Good Friday – April 2, 2010

Luke 23 - ³⁹ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³ Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

“He Stands at the Door and Knocks”

Death! It’s the great equalizer, isn’t it? When that moment arrives, it doesn’t matter whether you're rich or poor; live in a 28 room mansion or a one room shack; or whether the color of your skin is black, white, red or yellow. All are equal before death. And for many, it's the one moment in all their lives where they can be completely honest, when they can stop pretending and take off the mask that's hidden their real self for years. So it is with one of the two thieves crucified alongside the Lord Jesus. Suddenly, in his dying moment, he saw his whole life in perspective, saw it for what it really was — and it wasn’t pretty!

If you've been following our Lenten series this year, you know that our theme has been “Jesus of Nazareth Is Passing By.” Each service has centered on Jesus Christ from the viewpoint of the people who had some of the last contacts with the Savior. For many, these last opportunities became lost opportunities as they refused to listen to the loving warnings of our Savior. But for a few, this last opportunity was the very opportunity needed for the Holy Spirit to break down their walls of unbelief and kindle the fire of faith. This is true for the thief who hung on the executioner's cross. In front of his very eyes the Savior of all the world was passing by. In God's own incomprehensible wisdom, he was there at just the right time and place that he might have the privilege of being ministered to by the dying Son of God himself.

It was one brief moment, one brief window of opportunity to meet and talk with his Savior, one final moment to repent. And it was not a lost opportunity. That day at the cross, beneath a sun that refused to shine, amidst the blasphemous ridicule, the scales of this thief’s spiritual blindness were removed and he saw the light of his salvation. That day Jesus stood at the door to his heart and knocked. And by God's grace, the Holy Spirit opened the heart of this one-time thief — and Jesus entered in. It's the story of a last minute pardon before the final switch is pulled. As death comes knocking, so also does the Lord Jesus Christ.

Holy Scripture reminds us that unless Judgment Day comes first, no one will escape death. It is the only sure thing that this world has to offer. Holy Scripture also makes it very clear as to why we will die – it is the reward; it is what we earn for our sin. And there is no more severe a sermon on sin than the cold, limp, lifeless body. There is no greater illustration of sin’s severity than the casket which will hold our body as it turns into dust. Death equals sinner, and sinner equals death! There is no escaping it!

But perhaps this criminal thought he could – at least for a while. Perhaps he thought he could beat the system after all – God’s system, too. Perhaps he had convinced himself that there was no God above or hell below; that it was just death – and there would be no reckoning for his sins. And, if that's the way he thought, he's not alone. It's the way many still think today, that somehow by denying God above and hell below, they can escape ever having to face the consequences of their sins. If they can only convince themselves that God no longer cares, or that he's changed his mind about sin, or that in this day and age he operates by different rules, then they figure they can rest easy.

But for this criminal, that was all before. Now at the cross, there are no more excuses. There's no flippant, carefree attitude as his life slowly fades away. There at the cross, as the nails pierce his quivering flesh, he discovers to his grief that his excuses had been just that. He realizes that what he had told himself about death was all a delusion. In a painful way he was discovering the Scriptural truth that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). And it struck terror into his heart! Now he knew that there was another payment that would be handed out to him because of his crimes, punishment before the judgment seat of God.

But as that realization of the utter sinfulness of his life slowly set in; as the awareness of deserving nothing but God's eternal wrath and punishment came over him, he was also led to see that there was hope. Just how it is that this criminal was led to view differently that man crucified in the middle, we don’t know. Perhaps it was the words of Pilate and the crowd who called him king. Maybe it was the ridicule from the teachers of the law who said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One” (Luke 23:35). Perhaps it was Jesus’ words to his mother and disciple. Whatever way it was, our Lord of love, from the cross, stood at the door of this man's heart and knocked. And through the grace and Word of God, the Holy Spirit opened the heart of this one-time thief — and Jesus entered in.

Now there are no more excuses. Now he confesses his sin. Now he turns to the other thief who joined the taunting crowd and says within earshot of everyone there: “Don't you fear God 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.” Suddenly it no longer matters what others might say or think about him. Death does that, you know. It gives people the boldness to speak the truth without fear. He confesses that this Jesus is the Savior of the world: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Lord, remember me in mercy when the victory is won and your kingdom comes. Such is the language of faith. And now heaven itself opens wide. The banquet of God's grace is spread before him. And soon he will sit down to eat with Jesus in the mansions of heaven itself. “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” Just think of the joy that filled that penitent thief's heart. Jesus accepted him. Jesus loved him. Jesus wanted him to be with him in paradise!

My friends, you and I today may not be facing such an immediate summons out of this life, but we know that one day it will come. Someday we will experience the Scriptural truth, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

Time and time again the Scriptures tell us that we are but mortal. Search the Scriptures and you'll find this recurring message: “Dust you are, and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19)…“Death came to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). In this respect we're no different than the thief. There’s no escaping it!

Yet sometimes do we act like we will? Not so much that we’ll beat death, but that we think we can beat God’s system. Isn’t that why we make excuses? We like to think that somehow we don’t have to face the consequences of our sin. And so we hop on the blaming bandwagon. It isn’t my fault; it’s the day an age I live in. I couldn’t help it; it’s just the way I am. There are even times we’re too lazy to come up with excuses so we instead adopt the strategy of indifference and we just don’t think about it, as if not admitting it’s a sin somehow keeps it from being a sin; as if not thinking about it somehow means we don’t have to answer to God for it. And if that isn’t foolish enough, how many times have we tried to convince ourselves that God isn’t that concerned about my sin, because after all it isn’t really as serious and terrible as that’s guys over there? But do we really want to play that game when we know that death equals sinner, and sinner equals death?

No! Instead of playing that game, let us take the time now before it is too late to be completely honest, to stop pretending, and to take off the mask with which we try to hide our real selves. Before it is our dying moment let us see our whole life in perspective and see it for what it really is - utter sinfulness for which we deserve nothing but God's eternal wrath and punishment. When we do that we realize there are no excuses; we realize there is no way to trick ourselves; we realize there is only one way to face death with confidence – in Jesus Christ.

On that first Good Friday, Jesus said to that dying man, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” Take note, it was to a criminal that Jesus said this! Mark it well for your comfort! Let this circumstance teach you the truth: For every mortal sinner, who has earned hell, Jesus has gained Paradise as his legacy. In our own way, we too are criminals. How undeserving we are of our Savior’s gracious promise! But, of course, Jesus knew that. That’s why he was on the cross in the first place. It had to be this way. It was the only way for the guilt of sin to be paid and the way to paradise opened. As Jesus hung on that tree - with the nails tearing at his flesh, his head throbbing with pain, and with each breath getting harder and harder to breathe - he was bearing the punishment of our sins! He was suffering the sentence for our guilt! He was experiencing the depths of our hell! He was enduring what the end of everyone’s life ought to be, everyone’s except his own.

For his entire life he had done no wrong. When he was ridiculed, he did not insult back. When he was tempted, he always stood firm. But that was the way it had to be. He had to be perfect in our place to provide the holiness we need. He had to be the perfect sacrifice, so he could pay for our sins and earn forgiveness. You see, Jesus poured his life out unto death and was numbered with the transgressors so we wouldn’t have to be.

I don’t know if that thief on the cross cried that day. But I know I do. He hung there for me, so that one day I could be with him in paradise! He hung there for you, so one day you could be there too! How undeserving we are of our Savior’s gracious promise. But it is ours. In the Word, Jesus of Nazareth still passes by today; still he comes to prepare us for our final journey home; still he comes to knock down any walls of unbelief and point us to him - our Friend, our Savior, our Life. Amen.