WORDS FROM THE CROSS
INTRODUCTION: Last week we got into the exchanges that took place between the two criminals and Jesus. Today I want to focus on the seven phrases that Jesus spoke when he was on the cross. What did he say, why did he say it, and what does it mean to us?
1) Jesus' words regarding the suffering of others.
• "Father, forgive them." Luke 23:34, "'Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing'. And they divided up his clothes by casting lots."
Jesus prayed for the soldiers because they didn't know what they were doing. In their eyes they were doing their job; in their eyes they were just nailing a criminal to a cross. In their blindness there was nothing wrong with the cruel and inhumane treatment they were dishing out. Jesus asked the Father to forgive their ignorance.
Jesus didn't want the wrath of God to come down on them for nailing his Son to the cross and for casting lots for his clothes and perhaps enjoying what they were doing. These soldiers whipped, beat, tortured, mocked and humiliated Jesus; they drove nails through his wrists and feet. Despite all that, Jesus asked the Father to forgive them. Not that Jesus was asking the Father to forgive all their sins, but Jesus didn't want them to suffer the consequences that would come from treating the Son of God this way.
They were ignorant of who they were doing this to. I'm sure they knew about Jesus and maybe had been aware that he was called the Messiah, but what would that have really meant to them-they weren't of the Jewish faith. Plus, they no doubt would've believed what the Jewish religious leaders declared him to be-a charlatan; someone who merely claimed to be king of the Jews.
So Jesus, out of his great love and mercy, asked that they not be held accountable for what they were doing. Jesus was practicing what he preached. In Matt. 5 he taught us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecuted us. This is what Jesus was doing as he hung on the cross. What a picture of forgiveness. What an example for us to follow.
Richard Wurmbrand followed that example. Because of his faith, the founder of Voice of the Martyrs suffered for 14 years in a Romanian prison. In regards to his communist prison guards he said, "It was in being tortured by them that we learned to love them". If not for the example of what Jesus did this statement sounds absurd. Wurmbrand's knowledge of Jesus' example and his deep connection to him enabled him to follow that example and treat his tortures the way Jesus treated his.
What about us? Can we forgive those who have "tortured" us? But the difference is they knew what they were doing? The soldiers who crucified Jesus knew what they were doing to a certain extent; but were blind to the severity of what they were doing. People in the world know what they are doing but are blinded to the severity of what they're doing.
Even if it's with malicious intent, they are still oblivious as to the seriousness of what they're doing. Not that they should be excused for their actions-just forgiven for them. Jesus didn't justify what the soldiers were doing, he asked for their forgiveness. If we have the heart of Christ we will be able to forgive others for the offenses they commit against us.
"But why should I forgive them when they haven't apologized?" The soldiers didn't ask Jesus for forgiveness, yet that didn't keep Jesus from asking that they be forgiven. We need to be willing to forgive even if our enemy hasn't acknowledged his guilt. Forgiving certain people may not be easy, but we can do it.
Consider Stephen's example. As the church was increasing, the Apostles chose seven men of faith to help with the growing needs. Stephen was one of them. He was described as a man who was full of faith and the Holy Spirit. He was also the first Christian to die for his faith. As he was being martyred, he followed Jesus' example of forgiveness.
Acts 7:59-60, "While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep."
If Stephen could find it in himself to forgive the ones who were pelting him with rocks until he died, if Richard Wurmbrand could forgive the ones who tortured him mercilessly for fourteen years, if Jesus could forgive the ones who had tortured and crucified him, then we can forgive those who have mistreated us.
• "Today you will be with me in paradise." One of the criminals who was crucified next to Jesus acknowledged that he was guilty but Jesus was an innocent man. He believed in Jesus and he asked Jesus to remember him. Luke 23:42-43, "Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom'. Jesus answered him, 'I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
"Today". There has been some controversy over the years about the placement of the comma in this last sentence. The original text didn't have the punctuation marks we have today; they were added a few centuries later. So, translating the scriptures needed to have careful consideration as to their placements.
If you place the comma after today you have a whole new meaning. If the comma comes before today the thief will be with Jesus in Paradise that very day. If the comma comes after today then it's not known when Jesus and the thief would be in Paradise. Big difference.
I truly believe we have the comma in the right place. First of all, we have no other example of Jesus saying, "I tell you the truth today". Nearly 80 times in the gospels Jesus said, "I tell you the truth", but none have the addition of the word, 'today' right after.
The closest it comes is in Mark 14:30, “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.” But even in that it falls right in line with what Jesus told the thief on the cross. He told Peter, 'today you will disown me' and he told the thief, 'today you will be with me in Paradise'.
