:Three Crosses" 3-29-24

Overview

Three Crosses

At Calvary, three crosses stood together, and the scene recorded in Luke 23:39-43 is etched with striking detail. Mockery came at Jesus from every direction—from the religious leaders below ("He saved others; let him save himself"), from the soldiers at his side ("If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself"), and, according to Matthew 27:44 and Mark 15:32, from both criminals crucified with him. The scene fulfills what the Psalms foretold of the Messiah's suffering: "All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me; they shake their heads" Psalm 22:7, and "Reproaches have broken my heart" Psalm 69:19-20.

Then something changed. One criminal, who had also been hurling taunts, was brought to a sudden and astonishing awareness: "We are condemned justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." That confession is the language of true repentance—an honest reckoning with personal sin and a turning to the only One who can help: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus' reply is the heart of the gospel: "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise."

We are constantly tempted to do the opposite of what this dying man did. We redefine sin as mere "mistakes," write our own moral codes, take comfort in the crowd's approval, and imagine a God indifferent to our rebellion. Scripture refuses that comfort. David confesses, "I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" Psalm 51:5. Paul writes that we were "dead in the trespasses and sins" Ephesians 2:1, that "the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God…it cannot" submit to God's law Romans 8:7, and that the natural person "is not able to understand" the things of the Spirit 1 Corinthians 2:14. Left to ourselves, we deserve nothing but separation from God.

This is why the criminal's change is such good news for us. His awareness of sin, his repentance, his absolution—all were gifts of God, planted perhaps when Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." The same Lord who told the tax collector Luke 18:14 and Zacchaeus Luke 19:9-10 and the sinful woman Luke 7:48-50 that they were forgiven now speaks the same word to a dying thief—and to us. Our awareness of sin, our repentance, our absolution are likewise gifts. Baptized child of God, the One who was lifted up, bearing the weight of the world's sin as the spotless Lamb, has already remembered you. He claimed you in the waters of baptism, and he will not let you go.

Transcript

Which you open your Bible's please this evening to the 23rd chapter of the Gospel of Luke, 3s

beginning with verse 39, we read these verses. 10s

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, 16s

Are you not the Messiah save yourself and us? 21s

But the other rebuked him saying, 27s

Do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 31s

And we indeed have been condemned justly for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds. 38s

But this man has done nothing wrong. 44s

Then he said, 48s

Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom. 50s

He replied, 56s

Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise. 57s

One of Rembrandt's work of art is entitled The Three Crosses. 68s

He etched it on copper plate. 76s

He used a diamond needle in a carefully etched on that copper plate. 80s

When he was finished, he then inked the plate and made a print. 91s

It was the beginning, really the four fronter of the printing press. 97s

Three hundred works done by Rembrandt. 104s

Three hundred of them have a biblical basis to it. 109s

And this one, the three crosses. 115s

Rembrandt, it is said used to study people. 124s

He would watch them. 127s

He'd watch them when they would, when they would cry or when they would, would mourn. 130s

He would watch what happened to their, to their bodies. 135s

How they would hold themselves. 140s

What would happen with their, with their eyes, with their mouths, with their faces. 143s

And when one, when one looks at the details of the three crosses. 149s

You see all of that study portrayed. 155s

You see the grief and the questioning and the pain and the wondering. 161s

You see it in the detail. 171s

In this text from the 23rd chapter of Luke, 178s

this text that God has etched for us in His infallible word. 182s

This text that He has given to us, 188s

notice the detail and the question. 192s

Do we see resemblance? 200s

Do we see a resemblance? 204s

We see inscriptions. 210s

How scripture points ahead so often to the Messiah. 211s

For example, Psalm 22, all who see me mock at me. 216s

They make mouths at me. 222s

They shake their heads. 224s

Psalm 69. 227s

You know the insults I receive in my shame and dishonor. 230s

My foes are all known to you in sults of broken my heart, 234s

so that I am in despair. 241s

And these words are brought to life and they're etched for us here at the 23rd chapter. 244s

