Title: “A Hill With Three Crosses” Script: Lk. 23:32-43
Type: Easter/Evang. Where: GNBC Easter Sunday 2021
Intro: The story is told of a Southern Gospel group that was called “The Resurrections”. The story took place back in the early 1970’s. It seems as though the singing group were going to be performing on that upcoming Sunday evening at a Baptist church in the mountains of Western North Carolina. That morning they were performing at a church in Knoxville, TN. The 2.5 to 3 hr. drive would have been no big deal to be to the church by 6 pm. However, there was an unexpected, freak snow that closed the pass between TN and NC. Finding a pay phone, the group’s manager called the pastor to explain why they wouldn’t be able to perform that night. The dejected pastor posted a sign on the church doors: “The Resurrections Canceled.”!!! I thank God this Easter Sunday morning that the Resurrection wasn’t canceled! Now listen, on Good Friday at about 3 pm, it looked to all passersby that Sin and Death had won, but that wasn’t the case. On Good Friday afternoon, had you been an eyewitness just outside of the city, you would have seen three men dying together on three separate crosses. Those three men and those three crosses give us important insight into how we can live our lives and why.
Prop: The 3 Crosses of Calvary demonstrate 3 responses to mankind’s sin.
BG: 1. Easter Sunday or better, Resurrection Sunday. Most important day in history. Christ raised from dead.
2. Might wonder what has to do with you. EVERYTHING! Familiar story 3 ind. Died on Jerusalem hillside that Friday before Easter Sunday. Each cross tells a powerful story for you and me today.
Prop: 3 Crosses of Calvary demons. 3 Important Responses to Mankind’s Sin and salv. offered in Xst.
I. 1st We See a Cross of Rebellion – A Man Dying in Sin. vv. 32-39
A. On this Cross we see a bitter/angry man Dying in sin.
1. Who was this man who was Good Friday’s witness at the Savior’s side?
a. The Bible defines the man by his guilt: “criminal” vv. 32-33. Sadly, we are all amazed at the depth of depravity to which human beings are able to sink. How many times have you watched the news or read a paper and found self shaking head at the evil that man can commit in this world? Illust: Many horrified past week – In NYC an elderly Asian American woman walking to church, Attacked by a man nearly 3x size screaming racial insults saying: “You don’t belong here.” While 3 other men stood by without doing anything to help. Worse, assailant was on parole for 2002 murder…of his mother!
b. V. 39 gives insight into this man’s soul. This condemned man joins the contemptuously taunting of Christ. It wasn’t enough that Xst had been falsely charged and convicted of a crime He had not committed. Not enough that He had been beaten within an inch of His life. It wasn’t enough that He had to suffer the indignity of clothes stripped off of Him and then divided among His captors. It wasn’t enough that He was nailed through wrist and feet to a rough-hewn cross. Now, hanging between heaven and earth, suspended in space and time, Insulted by the passersby as well as, the men on either side of Him!
2. What do we know of this man?
a. Very little. The Bible does not name the man. Tradition calls him “Gestas”.. may or may not be. What was he like as a little boy? We don’t know. When did he start his life or crime? Was it early or late? We don’t know. What was the first criminal act undertook? What was his family like? Did he have a wife? Children? All we know is that he had a mother.
b. Gestas, if we can call him that, had violated the law and the law had won. The law had convicted and condemned him for his violations and now he was being put to death for his crimes! Even in an era that was much more calloused than our own, crucifixion was a cruel punishment. The Romans limited it’s use mainly to slaves and rebels. Enough Jews were dying of crucifixion that a guild of woman had formed to brew a stupefying drink to help ease the pain of those being so punished. (Christ refused this drink to remain in control of faculties.)
