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"THE THREE
CROSSES" Reading:
Luke 23: 33-43 A Sermon for
PALM/PASSION SUNDAY Preached at Baldwin
Presbyterian Church, Sunday March 28th, 2010 Luke pictures 3 men dieing on 3 crosses. In the eyes of the world there
is nothing good about any of them. Through the eyes of faith a different
story is told. The first goes to the
grave unable to find release from the hatred that dominated his life. The second is told he
would be welcomed in Paradise. The third was Jesus. Think about the first man. We don’t know anything about him except that
he had committed some crime that merited the death penalty and that he saw no
hope in Jesus as being the one who could change things. He hears the mockery of the religious leaders and joins in their insults
to Jesus. “He saved others - let him save himself ... Ha! some Messiah.. some
chosen one of God... what a fraud!” The soldiers mock, offering Him some cheap wine. “Like some of this would
you - then save yourself -if you’re King enough - King of the Jews - you’re
nothing” The criminal hurls insults. “If you were all you make yourself out to be,
you could save your self - and me. But you’re not - are you! Go on - save us
- do something to make everything turn out all right - Messiah.” There will be those today who will look on at the Christian Church -
maybe see people going to worship - or watch something on television - or
hear something on the radio - or read some thing in the news - and they will
sneer. They will say to themselves, “Look at that bunch of idiots - thinking
they know anything about God - look at those goody-goodies - hypocrites -
think their better than the rest of us - Who needs them? Save the world -
they couldn’t even save themselves!” Some today will laugh
at the church. Maybe the church
deserves it. But not the churches
Savior; Jesus Christ Some will laugh at love and go to their grave thinking they are so
clever. They will kick and fight
against the very thing that could change their life. They will not consider the love of Jesus
with any seriousness - as being of any use - of any value to them. This day will be just the same as any other
day. If you were to take them by the scruff of the neck and drag them to the
foot of the cross - they would look around and then join in the jeering,
mockery and hurling insults, because - like the religious and political
leaders - like the soldiers - like the criminal at Jesus side - they see
nothing to move them - nothing that doesn’t bear out their deepest fears -
that life is a cruel joke and the best way to get through is to look after
number one - after all, look what happened to Jesus. “Save others? He can’t
even save Himself”. One
man dies unable to find release from the hatred that dominated his life. Then
there is this other criminal, who has a different attitude altogether. Again, we don’t know what he’s done, what crime he has committed. It could have been something terrible. But
this one is horrified. He recognizes that both he and the other man are
getting the just reward for their crimes.
But this Jesus? He has done no wrong. Maybe you have heard the expression, ‘Honor amongst thieves”? Before
being a pastor, I once had a job working alongside some people who were on
the fringes of society - involved in petty crimes and on occasions more
serious misdemeanors that landed them in jail. Though their behavior was well outside what society describes as
acceptable, amongst themselves they had a strict, yet unspoken, code of what
was right and what was wrong. And what was well out of order was if somebody
got accused, and punished, for something they hadn’t done. One day, working at a private house, some money went missing. As I was the only one meant to be working
there, it looked like I was going to get the blame for it, and could have
lost my job. These guys, who at other times were quite happy making my life difficult,
all came to my defense. They went to
the Boss; “It wasn’t him. He didn’t do it.”
They wouldn’t let on who did do it, but even though I was only
peripheral to the gang, they knew it wasn’t me and were horrified to see me
taking the heat for something I hadn’t been part of. In a similar way, this criminal on the cross, verbally attacks the one
who threw abuse at Jesus. “Look, we’re getting what we deserve, He’s not.
He’s not guilty!” That man, that criminal was a believer. A believer that Jesus was
different - Jesus was innocent. A
believer that Jesus - despite the mockery and insults - really was the King.
His words to Jesus, “Jesus, Remember me, When you come as ... King” He makes no excuses for his behavior. He doesn’t try to get out of the
consequences. In his dieing moments, all he wants is that Jesus acknowledges
that he was a man- who for once in his life - had got some thing right.
“Remember me Jesus, when you come as King”. Jesus does something
far more wonderful. He tells him, “Today
you will be with me in Paradise.” The message of Christmas is that God became man and was born into human
life with all that entails. The message of Good Friday is that He, not only entered into life’s joys,
but has entered into the deepest places of life, life’s darkest side, it’s
suffering and pain, it’s unfairness and injustice, it’s hurt and fear… even
it’s end in death. The message of Easter Day is that Christ has the victory over all these
things. Because of Easter Day, Jesus could say to a sinner with a believing
heart, a criminal who hung dieing at His side, “Today, You will be with me in
Paradise” What
else does Luke tell us of the third man on the cross, the Savior. In
verse 34 Jesus says, “Forgive them Father, they don’t know what they are
doing” The Jewish and Roman leaders thought they were doing the right
thing. Jesus was a threat to
everything they stood for. Once He was
out of the way, things could get back to normal. The soldiers were just doing their job.
Yes, it was cruel. Yes, it was brutal. But that’s life. If people
didn’t want to get into trouble, they shouldn’t rock the boat. Those who stood by and watched, they didn’t appreciate that some thing
momentous was happening. Yes, it was sad that Jesus should die, but, well,
good men had come to a bad end before and probably would do so again. Life goes on. “Forgive them Father,
they don’t know what they are doing” Do we know any better? Are we any nearer to becoming the sort of people God would have us to be?
Have we not also failed to appreciate the significance of Jesus death at
Calvary? Have we not failed to serve
as He served us, failed to care as He cared for us, failed to love as He
loved us? Before the cross - how shallow and empty our faith can appear. How
we need to hear those words, “Forgive them Father, they don’t know what they
are doing”. Because we don’t! Luke also has Jesus
saying as he dies; “Father into your hands
I place my Spirit” What hope have we - but for the grace of God? Throughout the last century we heard voices
that told us: “This is the age of progress. This is the man’s moment of
coming of age. Utopia is just around the corner. Man is at the center and can
save the world. By his understanding- War will be eradicated - The hungry
will be fed - All will be free- All will be well. And so we entered a new century. And war continues to rage. The hungry
continue to die. All are not free. All
is not well. Utopia seems more out of reach than ever. There are areas of this good earth that we have made totally
uninhabitable because of the poisoning from weapons powerful enough to
destroy everything on the planet. The suicide rate continues to rise. The
prisons continue to be over crowded. They haven’t found a cure for Cancer or
AIDS or even the common cold. They have no solution for death. In the face of such a world I feel helpless. I feel powerless and
lost. It’s too vast. It’s too
frightening. I need a Savior. I need the love that Jesus is. And at the end of the day, I am at the
mercy of God and can only say, “Father, into your hands, I place my spirit.” Three men died on three
crosses. One died throwing insults - unable to see beyond the narrow confines of
his own self interest. One died having
turned to Jesus, died with the words, “Today you will be with me in paradise”
ringing in his ears. One dies to defeat death, to overcome evil, to save
sinners, to bring forgiveness, to reveal the depths of God’s love to a
hurting, confusing, lost world. This passage from Luke reminds me that I need a Savior, and that Savior
is Jesus Christ, who died at Calvary and was raised to life on Easter Day,
whose Holy Spirit comes to dwell in the hearts of those who believe, from
whose love nothing can separate us, and in whose love, evil can be overcome -
death can be defeated - and lives can be made whole. The Cross of Christ. It wasn’t the end. It was just the
beginning. And next Sunday we will meet to declare:- “Christ is Risen - He
is Risen Indeed” To God’s name be the
Glory. AMEN. Adrian Pratt |