Luke 23:33-43″THREE CROSSES ON A HILL.”

Jump to Comments

The time had come. His hour had arrived. Jesus was going to be crucified on a hill outside of Jerusalem.
Notice The Crowd. What a group.
• Some have come to watch another crucifixion • Some have come to watch prisoners suffer
• Some may have come to listen to what the prisoners have to say. • Some in the crowd may have been hurt by these thieves • Some may have even lost a family member through the ruthless acts of the men who are about to die for their crimes • Some are overwhelmed with grief and break into uncontrollable weeping
Listen To The Soldiers.
• Stay back out of the way. • The soldiers control the crowd with brute force.
Look At The Crosses Once Again:
• These three trees have just been planted but all three are bearing fruit. • The Cross on the right is bearing the fruit of “Poison.” • The Cross on the left is bearing the fruit of “Poison.” • The Cross in the middle is bearing the fruit of “Love” and “Salvation.” Three Crosses On A Hill.
I. THERE IS THE CROSS OF REJECTION. Luke 23:39. A Hardened Sinner
Luke 23:39: “And one of the malefactors (one of the criminals) who were hanged railed at him, saying, If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us.”
Why Is This Man Being Crucified?
He Has A Criminal Record. He has committed crimes against society and against the government.
He is a robber. He is a criminal. He deserves to die for the crimes he has committed. As this man walked up Mount Calvary, he had a sign placed around his neck telling everyone his crimes and marking him for crucifixion.
• He twists around on the nails and hisses at the Savior. • “I knew you were an imposter. You pretend to be God and you allow them to do this to you. If you are the Christ, save thyself and us.”• This man is more interest in himself than anything. How was he going to get off that cross. How could he escape justice!
If this man was free and standing on the ground, you would have no trouble thinking that he would help them crucify the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. He Is A Sinner Like you and I.
Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?”
After WWII, many of Nazis who committed atrocities against Jews were put on trial for their actions. At one trial a Jew who had endured horrors at a concentration camp was brought into the courtroom to testify against his persecutors. On the stand, he started weeping profusely upon seeing the accused criminals. When asked why he wept, the answer he gave was powerful. Rather than saying he wept because of flashbacks of the horrors he endured, he said that he wept because he was terrified–but not at the Nazi criminals. He said what scared him was as he saw their faces he recognized they were normal people, not madmen. It dawned on him for the first time that he, too, was capable of committing the same atrocities he had experienced.
2. He Is A Scoffer.
Luke says: “He railed at Jesus.” (Luke 23:39).
Matthew says: “The thieves also, who were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.” (Matt. 27:44).
This was a bitter man, scoffing and ridiculing the Savior. He was cursing his way into hell.
He had an opportunity to exchange his sins for salvation.
He had an opportunity to exchange his cross for a crown.
He had an opportunity to move through the door of death into a life of fullness and completeness.
But He Threw His Opportunity Away.
This Man Is A Two-Time Loser.
He has lost on earth! He has lost for all eternity. This Man’s Cross Is History’s Cross.
II. WE SEE THE CROSS OF REPENTANCE. Luke 23:40-43. An Honest Sinner
We move from the “Rejecting Cross” over to the “Repenting Cross.” This man also looks over at the Savior on the middle cross.
A. He States His Rebellion. An Admission
He Says: “For we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done nothing amiss.” He remembers the night he broke into that home and stolen someone’s property. • He remembers the time he stopped that family on the Jericho Road and took their money and possessions from them
B. He Saw Royalty On The Middle Cross.
Luke 23:42: “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”
• He recognized that Jesus was a King • He recognized that if Jesus is a King; then He must have a Kingdom
• And if you have a King and a Kingdom; then you must have citizens in the Kingdom
• And Praise The Lord - He Wants To Be A Citizen, A Member of the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior.
C. He Saw Resurrection In Jesus Christ.
“Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” This man had “eternity in his heart” and he knew it would not be over when his death on the cross was over. He knew there was something beyond this and he wanted to be with Jesus out there in that eternal place in the future.
He Saw Redemption and Salvation In Jesus Christ. “Lord, Remember Me.” • Lord, remember me. I can’t get down from the cross. • Lord, remember me. I can’t get a Lamb and take it to the Temple for sacrifice.
• Lord, remember me. I can’t give, say, or do anything to help me get right with God. • I think it would be alright to say, “God’s got this man right where he needs to be; where he can be saved from his sins.”
III. LOOK AT THE MIDDLE CROSS FOR A MOMENT. The Cross of Redemption A Holy Saviour is on that cross
THE ROMANS - always put the worst criminal on the middle cross.
BUT GOD - has ordained it to be so that the Saviour is on the middle cross.
• One criminal got saved • The other criminal rejected Christ and died in his sins.
Some get saved; Some refuse to get saved. But all will have an opportunity to get saved “Whosoever will may come!
• He Is The Sinless One.
The Thief Said: “This man has done nothing amiss.” Pilate Said: “I find no fault in this man.”
God Said: “This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.” The Prophet Said: “He made His grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.” (Isa. 53:9). The Preacher Said: “For He hath made him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” He had to be holy, to bear the cost of our sins. That same day there had been offered the Passover lambs. Only a spotless unblemished lamb was good enough. There it was that a Sheep was offered for the Shepherds. Here the Shepherd was offered for His sheep.
• he Is The Sacrificial One.
Heb. 9:22: “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission Rev. 13:8: “..Jesus is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Isaiah 53:5-6: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
• He Is The Substitutional One.
In Old Testament Times - you had a Temporary Substitution. The sheep died for the shepherd.
In New Testament Times - you have a Permanent Substitution. The Shepherd Dies For The Sheep.
I Peter 3:18: “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.”
John 10:11: “I am the Good Shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”
The Son of God became the Son of man that the sons of men might become the sons of God.

0 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized