2013.08.11 Luke
23: 26- 43
The crucifixion of Jesus
Here at Calvary Chapel Wiesbaden we go through the Scriptures one verse
at a time….. and we are currently going
through this amazing history of the Lord
Jesus Christ called the gospel of Luke…….
Jesus came preaching the kingdom……. The people were waiting for the long
promised kingdom….. They were waiting for deliverance from Rome…. We're nearing
the end of the ministry of Jesus…… They
hoped that Jesus was the one……. But….
The unbelief and rejection of Israel is certain…….
Jesus´ message is always a call to repentance……. It's
a call to come to Him….. to come into the kingdom of God……. to receive the
forgiveness and redemption that He brings…..
Repent the Kingdom of heaven is at hand…… Jesus invited the people to embrace Him as
Messiah….. and receive forgiveness of
sins and eternal life…..
He called the people to follow Him…… to become His disciples….. to come
after Him……. And in paragraph after
paragraph of the scriptures….. we hear the words of Jesus……..
Jesus always calls for everything we have….. Total commitment…… We will
pick up where we left off last week…. The religious leaders have rejected Him
and plotted His death….. The people have
joined their leaders in screaming for His crucifixion……
The trials are now over and Pilate has delivered Jesus to be
crucified….. He has been tried and unjustly condemned to death….. Now Jesus is on His
way to the Cross… Luke 23:26… through verse 32......
Luke 23:
26- 32 NKJV
26 Now
as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who
was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear
it after Jesus.
27 And a
great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and
lamented Him. 28 But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do
not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For indeed
the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that
never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’ 30 Then they will begin ‘to say to
the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ 31 For if they do
these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?”
32 There
were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death.
Luke 23: 26- 32 Schlachter 2000
26 Und als sie ihn wegführten, ergriffen sie einen
gewissen Simon von Kyrene, der vom Feld kam, und legten das Kreuz auf ihn,
damit er es Jesus nachtrug.
27 Es folgte ihm aber eine große Menge Volks und Frauen,
die wehklagten und ihn bejammerten.
28 Jesus wandte sich aber zu ihnen und sprach: Töchter
Jerusalems, weint nicht über mich, sondern weint über euch selbst und über eure
Kinder!
29 Denn siehe, Tage kommen, an denen man sagen wird:
Glückselig die Unfruchtbaren und die Leiber, die nicht geboren, und die Brüste,
die nicht gestillt haben!
30 Dann werden sie anfangen, zu den Bergen zu sagen:
Fallt auf uns!, und zu den Hügeln: Bedeckt uns!
31 Denn wenn man dies tut an dem grünen Holz, was wird an
dem dürren geschehen?
32 Es wurden aber auch zwei andere hingeführt, Übeltäter,
um mit ihm hingerichtet zu werden.
After waiting for thousands of years for the Messiah….. generation after generation filled
with hope in their hearts that the Messiah would come…..
He finally came…. And in spite of the fact that He taught like no man had ever taught….
in spite of the fact that He spoke divine truth…. in spite of the fact that He
demonstrated the Father´s compassion and unfailing love like no other ever had…
they rejected Him…..
The Gospel of John says “He came unto His own, His own received
Him not.”
Jesus offered salvation and eternal life….. He demonstrated His divine
power by casting out demons, curing diseases and raising the dead…. in spite of the fact that He had total control
over nature and fed the multitudes….. in spite of all of these things, they
rejected Him…..
He came unto His own, His own received Him not….. That
becomes clear again on the final steps to Calvary…...
Jesus walks the last couple of hundred yards from Pilate’s judgment hall
to Calvary where He will be crucified…. He is accompanied by many from this
chosen nation called Israel...... But tragically, the many reject Him as they
have all along......
Is this a surprise? Did it all go bad? This is no surprise...... He is
the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world...... His rejection and
crucifixion were in the plans and purposes of God…. God having allowed them
from before there ever was a creation at all...... And all the way through His
life He said that He was the one who came to die..... who came to give His life
a ransom for many...... He told His followers again and again that He would be
arrested by the Jewish leaders....., that He would be crucified and that He
would rise again from the dead.....
