This Good Friday evening, as we remember the sacrifice of your Son,
please humble the pride of man and exalt the mercy of Christ.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
On Sundays, we normally ask you to stand for the reading of God's Word,
but you've been standing a lot for the reading of Scripture, so I'm just going to read for us here.
Luke 23, verses 32 to 49.
Two others who were criminals were led away to be put to death with Jesus.
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 woman who had followed him from Galilee
stood at a distance watching these things.
This is God's holy and authoritative word.
Many of us in this city are accustomed to success.
But what would you do if you're in a situation where,
no matter how hard you try,
you just are not good enough?
Your best has always been enough.
Until now.
You have an impregnable wall to climb.
You have an impassable chasm to cross.
You have an insurmountable debt to repay.
What would you do?
When it comes to our spiritual life,
that is the unfortunate situation that we all find ourselves in.
We are guilty sinners before a holy God.
And our best is not good enough.
But this passage teaches us that
the good news of Good Friday
is this, that innocent Jesus
was unjustly condemned
so that guilty sinners
might be mercifully saved.
And we're going to look at how the innocent
goes to the cross
and then how the criminal goes to paradise.
Throughout this book,
Luke emphasizes the innocence of Jesus.
In the narrative of Jesus' suffering and death
in chapter 23, Luke tells us
six times total
that Jesus was in fact innocent.
Three times,
the governor,
the Roman governor,
Pontius Pilate himself,
makes this confession.
He says that he finds no guilt in Jesus.
King Herod also concurs with him.
And then in our passage tonight,
one of the criminals
who is crucified next to Jesus
says to the other criminal
in verse 41 and 42,
We are under the sentence of condemnation
justly,
for we are receiving the due reward
of our deeds.
But this man has done nothing wrong.
And finally,
in verse 47,
the Roman centurion
who sees the manner of Jesus' death
and the cosmic phenomena
that surround it
concludes,
Certainly,
this man was innocent.
Innocent Jesus
was unjustly condemned.
This is the most heinous evil,
the most egregious injustice
that mankind has ever perpetrated.
Because Jesus is the Christ,
the Messianic King,
who is worthy of our allegiance.
Because Jesus is the Son of God,
the second person of the Trinity,
the one by whom all things were created,
to whom we owe our very existence,
and who is infinitely worthy
of our worship.
And yet,
He was condemned
even though Jesus is the Savior
who came to save the world
and not to condemn the world.
The world condemned Him
who came to save them.
How wrong is it for people
to kill the one who gives them life?
How wrong is it
for people to treat Jesus
like a criminal
when He is in fact
the rightful King?
And that's not the only thing
that is unjust
about the situation.
Because whenever there is
a miscarriage of justice like this,
there is a dual injustice.
For example,
on March 4th of this year,
Ronald Johnson
was exonerated and released
after spending 34 years in jail.
He was wrongfully convicted
of murdering Joseph Goldsby
based solely on
the false testimony
of two witnesses.
Just think of
the injustice of it all.
He was 27 years old
when he was jailed,
and now he is 61 years old.
The prime years of his life
are gone.
But that's not the only injustice.
Somebody did murder
Joseph Goldsby,
and that murderer went free
because Ronald Johnson
went to jail.
It is not only unjust
that the innocent
is wrongly punished,
it is also unjust
that someone who is guilty
goes unpunished
as a result of it.
But in Jesus' case,
he wasn't
unjustly condemned
and executed
against his will.
Jesus went to the cross
willingly.
As he says in John 10, 18,
he laid his own life down.
Why?
Because
it was the only way
that guilty sinners
can be mercifully saved.
So in this case,
it's not an injustice
that the guilty go free.
It's a mercy.
In the language of the Old Testament
sacrificial system,
Jesus is the Lamb of God
who takes away
the sin of the world.
And one of the requirements
for a sacrificial lamb
was that he be blameless.
So 1 Peter 1
tells us that
Christians have been ransomed
from their sinful ways
with the precious blood
of Christ
like that of a lamb
without blemish.
Only an unblemished lamb,
an innocent one,
is worthy to be slain
as the atoning sacrifice
for sin.
That's why Hebrews 4, 15
confirms that
in every respect,
Jesus was tempted
as we are,
yet without sin.
1 John 3, 5
confirms that
Jesus appeared
in order to take away sins
and in him
there is no sin.
The unjust condemnation
of innocent Jesus
is the only way
that guilty sinners
like you and me
can be mercifully saved.
We see Jesus' role
as the sacrificial lamb
in several details
of this passage.
In verses 32 to 33,
we are told that
Jesus is led away
that's led away
outside of the city
to the place
that is called
the skull
in order to be put to death.
