October 31, 2020
Last week’s sermon on Zacchaeus was to be the last in this series until my friend and I read the book, “Surprised by Love” by Elizabeth Viera Talbot on a recent vacation {thoughts on this sermon come from the chapter, “The Assurance”}.
To what lengths would you go to ransom your precious child from the Kidnapper of Soul’s? That is the theme of this book. Powerful!!
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As the book says, Jesus was having a horrible, no good, very bad day ---- In the last 12 hours:
• He had been arrested.
• His disciples had deserted Him.
• He had been falsely accused in front of Caiaphas, Pilate, Herod and then back to Pilate.
• He had been punched, spit on and flogged.
• He had been condemned to die.
• He was too weak to carry his own cross = Simon of Cyrene was recruited.
Luke 23:33-34 - And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him {see Ps 22:16} and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. 34 But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing….. Meanwhile:
• The Roman soldiers gambled for his clothing {Ps 22:18}
• The Jews and Romans surrounding the cross mocked him and dared him to save himself, “If you are….” {Ps 22:7-8 and Luke 23:35-38 also see Matthew 4:1-11 – Satan uses the same wording, “If you are….”, while tempting Jesus}.
The people Jesus had left the splendor of Heaven for had succeeded beyond their wildest dreams and now He was close to death, but He was not alone, 2 others were dying with him that day. Both convicted criminals. Both deserving of the punishment of the cross. In this too, prophecy was fulfilled:
• Isaiah 53:12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
One of the criminals began to mock Jesus: "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!" {Luke 23:39}
This is the genius of Luke’s story. Those mocking Jesus, “If you are…..” believed that the proof of His identity as “The King of the Jews” lay in His ability to save Himself, but in reality, the exact opposite was true. It was through His suffering that His identity as King and Savior was revealed:
• Philippians 2:8-11 - And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
• Revelation 5:5-14 - But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, "Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David's throne, has conquered. He is worthy to open the scroll and break its seven seals." 6 I looked and I saw a Lamb that had been killed but was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God that are sent out into every part of the earth. 7 He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. 8 And as he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense-- the prayers of God's people! 9 And they sang a new song with these words: "You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were killed, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 And you have caused them to become God's Kingdom and his priests. And they will reign on the earth." 11 Then I looked again, and I heard the singing of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and the living beings and the elders. 12 And they sang in a mighty chorus: "The Lamb is worthy-- the Lamb who was killed. He is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing." 13 And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They also sang: "Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever." 14 And the four living beings said, "Amen!" And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped God and the Lamb.
The Plan of Salvation was reaching its climax right before their eyes ---- The Savior of the World was dying ---- but no one recognized it or understood….. EXCEPT ONE:
Luke 23:40-41 - But the other answered, and rebuking him said, "Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 "And we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong."
This unnamed criminal understood that while he and his buddy were guilty and were suffering justly for their actions, Jesus was innocent and was suffering unjustly, “this man has done nothing wrong”.
And then he turned to Jesus – looked Him straight in the eye – and made the most outrageous request ever to fall from human lips:
Luke 23:42 - "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!"
Wait, What??!! You forget yourself, man!! You are a criminal; an evil doer and you’re getting what you deserve. You haven’t asked for forgiveness. You haven’t requested Bible Studies or Baptism and you haven’t signed off on the 28 Fundamental Beliefs!!
We’ll give you this much….. YOU’VE GOT A LOT OF NERVE!! On top of that ------ you’re talking to a guy who is also about to die, guilty or not.
Let’s dive deeper into this request:
• He called Jesus by name = “Yahweh saves” {Matthew 1:21}
• He asked to be remembered which carried the promise of God’s action on behalf of His people. {Judges 16:28; 1 Samuel 1:11}
He was literally asking “Yahweh Saves” to act on his behalf and that reveals a deep understanding of Who Jesus Was!!
The 3rd part of the request, “When You come in Your kingdom”, shows us that he also believed the Crucifixion was not the end of Jesus’ story – this condemned man would be a King one day. Perhaps he didn’t understand fully, but he knew enough to be willing to throw his eternal future in with Jesus.
It was a simple request --- “remember me.”
Did Jesus hear him above the crowd? Was He even paying attention? In His agony, did He even care about the criminal hanging next to Him!
His response was immediate and surprising --- like He couldn’t wait to say the words:
Luke 23:43 - "Truly I say to you TODAY, you WILL BE with ME in Paradise."
2 profound thoughts stand out here:
Today = Jesus didn’t leave him to wonder about his fate. Your salvation has been secured TODAY – this very moment.
Will Be with Me = It is a personal guarantee. Not “you might be”, or “let me think about it”, nope!! You WILL BE… WITH ME. The same promise Jesus made to Peter He makes to the Thief:
• John 14:1-3 - Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
This short interaction was the parable of the Lost Son being acted out in real life for all to see…. Between a dying criminal and his dying Savior:
• Luke 15:20-24 -And he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him. 21 "And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22 "But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; 23 and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.' …. And Heaven threw a party!!!
Wrapping Up
The words Jesus spoke all those years ago were not for the thief only. They speed down through the ages like a lightning bolt to ALL who place their eternal trust in Jesus:
Your Salvation is secured TODAY in this very moment and one day, because I AM Jesus “Yahweh saves” and because you’re with Me, we WILL BE TOGETHER IN PARADISE ---- I promise, guaranteed!!!
• John 6:40 - "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."
• Revelation 21:1-7 - Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." 5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." 6 He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
I get goose bumps just thinking about it!! WOO HOO!!!
