WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.480 I would like to turn back this evening to the passage that we read together in Luke's 00:00:05.480 --> 00:00:16.399 Gospel, and the account of Jesus on the cross with the two criminals on either side. 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:25.879 Now, this is the Sunday before Easter Sunday, and there's never been an Easter like it in 00:00:25.879 --> 00:00:37.039 living memory, if there's ever been an Easter quite like it in some ways for us. And in a very 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:44.799 serious situation that we find ourselves in, we often find also that we ask spiritual questions, 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:53.239 or people ask spiritual questions, or people ask questions about God. Where is your God at times 00:00:53.240 --> 00:01:01.280 like this? Where is Jesus? Why is this happening? Why is there, and not just at a time like this, 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:08.599 but one of the great, great issues of the world in which we live is people asking the 00:01:08.599 --> 00:01:14.599 question, why is there so much suffering, and why is there so much death? It's always a huge 00:01:14.599 --> 00:01:20.760 question. It's an age-old question, it doesn't make it any less real, and any less significant, 00:01:20.760 --> 00:01:31.880 and any less genuine in people's lives. Can I just say one thing at this point? That it's a 00:01:31.880 --> 00:01:38.920 question that you can only ask in spiritual terms, it's a question you can only ask if you believe in 00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:49.240 God. If you have no concept of God, maybe you wouldn't be watching this particular sermon online, 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:59.599 if that's the case, but you may know people who don't believe in God, and who maybe have an atheistic 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:08.840 or a secular worldview. With no God, you can't ask that question. You can't ask that question, 00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:18.400 why? Why are these things happening? Because there is no ultimate reason, it just is. There's 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:26.080 no real purpose. You can make no cry to anyone or anything outside of the sealed bubble of 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:34.080 humanity's random existence if there is no God. There's nothing ultimate. This is it. This is all 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:45.960 we have. And that in itself is a hugely unsatisfying answer to the problem of suffering and death and 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:51.960 trials and tribulations that we go through in life. I'm not saying there's any easy answers to 00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:59.560 suffering, but I think you'll find in the Bible and in God's revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ, 00:02:59.560 --> 00:03:10.439 that the whole, these questions are addressed. So when we come to this passage of Jesus and the 00:03:10.439 --> 00:03:18.960 crucified criminals, you wouldn't immediately think it's a passage that deals with that big question 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:24.960 primarily. I've never thought, I've never before thought of this passage as speaking clearly or 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:34.879 directly into this critical question. But it's absolutely brilliant and powerful in addressing 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:41.240 the question of evil and suffering in a very personal and also in a very relevant way for us. 00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:49.120 It's a short and clear and powerful and apologetic into the question of suffering as the book of 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:58.280 Job is long and also gloriously powerful and mysterious at the same time. So we have this 00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:06.039 scenario of Jesus on the cross with the criminals on either side of him. And we have that of course, 00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:11.599 prophesied in Isaiah chapter 53, verse 12, where we have these words, 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:16.040 therefore I will divide him a portion with the many and he shall divide the spoil with the strong 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:20.639 because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors or the criminals, 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:28.240 yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for transgressors. So you have these two 00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:37.560 guys on either side of him. In all probability they were bandits, freedom fighters, we might call 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:44.400 them terrorists, we also might call them. They were also probably thieves as well, 00:04:44.400 --> 00:04:51.240 they're talked about as thieves in one of the other gospels who would have stolen to fund 00:04:51.240 --> 00:04:57.519 their cause. The word that's used for them here is the same word that's used of the bandits in 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:04.199 the story of the parable of the Good Samaritan who robbed him and left him for dead. There were 00:05:04.199 --> 00:05:12.599 zealots, insurrectionists, similar to Barabbas who was released in order