Why look at verse 35, please, in following. 252s

And the people stood by watching, but the leaders scoffed at Him saying, 257s

He saved others, let him save Himself if He's the Messiah of God, His chosen one. 261s

The soldier was also mocked Him, coming up and offering Him, 270s

sour wine and saying, if you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. 274s

There was also an inscription over Him. 281s

This is the king of the Jews. 283s

The titles here, the titles used of Messiah and chosen one. 288s

And king of the Jews, all of these titles now used in a mocking fashion. 295s

There was mocking from below and mocking from the side. 305s

Verse 39, please, one of the criminals who were hang there, 317s

kept deriding Him and saying, are you not the Messiah, save yourself and us? 323s

mockery from below and mockery from the side. 334s

Who were these two, anyway? 342s

Who were these two that were hanging on either side of Jesus on their own cross? 345s

We know that the crowd cried out for the release of Barabas. 354s

Barabas had been convicted of insurrection and murder. 358s

So were these two, were they somehow associated with Barabas? 363s

There's the mock below from the side. 371s

But notice the detail. 383s

Notice the detail here. 387s

You see, when you go to the parallels of this account, when you go to the other gospel accounts here, 390s

that tell of these three crosses, when you go there, what you see is that the one criminal, 396s

who is enmentioned here in Luke, that one criminal, also mocked Jesus. 408s

The scripture tells us in Matthew chapter 27, the bandits who were crucified with them, 416s

also taunted Him in the same way. 423s

Notice the plural? 426s

The parallel also tells us in the gospel of Mark, the 15th chapter. 429s

Those who were crucified with Him also taunted Him. 433s

So you've got the mockery from below. 438s

You've got the mockery from the side and you've got the mockery from the other side. 440s

But then something changes, something changes, verse 40. 445s

But the other rebuked Him, saying, do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 452s

And we indeed have been condemned justly? 462s

For we're getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. 466s

There's a change here. 475s

All of a sudden there is an awareness of sin. 476s

There's an awareness of the truth, the reality of his own sinfulness. 480s

All of a sudden there is repentance here from one of the criminals. 485s

And he reaches out to the only one that can help him. 491s

Verse 42. 498s

Then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. 499s

The awareness of sin and turning to the only one that can help. 513s

So he was so often tempted to the exact opposite, aren't we? 522s

The exact opposite. 529s

We could be tempted to redefine sin as mistakes. 534s

mistakes is when you're driving and you turn the wrong direction or when you cut something and you're mislead. 542s

That's a mistake. 552s

But when Adam and Eve are first parents sunk their teeth into the forbidden fruit, that wasn't a mistake. 556s

That was sin. 562s

That was willful disobedience against God. 564s

But we can be tempted to lose the awareness of our sinfulness and simply redefine it. 570s

And call it a mistake. 580s

And we all make mistakes. 584s

We can be people that are tempted to dismiss sin. 590s

To write our own moral code and then pronounce absolute to ourselves based upon our own moral code. 596s

We're so tempted to say, well, this is my truth. 606s

So that everyone just speaks their own truths. 610s

That there's no truth, but we just all have our own truths. 614s

And so we redefine truths. 618s

We redefine a moral code. 622s

And we assure ourselves then that we're living in accordance with the moral code that we've established. 626s

We create an idol out of God that somehow God is indifferent to sin. 634s

We look around and we take a poll and we fall asleep, believe. 640s

That if the majority of people are doing it, well, then it, therefore, it must be acceptable. 647s

Awareness of sin and turning to the only one who can help, we're so tempted to do the exact opposite. 657s

The exact opposite of that God upholds sin. 663s

He upholds it. 672s

David writes, in Psalm 51, 675s

Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me. 679s

We've all inherited the corrupt nature of our first parents, Adam and Eve. 688s

Sinful parents don't produce sinless children. 695s

We reflect our first parents, Adam and Eve. 699s

We're in bondage to sin and we can't free ourselves. 704s

Poll wrote this in Ephesians 2, you were dead through the trespasses and sins. 708s