The disciples are not in this crowd.....
they have scattered in fear..... fearing for their own lives and feeling
that all their hopes and dreams were destroyed..... They aren’t there….. When
Jesus does arrive at the cross and is being crucified, the Apostle John shows
up along with the four women who were especially near and dear to Jesus at a
distance….. But neither the women nor any of the Apostles are mentioned on the
road to the cross…… He walks this road
alone…...
But who is there? Verse 26…
Luke 23: 26
NKJV Schlachter 2000
26 Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a
certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they
laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.
26 Und
als sie ihn wegführten, ergriffen sie einen gewissen Simon von Kyrene, der vom
Feld kam, und legten das Kreuz auf ihn, damit er es Jesus nachtrug.
“they” refers to the Sanhedrin…. And the high Council made up of
Pharisees and scribes, including Sadducees, the chief priests and the high
priests.….And of course the Roman soldiers…. They represent the enemies of
Jesus….. They are hostile……. They hate Him….. They
want Him dead…... There was a crowd that watched the procession to the cross…..
Some had cried out for his execution before Pilate….. some were fans of Jesus
who came to witness the end…. There are also a few important people in the
story….
v26… They seized one man named Simon of Cyrene
coming in from the country and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus…...
Simon is a common Jewish name indicating that he is a Jew…... Cyrene is
an area in north Africa which today would be Libya in the area of Tripoli…...
Josephus tells us, the Jewish historian, that there was a large Jewish
community living in Cyrene…….. And here is one of the Jews from Cyrene who
along with a lot of other Jews from Cyrene and a whole lot of other places in
the world had come to Jerusalem for the Passover….. We also know in Acts
chapter 2 and verse 10 that there was a synagogue for Cyrenian Jews in Jerusalem….. He’s
not been a part of the trial up to now….. He walks in, finds this entourage
leading these three criminals to death…. and he is seized and given the
responsibility of carrying Jesus’ cross….
He is important for us to know because according to the Historian
Josephus…. He becomes a believer….. How do we know that? Mark introduces him as
Simon of Cyrene, the father of Rufus and Alexander…..
So, when you put the story together, a stranger plucked out of the crowd
by the Roman soldiers follows Jesus carrying His cross…. goes to the cross and
comes to faith in Christ….
It’s amazing that what appeared as a random act by the Roman soldiers
is, in fact, a divine sovereign work of God…... He plucks up this man, leads
him to the cross, brings him to faith in Christ….. In the Book of Acts…. We see
that God sends him back to Cyrene….. And a church begins, apostles and
preachers from that church are sent out with the gospel…..
Nothing is really random at all……Our sovereign God oversees everything…..
So we meet the murderers and this supporting stranger who
supports our Lord by carrying His cross…...
That leads us now to another group…. Verse
27….
Luke 23: 27
NKJV Schlachter 2000
27 And a great multitude of the people
followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him.
27 Es folgte ihm aber
eine große Menge Volks und Frauen, die wehklagten und ihn bejammerten.
Now we’re familiar with this great multitude….. We met them, first of all,
when Jesus came into the city on Palm Sunday….. When He
came into the city on Sunday….. just a few days ago….. He was greeted by a
massive multitude who proclaimed Him as King and Messiah….. remember recently….
Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead….. The miracle of raising this man from
the dead was well-known to everybody in Jerusalem….. The word had spread like wildfire that Jesus
was coming to the feast of Passover…..
They already knew about His power because He had been ministering for
three years in their nation…….. But that final miracle drew the crowd together…..
And they’re all there saying, “Hosanna to the
Son of David, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” hailing Him as
their Messiah….
But He doesn’t do what they expect Him to do….. They expected Jesus as
the Messiah to throw out the Romans and bring in the Forever Messianic
Kingdom….
