There is a word that I want to try and lift this morning which is found in 23 chapter of Luke’s gospel, beginning at verse 39. Would you stand for the reading of God’s word. (READ). Thus, for our subject this morning I invite you to join with me prayerfully and reflect on the words, Wisdom From The Cross.
Around the necks of hundreds of thousands in our society today are crosses of gold and silver. Many of them are beautifully decorated with precious stones - sapphires, rubies and diamonds. The people who wear them, in the majority, blissfully go on their way without even the vaguest understanding of the meaning of the true Cross. The Cross has merely become another item of jewelry. Yet, there were no jewels in the Cross which executed our Lord Jesus. Our culture has lost its understanding of the Cross.
We have forgotten that On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, The emblem of suffering and shame. In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died, To pardon and sanctify me. So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross.
So if you haven’t remembered; travel with me back into the corridors of time and the pages of history more than 2000 years ago; to a dreadful dastardly time in the history of humankind. When man was lost, baffled and tossed by every new wind that blew. It was a time called the Intertestamental Period: the waning moments of the old standing on the precipice of the new. The law was about to bow subject to grace. The old dispensation was prepared to be succeeded by the new dispensation. Those who had been looking for a great and shinning knight in armor that would lead the people of Israel to a golden age were dismayed and distraught. For the only hope they had was now hanging on a tree; with spikes in His feet and with nails in His hands. It was a time in history when Satan almost became our savior. When we were lost without any hope of being found. When we were looking for the Lord to speak a word but it appeared that even silence came from heaven on high.
Travel with me to that period in history as we re-enact the most eventful weekend that humankind as ever experienced
then or since. We cannot gather here in isolation of all that transpired during that dreadful weekend. This Sunday morning worship service and this weekend’s celebration of liberation and freedom don’t mean much if we don’t understand the crucifixion. And the celebration of the Lord’s Supper will mean nothing if we have not entered into the suffering of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Look at the paradox of the weekend if you will; it was ugly but at the same time it was beautiful. It was ugly because evil had seemingly had won out. Satan appeared to be in charge and good appeared not to be able to stand on its own two feet. It was ugly because, as somebody said, the sun refused to shine. The earth began to quake and we are told that everything that had life became listless on that dreadful Friday afternoon. It was ugly because it appeared that the darkness would never be disbursed by light. And it appeared that humankind would be lost in the vast quagmires of a sin that would never loose them
nor let them go.
But not only was it ugly but it was beautiful at the same time. It was beautiful because the Lord was teaching us what real celebration is all about. He wanted us to know that you can’t go up until you have first gone down. And He wanted us to know that you cannot really celebrate until you have first sorrowed. And that you cannot really understand living until you have determined what it means to die. And that the Resurrection means absolutely nothing if you have not determined what it means to go to Calvary’s awful hill. There were three cross there and most us are familiar with these three crosses.
The first cross was the cross of rejection. The theif who absolutely said “NO” to the “YES” of God. The second cross is that of reconciliation. For the other theif that was on the other side of our Lord and Savior said, “Lord, I see something in you. The proximity of our closeness has allowed me to feel something that I have never felt before. I’ve looked into your eyes and there is a gleam that has captured my spirit. There is something about you that makes me, even in this last moment want to cry out to you and say, Lord, have mercy on me a sinner!” And Jesus’ response was, “Today. Shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” And the final cross was the cross od redemption. Where Jesus died for the atonement for your sins and mine.
But this morning I want to focus our attention on the first cross. The cross of rejection. For often times we can only learn the great lessons of life from the mistakes of others. For if we don’t learn from our mistakes…If we don’t learn from history then we are doomed to repeat it.
And so there, on that hill called Calvary was a theif who rejected Jesus Christ. He was there, just a stone’s throw away from your savior and mine but yet he had determined that Jesus was not the god of his salvation. And you know my bothers and sisters many of us are still rejecting Jesus Christ. Terrible mistake.
Tragic error. But there is some wisdom that comes from this cross. There are some lessons to be learned.
