With Resurrection Sunday right around the corner I have been reading various articles and spending time in the Scriptures around the cross. Before the resurrection, came the cross. Jesus has spent the previous 3-1/2 years pouring and investing in 12 men and now as the Jewish nation and Roman empire are focused on this Jesus, He seemingly says very little; or does He? His words were few, but when you read them (and I encourage you to do that), and when you meditate on them, and when you think about what all is behind what Jesus is saying, you will find that there is a whole lot going on. Jesus made seven statements from the cross that are recorded in three of the four Gospels and yet they are not repeated anywhere. These are all things that Jesus says after He has been nailed to the cross and before He dies. If you look closely you will see that these words reveal both His divinity and humanity. That is something that I think we do not always understand. How can someone be fully God and fully man? Take a look at these passages:
Luke 23:34 “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” What does He mean when He says that they don’t know what they are doing? Did they really not know? This was not the first crucifixion. God could have easily wiped all of these people off of the face of the earth and sent them straight to the pit of hell and He would have been right in doing so. But Jesus taught us that we were to love and to be good, and to be kind to our enemies in Luke 6:35. We are also told to pray for our enemies, and that is exactly what Jesus is doing here. He is talking to His Father (praying) and asking God to forgive them. What Jesus is saying is that He is providing the very basis for their forgiveness. Jesus taught it and now He is living it out in dying for them here on this cross. Jesus is providing an example for all who will follow Him including you and me. This did not excuse them from the horrible act of crucifying Jesus, but it does show that they obviously did not fully understand the evil that they were doing to the Righteous Holy One, the Son of God, the Messiah. In the midst of His excruciating suffering, Jesus was focused on others. Amazing!!!
Do we fully understand how much our sin grieves the heart of God? God loves you so much that He sacrificed, He crucified, He killed His own Son for you and for me. Why then do we live the way we do sometimes? Why do we say the things that we say? Why do we use language that we know we ought not to use? Why do we talk about people, also known as gossip, the way that we do? Why do we say unkind things about other people? Why do we complain? Why do we live a life that is contradictory to the very meaning of the name Christian or “Christ-like one”? Because we often times don’t know what we are doing and Who we are ultimately doing it to. Aren’t you thankful for a gracious and merciful God Who, in the form of His Son, took your place and died for you? Whaat Jesus is saying here is very relevant and powerful in our own lives. His love for you is unconditional and divine.
Luke 23:43 “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” One of the criminals who was crucified with Jesus recognized who Jesus was and expressed faith in Him as Savior and simply said “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” Here we see the grace of God poured out through faith and Jesus assures him that he has been forgiven. It was not a long and drawn out prayer. There was no time for that. The man’s eyes were opened to Who Jesus was and he simply said “remember me…” The man’s words were both a plea and a confession of faith.
You might say: “the man was desperate and he knew that he was going to die. He knew that there was no tomorrow.” Have you listened to the news lately? This coronavirus does not seem to be very selective in who it attacks. I am hearing stories of people being diagnosed with the virus and being dead 48 hours later. Who among us is guaranteed tomorrow? I do not mean to be morbid, but we all know of people’s lives, people in our own church, whose lives were changed forever in a matter of minutes or overnight. Do we realize how desperate we are? Do we realize how utterly dependent we are on God? “In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 12:10) “The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” (Job 33:4) You, me, none of us are guaranteed tomorrow. We can, however, rest assured that we are in the hands of the Creator and Sustainer of life; the God of the Bible. Allow me to tell you about this God. I have shared this with you many times but it always good to hear it at least one more time. These are the things that I know about God:
He loves you!
He is in control!
He knows your needs!
He is surprised by nothing!
He always does what is right!
His timing is absolutely perfect!
I want you to spend some time meditating on the truths of these two passages. We will take a look at two more this coming weekend and then two more next Wednesday. The final one that we will look at will be on easter Sunday. Here they are for you to look forward to:
John 19:27-27
Matthew 27:46
John 19:28
John 19:30