Plus, Paul implied in 2nd Cor. 5:8 that to be away from the body results in being at home with the Lord. And he said something similar in Phil. 1:23 where he expressed his desire to depart and be with Christ. This implies the immediacy that upon our physical death the next thing that happens is that we are with Jesus. This supports the idea that today, the criminal would be with Jesus.
This is a comfort to us. It gives us encouragement to know that when our time comes the next moment of awareness we will have is being in the presence of Jesus.
"With me." It could be said, 'Even though you are guilty and I am innocent, because of your faith you will have your slate wiped clean and today we will both be together in Paradise'. Jesus deserved to be in Paradise, the thief on the cross didn't; yet that's where he was going. We don't deserve to be with Jesus. We are sinners, he is not. We deserve to go where Jesus did go in paying the penalty for our sins. But if we trust in Christ for salvation, we will avoid the place of torment and enjoy the reward of Paradise.
"In Paradise." The Septuagint (Greek translation of the OT), uses the word Paradise in reference to the Garden of Eden. In Rev. 2:7 Jesus said, "To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God." And we know from Gen. 3:22 that the tree of life is in the Garden of Eden.
It makes sense that we would go there when our life is over. Adam and Eve were in that perfect place but after they sinned they were banished from there. So, having been born again, through Christ we have been made sinless, we are now able to go back to that perfect place until the final judgment when we go to our permanent home in heaven.
• "Dear woman, here is your son." John 19:25-27, "Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home."
Jesus looked down at his weeping mother and was concerned for her. As Jesus viewed his mother's terrible grief, he didn't want her to be burdened with the added stress of figuring out how she would take care of herself and make ends meet. So, he put her mind at ease by removing that concern from her. He was following the commandment of honoring his mother by making sure she was taken care of.
It is understood that her husband, Joseph had passed away and that she was poor and could not maintain the expenses of her home and would be left in great need in the absence of her firstborn. She had other sons but perhaps they weren't in a position to take care of her.
Plus, they weren't followers of Jesus. At least two of them, James and Jude would later become followers but at the time, Jesus wanted her to be in the household of one of his Apostles. And John was the one Jesus chose. Tradition says she continued to live with him in Judea till the time of her death, which occurred about fifteen years later.
But amidst his own terrible suffering, Jesus was concerned about others. He was concerned about those who beat and crucified him. He was concerned for the criminal who had hurled insults at him earlier. He was concerned for his beloved mother. This tells me that regardless of what's going on in my life, Jesus wants me to be concerned for others.
It's so easy when we're going through something to not want to focus on anyone but ourselves. But, in being able to focus on the needs of others, we help ourselves. A lot of times when we're just focused on our own suffering it magnifies-not literally, but in our minds. We obsess about our problems and in our mind create worst-case scenarios about how things will turn out.
Dwelling on our problems doesn't help. It keeps us depressed and despondent. However, getting away from that and focusing on something else will help. Not that we pretend our problems don't exist but we choose to not focus on the negative. We pray for the Lord to show us solutions to our problems but we leave it in his hands and we get busy doing his work-which will include doing something for someone else. If Jesus can focus on others with what he was dealing with I think we can too.
2) Jesus' words regarding his own suffering.
• "Why have you forsaken me?" Matt. 27:45-46, "From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Jesus wasn't saying this because he didn't know why he was being forsaken. He knew this moment was coming but he didn't know what taking on the sins of the world was going to feel like. Jesus was human so he dealt with human emotions.
Jesus actually became sin. 2nd Cor. 5:21 says that God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us. It is understood that when Jesus yelled this it was the moment he became sin and in so doing, became separated from the Father. When Adam and Eve sinned, they died spiritually. They were separated from that perfect relationship with God.
Isaiah 59:2 says our sins have separated us from God. And if we die in our sin we become eternally separated from God. That's what hell is-the place that is void of God and anything good. So, in Jesus paying the penalty for our sins, he became separated from God. God the Father in his holiness, cannot look upon sin with favor. Therefore, since God hates sin, in the moment Jesus became sin the Father had to hate his beloved son. He had to turn his back on him.
The two who shared the greatest and most intimate and personal connection ever now suffered the greatest contrast in separation. When darkness came over all the land it coincided with the spiritual darkness Jesus was facing in being forsaken by the Father. Darkness represents the absence of light. As the sun was replaced with darkness, light left the presence of Jesus and darkness took over.
