a brief overview of the sequence of events around His arrest before we get into our passage this morning.  He had Him whipped. This would have been done with the over me at all,’ Jesus answered him, ‘if it hadn’t been given you infamous “cat o’ nine tails,” which was a whip with leather from above. This is why the one who handed me over to you straps that had glass, bone fragments, and metal shards has the greater sin.’” connected at the ends so that there was unimaginable Under threat from the crowd, that if he let Jesus go he would be damage done to the person who was whipped. taking a stand against the Roman emperor Caesar, Pilate gave o The skin would have been ripped from the bone. in and released Jesus to be crucified. o According to reports we have of eyewitness accounts from that time period, occasionally, the straps, with all Jesus carried His own cross by himself on His way to a place their debris, would get caught on a rib and as the soldier called Golgotha, known as the Place of the Skull, where He was holding the whip would yank hard to dislodge the strap, a crucified (John 19:17-18). rib of the victim would go flying. Golgotha is the Hebrew word for cranium or skull. In Latin, o This was brutal! They were beaten mercilessly! There the name of the place is Calvary. Most likely, the rock facing was an enormous loss of blood. that was there resembled a skull, so that’s how it got its name. o Vital organs would often be exposed. Whatever Jesus Now let’s pick up in Luke 23:26. physically endured, it was unspeakable! *READ LUKE 23:26-49* John 19:2: “The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and clothed him in a purple robe. And they Jesus was so exhausted and weak from the beatings and the kept coming up to him and saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and blood loss He suffered, that the soldiers grabbed a man named were slapping his face.” Simon and made him carry Jesus’ cross the rest of the way up to the place of the crucifixion.  Jesus was mocked and mistreated.  They undoubtedly slammed the crown of thorns down on His  Crowds followed Jesus, including women who were head and the thorns dug into His skin. mourning.  We’re also told in Matthew and Mark’s accounts (Matthew  Jesus told them not to weep for Him, but for themselves and 27:30; Mark 15:19) that they spat on him and kept hitting him their children. on the head with a stick.  Eternal judgment comes to those who do not trust in Jesus  They made a show of pretending to worship Him as a king. and the day is coming when Jesus will come back and judge the entire earth.  Mark 15:23 says, “They tried to give him wine mixed with Jesus was brought out. The chief priests and temple servants myrrh, but he did not take it.” continued to demand His crucifixion. Pilate asked Jesus (John 19:9), “Where are you from?” Jesus did not answer Him.  There were some well-respected women in Jerusalem who would provide this narcotic drink to those who were John 19:10-11: “So Pilate said to him, ‘Do you refuse to speak condemned to death so that their pain would be eased in to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you their suffering. and the authority to crucify you?’ “‘You would have no authority  They did this because of Proverbs 31:6-7 (NKJV), which  That word “excruciating” is about the strongest word we can says, “Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to use to convey what Jesus was going through. those who are bitter of heart. Let him drink and forget his  In fact, that word is from Latin and it means “out of the poverty, and remember his misery no more.” cross.”  Jesus did not accept the drink because He was going to  So when we think of excruciating pain, our minds should be drink the cup the Father had given Him in its fullness. He taken to the cross. Jesus suffered for you and me! was going to take on the entire weight of our sin.  Crucifixion was the most horrible form of torture. o Each hand (wrist, really) was nailed to the cross and one Verses 32-33 say, “Two others – criminals – were also led nail was used to go through both feet. away to be executed with him. When they arrived at the o For a person who was crucified to breathe, he had to pull place called The Skull, they crucified him there, along with himself up so that his lungs could fill with air. the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.” o In the process of doing that, his back (which was So there were three crosses and Jesus was in the middle. shredded from the scourging) was rubbing against the When the soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross, they didn’t drive rough wood of the cross. the nails that you and I normally think of into His hands. That o As he moved around to breathe, the nails through the would be bad enough. The nails they used were huge nails, hands and feet were rubbing against the nerves or even nine inch nails, like railroad spikes. severing them. o The weight of the nails on the body caused unimaginable  Jesus was crucified alongside two criminals. pain. This was not the neat, clean event that we often  Matthew and Mark’s accounts describe them using a Greek see portrayed in paintings. It was a slow death, just the 1 word that denoted bandits who plundered. These were the way it was designed. kind of men who would steal from others, using force. They o Jesus was on the cross from about 9 am to about 3 pm, weren’t petty thieves. for six hours.  They were violent men and there’s a good chance they had committed murder themselves. As we continue, I want to mention three crosses, or three  Perhaps they were friends of Barabbas, who was scheduled viewpoints represented at the site of this crucifixion. to die alongside them for insurrection and murder until Jesus I. THE CROSS OF SELF-SACRIFICE took his place at the insistence of the Jewish leaders. Verse 34: “Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, because Think of the nails being driven into the hands and feet of Jesus. they do not know what they are doing.’” It was an excruciating experience.