that Jesus would be 00:05:12.599 --> 00:05:19.959 crucified. In fact, they were probably part of the same gang as the three of them would have been 00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:28.719 crucified together. So here we have them with Jesus on the cross, on their crosses, a critical 00:05:28.719 --> 00:05:35.199 time at the end of their lives, and they displayed two very different reactions to their suffering 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:49.719 and also to Jesus. And what we find is that they mirror very clearly people's different reactions to 00:05:49.719 --> 00:05:56.279 Jesus and to God in the light of their plight or their suffering or evil or death. And you may 00:05:56.279 --> 00:06:06.799 find that God is speaking into your own reactions and your own responses to Him. And we hope and pray 00:06:06.799 --> 00:06:14.239 that we will all be challenged by that and challenged to consider who Jesus is. So we have 00:06:14.239 --> 00:06:21.639 two criminals here. And the first, in verse 39, we're going to look at and we're going to call 00:06:21.639 --> 00:06:28.560 them the contemptuous criminal. 39, one of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, as Jesus 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:35.680 saying, are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. So here we have this criminal, and even in his 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:44.560 desperate state, in his utter agony, he is soon to die. There's no admission of any kind of weakness 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:51.240 or vulnerability or need. He has tunnel vision about the situation he's in, and he spews out 00:06:51.240 --> 00:07:00.480 sarcasm about Jesus and about his claims. You know, are you not the Christ? It's as if he's 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:12.680 saying, look Christ, you're here and your reputation is at stake. He wants Jesus to show him that he 00:07:12.680 --> 00:07:20.360 really is who he claims to be and who he thinks he should be. Come on, he says, come down off 00:07:20.360 --> 00:07:28.560 that cross and show me what you're made of. And in so doing, get me out of here. I want to come out 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:33.840 of this situation and you're supposed to be the Christ, not much of a Christ as you're hanging on 00:07:33.840 --> 00:07:41.720 the tree. Come on, save me and save my colleague, my friend, and save yourself. I'm not interested in 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:47.879 all this forgiveness stuff that you've been speaking about that we read about in verse 33 here in 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:51.839 The Passage, Father, forgive them for they don't know what they're doing. Just get me off the cross, 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:57.519 do it by some great miracle, and end my suffering and my pain here. I want my life back, save my 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:07.800 skin, my way. There's this great cry of self-preservation, and it's almost as if he sees Jesus 00:08:07.800 --> 00:08:14.920 much more like a superhero that we're used to seeing on the screens. Someone who comes in and 00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:19.280 saves the day and who does an amazing miracle and whips him off the cross and takes him away 00:08:19.280 --> 00:08:29.720 and gives him the freedom that he's looking for. Now, in many ways, that's a common response, 00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:38.600 a common response of unbelief towards God and towards suffering. Everyone wants to be saved at 00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:47.159 that level. That is in this life. Everyone wants to be free from suffering and to be healthy and 00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:57.240 to be happy and to have long life. And very often, people will say, but surely, God's reputation is 00:08:57.240 --> 00:09:03.360 at stake in all of this and this reality of evil and darkness and pain. If he's supposed to be God, 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:08.840 he's supposed to be loving, why would he allow me to suffer? Why would he allow anyone to suffer? 00:09:08.840 --> 00:09:15.960 Why am I suffering? If God is God, why isn't he doing something? He's all powerful. Why doesn't 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:22.960 he climb down off that cross and do something and end my pain and my suffering? Where is his love? 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:34.160 Don't you care? Aren't you interested? Now, we've maybe faced that response many times from people 00:09:34.160 --> 00:09:41.800 and maybe it's a response that deep down in our hearts, we've also often had to suffering and pain 00:09:41.800 --> 00:09:49.360 and it's perfectly natural in many ways, especially at a time like this, a time of crisis that we're 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:57.519 going through. What sort of Messiah is Jesus? What sort of Savior is He? Now, God knows that we ask 00:09:57.519 --> 00:10:05.480 these questions and God knows that people say this and accuse Him in this way and that's why I 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:11.879 believe this story, at least one of the reasons why this story is recorded. And what is Jesus' 00:10:11.879 --> 00:10:20.759 answer? What is the answer of Jesus to the criticisms and the accusations and the abuse 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:33.399 