Calvary is the place of the three crosses.
• Two criminals were led to be executed with Jesus that day.
• They were in a way, privileged to be so close to Jesus during the last moment of His life, and their own lives.
• That gave them the chance, the last chance to know the One who could save them.
The two criminals were given a choice - to believe Jesus and trust Him as their Saviour.
• Both did make a choice, and that choice separate them worlds apart.
The two criminals have so much in common.
• Both were criminals, both committed some serious crimes.
• Both were given the same punishment by the same system.
• They were surrounded by the same crowd, and both were equally close to Jesus.
• At the beginning, Matt 27:44 tells us they both insulted Jesus.
But one changed.
• He came to understand that Jesus was no ordinary man.
• He heard at least two words of Jesus –
(1) “And about the 9th hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46).
(2) “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots” (Luke 23:34).
• This criminal got to understand that he needed forgiveness.
He changed his mind about Jesus!
• It could be a simple change, but it wasn’t really.
• That change separated the two of them – worlds apart.
• It determined their destinies, one in paradise, and the other in hell.
• The consequence was eternal.
God allows us to make our own choices.
• This is the truth we see in history, in the Bible.
• Jesus says, You can choose to walk the narrow path or the broad way (Mt 7:13-14)
• You can choose to build on the rock or upon the sand (Matt 7:24-27)
• You can serve God, or riches (Matt 6:24)
Don’t undermine your choices
• A simple choice to serve God will bring you great blessings.
• A simple choice to trust Jesus will bring you an abundant life.
This is God’s gift to us – the gift of choice.
• God has great blessings for us, but He does not want to force us to submit to Him.
• Parents would understand. You can’t force your children to love you. It does not mean anything, if it is forced.
• The freedom to choose is a blessing – we would not want someone to decide everything we do – like what to wear today, what to eat, what to do, what cannot do…
• God is good to us, to allow man the freedom to make whatever choices we like.
One of the criminals was a shameless and hardened man.
• Look at verse 39: “One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him: ‘Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!’”
• The word “insult” can be translated as “defamation or blasphemy.”
• He was doing much more than just teasing Jesus. He was bitter and sarcastic.
• He cares only for himself. “If you’re so great, save yourself and I will be saved.”
• His was the cross of rebellion.
He threw away his chance at forgiveness.
• Because of his unrepentant heart he missed out on heaven.
• Even in the valley of the shadow of death, he was too proud to surrender His life to Christ. He just didn’t get it.
FEAR TO JOY, BONDAGE TO FREEDOM
A poor German girl announced that she was going to give a piano concert. In order to attract people to come, she mentioned in the advertisements that she was the student of the famous Hungarian professor, Franz Liszt. But it was a falsehood.
To her dismay, she learned the professor was going to visit her town on the day before the concert. What should she do now?
She went to meet him, confessed her guilt, and asked him to forgive her. The professor answered, "You made a mistake. All of us make mistakes. The only thing that you can do now is to repent; and I believe that you have already repented. Sit down and play."
At the beginning, she played with much fear. The professor corrected a few of her mistakes and said, "Now truly you can say that I taught you. Go ahead and play at your concert tomorrow evening, and the last piece will not be played by you, but by your teacher."
Jesus says in John 8:32 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
• We are like this girl. We made mistakes and we’ve sinned against God.
• There is nothing else you can do but repent.
• And when we repent, we receive God’s forgiveness. Our fears will be gone.
• We are free and we can rejoice in His presence.
The other criminal responded differently.
• Look at verse 40: “But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
• He knows he is a sinner. He has done wrong.
• And then he turned to Jesus and said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (v.42)
He has the freedom to decide whether he wanted Jesus to save him or not.
• Though we do not know much about this man, we know one thing – he must have done wrong, made some bad mistakes in life.
• It could be a wasted life. But is he going to suffer eternally for his mistakes? NO.
• He repented and God accepted him.
You may have made some bad choices in life.
• You may have chosen the wrong friends, the wrong career, did many wrong things. You look back over your life and say, “If only… If only I could start all over again… Correct my past mistakes…”
• The Bible says you can. Today, if we would put our trust in Jesus, and ask Him to forgive us, God can change us and give us a new life.
• One good choice for eternity offsets a thousand bad ones on earth.
• 2 Cor 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
His was the cross of repentance.
• Why was his response different? This man opened his eyes, his ears, and his heart.
