Salvation From The Cross (Final Words Part II)

Sermon Title: Salvation from the Cross

Good News Statement: Jesus saves us from the past

Preached: Sunday, March 13, 2022 at Dogwood Prairie and Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NRSV): Luke 23:32-43: Today’s scripture reading comes from the Gospel of Luke chapter twenty-three verses thirty-two thru forty-three. Listen to the words of the physician Luke…

³² Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. ³³ When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. [[³⁴ Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”]] And they cast lots to divide his clothing. ³⁵ And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” ³⁶ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, ³⁷ and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” ³⁸ There was also an inscription over him “This is the King of the Jews.”

³⁹ One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³ He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

 

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”

 

Introduction:

This morning’s joke is titled “The Funny Story of the Taxi Driver and St. Peter.” One Easter a priest and a taxi driver both died and went to heaven. St. Peter was at the Pearly gates waiting for them. ‘Come with me,’ said St. Peter to the taxi driver. The taxi driver did as he was told and followed St Peter to a mansion. It had everything you could imagine from a bowling alley to an Olympic size pool. ‘Oh my word, thank you,’ said the taxi driver.

Next, St. Peter led the priest to a rough old shack with a bunk bed and a little old television set. ‘Wait, I think you are a little mixed up,’ said the priest. ‘Shouldn’t I be the one who gets the mansion? After all I was a priest, went to church every day, and preached God’s word.’ ‘Yes, that’s true,’ St. Peter affirmed, ‘But during your Easter sermons people slept.  When the taxi driver drove, everyone prayed.’

For some, prayer is this daunting and confusing thing that Christians do. For others, prayer is a lifeline that connects them to God. In the words of Oswald Chambers, in his daily devotional titled My Utmost for His Highest, “Prayer is the practice of drawing on the grace of God….Pray now—draw on the grace of God in your moment of need” (June 26). Humanity is to learn through prayer, work through prayer, reflect through prayer, and seek God through prayer in a moment of need. Prayer is humanity’s means of conquering the struggles of the world. Prayer is the exercise of love that builds a foundation of hope and grace through repetition. Prayer is the spirituality of transformation. Prayer is a spiritual discipline that is never ceasing to exist within the realm of sublime and awe-inspiring acceptance of God, the Almighty. Prayer is our lifeline to God; and prayer is our access to salvation.

At a time of near death, Jesus finds himself praying. Not only does he pray for forgiveness for all those who have wronged him, “Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing,” but he prays for one of the criminals, who is being crucified with him. Jesus prays that this criminal would be saved and he would be welcomed into Paradise. Jesus prayed from the cross so that this criminal, so that sinners, so that you and I could be with him in Paradise. Jesus prayed so that you and I would no longer be strangers and aliens, but be citizens and “members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). Jesus prayed so that we may be born from above—so that we may experience salvation here on earth. “Today, you will be with me in Paradise” are words prayed by Jesus not just for the criminal but for you and for me.

Opening Prayer:

            Let us pray…Dear Heavenly Father, we know we aren’t perfect: we know we have faults and sins; and we know we do not always say or do the right thing. But Lord, pray for us today so that when the time comes we will be welcomed into your heavenly paradise. I pray that my words fall to the ground as your words settle in the hearts of all those before me. In your name we pray, Amen.

 

Body:

Our crucifixion perspective this morning comes from one of the criminals, who was crucified and sentenced to death along with Jesus.

He looked at me with compassion. This man, beaten and tortured to the point of death, looked at me with compassion. It had been a long time since I had felt anyone’s compassion. My mother died when I was seven. My father was a drunkard whose ideal of encouragement was to call me an idiot and tell me to leave him alone. So I did. To fill this ever strengthening void of neglect in my life, I began committing petty crimes when I was ten years old. I’d committed armed robbery when I was fifteen years old. And by the time I was twenty years old, I killed an innocent man because he was in my way. I had no one. I had no one to lean on. I had no one to guide me. I had no one to tell me what I was doing was wrong. I had no one who offered me compassion or hope. I was on my own. I was a hopeless cause.

            And here I was forty-seven years old, carrying my cross on the way to Calvary. It was amusing to me that this man, who people shouted from the streets Jesus of Nazareth, was being crucified with me and this other criminal. I knew of him—I mean I have heard of him. Some of my friends had gone to hear him in the nearby villages. Some of them even said he fed a crowd of either four-or-five-thousand from two little fish and five loaves of bread. I guess Jesus had even eaten with my friends as well. I knew some of the girls whom I travelled with had found religion by listening to him: they claimed he was God’s Messiah, God’s Chosen One, and God’s Son. But I didn’t believe them….or did I?

            The strange Messiah—(be)friending sinners and prostitutes. If I believed in God, that’s the kind of Messiah I would want—someone who acts as a friend; someone I can lean on; and someone who will walk with me through the Garden and talk with me. But I didn’t: I didn’t believe in God and I was sure that this Jesus wasn’t the Messiah. After all, why would someone like Jesus—who can perform miracles and feed people and heal people and save people—be crucified with two thieves? Yet I can tell you this: I could not take my eyes off of him.

