The Crucifixion
Notes
Transcript
Handout
In our series leading up to Easter, We have looked at several different comparisons. At the triumphal entry, we saw the different responses from the crowds vs the pharisees. The crowds responded to Jesus with praise and worship. We discussed that besides the triumphal entry, there were very few times during the ministry of Jesus where he accepted this type of celebration. Most likely many of these people did not understand what Jesus had come to do. Perhaps they believed Jesus was coming to Jerusalem to free the Jews from Rome. Maybe they believed he was coming to set Himself up as their rightful King. Whatever reason, they gave Jesus the worship He truly desires. In spite of the crowd praising Jesus, the pharisees were working behind the scenes to try and sow seeds of doubt amongst the people. Even during celebration the pharisees did not recognize the importance of Jesus.
The following week, Blake discussed the difference between Judas vs Peter. Two men, one the betrayer and the other the denier. Each man is a sinner and obviously guilty. Both men expressed sorrow for their actions. But Judas takes that sorrow and attempts to deal with his sinfulness through his own power, because of that Judas takes his own life. On the other hand, Peter takes his sorrow to Jesus. Because he runs to Christ, he is met with forgiveness and redemption. God takes a moment of failure in Peter’s life and uses it to redeem and encourage him to lead the early church.
Last week, we looked at the actions of the Jesus, Pharisees, and Pilate during the course of the trial and how their actions effect the situation. We saw Jesus going willing, not trying to get out of the charges, but embracing what God had called Him to do. The Pharisees were telling lies and manipulating the crowd to achieve what they wanted. They acted out of fear and selfishness. Pilate was seeking the truth, but in the end did not do what was right. He caved to the desires of the crowd, not willing to risk himself to do what was right.
So this week as we turn to , we examine the crucifixion. It is easy for us to look into the world around us and see that it is broken. There are people all around the world that are hurting and struggling. We find ourselves in the midst of a pandemic that has gripped the world. There are times there are consequences for the decisions we made, both good and bad. Sometimes there are consequences in our lives because of the actions of others. Oftentimes, like the coronavirus, there are many things outside of our control. But it is important for us to realize this is not how God designed it. When we look at , we see the state of the world as God designed it.
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
So if you have your Bible, I will invite you to turn to . Jesus has endured a week of beatings, torture, and mocking and now he is led to the hill called Golgotha to pay the ultimate punishment for the sins of the world. So please follow along as I read.
On the last day of creation, the world was perfect. It was only when sin was thrust upon God’s perfect world. The world is now corrupted and no longer perfect, but in we read God’s plan for the redemption of creation.
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.
It is easy for us to see that we live in a broken world.
The crucifixion is a stark reminding of the wages of sin.
God provides His one and only son as the payment for the sins of the world. Jesus is the plan for the world. There is no plan B, Jesus is the plan. Jesus says in , “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” There are a lot of misconceptions about Jesus in the world today. Some believe he was just a good teacher, others that the death of Christ gives forgiveness to everyone regardless of what a person believes because a loving God would judge or condemn anyone. Both of these are untrue. Jesus is the only way and how we respond to his death on the cross for our sins will determine our eternity. The first thing I want us to think about is that today forgiveness is available.
1. Forgiveness Available
One of the things I find interesting in this passage in Luke is how Jesus is praying for God to forgive those who are crucifying him. Jesus has gone through tremendous pain and humiliation. Instead of hatred or anger, we see Jesus respond with grace. Even before we read about how the individuals are going to respond to the crucifixion of Jesus, he is already praying for them. This fact points to how forgiveness is available to all
Forgiveness Available
Available to all
God’s forgiveness is available to everyone. It is not limited to a right race, geneology, gender, or social class. Each and every person in the world has the opportunity to experience the forgiveness of God. says, “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Jesus came to earth for all mankind. Forgiveness is Available to all.