1 The CSB in Luke 23:32 renders the word as “criminals.” The Greek word in this which means to plunder. They were violent robbers, although the CSB still renders verse is kakourgoi, a generic term meaning evildoers. Matthew 27:38 and Mark the word in the Matthew and Mark passages as “criminals.” The KJV, NKJV, ESV, and 15:27 use lestai, meaning robbers or thieves. It comes from the word leizomai, NASB seem to be more helpful in their translations of Matthew and Mark here. This is why Jesus came, to die for us so that WE could be  In fact, today, many Jews have changed their stance on the forgiven for our sins. He laid down His life. He gave it all. identification of Isaiah 53 as the Messiah. They now see it as a prophecy about the nation of Israel. It doesn’t fit. Isaiah 53:12 says, “Therefore I will give him the many as a  But Why? Why do they do this? portion, and he will receive the mighty as spoil, because he willingly submitted to death, and was counted among the rebels;  Because they can’t imagine their Messiah suffering or being yet he bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels.” a servant. But, it’s true. It all points to Jesus! Isaiah wrote this about 700 years before Jesus came along! Jesus was “numbered with the transgressors,” as maybe your Most Jewish rabbis throughout history have agreed that this was Bible translation says. speaking of the Messiah who was to come. Yet, they didn’t see He was crucified with the two thieves. He made intercession for that the evidence pointed straight to Jesus. the rebels…for them and for the rest of us. Jesus died for all sinners like us!  Imagine someone spelling out the details of the life of a person who would live hundreds of years after them. His was a cross of self-sacrifice! He was innocent, but He o If someone, for instance, were to walk up to you and say willingly died in our place, as the only perfect person who has they knew what a certain person was going to be like in ever lived! the year 2,720, that would be hard to believe, right? o You wouldn’t have any way of verifying the details they  He asked the Father to forgive THEM…those who had predicted. But, then, somehow, you’re transported to a crucified Him and were mocking Him because they didn’t date later than 2,720 and you see that the details the understand the magnitude of their sin...that they were person predicted in 2,020 were spot-on! They were rejecting their only Savior. completely accurate!  He was also asking for YOUR forgiveness!  You wouldn’t say that they got lucky. You would say,  Jesus said, “Because they do not know what they are doing.” “There’s something to this.” o That doesn’t mean that being ignorant of the  Well, there are MANY prophecies that point to Jesus consequences of our decisions means we are innocent. Christ as the Messiah, the Savior. They were predicted o People mock Jesus today and then die and go to Hell. If hundreds of years before Jesus arrived. The ones that have they really knew who they were mocking, they wouldn’t been fulfilled up to this point have been completely accurate! do it, but that’s no excuse. The rest will be fulfilled in the future.  People routinely sit in churches like this one all across America. They hear the message. They let it go in one ear The problem with the Jews believing in Him is that all along, and out the other. They don’t respond. they have expected a Messiah who will come to rule and reign  Then they walk out to live their own lives without regard for from the start! They have not expected a suffering servant, such the truth of the message they just heard. as was described in Isaiah 53.  Does that make them innocent, just because they didn’t internalize the message? No!  If ignorance were a valid excuse not to be judged by  Jesus was experiencing open shame and He was being God, then the compassionate thing for us to do would killed to cover OUR shame that was a result of OUR sin! be to keep the message of Jesus to ourselves so that Now, not only is ignorance a weak excuse that won’t hold up, NO ONE would be accountable and go to Hell. but you must also realize that just because Jesus asked the  We’re all guilty of our sin regardless. You must become Father to forgive us, that doesn’t mean we’re automatically aware of it. YOU must respond to Christ’s sacrifice! Others forgiven. must respond! They must hear! They must call out to the One who died for them, so that they may be saved! Your faith MUST BE PLACED in what Jesus did! You must willfully repent (turn away) from your way of living and ask for Romans 10:14-15 says, “How, then, can they call on him they forgiveness for your sins, then offer your life back to have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing Jesus…willing to live for Him! about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent?”  The Bible says that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Have you called on Jesus to save you Pray for the spread of the gospel! Pray for God to send more and forgive you? You must call! preachers, evangelists, and missionaries!  But you can’t call out if you don’t mean it. You can’t say, “I’ll  But listen…it’s not just someone else’s job. Never are we take the forgiveness and then I’ll go and live my life like told that the gospel is only for the trained to use! Jesus doesn’t make any demands of me.”  If you know Jesus as your Savior, you are ordered by God to  He wants ALL of you! He died FOR you! Only trusting what tell others about how they can be saved! You are Jesus did in your place will save you, not good works you try commanded to tell others. to do. But if you HAVE trusted Jesus, then good works will  If Jesus SAVED you, He can USE you! Be faithful! come as a result! Here’s a second cross…