• As he watched and listened, his heart was convicted of his own wickedness when contrasted with the righteousness of Jesus.
• He heard what Jesus said. While the soldiers hammered in the nails, Jesus prayed a prayer of forgiveness for his torturers: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.”
• Perhaps this expression of grace is what softened the man’s indifferent heart.
He recognized his need for God’s forgiveness.
Look at what he said and we can understand at least 4 things:
1. He respected Jesus. He rebuked the other man for hurling insults at Jesus.
He was beginning to honour Jesus, and respect God.
2. He admitted his guilt. His deeds were wrong and he knew that he deserved to be punished.
3. He confessed Christ. He knew that Jesus was sinless and righteous. This man was beginning to see that Jesus had done nothing wrong at all.
4. He asked for salvation. Verse 42 “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” This is a very important.
• He did more than just respect Jesus, own his guilt, and knows Jesus is sinless.
• He finally reached out in faith by asking Jesus to remember him.
• This is a response of faith – he believed in Jesus, that He will live again.
He was doing what John 1:12 says to do: “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God.”
The response was immediate - Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in Paradise." (v.43)
• Jesus said, “Today, as soon as you take your last breath, you will be with me in paradise.”
• Jesus saved a man even while He was on the cross!
ABANDONED PIECES
A visitor to a sculptor’s studio commented, "I saw some blocks of marble lying off in a corner. Out of one a hand emerged, out of another was a head, with face unfinished. Others had unfinished work. Why the abandoned pieces?
The artist answered: "All those pieces showed great promise on the outside, on the surface. But as I chiselled deeper, flaws and defects that were not visible on the surface began to show up. They had to be abandoned."
The difference between marble defects and human defects is that the flaws in the marble cannot be undone, but not the human heart. The defective heart becomes the perfect heart at the touch of the Master.
There is a saying, “A man not fit to live on earth, God made fit to live in heaven.”
• The word “paradise” is a Persian word that referred to a beautiful walled garden used by a king.
• When a Persian monarch wished to honour one of his subjects he would invite him to take a walk with him in the garden.
• Jesus was promising the repentant rebel not only immortality, but also an honoured place as a companion in God’s garden. “You shall be WITH ME.”
Just like what Jesus said in John 14:3, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
Brothers and sisters, we learn a few things here:
(1) Salvation is that simple.
The devil has blinded the eyes of men and women into thinking that it is hard to be saved. But this clearly isn’t true.
• The man on the cross was saved simply by asking the Lord to save him.
• In the words of his request, there is surely an attitude of repentance as he threw himself on the mercy of Jesus.
• That’s all that is necessary to salvation - repentance and faith.
• He didn’t have to join a church, be baptized, or even walk an aisle.
(2) The very worst can be saved.
There can be no doubt that this guy was a lawbreaker.
• He had broken the laws of the land and he was being crucified for that reason
• But the extent of his sin didn’t alter his chance of being saved one bit.
• Friends, no one is too bad to be saved.
(3) It is never too late to come to Christ.
The choice is yours.
While it is dangerous to wait until you’re on your deathbed, a person can still turn to Christ in faith right before they take their last breath, and be with Jesus for all eternity.
• Having said that, don’t wait too long to accept Christ.
• The thief on the cross had one final chance and he took it.
• Your final chance might be right now!
Which of these two men can you identify with?
• Everyone in the world is on one of these two crosses today.
• We’re all guilty and deserve to die. We’re all criminals who have committed cosmic crimes against a Holy God.
• Only those who repent will be redeemed. Those who rebel are lost!
Remember this: The last act of the Son of God was to save a sinner!
There were many people who were instrumental in crucifying Jesus.
• There were the religious leaders who hated him, the traitor Judas who sold him, the priests who bought him, the people who said, “Crucify Him, crucify Him,” the Roman authorities who judge Him and even the soldiers who nailed Him.
• But the story remains academic unless we each admit, “I was there, too and my sins nailed Him to the Cross.”
Christianity is nothing at all if it’s not personal.
• In a very real sense you and I were at Calvary.
Isn’t it interesting that we’re never called to commemorate the birth of Jesus in the Bible?
• Not once did He request that any of His wonderful deeds be immortalized.
• But we are told to remember His death. We are to hold communion regularly.
• The cross is to be a memorial to remind us where the centre of His work lies.