            A huge crowd came out for his crucifixion—the money-changers, the religious leaders, the Romans, and all those religious hypocrites. An unknown person was even forced to carry Jesus’ cross. This crowd stood around him, hurling insults at him. I joined in at first. But I didn’t have the stomach to keep going. It was then I heard him praying from his cross, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

I was stunned—this friend of sinners prayed for mercy for his enemies. He prayed for the soldiers, for Pilate, for the mocking and insulting crowd, for someone named Judas, for the man who carried his cross, and for people that weren’t even there. He was struggling to breathe, but yet he prayed. He was beaten and tortured, but yet he prayed, He was in excruciating pain, but yet he prayed. I wonder what’s going to happen to those whom he chose to pray for.

            He turned and looked at me as if he could see right through me; once more he looked at me with compassion. Even in my pain, I found myself drawn to this man. If, as some have said, he was sent from God, and if God was like him, showing mercy to sinners, then perhaps there was hope for me. There’s hope for the hopeless…

            Levi, my partner in crime, began to hurl insults at Jesus once more. I shouted, “Levi, stop it! Don’t you see? We’re getting what we deserve. He’s done nothing wrong.” And then, for reasons I still don’t understand, I turned to Jesus and said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He looked at me for the last time and replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Then he said something else and bowed his head. He gave me hope; and I didn’t even get to say thank you. (Final Words From The Cross, Adam Hamilton, 34-35).

It is said that a person is known by the company he or she keeps. In life and in death, Jesus associated with sinners. In Luke 15:1-2 we read, “Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” Jesus allowed the prostitute to wash his feet with her tears (John 12). Jesus summoned Zacchaeus, an individual collecting tax for Rome, to “come down….for I want to stay at your house today” (Luke 19:5). He touched lepers and ate with unclean people. Speaking of eating, gathered around the table during the Last Supper, Jesus ate with fishermen, with a thief and betrayer, with a tax collector, and with a Zealot who attempted to overthrow the Roman government. Jesus surrounded himself with the unclean; even during death, Jesus was hanging next to two criminals.

Surrounded by sinners, Jesus fulfilled his mission: Jesus did what no one else wanted to do. Jesus saved the lost and sinful. According to Luke, Jesus clearly identifies his mission as coming to “seek out and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).

As we look at the two criminals crucified on the right and left of Jesus we get a glimpse of how powerful Jesus’ saving grace can be. Both criminals saw the same thing that day: a man who claimed to be the Messiah abused and crucified and praying for forgiveness for all of them. Even though they saw the same thing, they had very different responses; and Luke is the only to record this conversation.

One criminal looked at Jesus and saw a failed Messiah. But the other criminal looked at Jesus and found hope. This criminal probably said to himself, “My life is hopeless right now. I’m going to die in a matter of hours, humiliated and defeated. Maybe there really is a God who loves us. Maybe there is a God who cares for the hopeless. Maybe there is a God who gives second chances.” Realizing this hope, the criminal who declares, “This man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:40-41), looks at Jesus and says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42).

In the Old Testament, when God remembered individuals, God delivered them. In Genesis 8:1, God remembered Noah and saved him from the flood. In Genesis 19:29, God remembered Abraham, and therefore spared his nephew Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Genesis 30:22, God remembered Rachel and opened her womb. In Exodus 2:24, God remembered his covenant with Abraham and therefore delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. In Luke 22:19 and 1 Corinthians 11:24-25, Jesus invites us to remember him so that we may be delivered. When both God and Jesus remember their people, their people are delivered and saved and forgiven of their trespasses. This criminal is asking Jesus to be delivered, to be saved, to be born again—as John would state. Jesus, nearing death, saves a sinner. Do you need to be saved? It’s never too late to ask Jesus to remember you.

Jesus saves this criminal by simply praying, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Jesus begins this prayer by saying “today.” Notice that Jesus doesn’t say “Tomorrow, you will be with me in Paradise,” or “A couple of days from now you will be with me in Paradise,” or “Next year, you will be with me in Paradise.” “Today,” you will be with me in Paradise. When anyone seeks to be saved or delivered and prays to God to be forgiven, God does not hesitate—God will not wait—to save them. God will not hesitate to save you. Even if you have sinned, God will guide you towards salvation. Even if you question God, God will guide you towards salvation. Even if you find yourself being “crucified,” God will guide you towards salvation. God will guide you towards salvation today just like he did with the criminal who found hope just minutes before death. It’s never too late to allow God to guide you towards salvation. It’s never too late to be saved.

After promising that the criminal will be saved today, Jesus says, “You will be with me.” Jesus’ words to the criminal on the cross demonstrate the great mercy that God shows to His creation, even at its most desperate hour. Luke, whose focus throughout his Gospel is on Jesus’ concern for the outcast and lost, wants us to see that even as a criminal was dying for his crimes, Jesus offered salvation. Although Jesus could have chosen to save himself, Jesus chose to save a criminal. Jesus chose to save a sinner.