B. What do you and I have in common with this criminal dying on the Cross of rebellion?
1. I find in just an initial glance that we have 4 items in common with this man.
a. We are profane like this man was: The definition of profane is to treat something sacred with irreverence, or contempt. PROFANE is this man’s response to Christ upon the cross! It’s profane when in a debate over a recent piece of legislation Rep Jerry Nadler (D -NY) said in response to a Republican Rep’s reading of Scripture: “"what any religious tradition describes as God's will is no concern of this Congress." Profane is the way most people uses the Savior’s name as a swear word. And yes, PROFANE, is our continued ignoring of what He did for us.
b. We are guilty like this man was: This man was guilty of a crime or crimes in the eyes of Roman Law. You and I are guilty of crimes in the eye of the Law of God. The Bible tells us that: “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23) and “The wages of sin is death…” (Rom. 6:23a) You say to yourself… “I have worked hard. I have provided for my family. I have never stolen from another. I’ve never committed murder.” Every single one of us has broken the moral law of God. Period. “Yes, Pastor, but I am better than…” God doesn’t grade on a curve.
c. As this man was being punished one day we will too. This man’s punishment was taking place and the full effect would be meted out in hours. In hours this man’s life would be over. He would be dead. The full effect Roman law would be met. Friend, sin must be punished. Period. A Holy God cannot accept sin in man. That’s the bad news. The Good News is that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for your and my sin! He was punished as our substitute.
d. We are prisoners of death just as this man was. This man was nailed to the instrument of his own death. Was a prisoner of death. Couldn’t get away. We cannot escape our destiny w/death. But our sins of this life, if left unatoned will follow us into the next. Illust: Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, Jacob Marley’s ghost is wrapped in chains…a prisoner of his past.
2. Friend are you like the Criminal, dying on a Cross of Rebellion?
Illust – Les Miserables- Very strong portrayal of the redemption offered us in Christ. We can be a Jean Valjean who has sinned and yet accepts grace and redemption and attempts to make something of one’s life. Or you may be a Javert, with focus only on the law and own supposed righteousness. The one will liberate you. The other will kill you. You and I have violated the law of God. We need the grace of Christ. It’s humbling, but is life changing.
C. Applic: The first cross is the cross of rebellion with a man dying in sin. All can relate to.
II. 2nd We See a Cross of Repentance – A Man Dying to Sin. vv. 40-43
A. On this cross we see a man dying to Sin!
1. Who was this man positioned on the other side of the Savior?
a. Like the other man, the Bible defines the man by his guilt – Criminal! Friend, the Bible is harsh. It takes all of your education, heritage, wealth, honors, and reduces us to: “sinner or saved”. When this criminal started his day he was a vile sinner, at its close he was a saint! That’s the way the mercy and grace of Christ works in our lives, instantaneous, glorious, efficacious!
b. Illust.: Individuals have surrendered their lives to Christ in all sorts of places. The revivalist Charles G. Finney converted in a woods; John Newton, author of the hymn "Amazing Grace," repented while lashed to a ship's wheel in a storm; Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Ministries, asked God into his life while crying in a car in friend’s drive way. C. S. Lewis converted while riding to a zoo in his brother's motorcycle side car."When we set out I did not believe that Jesus is the Son of God and when we reached the zoo I did." This criminal was converted on a cross!
2. What do we know of this man?
a. Again, like the other criminal, the Bible does not give his name but only his offense. It doesn’t really matter how he ended up on the cross beside Christ, but he did. He began by condemning and criticizing Christ and then something at some point on that awful day, a change took place in his life. Grace quickened his soul and he responded to life in the face of death.
b. This criminal had one very admirable quality I don’t think I’ve ever noticed before. When God awakened grace in his heart, when he quit mocking and began to plead for mercy, we see this man had great faith. What do I mean? When the whole world viewed Christ as an abject failure, while Jesus was dying on the cross, this man had faith to believe He was the Messiah!
