LOST AND FOUND:
RESCUE IN PROGRESS
LUKE 23:32-47
Introduction
Bobby Lemons, Kenny Moore and Cedrick Walton are Heroes who are also sanitation workers. Out on a route last
week they witnessed a truck drive off a bridge on Winnfield Rd in W Monroe. It was submerged in a creek with the driver still within. Two of them jumped in to save the driver while the other called 9-1-1. As a result the driver survived! Stories of rescue intrigue us and capture our imagination. Super hero stories are so popular.
The Greatest Rescue Story of all Time is the story of Jesus AND WE ARE THE ONES BEING RESCUED!
Why We need to Be Rescued
-Sin separates us from God, destroys our lives, deceives us, places us in bondage, and causes us to hurt others.
-Romans 3:23 where we are told that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
-Romans 6:23 “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
-Every one of us is in need of rescue because we are in danger and we cannot help ourselves out of this mess.
-The Great News: Matthew 1:21 “(Jesus) will save his people from their sins”.
As Jesus made his final entry into Jerusalem, on his mind was the eternal plan of God: the rescue of humanity from sin. (Revelation 13:8 “…the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.”) He is seeking and saving the lost!
Luke 22 - 23
- Judas accepts the assignment to betray Jesus.
- The last supper takes place on “The day…on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed” (vs. 7) … a shadow
of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.
- On the Mount of Olives Jesus prayed with anguish while disciples slept. “Father, if you are willing, take this
cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
- Angels strengthened him for the task ahead.
- The Judas Kiss, the betrayal, the arrest, Peter’s denials, mocking, beating, illegal trials through the night, release
of Barrabas, Simon from Cyrene carries the cross for Jesus to the place called the Skull, Golgotha, where they
crucified him between two criminals.
Read Text: Luke 23:32-47 NIV
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.
33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar
37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?
41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[b]”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon,
45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
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.
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”
48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away.
49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
1. RESCUE PLAN
Jesus actions were deliberate and difficult. At any time he could have called a stop to this. He was willing to go through this for our sake. How many times did Jesus say he was going to die? Over and over Jesus told his disciples that he was going to go to Jerusalem and there be put to death. He promised that this was not the end of the story - that the plan to rescue humanity was a sure thing. God had a plan to save the world - you and me.
2. RESCUE IN PROSPECT (23:32-39)
Notice the people around Jesus at the cross. Jesus was crucified between two criminals.One of them uses his last precious breaths to insult Jesus. The King of Kings is humiliated and treated as a regular criminal, they gambled for clothes @ cross. People stood around watching this horrific bloody scene as Jesus is hanging there dying. ‘Rulers’ taunted him and called him a liar by renouncing his Messiahship. Soldiers mocked him offering him wine vinegar and challenging him to save himself.
Notice that everyone thought his chief intention should be to save himself - the criminal, the rulers, the soldiers.
What they didn’t know was that this was a rescue in prospect - Jesus was dying to save every one of them. They challenged him and mocked him, he prayed. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing
3. RESCUE IN PROMISE (23:40-43)
One of the thieves expressed faith in the Messiah. He expressed fear of God - he was about to meet! He expressed guilt - he knew what he deserved. He expressed truth - Jesus has done nothing wrong! He expressed trust - remember me.
Here at the moment of his death Jesus is seeking and saving the lost. This is a rescue story! Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.‘Paradise’ - Persian word meaning ‘a walled garden’. When a Persian king wished to honor one of his subjects, he made him a companion of the garden, and he was chosen to walk in the garden with the king. Jesus promised more than eternity, he promised the honored place of a companion of the garden in
the courts of heaven. (Barclay)
4. RESCUE IN PROGRESS (23:44-46)
Signs that the rescue is in progress…
-Darkness covers the land. “The world is ever dark in the day when men seek to eliminate and banish Christ.” (Barclay)
-The Temple veil is torn in two. The curtain hid the Holy of Holies, the very presence of God. Only the High Priest could enter, and only once a year. “It is as if the secret of God’s presence, hitherto barred to man, was thrown open to all.” (Barclay)
-Jesus Cried with a great voice. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.
-Jesus died with a prayer on his lips. This is Psalm 31:5 with one word added - Father. This is the first prayer that every Jewish mother taught her child to say last thing at night.
The basis upon which all men are saved is the sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God - Jesus came to be that for us.
5. RESCUE IN PURPOSE: FAITH (23:47-49)
Now notice the people around the cross…
The centurion - praised God and said Surely this was a righteous man. Already Jesus’ saying was coming true - And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32). The Magnet of the cross had begun its work, even as he breathed His last. (Barclay)
The people - beat their breasts and went away.
All who knew him watched from a distance. Special mention: The women - those faithful women who stayed until the end … and who would be first to discover the empty tomb.
Conclusion
1. The Greatest Rescue Story of all Time is the story of Jesus AND WE ARE THE ONES BEING RESCUED!
2. Colossians 1:13-14 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of
the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
3. Galatians 1:3-5 …The Lord Jesus Christ…gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
4. Do you need to be rescued from your sin? If you desire to be rescued, then like the thief above, turn away from the sin and the guilt it produces and trust the blood of Jesus to save you when you are baptized as an act of faith!
5. If you have already been rescued, then do all you can to rescue others! The old preacher said, “Some want to live within the sound Of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop, Within a yard of hell.” - C. T. Studd
6. We are lost and found only in the power of Jesus! May our church be a place where the lost can be found!
7. Jesus came to seek and save the lost … he sought and saved me and he will save you!
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Resources
Three Men Save the Life of a Man in a Submerged Truck
https://www.knoe.com/app/2021/03/18/three-men-save-the-life-of-man-in-a-submerged-truck/
Barclay, William. The Daily Bible Study Series: The Gospel of Luke. Westminster, 1953.
Lane, Steve. Jesus Came to Save Us From Sin
https://www.bryancountynews.com/opinion/jesus-came-save-us-sin/
Richards, Jack. Five Facts You Should Not Forget After Being Rescued
https://www.myccc.church/resources/weekly-devotionals/5-facts-you-should-not-forget-after-being-rescued/