The sin offering
that was offered
on the Day of Atonement
once a year
in the Old Testament times
was not burned
inside the temple
like the other sacrifices.
That sin offering
was burned
outside the camp.
Likewise,
to be the atoning sacrifice
for the sins
of his people,
Jesus went
outside the camp
to be crucified.
Hebrews 13, 11, 12
makes this connection
explicitly.
for the bodies
of those animals
whose blood
is brought into
the holy places
by the high priest
as a sacrifice
for sin
are burned
outside the camp.
So,
Jesus also
suffered
outside the gate
in order to
sanctify the people
through his own blood.
Outside the camp
is where
criminals
sentenced to death
were dragged out
for execution.
we see that
in Leviticus 24, 14
and 1 Kings 21, 13.
That's where
we deserve to go.
We are all
guilty sinners
who have rebelled
against our God
and Creator.
We may not have
murdered anyone
but we have all
murdered in our hearts
by harboring
hateful anger
against someone else.
We may not have
committed physical adultery
or fornication
though some of us
have done that
but we have all
committed adultery
of the heart
by lusting
after someone.
We may not have
stolen anything
from anyone
though some of us
have done that too
but we have all
stolen things
in our hearts
through envy.
We have been
prideful
and self-righteous
which is to spit
in the face of God
in whose presence
there is no space
for even an ounce
of pride
and self-righteousness.
We deserve
to be dragged out
outside the camp
but instead
Jesus is led
outside the camp
as if he
were a cause
of defilement
to be killed
alongside two
other criminals
but Jesus
is innocent.
He is killed
outside the camp
because he is
the ultimate
sin offering
for the day
of atonement
because he is
the divinely
appointed substitute
for guilty sinners.
After being
taken outside
the camp
it says in
verse 33
that Jesus
is crucified.
Two thousand
years of
Christian history
has desensitized
us to the shame
and the offensiveness
of the cross
but to Roman
and Jewish
sensibilities
crucifixion
was a particularly
abominable way
to die.
For the Romans
crucifixion
was a form
of cruel
and unusual
punishment.
It was a form
of torture
and execution
combined
into one.
The Romans
had perfected
several other
ways to
efficiently
kill people
and execute
people
but they used
crucifixion
for special
cases
for low life
criminals
and enemies
of the state.
for example
they would
crucify
those guilty
of treason
in order to
make a spectacle
of them
in order to
send a message
a gruesome
warning to
others who
might attempt
the same.
For the Jews
also there was
a great stigma
and reproach
attached to
being hanged
on a tree
because Deuteronomy
21-23
taught that a man
who is killed
by being hanged
on a tree
is cursed
by God
and that's
precisely the
language that
Luke uses
here in
chapter 23
verse 39
where he
says
uses the word
hanged
to describe
those who are
being crucified.
It's the same
word that Luke
uses in his
sequel to the
Gospel of Luke
in the book of
Acts
in Acts 530
and Acts 1039
when he recounts
that people put
Jesus to death
quote
by hanging him
on a tree.
this language
is making
an explicit
connection
to the
Deuteronomy
21-23
Jesus
the blessed
one
was accursed.
Christ
redeemed us
from the curse
of the law
by becoming
a curse
for us.
For our
sake
God made
him to be
sin
who knew
no sin
so in him
we might
become
the righteousness
of God.
Jesus
faced
the damnation
of the cross
so that we
might meet
God's
salvation.
He bore
the wrath
of God
on the cross
so that we
might receive
the mercy
of God.
His
condemnation
on the cross
is our
justification.
His bondage
on the cross
is our
freedom
and his
death
on the cross
is our
eternal
life.
This is
the scandal
the scandalous
injustice
of the cross.
Innocent
Jesus
was unjustly
condemned
so that
guilty
sinners
might be
mercifully
saved.
It's so
wrong.
It's so
scandalous.
It's so
unjust
but it's
so
breathtakingly
beautiful
and so
wondrously
glorious
because
that's
how we
are saved.
That's
why we
call
Jesus'
execution
day
Good
Friday.
It was
a bad
and terrible
day
on all
accounts
but it
was a
good
day
for
sinners
like you
and me
who
trust in
Jesus.
And one
such
sinner
was a
criminal
that was
crucified
alongside
Jesus.
There were
actually
two
criminals
one to
Jesus'
right
and the
other
to his
left
and the
word
that is
translated
criminal
here
is a
word
that
means
robber
a
bandit
revolutionary
or
insurrectionist.
it's
the
same
word
that
is
used
to
describe
Barabbas
in
John
18
40.
And as
we saw
earlier
in Luke
23
in one
of the
scripture
readings,
Barabbas
was
specifically
described
as a
rebel
who
had
committed
murder
in the
insurrection.
