Lenten Sermon on Luke 23:32-34,39-43

"Christ's Crucifixion Expresses Jesus' Forgiveness"

Sermon on Luke 23: 32-34, 39-43

Saint Mark's, Watertown

Pastor Karl Walther

April 1, 1998

He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Amen.

The Word of the Lord for this final set of services in our Lenten Midweek series is Luke chapter twenty-three, verses thirty-two through thirty-four and thirty-nine through forty-three. It is Luke's account of Jesus' forgiveness expressed in Christ's crucifixion:

Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals-- one on his right, the other on his left.

Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."

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

Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

This is God's Spirit-inspired Word of Jesus Christ.

Introduction: Setting For Christ's Crucifixion

Dear fellow Christians-- whose forgiveness is found in Christ's crucifixion:

It was some nineteen hundred and sixty-eight years ago or so. It was early springtime, like it is now. And it was nearing nine o'clock in the morning.

About twelve hours ago, Jesus had been arrested on the Mount of Olives, just a little ways outside the city gate on the east side of Jerusalem-- a scant mile or two away. Overnight he had faced three separate trials before the Jewish leaders, inside the city gate on the east side of Jerusalem-- less than a mile away. Early this morning, Jesus had faced three separate trials before the Gentile leaders, inside the city gate on the west side of Jerusalem-- just blocks away.

And just now, Jesus had made his way -- stumbling under the stress of the sins of the world: through the narrow streets, amid the tightly stacked houses, accompanied by quite a crowd (hundreds of people, no doubt), along the western wall of Jerusalem, and out the city gate.

He came to a place the people called Golgotha: "Skull Place". Possibly it looked like a skull. More probably, it received its name from all the many skulls of all the many criminals who had met their punishment there. It must have been on a sort of a slope, because it was visible from a quite a distance. And that was the whole point. In crucifixion, the Roman overlords were very publicly displaying to their Jewish underlings the punishment that faced criminals who dared question Rome's power to keep order.

Theme: Christ's Crucifixion Expresses Jesus' Forgiveness

That was the setting. It was then and it was there that we observe how: CHRIST'S CRUCIFIXION EXPRESSES JESUS' FORGIVENESS. The primary message here (on which depends our unending future) is that: JESUS FORGIVES US. A secondary (and also important message) is that: WE FORGIVE OTHERS, as well.

Scripture: Christ's Crucifixion, According To Luke

Today's account begins: Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. These criminals Luke literally terms evildoers-- nothing more, nothing less. The other accounts call them robbers-- but robbers the likes of which had stripped, beaten, and half killed a man in Jesus' Parable of the Good Samaritan. These were robbers the likes of Barabbas-- called a robber, but also a murderer.

Going on, it says: When they came to the place called the Skull -- I explained that before -- there they crucified him.

It means the Roman soldiers pinned Jesus to the cross. It means that they took the heavy crossbeam that he was carrying, they laid it on an even heavier and longer beam, and they fastened the two of them together. Then they fastened Jesus. They took a heavy mallet and some spikes, they pounded the spikes (slicing and slashing) through his wrists and his heels.

Then they lifted the cross into a deep hole in the ground, in order to display the criminal victim-- probably some eight feet off the ground. Under Jesus' feet was probably a wedge to hold his weight a bit. Over his head was, without any doubt, notice of the criminal charge for which he was being executed: "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."

Going on, it says: Jesus was crucified along with the criminals-- one on his right, the other on his left. He was reckoned as just as much an evildoer, just as much a criminal, just as much a robber, just as much a murderer as they-- and even more so: he was the central criminal.

So, how did Jesus react to the pain, to the blows of those four Roman soldiers, to Pilate's and Herod's judgment, to Annas' and Caiaphas' accusations? Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Jesus not only put the best construction on an awful situation, but he fully forgave the perpetrators.

Minutes pass. Hours pass. Passers-by jeered him. The Jewish leaders mocked him. The two thieves -- yes, both of them: according to Matthew and Mark -- they kept insulting him.

And then, picking up the account here, it says: One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him-- literally, this criminal kept blaspheming him. "Aren't you the Christ?" (It was mockery.) "Save yourself and (betraying his real concern) save us!"

But then -- after a miracle of conversion: in which God the Holy Spirit took all his Old Testament promises of the Messiah, and all that this criminal knew about Jesus, and all that he was now observing, and perhaps (just perhaps) the words of Jesus and his disciples standing by -- it says: the other criminal rebuked the first.

"Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence?-- the same sentence as God? He was identifying Jesus as God!

"We are punished justly, he says, for we are getting what our deeds deserve." It's a nice, sincere, complete confession of transgression.