that he gets from the contemptuous criminal? He didn't flinch. Christ didn't flinch. He stayed 00:10:33.399 --> 00:10:46.079 exactly where he was. He continued to suffer and so did the criminal. Why? Because the alternative 00:10:46.079 --> 00:10:51.799 wouldn't have changed the fundamental problem. It would have been a temporary solution, wouldn't 00:10:51.799 --> 00:10:56.759 it? Jesus could have jumped off that cross and he could have taken the two criminals with them 00:10:56.759 --> 00:11:02.799 and they could have just ripped their way through the crowd and headed off to freedom. But it 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:12.199 wouldn't have provided a solution to suffering and to illness and to death and to sin and to 00:11:12.199 --> 00:11:21.279 guilt and to the grave, because the cross is the only answer. It wasn't the nails that kept 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:30.679 Jesus Christ on the cross. It was His will. It was His love. It was His divine knowledge that 00:11:30.679 --> 00:11:37.759 this was the only way to deal with suffering in this world and to deal with evil and to deal with 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:45.879 pain and to deal with death. This is the only place, this place, Calvary, God, God as we saw 00:11:45.879 --> 00:11:55.599 last week, this is the only place in the universe where death's power could be defeated and our 00:11:55.600 --> 00:12:10.600 guilt before God atoned for and suffering categorized. It's where we can categorize and find some kind 00:12:10.600 --> 00:12:18.519 of purpose and reason and understanding of suffering. Now, we know that life since the cross 00:12:18.519 --> 00:12:25.759 goes on in a suffering world and we know that is because evil has been defeated on the cross, 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:32.439 but not yet destroyed until he returns. And that means that this life can be desperate and can be 00:12:32.439 --> 00:12:41.360 tough and there is suffering and there is pain and much of it from our point of view is we don't 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:50.080 understand and we don't minimize and we don't regard as insignificant. But he does call us to 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:57.919 trust. He does call us to see and understand that it is ultimately temporary for all those who will 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:06.080 put their faith in Him to recognize His rescue and to see even that suffering can have a redemptive 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:14.440 purpose and can and will be overcome and be beneficial by His grace for all who will call 00:13:14.440 --> 00:13:21.960 in Him and trust in Him and look to Him for redemption because ultimately death has been 00:13:21.960 --> 00:13:30.920 defeated for all who put their faith in Jesus. So you've got the contemptuous criminal, but you've 00:13:30.919 --> 00:13:38.719 also got the repentant terrorist. I might not like that phrase, but it accurately describes who 00:13:38.719 --> 00:13:44.759 we have here in verse, the next few verses. But the other rebuked him saying, do you not fear God 00:13:44.759 --> 00:13:49.799 since you're under the same sentence of condemnation? And we justly, for we have received the due 00:13:49.799 --> 00:13:55.639 rewards of our deed, but this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus said, and he said, Jesus, 00:13:55.639 --> 00:14:01.480 remember me when you come into your kingdom, and he said to him, truly I say to you, today you'll be 00:14:01.480 --> 00:14:11.000 with me in paradise. Another guy in exactly the same situation with a totally different reaction. 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:19.279 You know, when you think of three dying men on a cross here, and yet this repentant terrorist 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:26.959 sees something in Jesus that makes him respond absolutely differently. There's a recognition 00:14:26.959 --> 00:14:35.000 in what he says that somehow God is close. God is intimately involved in this situation, 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:42.679 and he is holding God in awe. You know, don't you fear God? Don't you reverence God? Aren't you 00:14:42.679 --> 00:14:49.839 aware that we're just a hair breadth away from standing before the living God, and we're guilty 00:14:49.839 --> 00:14:58.399 in this world in human terms, how much more so are we before the living God? He recognizes that 00:14:58.399 --> 00:15:03.959 he's imminently going to die, and justly, and he confesses that, confesses his wrongdoing, 00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:13.000 and in so doing also recognizes Jesus' innocence, and he cries out to him. He says, Lord, you know, 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:19.879 please, please don't forget me. I know you're doing something here. I know you're someone of 00:15:19.879 --> 00:15:25.720 influence and someone of authority, and it's remarkable, isn't it, that he says that. It reminds 00:15:25.720 --> 00:15:32.440 me of the story of Joseph in the Old Testament in Genesis, when he's been, he's flung into prison 00:15:32.440 --> 00:15:38.440 with the baker and the cupbater, and he interprets their dreams, and we know that they come true, 00:15:38.440 --> 00:15:45.320 and that the cupbater eventually is released from prison, and back into Pharaoh's service, 00:15:45.320 --> 00:15:50.560 and as he has been released, Joseph says to him, remember me. You know, you're going into the 00:15:50.560 --> 00:15:54.960 presence of the Pharaoh again, someone of great influence and importance. Remember me there. 