John, quoting Jesus, writes that Jesus had the power to control the outcome of his own life. Jesus boldly proclaimed, “No one takes [life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again” (John 10:18). Jesus had the power to save his own life. Jesus had the power to get down from the cross. Jesus had the power to remove himself from the horrible and tormenting and devastating acts of the Roman crucifixion. But he didn’t. Jesus remained on the cross, absorbing insults and torture, to save the criminal, to save you, and to save me. Jesus’ decision to remain on the cross exemplified a greater power: a power that takes away our sins and offers love in its place, a power that offers peace instead of war, and a power that offers salvation to all. This power—his mighty grace—is what allows us to be with him yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

We see in Jesus’ dying words what we see throughout his life: He wanted to save. Jesus came proclaiming a God of the second chance—a God of being born again, of being renewed, of being restored by the Holy Spirit. Adam Hamilton notes, “This thief had the faith the size of a mustard seed, and it was enough.” The good news is that God shows the same great mercy to each of you. Jesus saw that this man was reaching toward him, and he offered him salvation in paradise. Is Jesus reaching out to you?

Before Jesus breathed his last breath, he ended his prayer, his promise, to the criminal by saying, “You will be with me in Paradise.” The Greek word for paradise comes from a Persian word meaning “king’s garden.” When someone was honored in ancient Persia, they were given the privilege of enjoying the king’s garden. While reading about the king’s garden, I came across a story about a doctor who was asked about heaven.

There was a doctor who made house calls back in the day when that was what doctors did. He took his dog with him in his horse and buggy. One day he visited a dying man, and as he went into the man’s house, he left his dog on the front step. The dying man said to the doctor, “Doc, what’s it going to be like in heaven?” At that moment the doctor’s dog began to scratch at the door, whimpering and whining to get in. The Doc stopped and said, “Do you hear that?” “Yes,” replied the dying man. The doctor continued, “That’s my dog. He has never been inside your house. He doesn’t know what’s on the other side of this door. All he knows is that his master is in here, and if his master is in here, it must be okay.”

            The Bible is surprisingly sparse in its descriptions of heaven. The Book of Revelation gives us a few glimpses, but if often speaks in symbolic language we’re not meant to take literally. What we do know is that Jesus describes heaven as the King’s Garden—paradise—and we know that he, our master, will be there, so it must be okay. The criminal doesn’t really know about this paradise. But because Jesus has promised that he will be there with him, the criminal knows that everything will be okay.

Jesus promises to be there for you. He promises to walk with you, to talk with you, and guide you towards paths of righteousness. Jesus knows we are going to fault, that we are going to sin, that we are going to walk away from him a time-or-two in our life. But he also knows that his saving grace is more powerful than any sin that this world has to offer. His saving grace is more powerful than any sin. From the cross, Jesus saved and delivered a criminal and promised him that there is a place for him in paradise. That same promise extends to each of you. Doing you need saving? Do you need to be reminded that God has a place for you in His kingdom? Do you need to know that it is never too late to give your life to Christ?

Conclusion:

Surrounded by sinners, Jesus fulfilled his mission: Jesus did what no one else wanted to do. Jesus saved the lost and sinful. According to Luke, Jesus clearly identifies his mission as coming to “seek out and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). I can only imagine what the criminal—who was hopeless and lost—was thinking when he heard Jesus say, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.” The criminal probably who have recited these words from John Newton: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see. ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed! The Lord has promised good to me, his word my hope secures; He will my shield and portion be; as life endures” (Amazing Grace, 1772).

It’s never too late to be saved. Jesus won’t wait when you seek salvation: he will give it to you today. Jesus won’t let you live by yourself, because he will be with you. And Jesus won’t let you wonder without a place to go, because he has promised you a place in paradise—in his garden. Today, Jesus promises to be with you in paradise. Are you ready to sing these words, “O victory in Jesus, my savior forever. He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood; He loved me ere I knew Him and all my love is due Him. He plunged me to victory, beneath the cleansing flood” (Victory in Jesus). Are you ready to proclaim that Jesus is your victorious savior? Are you ready to be saved?

If Jesus, at a time of death, can save a hopeless criminal with a prayer, then Jesus can save each and every one of you. Today, you will be with Jesus in paradise. It’s never too late to experience his amazing grace and eternal salvation. You just have to be willing to say, “Jesus save me.”

Closing Prayer:

Let us pray. Dear Lord Jesus, we are not perfect. But Lord we know that we can be saved by your grace, filled with your love, and experience eternal life in your paradise. Lord, we pray for your salvation to enter our life today: not yesterday, not tomorrow, but today. Lord, save us! Amen.

 

Benediction:

Remember, there is no sin too great for Jesus. Jesus’ saving power is greater than any sin in this world. And remember, it’s never too late to be saved by Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, go, transforming lives as you live well and wisely in God’s world. Amen. Amen. Amen.