He writes in Romans the eighth chapter, 714s

For this reason, the mind that set on the flesh is hostile to God. 717s

It does not submit to God's law. 723s

He writes, indeed, it cannot. 727s

It cannot submit to God's law. 732s

We want nothing to do with God by nature. 738s

Nothing. 743s

First Corinthians 2 chapter, Paul says, those who are unspearage will do not receive the gifts of God's spirit. 746s

They're foolishness to them. 753s

And they're unable to understand them because they're spiritually discern. 755s

Scripture with all clarity and precision. 764s

It says that left to ourselves because of our sin, we are deserving of hell itself. 774s

Hell itself. 783s

The eternal separation from the presence of God. 786s

That's what we deserve. 793s

Both of the criminals at first mocked. 800s

Then there was a change. 809s

There was a change in one of them. 812s

Was it when Jesus said Father forgive them for they know not what they do? 818s

When that seed of the Word was planted, was that the moment? 825s

We're God brought to that criminal faith. 832s

brought him to the awareness of his own sinfulness brought him to repentance. 838s

Was that the moment? 846s

And when he turned and he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your home. 851s

Remember why we see in Scripture about the tax collector at the temple. 864s

He cries out, God, be merciful to me a sinner and what did he hear? 872s

Jesus said, I tell you this man went down to his home justified. 878s

There was crooked Zakias. 884s

His heart is transformed as Zakias repenting of his sin, born of God. 887s

And what does Zakias hear? 895s

But Jesus says today, salvation has come to this house because he too was a son of Abraham. 898s

For the son of man came to seek out and to save the lost. 905s

To the paralytic, what did Jesus say, son, your sins are forgiven? 911s

To the woman and look the seventh chapter, what did Jesus say, but your sins are forgiven, your faith has saved you. 920s

Go in peace. 928s

And to this criminal hanging on the cross, 932s

justly getting what he deserved by his own admission. 937s

His heart is, his heart's changed. 944s

The word planted, God changes his heart. 949s

And he asks Jesus to remember when Jesus would come into his kingdom. 956s

What does he hear? 967s

What does he hear? 971s

It is truly I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise. 976s

In that etching by Rembrandt, there is a beam of light that comes down and it hits Jesus. 993s

Mr. All of the faces of pain and mourning and wonderments, 1003s

this beam of light comes down right on Jesus. 1010s

The light of the world, the one who takes all of our sin upon him, 1016s

the one who pays the debt we could never pay, 1022s

the one who shits his blood, the spotless sinless lamb of God, 1026s

who goes to the cross to take all of our sin upon him, 1032s

the weight of the world's sin upon him, 1037s

and this light, Rembrandt has come focusing right down upon Jesus, 1041s

amidst all of the darkness, there is the beam of light, right on. 1049s

Jesus. 1057s

As you look at the details, do you see the resemblance, 1063s

the resemblance with that criminal? 1074s

Do you see the resemblance because that criminals awareness of sin was a gift of God? 1081s

That criminals repentance was a gift of God. 1092s

That absolute that was given to that criminal was gift of God. 1100s

And do you see the resemblance? 1110s

For the awareness of our own sin that we confess once again tonight, 1116s

the awareness of our own sin is a gift of God. 1121s

The repentance that comes forth from us as we confess our sin is a gift of God. 1128s

And the word of absolute that is given to us that word of forgiveness is a gift. 1138s

Ungod. 1149s

Jesus, remember me. 1156s

When you come into your kingdom, 1160s

baptize child, 1166s

you who have been claimed in the waters of baptism, 1170s

you have been called his own, 1172s

you who got grasp in those life-giving waters, 1175s

and said, I'm never letting you go. 1179s

He already has remembered us. 1186s

He's already remembered us. 1191s

Thank you. 1207s