00:15:54.960 --> 00:16:03.800 And of course, we know he forgets for long enough. But here is the same thing you've got. This is a 00:16:03.800 --> 00:16:10.360 very different situation though, isn't it? Because he's asking someone who apparently is in exactly 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:17.920 the same position as him, remember me. Remember me. He's saying it to a man in a cross. As if 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:25.719 he's saying, look, I don't understand it, but I know you're a king. And I believe that, that 00:16:25.719 --> 00:16:33.360 notice that's nailed above your head, King of the Jews, you are a king, but it's much greater 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:39.240 than that. And you're going to survive this. You are doing something incredible, and I want to be part 00:16:39.240 --> 00:16:45.159 of it. I want to live. Remember me when you come into your kingdom. It's a remarkable statement of 00:16:45.159 --> 00:16:53.559 faith. And Christ answers him, and he answers him in two ways, really. He answers him visually, 00:16:53.559 --> 00:17:07.399 and also verbally. He answers him visually, really, I guess, in the next few hours where, again, 00:17:07.399 --> 00:17:15.000 nothing happens. He doesn't come off the cross. He doesn't do anything spectacular. He suffers with 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:30.119 them, except that he suffers from midday to three in the afternoon when darkness comes down. We're 00:17:30.119 --> 00:17:39.359 told that three years of darkness from midday. And the repentant and the repentant terrorist, 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:49.079 and the other, thief also sees this, and they hear the cry, it is finished. And they hear him say, 00:17:49.079 --> 00:17:56.159 Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit. And there's this visual power that I think sometimes 00:17:56.159 --> 00:18:04.439 we've lost when we're thinking about Calvary, that this is the center of all things. I don't think 00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:11.279 it's insignificant that Jesus is in the middle of these two guys. But much more, this is the center 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:18.400 of the universe in many ways. This is where all the despair of suffering finds hope, even if we 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:25.160 don't have all the answers. This is where God is revealing his answer, his ultimate answer to 00:18:25.160 --> 00:18:32.400 suffering, in the suffering of God the Son on the cross in our place. There's this great visual 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:41.280 darkness where Jesus is suffering and bearing the wrath of our sin and taking death in our place, 00:18:41.280 --> 00:18:49.320 as the Redeemer, as the Messiah. There's a very visual powerful answer there, but there's also 00:18:49.320 --> 00:18:55.840 his words. There's a verbal response from Jesus at this time. Words of incredible power and 00:18:55.839 --> 00:19:02.639 pathos and significance, not just for this individual who hears it, but for every believer 00:19:02.639 --> 00:19:08.799 right through history down to ourselves today. Truly, I say to you today, you'll be with me in 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:19.519 Paradise. Great words. I'm just going to think about them for a moment. Paradise, it's not final 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:26.799 heaven. And I think that's one of the reasons a different word is used here. It's what theologians 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:35.839 call an intermediate state. It's not final heaven because it's the place where believers go after 00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:43.200 they die in this world. So their bodies are in the grave and their souls go to Paradise. And that's 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:50.880 not the final state. That's not the ultimate that we look forward to. It's an intermediate time. 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:58.000 The word is only used a couple of times in the New Testament, what's mentioned here, but also in 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:03.600 Second Corinthians where Paul's explaining how he received the gospel. He says, I know a man, 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:09.120 almost speaks about himself in the third person, I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught 00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:13.519 up into the third heaven, whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know God knows. 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:18.239 And I know that this man was caught up into Paradise, whether in the body or out of the body, 00:20:18.239 --> 00:20:23.439 I do not know God knows. And he heard things that cannot be told, which man may never utter. 