B. What Do We Have in Common with this Criminal?
1. Friend, you can find salvation in Christ just like the penitent thief did.
a. He prayed – Lk. 23:42 – It is was a simple prayer of humility and faith in Christ.
b. He was pardoned. – He had a change of heart about who Christ was. He sought for and was granted forgiveness! Illust – In 2013 then Gov. Terry Brandstad commuted the life sentence of Raspberry Williams. Williams, who was then 66yrs., had served 38 yrs. of a life sentence for first-degree murder after shooting a neighbor over a $30 outside a Waterloo pool hall. The Governor’s decision was approved by Board of Parole, prison wardens, the prosecutor who convicted him and the judge who oversaw his trial. During the decades he has been incarcerated Williams mentored younger prisoners, and in one heroic act, saved the lives of two guards at Fort Madison who were being held in a hostage situation! Even the family of victim has forgiven and agrees Williams is a changed man. Why? Because he was. He recognized his guilt and asked Xst, like a previous criminal, to save him!
c. He was promoted. – Jesus’ response to this hopeless man was: “Today thou shall be with me in paradise!” PTL! A hell-deserving sinner one moment and a grace-given saint the next!
2. Friend, realize the lesson this Cross teaches you and me.
a. Illust – I thank God that there’s no place where the grace of God cannot reach! Maybe you were converted in college, on an army base, in an accident, while driving in the car, at a revival meeting, in a hospital bed, in an office, at a home Bible study, at a VBS, in a bar, …Where sin aboundeth, grace aboundeth much more…” (Rom. 5:20)
b. A thief on a cross accepting Jesus in the last moments of life and getting to go to eternity in heaven? Some people don’t like this. They don’t think it is fair that a person can live a life of terrible sin and then in the final hours receive Christ and get off Scot-free go to heaven, just like a person who has lived for decades serving the Lord. Salvation has never been about “Fair”. It’s not. It’s grace! The only way anyone is saved is by grace alone. This dying thief knew this, believed this and profited by it.
C. Applic: Are you like the second criminal? Recognize your sin and need for a Savior?
III. 3rd We See a Cross of Redemption – A Man Dying for Sin. vv. 44-47
A. On the central cross we see a Man Dying for Sin.
1. Who was this Man dying in the midst of Criminals?
a. V. 47 – The battle-hardened symbol of Rome, the overseer of the execution declares that Jesus was innocent. An innocent man being crucified in the midst of criminals!
b. Golgotha was probably a small hill just outside the walls of ancient Jerusalem. The name "Golgotha" (Aramaic word gulgulta. Matthew 27:33 & Mark 15:22) give its meaning as "place of the skull." When Saint Jerome translated these verses into Latin, he used the Latin word for skull, calvaria, -English “Calvary”. The gospels don't say why Golgotha was called the "place of the skull". Some contend the location resembled a skull. Regardless of the exact location, the community came out that day to watch one Man die on a cross that day. The central cross was the focus of everyone’s attention. The man acclaimed to be prophet, teacher, miracle worker, and Messiah, was now nailed to a cross…and dying.
2. What do we know of this Man?
a. The cross has always borne a simple and very direct message: There is something wrong with the human race and something must be done about this condition. We are a dysfunctional people so wrapped and tangled in our own iniquity that no amount of therapy can unravel us!” We need a Savior. We need a cross! We need Christ dying for us.
b. Illust: We know a great deal about this man. More has been written in the annals of history about the Person of Jesus Christ than any other individual who has tread upon this sod. More books have been devoted to the 33 short yrs. this Man lived on earth than the combined lives of all the Presidents, Prime Ministers, or Kings who have lived.. Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. The Son of Man and Son of God and Son of David. He is Messiah, Prince of Peace, Lord of Creation, He is the Redeemer, the 2nd Person of the Trinity, the Lion of Judah, the Second Adam and the First Born from the Dead. But the most beautiful title of this man Jesus, at least to me, is Savior! Savior was a volitional choice of the will that Jesus decided to suffer in my stead, and I love Him.
B. The Cross Demonstrated God’s Love in Christ.
1. All four gospels record the death of Christ (under Pontius Pilate) which is interpreted in advance by Christ himself as a death for the forgiveness of sins, the establishment of the new covenant, and the defeat of Satan (Luke 22:15-20; John 12:31; 16:11). The heart of Christ’s teaching on this matter became the authoritative teaching of the apostles (in keeping with OT assertions to the same).