The soldiers divided Jesus’ clothes and they cast lots, gambling II. THE CROSS OF SELF-DECEPTION for them. THIS detail was even a fulfillment of prophecy. Psalm 22:18 said it would happen. Verse 35: “The people stood watching, and even the leaders were scoffing: ‘He saved others; let him save himself if this Do you see all the evidence that God has put in His word for us is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One!’” to gather it and believe? Do you see the deception that is going on? The people think  The soldiers had Jesus’ clothes. Jesus was hanging on the that it is JESUS who needs the saving! cross, naked and exposed.  He had to take on the full brunt of our shame for us.  “If He is the Savior, let Him save Himself! HE’S the one who  Adam and Eve, who were naked in the garden, experienced is nailed to a cross! If anybody ever needed saving, HE shame once they sinned and God killed animals to cover does!” them with clothing.  They mistakenly think that the Messiah’s mission is to save o Both of them have equal access to Jesus. the nation of Israel politically. So they dismiss the possibility o Both are just as lost as the other. that Jesus is the Messiah. o Both are violent criminals.  The truth is that all of us need to be rescued from our sin, o We’re not told that one was worse than the other. which separated us from God! o Mark 15:32 says that BOTH of them taunted Jesus.  Today, plenty of people are self-deceived, thinking they’re o Yet, as time passes along, their responses really make OK! the difference. o People spend lots of money to believe they’re OK! o One criminal echoes what the crowd has been saying, o They numb their consciences so that they “feel OK!” that if Jesus is really the Savior, He should save o We as people on this Earth have been telling ourselves Himself…and this criminal adds “AND US.” that for thousands of years, but the problem of sin never o You may say, “Well, he called on Jesus to save him.” changes! o It wasn’t a genuine cry for help. He was saying it in a o We’re not OK! We’re sick! We need someone to deliver mocking way just like the rest. He didn’t really believe us from the sickness of our sin and to give us fulfillment! Jesus could. o But it was also just a comment of “get me out of this if The people and the leaders scoffed at Jesus. That word used you’re who you say you are.” for “scoffed” in the original language literally means that they put their noses in the air as they looked on Him with disgust.  You see, there’s a difference between being sorry for  The soldiers mocked Jesus too. They offered Him sour wine your sin and being sorry you got caught and are in a and said, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” tough spot of your own doing.  But Jesus came to be not just the King of the Jews, but the  Someone who is really sorry admits fault and pursues King of all of us! He IS the King! forgiveness.  Nothing can change that, but He was good enough to us to  Someone who is just sorry they got caught pursues their die for us so that we could share in His Kingdom! own interests, which is usually freedom from the situation.  Even the offering of sour wine was mockery by the soldiers. o There were times as a child that I cried and apologized to They were holding it up to Jesus as if they were offering my mother for things that I had done. I truly wanted her to royal wine to a king. forgive me. o There were other times when I had done something There was also an inscription that was written above Jesus’ wrong and I got caught, but all I wanted to do was stop head in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew that read: “THIS IS THE the tongue-lashing I was getting because it was KING OF THE JEWS.” uncomfortable. That wasn’t genuine sorrow. Verse 39: “Then one of the criminals hanging there began  The thief says, “Hey, Jesus. This is on YOU! YOU prove to yell insults at him: ‘Aren’t you the Messiah? Save you’re the Messiah! YOU get us out of this!” yourself and us!’”  The proper response was, “Jesus, this is on ME! MY sin caused this! MY sin is why I’m here and it’s why you’re here  Here is Jesus, hanging between the two thieves. too!” Self-deception blinds us to the fact of our guilt. But our decisions o I’m sure he knew Jesus was dying in Barabbas’ place, have consequences. but I believe he also knew Jesus was dying for what this thief himself was guilty of. The criminal was mocking Jesus because he was deceived into thinking that this had nothing to do with him. It was on Jesus to  This second thief did not ask Jesus to save him from the prove himself. moment. He was asking Him to save him for eternity! Galatians 6:7 says, “Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For o He didn’t say like the other thief, “Get down off the cross whatever a person sows he will also reap…” and get me down too.” o He knew Jesus was going to die. He