Take your Bibles with me and turn again to Luke 23. Luke 23. My daughters have been reminding me that we've been in this chapter for like seventeen sermons. We're almost done.
This is one of the most important chapters in the Bible. This is the pivotal event of all Scripture.
But do you know what's interesting? The Bible actually doesn't give us a lot of detail about the physical side of Christ's crucifixion. It doesn't tell us about Jesus' physical injuries very much at all. It doesn't go into detail about how the cross worked.
And Luke—who was a medical doctor, who was usually very detailed on anything medical—he just gives us four words in this chapter: "There they crucified him."
That's it.
Church, I have read and heard so many different accounts about what crucifixion was like, about the various sufferings that Jesus went through on the cross of Christ, about how the nails went through certain nerves in the wrists, how suffocation happened slowly, how the Roman scourge opened up his back and caused major blood loss. On and on.
But you know what? The Bible doesn't give us that kind of detailed physical description. The Gospels tell us about the scourging and wounds, but they don't explain all those physical mechanisms.
Why does the Bible spend so much time building up the crucifixion of Jesus and yet give relatively little physical detail about his suffering on the cross?
Let me suggest two reasons:
First, the physical suffering of Jesus isn't the main point. What Jesus went through physically was truly terrible, and it absolutely did happen, but we aren't saved because of a sympathetic understanding of what he went through physically.
Second, it's possible to feel sorry for Jesus while not believing in Jesus. You can look at the cross and feel sympathy without actually understanding what Jesus was doing and putting saving faith in Him.
You can look at paintings of the crucifixion, or statues of Jesus suffering on the cross, or even watch movies depicting Jesus being crucified, and you can really feel sorry for Jesus.
But the crucifixion didn't happen so we would feel sorry. Jesus was crucified so that we would believe and be saved.
So what is the point? I'm glad you asked. People have been asking that question since the day of Jesus' death. Our text today is going to help us understand why Jesus died and understand the gospel.
Let's go ahead and read. We will start in verse 32 and we'll read through verse 43.
32 And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. 33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. 34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. 35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. 36 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, 37 And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. 38 And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. Luke 23:32-43
When Luke wrote about the crucifixion, God led him to focus on the people who were mocking Jesus. As Jesus was hanging on the cross, three different groups of people took the time to mock him.
The first group was the leaders who worked to put him there in the first place. These were the high priests and the Sanhedrin. They looked at Jesus and they mocked him and said, "How can you call yourself the Messiah when you're on the cross?"
The Messiah was (at least in their minds) supposed to be this great king who rules forever—and yet Jesus was crucified. How can you have a crucified king? So they mocked him.
The second group who mocked him was the Roman soldiers. They offered him a vinegar cocktail and said, "If you are the king, why don't you save yourself?"
The last group that mocked him was the two thieves that were on the cross with him. Matthew and Mark tell us that both men mocked Jesus. Even in their own agony, they used their breath to mock him. In Luke, we hear one of them ask the same question: "Why don't you save yourself?"
So there are three groups who mocked Jesus on the cross, and each group teaches us a different thing about what is going on here.
We are going to look at those three things this morning, and we are going to learn about:
- A king who looks powerless
- A death that brings salvation
- A sinner who receives paradise
And hopefully, when we are done, you will have a better understanding of what the cross was all about.
Let's pray and we'll get into those three points.
{Pray}
The first thing we are going to look at this morning is...
1. A King who looks powerless
This is the big taunt that the religious leaders brought against Jesus as He hung on the cross. They basically said, "How can you claim to be the Messiah, and you can't even save yourself from the Roman crucifixion?"
On the surface, they are making a great point. How can you be the conquering King who is going to rule on David's throne forever and yet not only did you NOT conquer the Romans, but you let the Romans beat you and put you on the cross?
How can you be the chosen one when we beat you?
Skeptical people have always looked at Jesus on the cross and had a real problem with it. A savior on a cross? A king who lets himself be killed? It doesn't make any sense.
