Three Crosses On Calvary’s Hill
Luke 23:39-43
The Cross is the symbol of the Christian faith. Churches and homes are decorate with it. Some people have a decal of a cross on their car. Many wear a cross as jewelry.. .The cross is so prominent in daily life that we rarely pay any attention to it. It may be that in all actuality we have forgotten what it truly represents. Society has so glamorized the Cross that we fail to remember the pain, the agony and the cruelty of the Cross where Jesus died. George F. MacLeod said - Jesus was crucified, not in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves.
The cross was a means of torture, humiliation and death. These days when men are executed in the USA, the common method is lethal injection. In times past they used firing squads, electric chairs and a hangman’s noose. None of these methods of execution come close to being as torturous as the horror of crucifixion.
There was an execution site just outside of Jerusalem called Golgotha. One day, there were 3 crosses that held 3 very different men. One man was the Son of God and the Savior of the World. On either side of the Savior hung two thieves. As we go through these verses, I want to examine how each of these men responded to Jesus.
But before we do that, let me just say that the Cross in the middle should have been mine! The Florida Boys used to sing a song that said just that:
"I never heard the hammer, I never felt the nails"
"I never saw the angry mob curse as the prisoner fell"
"They never knew this sinner"
"I was some other place and time"
"The choice was all His"
"But the truth was and is..."
"The cross in the middle, should have been mine"
May we never forget the fact that Jesus was on that cross because of you and me. 2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
This morning I want us to take a trip to Calvary. I want to examine the scene on that hill the day that Jesus was crucified. There was a large crowd gathered around to witness the execution of 3 men who had been sentenced to die by the Roman Government. As a result there were three crosses standing on that hill. As we consider the events of that day you will find that each cross represented something different. I would submit to you that:
i. There Was A Cross Of Rejection
ii. There Was A Cross Of Reception
iii. There Was A Cross of Redemption
On Calvary's Hill, Jesus was there fulfilling God's perfect plan of redemption. Through the events that took place, one of those sinners trusted Christ as his Savior. The other mocked and ridiculed Him and rejected the opportunity to be saved. One man died and went to Heaven, the other died and went to Hell. Each person here must decide how they will respond to Jesus. Just like these men you will choose whether to accept Him or to reject Him. If you accept Him, you will receive forgiveness and eternal life. If you reject Him, you will die lost in your sins and spend eternity in the Lake of Fire.
- There is much that we can learn from these two men, I want to walk through these verses and preach on the subject "Three Crosses On Calvary's Hill". Let's begin by examining the fact that:
I. ON CALVARY'S HILL, THERE WAS A CROSS OF REJECTION - v39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
The scriptures identify this man as a "malefactor" or a thief. He was a criminal who had been sentenced to die for his crimes. But that was just the earthly repercussions of his earthly deeds. Whether he knew it or not, he was under a death sentence spiritually speaking. He was dying physically but he was already dead in trespasses and sins.
We all were in a similar situation. Before Christ we were dead spiritually speaking! That is the case for all of us... we are all guilty! Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God ----- Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
This man was guilty and would soon step out into eternity and face the wrath and judgment of Almighty God. Sadly, he did not realize the fact that the Door of Heaven was right there next to Him. Instead of seeing Jesus for who He was, this man blasphemed His name. He was suffering the agony of being crucified, he was in immense pain and he knew that death was imminent. He was not sorry or repentant of his sins, he was just focused on his current situation. Like so many throughout history, he had and earthly perspective instead of an eternal one! As a result he looks and Jesus and says …“If thou be Christ, save thyself and us”. What he did not realize is that is what Jesus was doing!
He was there on that Cross so that we could be saved eternally. This is why the Son of God left the glories of Heaven and come to this earth.
When speaking to Zacchaeus He said: Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
In The Garden He said: John 12:27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
Standing before Pontus Pilate He said: John 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth…
This thief had the opportunity to be saved, God's own son was there fulfilling the plan of redemption but instead of trusting in Him, this man blasphemes and mocks His name! Even though this had been sentenced to die, an eternal pardon was available to Him. But he chose to reject Jesus and he paid and eternal price!
In 1830 George Wilson was convicted of robbing the U.S. Mail and was sentenced to death. President Jackson issued a pardon for Wilson, but he refused it. The matter went to Chief Justice, who concluded that Wilson would have to be executed. He wrote, “A pardon is a slip of paper, the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned. If it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must be hanged.
There is an eternal pardon available to you, but if you reject that pardon you will face eternal consequences! Those who die without Jesus will die lost in their sins. They will go to hell and one day they will stand before Christ at the Great White Throne Judgment. There He will search the books and if your name is not recorded in the Lamb's book of Life you will be cast into an eternal lake of fire. That is the exact fate of this impenitent thief and it will be yours if you continue to reject Jesus. Thankfully, it doesn't have to end this way.
- You see, there was another cross at Calvary that day and when you examined what happened there, you will find that there is a hope and a promise of deliverance to those who accept Jesus. Notice that:
II. ON CALVARY'S HILL THERE WAS A CROSS OF RECEPTION - - v40 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.
As the impenitent thief "railed on Jesus", this man spoke up and said "hey, wait just a minute!" He went on to say "we deserve the punishment that we are receiving, but this man has done nothing wrong". This man reached a place of humility. He came to the realization that he was guilty of all his crimes. Instead of making excuses and blaming others, he took responsibility for his actions. He knew that he deserved the punishment that he was enduring. But more than that, he came to a realization about who Jesus was.