knew he himself Those who choose Jesus are delivered from their sin, but those was going to die. who mock Jesus by their refusal to believe…reap destruction in o He said, “REMEMBER me when You come into Your Hell. Which one describes you? There’s a third cross here… kingdom.” III. THE CROSS OF SELF-AWARENESS o He was acknowledging that Jesus’ kingdom was not an earthly one, but was far more important. Verses 40-42: “But the other answered, rebuking him: ‘Don’t o He was saying, “Will you remember ME? Will you give you even fear God, since you are undergoing the same me a place in Your kingdom? I know You’re a mighty punishment? We are punished justly, because we’re getting King and I have nothing to offer, but will you have mercy back what we deserve for the things we did, but this man on me when You’re on Your throne?” has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’” Verse 43 says, “And he said to him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’”  There has never been greater news for someone on their death bed. It’s not what you DO for Jesus that makes the Jesus saw his faith and promised him a place with Him. difference for your salvation. It’s not the promises you make.  The man had become self-aware of his guilt and had his o This man made no promises. He had nothing to offer heart changed when He believed and trusted in Jesus as his Jesus. only hope of salvation. o He could not promise to tithe more, to be kinder to  That promise holds true for all who place their faith in Jesus, others, to attend church regularly, or anything else, but including you! he genuinely believed that Jesus was WILLING to save  Instead of the punishment you deserve, if you trust in Jesus, him and was ABLE to, so he asked Him. you will receive the reward of freedom and Heaven! That is o In other words, the second thief became aware of his the good news of the gospel! own sinfulness and guilt. o He knew that he deserved what was happening to him  Jesus died to let you go free of the punishment you and he also became aware that Jesus was innocent and deserved! was dying for someone else. Have you said “yes” to that offer? If not, will you now? If you Verse 46: “And Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, already have, will you tell others so that they can say “yes” too? into your hands I entrust my spirit.’ Saying this, he breathed his last.” Verse 44 and just into verse 45: “It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three, because the Jesus was in full control and He willingly died, giving Himself sun’s light failed.” into the hands of the Father. So from noon to 3 pm, there was a supernatural darkness over  He didn’t go out with a whimper under suffocation, as was the land. usually the case with those crucified.  Instead, He went out by choice, knowing fully well that the  As Jesus became sin for us and the Father’s wrath was Father had approved of His sacrifice on our behalf! poured out on Him, it was the darkest point of human history.  John 19:30 tells us that Jesus said, “It is finished.” The word  According to Exodus 10:21-23, there were three days of used there in Greek means “paid in full.” His redemptive darkness before the first Passover. It was darkness that work for us had been completed. He had fully paid for our could even be FELT, according to scripture. sin.  Now, there were three HOURS of darkness before the Lamb  Then He gave His spirit to the Father. of God died for the sins of the world.  It was only a taste of the darkness that those who reject The centurion soldier saw all the miraculous signs and also saw Christ experience for eternity apart from Him. the way Jesus willingly gave Himself up and in verse 47, he  At this moment, Jesus was experiencing separation from the said, “This man really was righteous!” Father. According to Matthew (27:54), the centurion and those with him  Matthew 27:46 says, “About three in the afternoon Jesus said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” They had come to cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that the right conclusion. is ‘My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?’”  Jesus felt the separation and condemnation for our sin. The whole crowd was beating their chests and they returned home. They were filled with guilt over Jesus’ death and fear of Verse 45: “The curtain of the sanctuary was split down the God’s judgment after seeing all the signs that had taken place. middle.” Perhaps many of these same witnesses would end up trusting The curtain (or veil) in the temple separated the dwelling place in Jesus on the Day of Pentecost and in the days following. of God from man. The temple veil was torn during an earthquake to show that man now had access to God The Son of God had been slain for your sin! But He wouldn’t through the sacrifice of Jesus.2 No longer did we have to stay in the grave because God the Father would raise Him come through a priest. from the dead, proving He accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf!

2 Matthew 27:51 describes an earthquake during the tearing of the curtain. That’s why we’ll celebrate Easter Sunday. The question I have for you this morning is…have you trusted in Jesus? What does the Lord require of you? Will you surrender your whole life to Him? Let’s pray! *CLOSING PRAYER*