00:20:24.159 --> 00:20:31.199 And then it's also mentioned in Revelation. He is in here to hear, let him hear what the Spirit 00:20:31.199 --> 00:20:36.000 says to the churches, to the one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:49.839 the Paradise of God. So that place where the soul goes to be with God and with Jesus, it's a picture 00:20:49.839 --> 00:21:00.000 word, Paradise. It really just means park or garden, maybe as connotations back to the garden of Eden, 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:07.440 but it's really illustrative. It's just a picture that tries to convey everything about being free, 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:14.400 that being imprisoned and suffering and evil and darkness and death isn't. So when I think of 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:20.960 garden and when I think of parks, I think of my granny's garden and Pluckton, who used to run 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:28.079 into that when I was wee, and there'd be a smell of summer roses and raspberries, I can still smell 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:35.119 them when I think about that garden. Or maybe the swing park with the kids when they were small, 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:40.159 and just being there and hearing their laughter and running about and the freedom and happiness of 00:21:40.159 --> 00:21:47.359 that. Or maybe even standing on the top of a hill overlooking Glenelg or Ullapool, seeing the vastness 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:53.599 of the horizon and enjoying the peace and the gentle breeze of a warm summer's evening. Just 00:21:53.599 --> 00:22:01.279 the connotations of beauty and of openness and of freedom. We don't really know much else. The Bible 00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:09.439 doesn't say much else about this intermediate time, but it's not only intermediate as this Paradise, 00:22:10.639 --> 00:22:16.639 it's also immediate. Truly, He says, today you'll be with me in Paradise. 00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:25.600 And these are hugely comforting words for every believer. It verbally takes a sting out of death, 00:22:25.600 --> 00:22:35.120 because it's a reminder that we immediately enjoy Paradise when we die, that beautiful, 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:45.279 but mysterious experience of the disembodied believer. But He said, it's not only Paradise. 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:55.039 Why really is it Paradise? Because it says, today you'll be with me in Paradise. And again, that 00:22:55.919 --> 00:23:02.879 reminds us of the great hope that believers have of these words in 2 Corinthians 5, 8. Yes, Paul says, 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:11.200 we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:17.280 there's this recognition that this intermediate Paradise is a place where whatever it is, it's 00:23:17.280 --> 00:23:23.440 a place where we are with Jesus. Or the words of Philippians 1, 23, I'm hard pressed between the two. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:31.040 My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. So really, we don't know much 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:37.920 else than anything else is really speculation. But we do know that we will be with Jesus. We will 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:42.960 see Him. However, we can do that. We will worship Him. That will be our great reward. We'll be 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:50.399 surrounded by His love, by His life, by the revelation of what we have held on to by faith, 00:23:50.399 --> 00:23:57.200 even through suffering and darkness and difficulty. And this temporary home that we have in our 00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:04.319 disembodied state will also be a place of great anticipation, immense anticipation and excitement, 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:14.720 along with Jesus looking forward to the ushering in of His eternal resurrection life in the new 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:23.440 heavens and the new earth. And that's the great reality that we taste now as Christians, because 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:30.320 as Christians now, the opposite is also true. He is with us in the person of His Holy Spirit, 00:24:30.320 --> 00:24:38.880 in our hearts. Our lives are hid with Christ and God. And so, there is a sense that what we see 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:44.320 darkly now, what we hold on to by faith, what we sometimes struggle to understand in Christ, 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:54.559 we will know fully and beautifully and gloriously then in paradise until our bodies are resurrected 00:24:54.559 --> 00:25:00.159 into newness of life, into the new heavens and the new earth. So, it was an amazing statement 00:25:01.679 --> 00:25:10.960 that Jesus makes to him. And I finished just with a few words that really bring it home to us, 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:16.319 the significance and the importance of what Jesus says, because he says, truly I say to you, 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:27.039 truly I say to you. And that word truly is a very, is a powerful, powerful formulaic word that Jesus 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:36.000 uses. It's the word amen. And Jesus only uses it in the New Testament. He uses actually 76 times 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:43.279 in the New Testament. And he is always introducing something of great significance, a statement of 00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:48.640 pivotal importance. And he says, truly, or you remember we used to read the authorized version, 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:55.359 it would be verily, verily I say to you, truly, truly, amen, amen, I say to you. And it was a 00:25:55.359 --> 00:26:01.599 powerful declarative word that Jesus used. So, let it be. This is certain. This is essential to your 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:07.359 understanding. This is important. This is my word to you. And he's saying that to the thief on the 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:13.119 cross, and he's saying it to us now, because it's at the very core of what we need to know and understand. 