If you read the account of the crucifixion in Matthew 37:42-44, you will see that in the beginning this man was against Jesus as well. He mocked and ridiculed Jesus along with the rest of the crowd. But it is clear that somewhere along the way, his attitude toward Jesus changed. I can't prove this but I think that what made the difference was when he heard Jesus say "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34)
Whatever the motivation, it is clear that this man saw Jesus for who He was and he acknowledged Him as Lord! He said "Lord, remember me when you enter into your Kingdom!"
That is all it took for this man to be saved! He did not have the opportunity to clean his life up. (he couldn’t if he tried) He didn’t have time to “work his way into Heaven” (and he couldn’t if he did have an opportunity) He didn’t have to offer a long and detailed “prayer of Salvation”. He simply trusted in Jesus, acknowledged Him as Lord and cried out for Him to save Him, and that is exactly what Jesus did!
Listen to what He said in verse 43 - "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise."
I want you to notice that this man still paid for his earthly sins. He still suffered and he died physically that very day! But from that very day that man will live eternally! How is this possible? Well, it is not because of what He did, it is possible because of what Jesus was doing right next to him! The same is true for us, we can be saved because of Christ’s work of redemption on Calvary’s Hill.
You say what must I do? You must do what this man did... you must call upon the name of the Lord! - Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
If you will accept Him, He will receive you! - John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
- On Calvary's Hill there was a Cross of Rejection, a Cross of Reception and most importantly:
III. PN CALVARY'S HILL, THERE WAS A CROSS OF REDEMPTION - v44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 and the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. 46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
For some 6 hours Jesus hung on that cruel cross at Calvary. When all things were accomplished, Jesus cried “It Is Finished”. God's plan of redemption was complete! Jesus Christ was and is the atonement for human sin.
Because of His shed blood we can be delivered from our sins! Ephesians 1:7 says "we have redemption through {Jesus} blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace"
Jesus paid a great price so that we could be redeemed. Before we close I want us to look at the great price that Jesus paid for our redemption.
Oswald Chambers said - “All heaven is interested in the cross of Christ… all hell is terribly afraid of it… but men are the only beings who more or less ignore its true meaning.”
It is good for us to be reminded of all that Jesus endured for us. The events at Calvary paint such a beautiful picture of God's love. Before He ever made it to the Cross, Jesus had already endured more pain than a normal man could bear. He was scourged, which was enough to kill most men. It is commonly believed that the instrument used for scourging Jesus was the “cat of 9 tails” or a “flagrum”. This was a short whip with metal stones and bone tied into leather thongs. As they beat Him with this instrument of torture His flesh began to tear and blood began to flow.
They stripped Him of His clothes and put a scarlet robe on him. They fabricated a “Crown of thorns” and jammed this crown onto His head. They put a reed in His hand to represent a scepter. Then they blasphemously bowed before Him and cried “Hail, King of the Jews” . They will bow again one day, but they won’t be mocking Him, they will be begging for mercy!!
After this they spat on Him and plucked His beard. Then someone grabbed the reed and hit Him on the head with it. They forced Him to carry his cross to the execution site. It is believed that the cross weighed near 150 pounds. Some experts believe that Jesus carried His cross the distance of over two football fields, in a weak and tormented state, once at Calvary the cross was put on the ground and Jesus was thrown onto the cross.
The spikes were approximately 7 inches long and 3/8 of an inch in diameter. These spikes were driven into His wrists and through His feet. They took that cross and lifted it up and dropped it into the hole, as the cross fell down into the hole, His flesh tore. The position of the nailed body held His rib cage in a fixed position, this would have made it extremely difficult to exhale and it would have been impossible to take a full breath.
He had suffered from the scourging, the beatings and the walk with the Cross. By this point Jesus would have been extremely weak and dehydrated. He was losing significant amounts of blood. He suffered for several hours and after all things were complete… John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost!
My friend, what He did, He did for you! Understand that you will never make it to heaven without Jesus Christ! The events on Calvary's Hill show us two choices. There is a cross of rejection and a cross of reception. One man rejected Jesus and one man accepted Him.
Like those two men, you will make a choice before you leave here. You will either accept Christ as your Lord and Savior or you will reject Him. There are eternal consequences that come with each choice. Those who choose Jesus will receive eternal life and a home in Heaven. Those who reject Him will face the wrath of God and will be condemned to an eternity in the Lake of Fire. The cross proves that God does not want anyone to die and go to Hell. Maybe you would ask the question, how can I be born again? Just do what the penitent thief in this story did... cry out to Jesus!
Understand that good works cannot save you - "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
This man would die on this cross, there was no way for him to do any good works to earn his way into heaven. The same is true for you, you could never work or "earn your way" there, but Jesus has made a way for you!
Understand that you must trust in Jesus alone for salvation - Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." (John 14:6) -- There is no other way to the Father than through the Son!
Admit the fact that you are a sinner. - "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23) ---- "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" (Romans 5:12)
Turn From Your Sin (repent) - Jesus said: "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." (Luke 13:5)
Believe that Jesus Christ died for you, was buried, and rose from the dead. - "if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Romans 10:9)
Through prayer, invite Jesus into your life to become your personal Savior. - "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13)
Now is your chance to respond. Today could be the day that you are born again, today could be the day that you receive eternal life. I pray that you choose to trust Christ as your Savior and receive His great gift of salvation.
3142018
