Summary
Three Crosses
On the hill of Calvary stood three crosses, and at the center hung the Christ. To His left and right were two condemned criminals—men whose own admission was that they were "getting what we deserve for our deeds" Luke 23:41. Rembrandt's famous etching by this name captures the scene with extraordinary detail: faces lined with grief, mouths open in mockery, bodies turned in mourning—and a single beam of light falling upon Jesus alone. Luke's Gospel etches the same scene with even greater precision, drawing our attention not first to the men dying, but to the One dying for them.
The mockery comes from every side. The leaders scoff from below: "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God." Soldiers join in from beside the cross, taunting, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself." And from the crosses on either side, both criminals at first add their voices to the jeering, as Matthew and Mark make plain (Matthew 27:44; Mark 15:32). The titles thrown at Jesus—Messiah, Chosen One, King of the Jews—are flung as insults, even as they unwittingly proclaim the truth. The whole scene is the fulfillment of what was written long before: "All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me; they shake their heads" Psalm 22:7.
Then something changes. One of the criminals falls silent before his own conscience, then speaks again—but with new words. "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly… but this man has done nothing wrong" Luke 23:40-41. Here is the Spirit's work in miniature: an awareness of sin, an honest naming of it, and a turning to the only One who can help. "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." This is the cry of faith—stripped of every pretense, with no merit to plead, no time left to amend his life, only the bare appeal to the mercy of the crucified King.
Sin is not a mistake. A mistake is a wrong turn on the road or a slip of the knife. When our first parents took the forbidden fruit, that was not a misstep but willful rebellion against God, and we have inherited their corrupt nature. "Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me" Psalm 51:5. We are tempted to redefine sin, to write our own moral code, to declare "this is my truth," to imagine God indifferent to what He has called evil. But Scripture refuses every such evasion: "You were dead through the trespasses and sins" Ephesians 2:1; "the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God… it cannot" Romans 8:7. Left to ourselves, we deserve nothing but eternal separation from God.
That is why the answer Jesus gives is pure gospel: "Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise" Luke 23:43. This is the same word spoken to the tax collector who beat his breast Luke 18:13-14, to Zacchaeus in his house Luke 19:9-10, to the paralytic let down through the roof, to the weeping woman at Jesus' feet: "Your sins are forgiven; your faith has saved you; go in peace" Luke 7:48-50. Salvation comes not as a reward for the reformed but as a gift to the condemned. The criminal contributes nothing but his sin; Christ supplies everything.
And here is the resemblance—the reason this account is etched in Scripture for us. The criminal's awareness of his sin was a gift of God. His repentance was a gift of God. The absolution he received was a gift of God. So it is for every Christian. Our awareness of sin, our confession, the word of forgiveness spoken over us—every part is grace. The light that fell upon Jesus in Rembrandt's etching is the light of the world, the spotless Lamb who bore the weight of all sin and paid the debt we could never pay. To the baptized, claimed in the life-giving waters by a God who said "I am never letting you go," the comfort is complete: before we ever cried "Jesus, remember me," He had already remembered us. See ":Three Crosses" 3-29-24 for the full meditation.
Video citations
- :Three Crosses" 3-29-24 — Which you open your Bible's please this evening to the 23rd chapter of the Gospel of Luke, beginning with verse 39, we read these verses. One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him…