The First Lesson: He did not recognize Jesus as Lord. This thief did not recognize with whom he was talking - a king, and more than a king. He was dying with the one person who could save his soul. He saw Jesus as no better than he was but he did not recognize Jesus’ divine authority. And to make such a mistake is fatal. No one is ever too far-gone to be saved. “Even if He’s gotta reach way down, Jesus can pick you up!” However, there are still many today that even at the point of death, they are still mocking and hating Jesus Christ. There are still many today who question the power of Christ. There are still many today who seem to think that Jesus was no different than we are, but there are also many who see the need for the Savior and yet, Jesus is not the God of their salvation! They trust the lawyer. They trust the doctor. They trust in false doctrine. Not me, all to Jesus, I surrender. All to Him I freely give. I will ever love and trust Him. In His presence daily live.
The Second Lesson: He misunderstood the plan of grace. Again, he was more focused on what was going beneath him rather than what was transpiring right next to him. Gathered around the foot of the cross were the soldiers who had crucified Jesus. These rough Roman soldiers had crucified many people. They undoubtedly had much experience in crucifixion, because when they had finished their work and Jesus was hanging from the cross, these soldiers got out a pair of dice and started a crap game at the foot of the cross. It seems strange to us that any man could contemplate the dying of Jesus and carry on in such a way, but here were men who were far more interested in making a dollar than they were in the blood of Jesus.
Ain’t nothing changed. Too many people who are not at all concerned about the meaning of the death of Christ. Their whole concern is focused on getting paid. These soldiers stand forever as examples of those callous individuals who have no interest in the great story of the cross; who shrug their shoulders with indifference to anybody who tries to call their attention to what was really happening at this scene. They don’t care that “at the cross, at cross is where I first saw the light. They don’t know anything about the burdens of their life being rolled away. Ahh, but Jesus keep me near the cross.”
The Third Lesson: He gave up. Jesus hung on the cross as a source of salvation and hope. But this theif saw neither hope nor salvation. He looked about at the crowd, he looked at the Roman centurions…saw Herod and Pilate and all those with power and he made a conscious decision to say “No” to God and “yes” to the powers that be. He looked at Jesus in the center and said, “Why, I would follow you but it seems to me that you have no power. If you did have power it seems to me that even if you would not save us at least you would save yourself. And so my choice is that I choose Rome and I choose the government; they are killing me but at least I am dying with those who have the power.” Many of us, perhaps not in words but in the demonstrative acts of our life have determined by the way we live and by the valued decisions that we make and by the values that guide us from the cradle to the grave that we have said “No!” to the Lord when the Lord has wanted us to say “Yes” to Him. Most of us will talk about how we want Him in our life but when it gets down to how we live we have demonstrated that we, like the thief on the cross, have said, “No” unto the Lord. And “Yes” to the powers that be. We trust the lawyer. We trust the doctor. We trust drugs and alcohol. We trust what so called friends tell us. We believe what strangers say. And we give up on God. I’ve been there. I felt like giving up. I’ve felt like throwing in the towel. But then I remember what Grandma use to say, “I once was young. But now I’m old. And I’ve never seen. The righteous foresaken.” See. We’ve come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord; trusting in his holy word, he’s never failed us yet. So, we can’t turn back, we can’t give up. Because in that lonely hour. Jesus. Christ my Lord. Jesus. My rock . . .
Jesus. My elder brother.
Jesus. My way . . .
He’ll show up.
And wipe tears from your eyes.
He’ll lift your heavy burdens.
He’ll make a way out of no way.
He’ll open doors closed in your face.
He’ll turn your midnight into midday.
He’ll turn your gloom into joy.
I am so glad.
That can’t nobody do me like Jesus.
Can’t nobody. Do me like the Lord.
He is my refuge and my strength.
A very present help.
In a time trouble.
So when think that you have done all that you can. When all human knowledge has failed you. Just trust in the Lord.
Put your hand in the hands of the Master.
Time is filled with swift transition.
Naught of earth unmoved can stand.
You need to build your hopes on things eternal.
And hold to God’s unchanging hand.