Instead Jesus is arrested and is now being taken outside of the city to
be crucified….
And they start to turn away from Jesus….. And even when He teaches for
the next couple of days…. they’re not seeing what they expect the Messiah to do…..
He keeps talking about His death…… And eventually the crowd is in such a state
of limbo and confusion that the leaders of Israel can seduce them to screaming
for His crucifixion…..
So it is this curious crowd that follows Jesus to the cross….. They
don´t know whether they should love Him or hate Him……
They are mostly the fans of Jesus….. They are easily swayed swayed by
this and that idea.... As the events turn against Jesus they also turn against
Him……. They had hoped that He might be their Messiah….. They had witnessed His
divine power…. But on the other hand…. They were easily seduced by the leaders
to believe He is satanic……. They are a disappointed crowd…...
If you drop down to verse 48…
Luke 23: 48
NKJV Schlachter 2000
48 And the whole crowd who came together to that
sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned.
48 Und
die ganzen Scharen, die herbeigekommen waren zu diesem Schauspiel — als sie
sahen, was geschah, schlugen sie sich an ihre Brust und kehrten zurück.
This is the universal sign of grief….. They were disappointed….. They
wanted Him to be their Messiah……
Some of them were hoping that He would do something right to the very
end…...
Maybe He would come down off of the cross…... It was even suggested to
Him that He might get off that cross and save Himself and everybody else….. if
He was really the Messiah…… It didn´t happen….. He died…… And the crowd left,
pounding their chests……
They were confused…… And they
were disappointed…. They were fans of Jesus….. but they had made no genuine commitment
to Him……. Their minds were dark….
They were not responsive to the truth He taught…. They
were not His enemies…... But they would not
confess Him as Lord…..
Back to Luke 23…v27….
Luke 23: 27
NKJV Schlachter 2000
27 And a great multitude of the people followed
Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him.
27 Es
folgte ihm aber eine große Menge Volks und Frauen, die wehklagten und ihn
bejammerten.
We meet the mourning women…. Mourning (Greek…. Koptomi)
it means to pound your chest in grief…..
They were beating themselves and wailing as our Lord went to the cross…...
Many people hated Jesus…. But
Not everyone hated Jesus…... And these women represent the feelings of
those who felt very sad…. They had hoped that he might be the Messiah…. Verse 28…
Luke 23: 28- 31 NKJV
28 But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters
of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your
children. 29 For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed
are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’ 30 Then
they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills,
“Cover us!”’[g] 31 For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be
done in the dry?”
Luke
23: 28- 31 Schlachter 2000
28
Jesus wandte sich aber zu ihnen und sprach: Töchter Jerusalems, weint nicht
über mich, sondern weint über euch selbst und über eure Kinder!
29
Denn siehe, Tage kommen, an denen man sagen wird: Glückselig die Unfruchtbaren
und die Leiber, die nicht geboren, und die Brüste, die nicht gestillt haben!
30
Dann werden sie anfangen, zu den Bergen zu sagen: Fallt auf uns!, und zu den
Hügeln: Bedeckt uns!
31
Denn wenn man dies tut an dem grünen Holz, was wird an dem dürren geschehen?
These are not His followers…… These are not the women near and dear to
Him who believed in Him…... These are women who are called Daughters of
Jerusalem….. that’s an Old Testament phrase….. an Old Testament identification
found in Zechariah 9:9 that simply means the people of Jerusalem…… Sometimes we
see the phrase daughters of Zion
used….. such as Micah 4:8, Zephaniah 3:14. It means you are the offspring of
Jerusalem…… This is simply a metaphor for the nation…. You women who are a part
of Israel, stop weeping for Me……
And it’s not limited to just them…… Their weeping symbolically on behalf
of all the people who were sad about this and He is saying to them, “Stop
weeping for Me. If you’re going to weep, weep for yourselves and for your
children.” I don’t need your sympathy as if I am a victim, I am not a victim…..