Add to that that the Bible says in Deuteronomy 21:23 that whoever is hanged on a tree is accursed of God.
And what you have is a very, very hard thing for the Jews to get over. How could Jesus be defeated (in their minds) and cursed by God and still be the Messiah?
In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul is talking about this, and he says:
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 1 Corinthians 1:23
To the Jews, Jesus being crucified is a huge stumblingblock, and to everyone else, it's still kind of crazy if you think about it.
Luke tells us that they made a sign and hung it above Jesus that says, "The king of the Jews." The Jewish people wanted to have Pilate change the sign (you can read about that in John) but Pilate said, "What I have written I have written."
So here you have "the king of the Jews" and he is dying on the cross, cursed by God.
Then the Roman soldiers joined in. They said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."
In fact, all three of the groups that mocked Jesus said the same thing: the Jews said, "save yourself," the Romans said, "save yourself," and the other criminals said, "save yourself and then save us."
They were all mocking Jesus and saying, "save yourself."
So why didn't Jesus save himself?
He could have.
As the old song says, "He could have called ten thousand angels, to destroy the world and set him free. He could have called ten thousand angels, but He died alone for you and me."
He could have saved himself. The important thing for us to understand is that He chose not to.
This is the second point I want to talk about. We talked about the king who looks powerless. Let's talk about...
2. A death that brings salvation
The Jews actually said something interesting—they said, "he saved others, he can't save himself." They admitted that Jesus had the power to save others.
They admitted that he had healed people and had raised Lazarus from the dead. They admitted his power to save others—but they said, "he can't save himself."
This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what Jesus came to do.
Jesus didn't come merely to rescue people from sickness or hunger or even death. He came to save His people from their sins—and that meant He had to give His life for them.
Think about the Passover for a second. God told the people judgement was coming, and he provided a way for them to be spared. That way was for a lamb to be killed and the blood of that lamb spread over the doorposts of their house.
Imagine if someone looked at that Passover lamb and said, "if that lamb is supposed to save others, why doesn't it save itself?"
That would completely misunderstand the sacrifice. The lamb's death is HOW the household was spared.
A lamb that wasn't killed would leave them without the blood that God told them to put on the door.
Jesus went to the cross as the King who would save His people by becoming their sacrifice.
Jesus could have saved Himself. He could have spared himself—but if He did, He would not have saved us.
In order for us to be spared the judgment our sins deserve, someone innocent had to die in our place.
Jesus is the Messiah—the king who will rule on David's throne forever. But Jesus is also the "lamb slain from the foundation of the world." He is the "lamb of God, who takes away our sins."
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:4-6
Jesus chose to go to that cross as our sacrifice. He chose to take on the sins of the world and be judged by God for us. He chose to be that lamb.
So when they said, "Save yourself," they were telling him to abandon the very work he came to do.
And listen, church, what does this teach us about our sin? God doesn't just wink at our sin. God doesn't pretend our sin isn't a problem. No! Jesus died for our sin. Our sin was so bad that the precious lamb of God had to go to the cross for us.
He didn't die for righteous people. He died for sinners. It isn't our good works that matter—it is what Jesus did that matters for us. And we see that in the third point.
So we've talked about the king who looks powerless and the death that brings salvation. The third thing I want us to look at is extremely encouraging and that is...
3. A sinner who receives paradise
You see, the Jewish leaders mocked Christ and said, "save yourself," the Roman soldiers mocked Christ and said, "save yourself"—but there was a third group that mocked Christ and said, "Save yourself," and that was the two thieves who hung on crosses beside him.
Think of that - these men (and Mark and Matthew both say that both men were mocking Christ) are tortured and being crucified themselves. They are struggling for every breath themselves. And these men choose to use some of their last breaths and last words to mock Jesus.
Look at verse 39:
39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
This one man rails on Jesus and mocks Jesus. "Save yourself, then save us."
