How Low Can You Get?
Luke 23:33-43
“One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" But the other one rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?" [23:39-40]
Luke, who has gone to such great lengths to show the seeking, saving love of God in his gospel…now gives us what has to be at least a finalist for the most dramatic story of the Savior God's radical love and grace in the gospels. Here is the Son of God, thrown out on the city garbage dump of Jerusalem, still reaching out to the despised and rejected with his last breath! There is something unnerving about today's scripture when you compare and contrast Luke and Colossians (Col 1:15-17). We see Jesus in two mind boggling, absolutely opposite views.
On the one hand Paul lifts a veil, to a profound spiritual view of who Christ is. To God, to the world and to each of us as individuals.
"... All things have been created through him and for him.... In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell..."
Compare this with Luke's gut wrenching picture of someone hanging on a cross between two convicted criminals. This is a death reserved for the "low-life’s" of the Roman world. Though I may give it a shot in a moment, any description you have heard as to how brutal, painful, bloody or humiliating crucifixion is can’t come close to doing it justice. Those who are supposed to be the leaders of God's chosen people are hurling insults as though grinding salt into the wounds of the crucified One.
Do you get this?!? Can you get your mind around this! How can that be? The One whom Paul says is "the image of the invisible God," being ridiculed by the likes of these hypocrites, power mongers and thieves? And what is the response of the One in whom Paul says all powers and rulers and authorities were created? Does he smash them with a Rambo-like sword of terrible vengeance? Or blow them to bits with a breath? How about unleashing all the fury of Michael, the archangel's host of warriors?
No. He says, "Father forgive them..." (Quietly)
They shout more insults! As if to say, “We see you stooping low to forgive us, BUT…How low can you get?
How low can you get? And here is the critical point of our text. Mark it down.
As Dennis and Keenan were growing up we used to play a game with them that I’m sure many of you have played with your children. We would hold our hands six or eight inches apart and ask, “How much do Mommy and Daddy love you? This much?” and the object was for them to fling their arms as wide apart as they could possibly manage and they would say “NO, you love me THIS MUCH!” Then all over again, “Do you love us this much?”
Can we get a mental picture in front of us today? (Be Descriptive) When we have that mental picture before us, can’t we see God saying, with outstretched arms, “I Love You This Much!” Don’t you see, there are no depths to which God will not sink to offer you the gift of divine love and grace! (Softly drive this home) If He is willing to give His Son on a cruel cross…Then what won’t He do?
Paul says it this way,
"Through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross."
That's the view of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ from the cross. Mere words can never contain the fullness of this truth. Isaac Watts comes close in his hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”,
"Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all."
Perhaps only a parent can at least remotely sense of the depth of God's love. Enough to give a child, to sacrifice your only child.
"Nothing you do," God says throughout the scriptures, "...can make me not love you. You can disappoint me, break my heart and grieve my Spirit -- but you can not make me stop loving you."
Jim Jewell tells a story of years ago, during a winter storm, his son Jay ran the families Chevy Blazer into a ditch. Amazingly, the thing was totaled! But no one was hurt. It’s a long story, but suffice it to say that his insurance did not cover the damage. About $4000.00 would come out of his pocket. That evening while watching the evening news, the 20-year-old son (who had been out on his own for a time and then moved back home) came through the family room carrying a suitcase. "Where are you going?" Jim asked. "I figured you would want me to leave," he replied. It struck Jim’s heart like an arrow. "Jay," he said, "I love you. You aren't going to lose your home over $4000.00. It will be great if you can help out, but nothing you will ever do will make me not love you."
Now that's the crux of this message. Indeed, the essential point of the entire gospel of Luke... Thinking about all the various views of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ -- all this begs the most obvious question of all.
What is your view of the life and ministry of Jesus?
In the 9th chapter of Luke, Jesus asks the disciples,
"Who do the crowds say I am?" (v.18) Then he moves the question directly to them, "But what about you? Who do you say I am?" (v. 20)
In the final analysis, it doesn't matter what anyone else's' view of Jesus is. Whether it is the thief on the cross, the Pharisee on the sidelines or the soldier at the foot of the cross, your preacher, Sunday School teacher or anyone else you can think of-- it doesn’t matter what they make of this whole scene. What matters most is this:
"But what do you say -- what is your view of this Christ on a cross between two criminals?"