2. The central cross was a cross of love!
a. Illust - A certain medieval monk announced he would be preaching next Sunday evening on “The Love of God.” As the shadows fell and the light ceased to come in through the cathedral windows, the congregation gathered. In the darkness of the altar, the monk lighted a candle and carried it to the crucifix. First of all, he illumined the crown of thorns, next, the two wounded hands, then the marks of the spear wound. In the hush that fell, he blew out the candle and left the chancel. There was nothing else to say. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
b. As the 2nd criminal looked on, he believed. Is it not amazing—the very sight of the Master won him? The sight of the Lord in agony, shame and death! Barely a word won him! Friend, people who are steeped in sin need to know that Jesus loves them. Praise God for the Cross of Redemption!
C. The Resurrection Makes All of this a Reality.
* I don’t want to leave us at 3 pm on Good Friday. Rather, I want to bring us to Easter Sunday morning. The Gospel writers record that Christ’s tomb was empty and the stone had been rolled away! PTL! Why does that matter? Doesn’t simply dying on a cross suffice? No. The resurrection is essential for 3 Reasons: 1. Jesus’ resurrection means that his sacrificial death on the cross was sufficient, and therefore our sins can be forgiven. Paul emphasizes this in 1 Corinthians 15, reminding us that “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (vv. 3-4). Then, in verse 17, he argues that “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” 2. Jesus’ resurrection means that death is defeated once and for all. As Peter proclaimed on the Day of Pentecost, “God raised [Jesus] from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (Acts 2:24). Death lost its grip on Jesus! But the resurrection means that Jesus not only defeated death for himself, but that he defeated it for us. Christ’s achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe. He is the ‘first fruits,’ the ‘pioneer of life.’ He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. 3. Jesus’ resurrection means that the material world matters. When Jesus’ came out of the tomb in a physical body, it was God’s definitive stamp of approval on the creation project with all of its materiality. Lest there be any misunderstanding, when the apostles said that Jesus rose again, they meant that his physical body came back to life. The risen Jesus wasn’t a phantom or ghost, but a breakfast-eating, flesh-and-bone, human being (Lk. 24).
Conclusion: IN mid 1800’s America famous actor: “Edwin Thomas”. At age 15 made debut and immediately became one of the premier Shakespearean actors. He performed Hamlet in New York for 100 consecutive nights. London critics sang his praises. Edwin Thomas was a master of tragedy on stage. Tragedy was his trademark. Edwin had two brothers who were also actors, John and Junius. In 1863 the three brothers performed Julius Caesar. John portrayed the role of Brutus, Caesar’s assassin, in an ironic twist that foreshadowed what would transpire 2 yrs later. In April of 1865, John became a real life assassin. Stealing into Ford’s Theater he fired the bullet that killed Pres. Lincoln. Edwin Thomas and John Wilkes’ last names were “Booth”. Shame from his brother’s crime drove Edwin to early retirement. Yet an unlikely twist of fate in a New Jersey train station changed the course of Edwin Booth’s life. Booth was waiting for his train when a well-dressed young man, pushed by the swell of the crowd, lost his footing and fell between the platform and a moving train. Instantly springing into action Booth locked a leg around a rail, grabbing and pulling the man to safety. The young man recognized his rescuer. Booth, however, was unacquainted with the man he rescued. Weeks later, in a letter from the secretary to Pres. US Grant that Booth learned he had saved the life of Robert Todd Lincoln, the son of the man his brother had murdered! Booth carried that letter in his vest pocket to his grave.
Isn’t it ironic! Edwin Thomas and John Wilkes Booth. One killed the president, the other saved the president’s son. Same father, mother, profession and passion-yet one chooses to give death, the other to give life. Two men on a cross. One chose life. One chose death. What do you choose? (Illust from sermon by Tim Bond, The Three Crosses of Calvary.)
