3rd Last Sunday Service
St. Luke 23:35-43
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.”
Jesus is on the cross in our text. Kind of surprising, seeing as how we aren’t in the Lenten Season. That’s when we usually talk about Jesus on the cross, right? But we are in the brief number of Sundays at the end of the church’s year (new year starts December 3rd); they’re those that focus on the end of times, end of our lives, the Judgment. We’ll stand before God in that time with confidence because of Christ’s sacrifice for us, His having on a cross made the payment that bought our forgiveness. So, He’s on that cross in our text for this morning.
I want us to rewind a little from that this morning. I want to rewind to Him in the Garden of Gethsemane (something like 24 hrs. earlier). See Him there, just after the Last Supper with His disciples, off on His own, having left His closest ones in a nearby location to keep watch. He’s praying.
The thing we think of most often about that time in the garden, though, is that He’s…agonizing. The sweat that became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground, as St. Luke writes (Luke 22:44). That’s what often comes to our minds when we think of that particular garden.
Jesus is in the crisis of crises. Soon it’ll all begin—everything His earthly life has been pointing toward. He’ll be arrested, manhandled by soldiers on the way to the High Priestly court. He’ll endure a sham of a trial with liars brought in to witness against Him. In the end, He’ll provide the necessary evidence to convict Him (it’s why He’s here, after all; He won’t let them fail in what they’re trying to do to Him). Of course, finally, He’ll be on the cross, as we see in the text.
But we’re not there yet; we’ve rewound to the Garden, the previous evening. How does Jesus respond in this crisis of crises? We know it is that for Him, because His sweat is like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. We know that He says, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me”; He prays that sort of thing three times. He isn’t blithely approaching the cross and grave; He isn’t sauntering toward My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? It’s hitting Him like we would expect it to be hitting someone. But what does it look like for the one perfect man when He’s put into this situation?
Last week we talked about Pharisees and Sadducees challenging Jesus to prove it, to demonstrate that He really is Who He says He is, by giving them a sign from heaven. Similarly in this text (though with much higher stakes), rulers, soldiers, and even one of the criminals being crucified alongside Jesus, do the same; they challenge Him to prove it, to demonstrate that He’s really the Christ of God, His Chosen One. He should prove it with the sign of saving Himself.
The criminal adds that He should save him too, while He’s at it.
That’s what I want to talk a little more about this morning—this criminal’s moment with Jesus in our text. It goes by so quickly, that hardly ever is anything really made of it. It isn’t even just his big moment; it’s kind of tacked on to what’s already been said by others there. The rulers and the soldiers have done this thing, and…oh, yeah…this criminal has kind of done it too. We go right past it, like the writer does.
But he’s in a different position than they are. For him, it’s personal. He’s up there gasping for breath. If something amazing doesn’t happen pretty shorty, he’s a goner. Those on the ground are just mocking. They neither believe that Jesus can do what they’re challenging Him to do, nor do they want Him to. They’re going to see this through to its conclusion, and then back to their lives.
It’s different for this criminal. His mocking challenge isn’t merely, Save yourself; it’s, Save yourself and us! More than mockery, his version of the statement amounts to a very unfaithful kind of prayer (which is a sort of mockery). It’s the kind of prayer the apostle James is talking about when he says that a person should ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. Such a person, he says: must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord (1:6,7).
Finally, this criminal is saying to the LORD: if you really are who you say you are, you will deliver me from this crisis. He feels completely helpless. He recognizes there isn’t anything He can do to get himself out of this pickle he’s in (that he deserves to be in, according to the other criminal). And, of course, what is he doing if not doubting? He’s adding his voice to the voices of all the other scoffers. He’s saying something in his desperation; but certainly not trusting in the grace of God, not putting himself in the hands of the one he knows will save him. He’s in a crisis, right? The worst kind, in fact (the life and death kind). And,
as far as He’s concerned, Jesus will be able to prove Himself by delivering him from this crisis. His thinking isn’t really any different from the rulers, the soldiers, or any other scoffers.
And the reason we talk about this criminal so much this morning, is because his “prayer” might tend to remind you…of some of your own prayers. His perspective might feel familiar. His way of dealing with being in a crisis might look eerily similar to how you yourself have dealt with crises. Has God ever had to prove Himself to you? Has your perspective ever been, that if God doesn’t relieve your suffering; if he doesn’t rescue you from whatever situation you’re in, He must either be unable to do so, or He must not care? Either He’s incompetent, or He’s a monster.
We’re looking at ourselves in the Law’s mirror, now, aren’t we? We’re seeing that doubt of God’s ability, of His mercy, even of His existence isn’t limited to criminals on crosses; it demonstrates itself in Christians in church pews, too. It has demonstrated itself in your own life, too, and mine. We say with St. Paul: Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death (Romans 7:24)?
Paul’s answer is, Jesus Christ. And it isn’t hard to see why. The reason we rewound 24 hrs. in the beginning of our conversation, to look at Jesus in the garden the previous evening, is because there we see what the one perfect man does in His own crisis of crises.
It isn’t that the crisis isn’t real for Him like it is for us. He’s a real human like we are. His emotions are human emotions. Even human helplessness is on display for Him in that moment because He has put aside His godly power, taking on our helplessness.
But look how He’s different from that criminal on the cross in His desperate moment: He doesn’t scoff or demand a sign that the Father still cares about Him. He doesn’t say to the Father, You will demonstrate your care of Me, your love for Me by delivering me from this crisis. Instead, He says, Your will be done (Matthew 26:42). That’s what the one perfect Man does that all of us have failed to do.
On our bulletin cover we have the words: Death’s Conqueror. He’s its conqueror in our gospel lesson as the one raising to life the ruler’s dead daughter. That’s one of the things He did in His earthly ministry to demonstrate Himself to be God in human flesh.
We see Him as death’s conqueror in another—and even more important—way in our text. The other criminal with Him on the cross puts away his own earlier mocking, to finally pray a much different prayer than his fellow criminal. After rebuking that other one’s continued mocking, he puts Himself in Jesus hands. He doesn’t need any sign. He’s not asking for a rescue from this cross that he deserves. He just wants Jesus to acknowledge him as one of His own in the kingdom. That’s what he means by remember me. He means, tell ‘em I’m with You. And then, Death’s Conqueror pronounces in response to his confession of faith: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
It has to be the case, because he has put himself in the hands of Death’s Conqueror. In those hands a person finds forgiveness for his sins. There he finds the eternal inheritance prepared for God’s people regardless of all the wrong they’ve done in this world. In those hands you find the same mercy. You wear the garment of the righteous one Who has paid your debt and set you free. God be praised. Amen.
Other Lessons For This Day:
Isaiah 51:9-16
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon? Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
“I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor? He who is bowed down shall speedily be released; he shall not die and go down to the pit, neither shall his bread be lacking. I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord of hosts is his name. And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
Colossians 1:9-14
From the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
St. Matthew 9:18-26
While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. And when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this went through all that district.