But as the day goes on, something curious happens. One of these men looks to Jesus and understands that Jesus isn't like other criminals. He sees that Jesus is special.
He speaks up and says to the other criminal:
40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. Luke 23:40-41
This man says, "Listen, we are going to stand before God today. We are here being killed, and do you know what? We deserve it. This is the just consequence for what we have done—but Jesus, Jesus has done nothing wrong."
Then this crook turns to Jesus and says something incredible. He says:
42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. Luke 23:42
Notice the faith this man has. He calls Jesus "Lord," and he believes that even though they are on crosses together, even though Jesus is clearly going to die, Jesus will be a king with a kingdom.
And how does Jesus respond to this faith? Look at verse 43:
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. Luke 23:43
Jesus promised him that that day, he wouldn't just be remembered by Jesus, but he would be with Jesus, and Jesus promised him that he would be there "in paradise."
Now, I want to ask you a few questions about this man, because they are important to how we understand what Jesus was doing on that cross:
- Was this man a good man? Did he have a life of righteousness that he could claim?
No! By his own admission, he deserved to be on the cross. He had lived a lifetime of sin. A lifetime of rejecting God. Even on the cross at the beginning he was rejecting Jesus and mocking Him.
- Was this man baptized? Was he a church member? Did he give big offerings? Did he go on to live a clean life?
No! He died on that cross. He couldn't have done any of those things.
But Jesus assured him a place in heaven—and not after some long purgatory—that very day.
Now how could that be? The only thing this man ever did was put his faith in Jesus.
And listen, he didn't even understand everything. He couldn't define "propitiation" or "penal substitutionary atonement." What he did was acknowledge his guilt, acknowledge his inability, and trust himself to Jesus.
And that was enough for him to go to heaven.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
One of my favorite preachers is Alistair Begg—a Scottish preacher who served near Cleveland, Ohio, for more than forty years—and there is a popular clip that gets passed around where he imagines this man going to heaven.
The record keeper looks at him and asks, "You? Why should we let you in? Were you a church member? Were you baptized? Were you a good person? Let's look at his record - oh my - this must be some mistake."
"Why should you get to go into heaven, sir?" And the man says, "The guy on the middle cross said I could come."
Church, that is the reason any of us get to go to heaven. It isn't because of our works or our righteousness—it is because Jesus went to the cross for us and He bought our place in heaven with His own blood on that tree.
Conclusion
So let me bring us back to where we started this morning. It is possible to feel sorry for Jesus without believing in Jesus.
You can be moved by what happened at Calvary. You can be horrified by the cruelty. You can admire His willingness to suffer. But have you trusted Him to save you?
Those two criminals bring that question very close to home. Both were guilty. Both were dying. Both were close enough to speak to Jesus.
One joined the crowd in demanding, “Save yourself and us.” The other acknowledged that he deserved his sentence and asked Jesus to remember him.
He had stopped defending himself. He had stopped mocking Jesus. And he entrusted his future to the King dying beside him.
What are you trusting in this morning?
Are you hoping that you've been good enough? That your church attendance, your baptism, or your good intentions will be enough when you stand before God?
Church, our hope is the same as that criminal's hope. Jesus gave His life for sinners, and we are sinners who need Him.
The King who looked powerless was giving Himself as our sacrifice. The death that looked like defeat was accomplishing our salvation. And the sinner who had nothing to offer received a promise he could never have earned.
If you have never trusted Christ, acknowledge your sin before God and put your faith in Jesus. You don't have to make yourself worthy before you come. Come because you need His mercy, and trust the Savior who gave Himself for you.
And if you have trusted Christ, remember where your assurance rests. Your failures are real, and you need to confess them. But your hope rests in the Savior who died for you. You could never earn what He has freely given.
Listen one more time to what Jesus promised that man: “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
With me.
Before that day was over, this guilty, dying man would be with Jesus.
That is the future Christ gives His people. We will be with the One who loved us and gave Himself for us.
He would not save Himself, because He had come to save sinners like us.