"But this man Jesus, he concludes, has done nothing wrong"-- literally, literally: nothing out of place (not only nothing wrong, but nothing even close to wrong)!

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He may not even have had a good idea what that kingdom would be, but what he did know was that Jesus was The King-- and he wanted to be attached to him.

How it must have surprised him!-- when Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, literally Amen: Amen! today you will be with me in paradise"-- paradise, that is: the park, God's park, the Garden of Eden with its fellowship between God and man restored.

Application One: Jesus Forgives Us

And that's it: Luke's account of Christ's crucifixion. So, what does this mean to us? Well, more than anything else, Christ's crucifixion means Jesus forgives us!

And: "What's there to forgive?" you might ask. Well, maybe we can get a clue by considering the people Jesus very directly forgave-- in this: Luke's account of Christ's crucifixion.

• There were the Jewish leaders. Their primary sin was their willingness to lie and to make false accusations to protect there own interests.

Friends, I too have known people who were willing to lie to protect their own interests. I've known people who were willing to lie to parents, to spouses, to children -- about a broken dish, about a piece of furniture out of place, about a job undone -- in order not to get in trouble. I've known such sinners. You see, I've known you, and I've known me.

I also know Jesus' prayer: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And I know that by way of the very suffering and death Jesus was undergoing when he spoke that prayer: we are forgiven.

• Then there were the Gentile leaders, chief among them Pontius Pilate. Their primary sin was their willingness to let an innocent man suffer so that they wouldn't have to do so themselves.

Friends, I too have known people who were willing to let others suffer so that they wouldn't have to. I've known people who were willing to let another student be blamed for disruption they themselves caused, another worker be blamed for work they themselves didn't do-- in order not to get in trouble. I've known such sinners. You see, I've known you, and I've known me.

• Then there were the Roman soldiers. They had mercilessly mocked Jesus. They had greedily gambled for his clothes. They must have loved the violence.

Friends, I too have known people who mercilessly mocked others. I've known greatly greedy people. I've known people who have reveled in violence against others. I've known such sinners. You see, I've known you, and I've known me.

• Finally there were the two evildoers, criminals, blasphemers, robbers, murderers....

Friends, I too have known evildoers-- people sinful from birth. I too have known criminals-- people who have broken God's law. I too have known blasphemers-- people whose actions have brought dishonor to the name of the God who bought them with his blood. I too have known robbers and murderers-- envious people, angry people. I've known such sinners. You see, I've known you, and I've known me.

But I also know Jesus promise: "Amen! You will be with me in paradise!" And I know -- I know! -- you and I can count on that promise: absolutely eternally!

Application Two: We Forgive Others

That, then, is the primary message of Christ's crucifixion: Jesus forgives us. A secondary, and also important message, is this: that we forgive others.

Friends, I'm convinced that the single thing you can best do to proclaim the forgiveness Christ won for you on the cross is to express that forgiveness personally to others. And don't be thinking that most people do that very regularly or very naturally....

• For example: kids, have you really forgiven your brothers and sisters all their sins against you? Have you really forgiven your brother all the times he's hit you? Have you really forgiven your sister all the times she's pestered you? Isn't it true that, unless you really work at it, those sins pile up and separate you? Kids, forgive one another! Do it right out loud!

• And students, have you really forgiven your teachers and classmates all their sins against you? Have you really forgiven your teachers for their faults? Have you really forgiven your classmates all those times they've picked on you? Or: isn't it true that without extraordinary diligence those sins pile up and separate you? Students, forgive one another! And do it right out loud!

• Spouses, have you really forgiven your spouses all their sins against you? Husbands, have you really forgiven your wives all those times that they have nagged you or hollered at you? Wives, have you really forgiven your husbands all those times that they have ignored you or insulted you? Or: isn't it true that without extraordinary diligence those sins pile up and separate you? Spouses, forgive one another! And do it right out loud!

• And workers, have you really forgiven your supervisors and coworkers all their sins against you? Have you really forgiven your bosses for all their faults? Have you really forgiven your coworkers all those times you have had to cover for them? Or: isn't it true that, unless you really work at it, those sins pile up and separate you? Workers, forgive one another! Do it right out loud!

Conclusion: We Proclaim Christ's Crucifixion By Forgiving Others

Now, I'll admit: that kind of forgiveness is very difficult, when people sin against you over and over and over again....

But that's the time to consider Jesus Christ. He forgave your every sin-- billions in your lifetime. Jesus forgave your every sin-- thousands upon thousands every day. He forgave your every sin-- every one, every moment.

In turn, you love Jesus. You want to honor him. You want others to know him. The way to do it is by forgiving others-- right out loud! all the time!

Amen.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Amen.