00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:22.159 And so, he says, truly, you know, do you believe this? Do you understand it? Do you accept that this 00:26:22.159 --> 00:26:31.439 is the heart of the gospel right here? Jesus really is giving us a very short summary of the whole 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:40.720 gospel in this statement and in what he promises to the thief on the cross. This unnamed criminal 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:49.840 who never did any good work for Jesus, who wasn't baptized, who didn't ever sit at the Lord's table, 00:26:49.840 --> 00:26:55.920 who was probably a nasty piece of work by human standards, never went to church as a believer. 00:26:55.920 --> 00:27:04.720 However, he is the one who enters paradise with Jesus as the first trophy of post-crucifixion 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:15.759 victory. And that, my friends, is the gospel. That is the gospel. The gospel, 00:27:16.720 --> 00:27:23.039 the good news of Jesus Christ, the message of salvation is that anyone who recognizes like 00:27:23.039 --> 00:27:30.079 this common criminal in this situation, this incredibly difficult situation, if anyone in 00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:36.559 that situation recognizes they cannot even meet their own standards of goodness, they can't even 00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:44.240 sometimes keep the law of the land, let alone God's law, that we are guilty before the living God, 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:52.000 that we are facing physical death near or far away, and that that is a reflection of the spiritual 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:58.400 condition of death that we are under without our sins being forgiven. And that the only rescue for 00:27:58.400 --> 00:28:04.640 us is Jesus Christ because he is the King of kings, even though he is here nailed to a cross. 00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:15.279 And that his work on, he stayed on the cross because that was the place. That is the center. 00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:22.399 That is the message. That is the gospel. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who defeated 00:28:22.399 --> 00:28:28.079 death, who gave himself over to death. No one took away his life. He gave himself to death 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:37.839 in our place, and he did that because of his great love and great commitment and compassion 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:46.480 for a lost people like this criminal. And his provision therefore when we trust in him is 00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:54.799 beyond our wildest dreams. And all we are asked to do is confess our sins to him and ask him to 00:28:54.799 --> 00:29:02.559 remember us and put our trust in him and follow him. We have the privilege, many of us as Christians, 00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:09.679 of living a life in this broken and suffering world as followers of Jesus in a way that this 00:29:09.679 --> 00:29:18.319 criminal didn't. And so our responsibility and our privileges is great. So never has the message 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:27.759 of Easter been so relevant. And Jesus Christ is still transforming millions of lives across this 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:36.480 broken world and providing an answer and hope and redemption in suffering and through suffering 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:46.319 and remarkable transformation and a recognition of its temporary nature and of the wonderful 00:29:46.319 --> 00:29:54.960 hope of the gospel. So I would just ask all of us to consider our response to Jesus afresh 00:29:54.960 --> 00:30:00.400 and consider as believers how we respond to suffering and how we cry out and recognize 00:30:01.120 --> 00:30:08.480 his strength and ability to cope through it. But if you're not a believer tonight, maybe ask the 00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:16.400 question, where do you stand in all of this? Where is your hope? Or if you're someone who you've 00:30:16.400 --> 00:30:25.280 just feel you've completely messed up and you're absolutely broken, your life's out of control, 00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:32.320 cry out to this Jesus. I don't believe your situation was worse than this criminal. And no, 00:30:33.360 --> 00:30:38.560 the great promises of entrusting your life to him, crying out to him in prayer and asking him to be 00:30:38.559 --> 00:30:48.559 remembered. Amen. Oh, let's pray. Father God, we ask and pray that you would bless your word. 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:53.919 We thank you for that remarkable picture and illustration and real life 00:30:57.359 --> 00:31:02.799 summary cameo of the gospel. And we pray that you would 00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:08.799 touch our lives and our hearts with that truth this evening. Amen.