So
these
two
criminals
that
are
crucified
alongside
Jesus
are
no
petty
thieves.
They've
done
something
to merit
a
capital
sentence,
perhaps
even
murder
and
insurrection.
They're
not
good
people.
And
one of
the
criminals
is
arrogant
and
irreverent
even
as
his
very
life
is
ebbing
away.
He
joins
the
scoffing
of
rulers
and
the
soldiers
and
rails
at
Jesus
in
verse
39.
Are
you
not
the
Christ?
Save
yourself
and
us.
His
words
are
dripping
with
bitter
sarcasm
and
he's
kicking
Jesus
when
he
is
down
on
the
ground.
Even
a
criminal
on
death
row
who
is
in
the
process
of
being
executed
thinks
he can
take a
dig
at
Jesus.
The
word
rail
in
Greek
is
the
word
from
which
we
get
the
English
word
blaspheme.
It
means
to
slander
someone,
to speak
against,
revile,
and to
defame
someone in
a way that
damages
their reputation
and name.
Instead of
recognizing
Jesus for who
he really
is as the
Christ,
as the
Savior,
this criminal
stabs Jesus
with his
cutting
irony.
But
the second
criminal
steps in
to defend
Jesus
and
he rebukes
the other
criminal
in
verses
40
and
41.
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.
This
is a
humble
admission
of guilt.
This
criminal,
unlike
the first
one,
acknowledges
that his
punishment
is just
and that
it is
what he
deserves.
But he
notes that
Jesus has
done
nothing
wrong.
And then
in verse
42,
the criminal
turns to
Jesus and
says,
Jesus,
remember me
when you
come into
your kingdom.
It's
really an
audacious
request
because he's
a criminal
on death
row.
He really
has nothing
to commend
him.
I mean,
what has
he ever
done for
Jesus?
what's
his
ticket
into
the
kingdom?
But it
expresses his
humble faith
in Jesus.
There's not
a lot of
specifics
here.
His
request
is vague
probably
because his
understanding
of Jesus
is also
vague.
But he
seems to
have overheard
people ridiculing
Jesus as
the Christ.
And he
can see the
mocking inscription
over Jesus'
head,
this is
the king
of the
Jews.
And he
believes it.
So even
though he
doesn't know
how or
when Jesus
will come
into his
kingdom,
but when
he does,
the criminal
asks,
Jesus,
remember
me.
And Jesus'
response in
verse 43 is
even more
shocking than
the criminal's
request.
Truly,
I say to
you,
today you
will be
with me
in paradise.
Christ.
Jesus says,
truly,
I say to
you,
that's the
expression,
amen,
verily,
truly,
I say to
you.
Jesus doesn't
say to
him,
maybe,
I'll think
about it.
He says,
truly,
I say to
you,
I assure
you,
I promise
you,
I give
you my
word.
and Jesus
doesn't
say,
well,
after a
thousand
years,
maybe I'll
bring you
to a
kingdom.
He says,
today you
will be
with me
in paradise.
The word
today is a
significant
theological
term throughout
the gospel
of Luke
because he
uses it
repeatedly
throughout
the gospel
to highlight
the fact
that the
window of
opportunity
for your
salvation
is not
tomorrow,
it's
today.
This very
moment,
this evening
if you are
here,
you're not
here by
coincidence.
You are
here by
the ordaining
of the
sovereign
God.
And this
may be
your hour
of salvation.
Today,
you might
hear the
assurance
that this
criminal
heard from
Jesus.
the
criminal
asked to
be with
Jesus in
his kingdom
and Jesus
promises that
he will be
with him
in paradise.
Jesus'
kingdom will
not be a
small,
measly,
earthly
kingdom in
a Middle
Eastern
desert.
It will
be a
paradise,
prophesied
of in
Isaiah 51
3 when
God makes
Israel's
wilderness
like Eden,
her desert
like the
garden of
the Lord.
This
criminal is
hanging on
a cross
atop
an open
hill
in the
scorching
Middle
Eastern
sun,
parched
by the
dry air,
gasping
for breath.
Jesus assures
him that
he will
not be
for long.
Today,
you will
be with
me in
paradise.
It's a
promise of
eternal
life,
of the
water of
life that
flows in
that paradise
that we
see in
Revelation.
salvation.
It's where
the tree
of life
is that
gives eternal
life which
is in
the paradise
of God.
Jesus'
response is
staggering
because it
goes so far
beyond what
this criminal
deserves.
The
crucifixion
was what
this criminal
deserved,
not
paradise.
The Bible
teaches that
at the end
of the world
when Christ
returns,
he will
judge
everyone
according to
what they
have done.
But what
good works
does this
criminal have
to show
for himself?
Nothing.