Two questions from the text can help us focus our thoughts.
"Are you not the Messiah?" (v.39)
Although the question was asked in a mocking way, it’s still an important one. If this is simply a great teacher who has met an unfortunate end, then the story is touching, but not truly relevant to your life or mine -- except maybe as a wonderful example of a dedicated man. The difficulty with this, of course, is a great teacher who promises "This day you will be with me in paradise."
Paradise is "paradeiso" A Persian word taken into the Greek. A garden or a park -- a place of beauty and delight. It brings to mind the Garden of Eden. There is a sense of reconciliation and restoration to the pristine state of the garden. II Corinthians 12:4 and Revelation 2:7, along with Luke 23:43, are the only three occurrences of "paradeiso" in the NT…But if he’s just a teacher, that’s offering a bit of false hope at best…and real deluded…nutty, at worst. But if this is truly the messiah of God, then there is no more powerful statement in all of history than this crucifixion of Jesus Christ between two criminals. If God sinks this low to claim our love, we must ask the question for ourselves.
"Are you not the messiah?"…Then…The second question.
"Do you not fear God?"
The one convicted felon says to the other in effect,
"Even at this worst possible point in your life... have you no room to look to God? Even now?"
Even at the outer limits of his mortal existence, this man has no room for the possibility of God! Luke's account of the conversation between the criminals and Jesus is unique. The words, "kept deriding him" are "blasphemeo". The sense is immensely strong. The root is obviously where we get the term "blasphemy". It means to speak evil, revile, defame or vilify. The man is hanging on a cross knowing he’s going to die but still…blaspheming the Son of God, the Savior of the world is something he has time for. The man is in deep pain and anger with a soul closed to the possibility of God, much less redemption. That’s a scary place to be! Try to imagine it. Doubters and even agnostics have at least the possibility of an encounter with God. I mean if your dyslexic and agnostic at least you have the possibility of finding DOG. But this poor, pitiful man is locked up in the prison of absolute aloneness. No room for God. No room for hope.
And yet, even here, Jesus offers no words of angry condemnation. This grace he brings is too passionate -- too fiery. It is a grace beyond my extremely limited powers of understanding. Think about it…silence in the face of ridicule? Perhaps even an offer of a handshake and grace to the one who just spat in your face? My spirit is called to attention by the depth of love and grace that is on display in Jesus whole life and ministry…But nowhere more than here!
What does it mean to reject a love such as this?
How deep is God's love? Scripture answers very clearly. There is no such thing as being "too far gone" when it comes to redemption. From one end of the Bible to the other the message is the same. The shortest distance between ruin and redemption -- failure and faith -- heaven and hell is a simple prayer,
"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
So how does Jesus respond to this thief on a cross? A truly convicted felon, who was guilty of his crimes, but seeks God in these final moments.
"Sorry buddy, but it's a bit late don't you think?
Trying for a foxhole conversion?
Forget it. You made your bed -- lie in it!"
“Or your cross, hang on it!”
No. The response of Jesus to any honest, sincere reaching out is immediate. There is no, "I'll think it over and let you know." There are no classes to take…hoops to jump through…or forms to fill out.
The response of God to our deepest needs is instantaneous. "Today, you will be with me in paradise."
The core of this story is that it is never too late to turn our hearts toward God. Never too late to ask for and receive the love of Christ. There are times in life when opportunities have passed. The opportunity is missed -- the moment is gone -- you might say, "The time for that is gone." But this one thing is sure. It is never too late to seek and find the grace of God! And if you know God, but life has come between you and fellowship…with Him it is never too late and you have never gone so far that, like the father of the prodigal son, God won’t run out to meet you and welcome you home!
Have you ever had a "too late" experience? You waited too long, overslept or missed an appointment? What did you feel like?
Compare that feeling to this truth. With God, as long as your breathing; there is hope, there is never a time when you cannot turn and ask for forgiveness and grace… Different feeling; isn’t it?
God Bless