Just because forgiveness is available to everyone, does not mean that everyone in the world will be saved. tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” Salvation and forgiveness are a gift from God and it is effective through faith.
b. Effective through Faith
While God desires that all should come to know Him, He is still a just God. Think about an earthly judge. Would we consider a judge to be a good judge if he simply allowed everyone to go free. What about people who are truly guilty? A good judge will ensure justice is carried out. God is the same way. He is going to ensure that justice is carried out. He has provided for forgiveness through the death of Jesus Christ. Jesus took the full punishment on the cross for our sins in our place, but the faith is the key. Only when we have faith in God, confess our sins, and trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Just as our eternity is determined by our response to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Luke outlines the response of the crowd, criminals, and the soldiers.
2. Crowd, Criminals, & Soldiers
There is a large crowd of people gathered at the crucifixion. Rome made a practice of using public executions to discourage people from acting out. Even though crucifixion was a brutal practice, the Jewish people would have been used to seeing these particular displays of execution. So crowds were gathered around and we see two very differing response. The first is the scoffers
The Scoffers
Here is a group of individuals that responded to the crucifixion with anger, hatred, and mocking. Crowd members essentially making fun of Jesus by challenging Jesus to save himself. A criminal mocking Jesus by telling him to save himself and also the criminal in the process. Soldiers are offering him sour wine. Perhaps some people want to give some of these people the benefit of the doubt. Maybe these people are not really mocking Jesus, but asking Him to save Himself out of a genuine concern. This is not what I see. I see a group who is not concerned about Jesus or what he is going through. They are straight out mocking him to his face.
In the world today, there are people who will do the same thing. They will make fun of Christianity and Christians, attempting to disprove everything God stands for. These people are not open to the truth. Thinking they have all the answer, the would rather make fun or argue with people who have faith. Everything in the universe points to God Himself, He has provided Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, yet they will believe in anything except God. Their eyes are blind to the truth.
What I find interesting is what the scoffers are asking of Jesus. The crowd makes fun on Jesus, telling him if he really is God he would save himself. There is an element of truth to their statements. Because Jesus is God, He could save Himself. At the very moment He is taking the punishment for the sins of the world, He could prove them He is God and come off the cross. However, they do not understand what asking God to do. If Jesus were to save himself, then He would not have been sacrificed for the sin’s of the world. This is a perfect example of how there are definitely times we do not realize what we are asking of God. In my life, there have been situations where I know I wasn’t praying for what God wanted in my life. I was praying and attempting to pursue things I wanted. During those situations, I praise God that He has the wisdom to not give me everything I ask. God provides me with what I truly need, not what I think I need. Because salvation is more important than Jesus proving He is God at the moment of crucifixion. Jesus remains on the cross, in spite of what the crowd is saying
-The crowd makes fun on Jesus, telling him if he really is God he would save himself. However, they do not understand what asking God to do. If Jesus were to save himself, then He would not have been sacrificed for the sin’s of the world.
The amount of scoffers seemed to be numerous, but yet even in the multitude there are a couple of people respond to Jesus appropirately. We’ll call these people the accepters.
b. The Accepters
Forgiveness Available
In Luke there are at least two people who look at Jesus at respond. One of the criminals recognizing His situation. While the other criminal is mocking Jesus, the other silences him by admitting His own guilt. He is confessing how he deserves to be on the cross. When we look at the world, people usually try to pass of guilt. A good example of this is children. Throughout the years, I have developed a saying my children have heard frequently. That is, “I want to know what you did, I will get to your brother in a minute.” The reason I said this so much is my kids automatically wanted to tell me what their brother did wrong, instead of taking responsibility for what they did. I don’t know if we ever out grow this habit even as we age. It is hard to take responsibility for shortcomings, but when it comes to Jesus that is exactly what we need to do. Recognize how we fall short, confess our sinfulness, and ask God for forgiveness. This is exactly what the one criminal did. He admitted His guilt, recognized Jesus for who He was, and asked Jesus to remember him when he entered His kingdom. Because of the criminals faith, Jesus tells him he will be in paradise that very day. When we respond to Jesus in faith, we receive assurance that comes through Christ. Jesus quickly assures the one criminal of his eternal fate. When we trust in God and look to Him we receive this assurance as well.