If he is
like Barabbas,
he is a
murderer
and an
insurrectionist.
His record
is against
him.
He has
no good
works
to merit
paradise.
not only
that,
when people
come to
faith in
Jesus,
they are
supposed to
be
baptized.
That's the
normal course
by which a
person becomes
a Christian.
But this
criminal has
no chance
to go
through even
that
initiatory
rite of
conversion.
this is a
deathbed
conversion if
there ever
was one.
Well then,
did this
criminal at
least have
good
theology?
Almost
certainly
not.
Imagine if
Jesus
administered a
little theology
exam on the
cross.
you said,
remember me
when you
come into
your kingdom.
Well,
here's
question number
one.
Will I
bring about
an earthly
kingdom or
a heavenly
kingdom?
Your choice,
A,
B,
or both
A and
B?
You can
just imagine
his blank
stare.
Question
number two,
when exactly
will my
kingdom come?
Is it
already here
or not
yet?
Will I
establish a
millennial
reign here
on earth
or reign
through the
church?
And the
criminal
goes,
I don't
know.
This
criminal
would have
flunked all
the tests.
But he
knew two
things.
He knew
that he
was a
sinner.
And he
knew that
Jesus could
save him.
And that
was
enough.
Throughout
the entire
Gospel of
Luke,
neither
angelic
beings nor
human beings
address Jesus
simply by
his name,
as this
criminal does.
Jesus.
They
call him
with
exalted
titles,
Jesus of
Nazareth,
the Holy
One of
God.
They
call him
Jesus,
Son of
the Most
High God.
They
call him
Jesus,
Master.
They
call him
Jesus,
Son of
David.
But this
criminal simply
calls him
Jesus,
which means
the Lord
saves.
And that's
the only
thing that
commends
this criminal
to the
paradise or
kingdom of
God.
The only
thing that
he trusts
Jesus,
that Jesus
remembers
him.
This is,
at the
simplest level,
what repentance
and faith
look like.
First,
the criminal
confessed his
sin.
We are under
the sentence
of condemnation.
condemnation
justly.
For we are
receiving the
due reward
of our
deeds.
That's
repentance.
Do you
know that
that is
what you
deserve?
Death.
Condemnation.
And then
there's the
turning away,
after turning
away from
sin,
secondly,
there is
the criminal
putting his
faith in
Jesus.
Jesus,
remember me
when you
come into
your kingdom.
that's
faith.
It's as
simple as
that.
This
criminal had
nothing going
for him
but this,
that Jesus
remembered
him.
Please,
don't hear
what I'm
not saying.
I'm not
saying that
doing good
works
doesn't
matter.
I'm not
saying that
baptism
doesn't
matter.
I'm not
saying that
theology
doesn't
matter.
As
theologian
J.I.
Packer
writes in
his book
Keep in
Step with
the Spirit,
nor do I
suggest that
ignorance and
error are
unimportant for
spiritual health
so long as
one has an
honest heart
and a genuine
passion for
God.
It is
certain that
God blesses
believers
precisely and
invariably by
blessing to
them something
of his
truth.
And that
misbelief as
such is in
its own
nature spiritually
barren and
destructive.
Yet,
anyone who
deals with
souls will
again and
again be
amazed at
the gracious
generosity with
which God
blesses to
needy ones
what looks
to us like
a very tiny
needle of
truth hidden
amid whole
haystacks of
mental error.
As I have
said,
countless
sinners truly
experience the
saving grace of
Jesus Christ and
the transforming
power of the
Holy Spirit while
their notions
about both are
erratic and
largely incorrect.
Where indeed
would any of
us be if
God's blessing
had been
withheld till
all our
notions were
right?
every Christian
without
exception
experiences far
more in the
way of mercy
and help than
the quality of
his notions
warrant.
That is the
heart of God.
Even when he
sees only a
very tiny
needle of
truth hidden
amidst a
whole haystack
of mental
error,
God blesses
us on
account of
that truth.
I don't
know what
kind of
sinner you
are.
Maybe you've
done things
in life that
you never
dare share
with anyone.
I don't
know what
kind of good
works you
have done.
Certainly
they are
inadequate in
light of
God's perfect
standard.
I don't
know the
ins and
outs of
your
theology.
it may
be full
of errors
of various
kinds.
But this
day,
2,000 years
ago,
innocent
Jesus was
unjustly
condemned
so that
guilty
sinners
like you
and me
might be
mercifully
saved.
so will
you join
me this
evening in
simply
saying,
Jesus,
remember
me.
Jesus,
remember
me.
Father,
grant every
single man
and woman,
children,
here in
this room
that simple
faith that
says,
Jesus,
remember
me.
In the
precious name
of Jesus,
we pray.
Amen.