God's Lamb And Mary's

Jesus spoke seven sayings from His cross. These are:

1. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).

2. “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

3. “Woman, behold your son!” (John 19:26-27).

4. “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

5. “I thirst!” (John 19:28).

6. “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

7. “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit’” (Luke 23:46).

When my wife was in the process of dying, I preached a series of sermons based on these seven sayings. While all of the sayings are important, Jesus’ conversation with the thief on the cross encouraged me for her. Let’s consider the picture of Jesus and the two men crucified with Him.

The two men were guilty “evil-doers” and deserving of death. Both had hatefully berated Him (Matthew 27:40-44). Later, when one cursed Christ again, the other had a change of heart and responded, “Do you not even fear God?” (Luke 23:40). He confessed their just condemnation and Jesus’ innocence, saying, “This Man has done nothing wrong” (verse 41). He expressed his faith that Christ would rule over God’s Kingdom and said, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom” (verse 42). Jesus rewarded the man’s faith with a promise, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

The cross of Christ is a reminder that we cannot save ourselves. We are dependent on His substitutionary sacrifice taking what we deserve. The writer of Hebrews declares (Hebrews 7:25, NKJV), “25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost [or forever] those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

The two criminals on either side of Jesus depict us all. These men were likely insurrectionists who opposed Rome and their Jewish collaborators. They did more than walk through the Roman Antonio Fortress looking at the art on the sixth day of the first month. They rebelled. Both men were angry at their environment and fate. If they had heard of Jesus, they expected Him to be the warrior Messiah who would overthrow the Roman and Jewish leaders’ injustices.

Even John the Baptist wondered about Jesus because He did not do what John expected. John had been preparing the way for Christ and preached hard lessons, calling the Jewish leaders a “brood of vipers.” He said, “the ax is laid to the root of the trees” and that the One to follow Him would bring a baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire” (or judgment, see Matthew 3:7-12). Yet, Jesus wasn’t acting like what he expected. As a result, even after John had declared Jesus to be the “lamb of God,” he sent disciples to ask if He was the “Coming One” or if they needed to look for someone else (Matthew 11:3).

These two crucified men were angry caught in their sins, and the Romans carried out their death sentence. It was all over for them, and they expressed their anger and disappointment at Jesus. We’ve been there, too. We have lashed out at God for some perceived injustice that happened to us. God disappointed us when he did not bail us out of our problems, so we raged at Him.