The other individual I wanted to look at in the centurian. After Jesus has given up His spirit, the centurian responds by praising God. The quote is “this man was innocent.” Now we are not sure whether his praising God at statement about the innocence of Jesus equates to salvation. We aren’t really given much information about him. Here is a soldier is performing his job. In fact, if he were not to carry out the crucifixion to the full end, his life would have been in danger as well. But this crucifixion was anything but routine. Who knows how many crucifixions this centurian would have overseen, but he obviously responds to Jesus. Luke indicates that God is doing something in this man’s mind and heart. While we don’t see the full result, the man is searching and looking. However, tells us,
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Available to all
Hopefully this man continued to seek the truth about Jesus Christ and eventually surrendered life to Jesus. If I did, I know God is faithful to deliver him. The final thought about this passage in Luke about the sovreignty of God.
3. Sovreignty of God
Effective through Faith
Sovreignty of God
No matter what happens, God is still all-knowing, all-present, and all-powerful. Besides acting outside of His character, there is nothing that God cannot do. With all the things that happen in the world, God is always in control.
a. God is always in control
As we look at the process of crucifixion, this was a long process. Usually individuals would take days to die, but Jesus dies in a relative short time. I know some people will say it was because Jesus was so abused before he was crucified, he did not have the strength to endure on the cross very long. However, I think there is so much more than that going on. Jesus is not just simply enduring the physical aspects of crucifixion, but he is also carrying the weight of sin. Every sin is laid upon Him and He is enduring the full wrath of God. Sin must be punished and Jesus is receiving that punishment for us. But even in the pain and enduring the sin thrust upon Him, Jesus is still in control. He is willingly enduring the cross. Yes he could have removed Himself and saved Himself from the pain, but Jesus know this was God’s plan. Jesus’ life ends with Him saying “Father into your hands I commit my spirit,” then He breathes His last. We do not have that kind of command over life and death. Jesus endures the cross until His sacrifice is complete and then He gives up His life. In Jesus says this about His life.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
The Romans are not taking His life. The Pharisees are not taking it. No Jesus is laying it down for us. Jesus is the plan for redemption.
b. Jesus is the plan for redemption
I have heard people talk about whether there are different paths for their life. How if they make one decision would God have a different plan if they had made the other decision. This is just a hypothetical question. Yes there are times when we disobey God. Yes, God would prefer us to make a better decision, but God knows all things and knows exactly what we are going to do. We do not surprise Him. The same is true about Jesus. God knew that sin would enter the world. He created everything perfectly with flaw, knew sin would enter the world, and he provided Jesus as the solution for sin. Jesus is not plan b, He is the plan. Through Jesus Christ sin is paid for, death is defeated, and the gift of salvation is open to those who will receive it.
So today what will you choose. Have you ignored God or even actively sought to disprove him? Maybe you are seeking and looking for answers? There is no better day than today to respond to the invitation of Jesus Christ. Recognize how you have sinned and acted out of your own desires, ask God to forgive your sinfulness and surrender your life to His guidance and direction. There is not a single person that God does not desire to save. He loves everyone and wishes that each person would accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus, Salvation is available. So today can be a day for you to change your eternity, all you have to do is pray to ask God to forgive you and surrender your life to him today.
If you have already have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who do you know that needs to hear about the gift of salvation. Be praying for the lost around you. Name those people in your prayers by name and ask God to give you opportunities to share the Gospel message. The week leading up to Easter is a great opportunity for believers to share the true meaning of Easter and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I encourage to intentionally look for opportunities to share and pray for God to move in the life of people around you.
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