To be forsaken means to be abandoned; deserted. The Father deserted the Son; he abandoned him. He left him to suffer-alone. Two other synonyms for forsaken are isolated and empty. This is exactly what Jesus was feeling-isolated, empty and alone. Imagine the void; imagine the impact this would have on him. The closest thing we could compare it to would be to suddenly lose the most important person in our life.
Losing the one with whom you shared the most intimacy; the one whom you felt was a part of you. You remember the shock, the horror, the pain, the emptiness. You felt like the breath of life was sucked out of you. If you have ever had this horrible experience then your memory of how you felt is a small reality of what Jesus was now going through.
So, it's no wonder why Jesus uttered this cry from the cross. He knew why the Father had forsaken him; he knew this moment was coming, but he had no idea what it would really feel like. Therefore, his emotions poured out from being forsaken.
• "I thirst." John 19:28-29, "Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips."
The scripture Jesus is referring to is probably Psalm 69:21 that says, "They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst." But aside from the scripture fulfillment, another benefit we have from this statement is that it shows Jesus' humanity. He was fully God but he was fully human too and he had human needs. He had real human emotions and he had real human pain and suffering.
And his suffering was not lessened because he was the Son of God. In fact, it is believed that his torture was more severe than anyone else because Pilate thought if he flogged him severely enough it would satisfy the Jews and he would be able to release him. But that didn't happen. So, with that being the case, Jesus no doubt suffered more than any other person who was crucified.
Thirst is one of the most common detriments from being crucified. Jesus had lost a lot of fluid already. Severely dehydrated, throat as dry as a desert, it's a wonder he could say anything at all. And what was he rewarded with to quench his thirst? Wine vinegar-yum! As if this whole experience wasn't excruciatingly uncomfortable enough, the guy can't even get a drink of water; instead he gets something that would make it worse. Yes, it fulfilled scripture, but Jesus did not have his need met.
3) Jesus' final words from the cross.
• "It is finished." John 19:30, "When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."
The work of paying the penalty for the sins of mankind was finished. The mission wasn't entirely finished because the resurrection still needed to happen but as far as paying the price for sin, there was nothing left to do. He had done the work and made the sacrifice. Once he became sin and experienced the sting of separation from the Father the only thing left to do was die.
I don't know about you but I don't like to leave things undone. Sometimes I will keep going in order to not have to walk away from a project and leave it until tomorrow. It's good to be able to finish something and not have it hanging over your head.
This is true spiritually as well. In one sense there is always unfinished business when it comes to the work of God but I think of what Paul said when he knew his time was near. 2nd Tim. 4:7, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." Paul experienced the satisfaction of knowing he completed the task set before him. We need to be diligent with the work God has given us to do.
If we know the good we need to do, we need to do it and not put it off. We can't do everything in one day but we can make the most of today. As the saying goes, don't count your days, make your days count. Paul made his days count, Jesus made his days count, we need to make our day count.
• "Into your hands I commit my spirit." Luke 23:46, "Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last."
Now his ultimate fate was in the Father's hands. He fully trusted in the fact that he would rise from the grave but in death he committed his spirit to the Father. That doesn't mean Jesus didn't die a spiritual death. When Jesus left the glory of heaven he experienced a physical/literal separation. He was in heaven with the Father, experiencing the oneness you and I can only imagine. Then, he left the glory and connection he had with the Father to be born of Mary, becoming like us and taking on humanity. He was still one with the Father, but there was a physical separation. God was in heaven and Jesus was on earth.
But when he took on the penalty for the sins of mankind, enduring the wrath of God toward sin, he became spiritually separated from the Father. "But he told the thief today you will be with me in Paradise". Yes, but there was a few hours between when Jesus died and the criminal died. So it's understood that this is when he was in the place of torment. So, there isn't a contradiction; time permitted both things to happen.
So although he was committing his spirit into the Father's hands he still suffered the penalty of spiritual separation. He suffered what those who die in their sins suffer. So, as an enemy of God, as one who became separated from the Father, he was entrusting his spirit into the Father's care-trusting that he would reinstate his spirit and bring him back to life.
But when Jesus died we see something powerful happen. Luke 23:47-49, "The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things."
In Matthew's version, it says when Jesus died the curtain of the temple was torn from top to bottom and the earth shook and the rocks split. And it says when the Centurion and those with him saw the earthquake and all that happened they were terrified and exclaimed, 'surely he was the Son of God'.
The people there that day saw and heard everything and were no doubt deeply affected. What about us? Have we been deeply affected by the words of Jesus on the cross and the events that took place that day at Golgotha? What kind of reaction has the crucifixion produced in you?