Weep for the real victims here…... weep for yourselves and your children…...
Weep?
Yes…. Weep Tears of sorrow, tears of remorse, even tears of repentance.....
Do you remember what Jesus said when He came in to Jerusalem, it says in Luke
19 verse 41….
Luke 19: 41-44 NKJV
41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept
over it, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day,
the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43
For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around
you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you, and your
children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone
upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Luke
19: 41-44 Schlachter
2000
41 Und
als er näher kam und die Stadt sah, weinte er über sie
42 und
sprach: Wenn doch auch du erkannt hättest, wenigstens noch an diesem deinem
Tag, was zu deinem Frieden dient! Nun aber ist es vor deinen Augen verborgen.
43
Denn es werden Tage über dich kommen, da deine Feinde einen Wall um dich
aufschütten, dich ringsum einschließen und von allen Seiten bedrängen werden;
44 und
sie werden dich dem Erdboden gleichmachen, auch deine Kinder in dir, und in dir
keinen Stein auf dem anderen lassen, weil du die Zeit deiner Heimsuchung2 nicht
erkannt hast!
Jesus is once again calling for repentance….. He is warning them….. Now
is the time…. Today is the day….. Your Messiah is here….. repent and believe the Good News…. If you will
allow me….. Here in our text today Jesus says…..
I wept when I came into the city….. I called the
nation to repent and you refused….. and
now stop weeping for Me and start weeping for yourselves because judgment is
coming upon you…….
These are prophecies of the destruction in Jerusalem that started in 66
and ended in 70…... Hundreds of thousands were slaughtered……
The Romans did this as the instruments of God’s judgment…… In love Jesus
warns…. Weep for yourselves…..
He rebukes them and points to the real tragedy that is looming over
their heads….. their own destruction by God… They are religious….. but they are
condemned by their own sin and rebellion….These are clear words of rebuke and
warning…. They don’t get it….. They are just sad….. They need to shed tears of
repentance for themselves in the light of the coming judgment…..
Remember from last week…. It was in John’s gospel that Jesus said….
John 3: 16-19 NKJV
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the
world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he
who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the
name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the
condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness
rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
John
3: 16- 19 Schlachter 2000
16 Denn so [sehr]4 hat Gott die Welt geliebt,
daß er seinen eingeborenen Sohn gab, damit jeder, der an ihn glaubt, nicht
verlorengeht, sondern ewiges Leben hat.
17 Denn Gott hat seinen Sohn nicht in die Welt
gesandt, damit er die Welt richte, sondern damit die Welt durch ihn gerettet
werde.
18 Wer an ihn glaubt, wird nicht gerichtet; wer
aber nicht glaubt, der ist schon gerichtet, weil er nicht an den Namen des
eingeborenen Sohnes Gottes geglaubt hat.5
19 Darin aber besteht das Gericht, daß das Licht
in die Welt gekommen ist, und die Menschen liebten die Finsternis mehr als das
Licht; denn ihre Werke waren böse.
Everyone who refuses to repent and come to Jesus is already condemned………
Jesus came to seek and to save the lost…. Back to Luke 23…. Look at verse 29…..
Jesus says…..
Luke 23: 29,30 NKJV
Schlachter 2000
29 For indeed the days are coming in which they
will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which
never nursed!’ 30 Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
29
Denn siehe, Tage kommen, an denen man sagen wird: Glückselig die Unfruchtbaren
und die Leiber, die nicht geboren, und die Brüste, die nicht gestillt haben! 30
Dann werden sie anfangen, zu den Bergen zu sagen: Fallt auf uns!, und zu den
Hügeln: Bedeckt uns!
indeed the days are coming ….
the days of judgment…. We see this in Jesus´parable of the vineyard….
Luke 20….
the days when the owner of the vineyard comes back to punish the people
who killed His servants and killed His Son…..
continuing in the text …. the days are coming when they will say, they
meaning the people alive at that time, “Blessed
are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never
nursed.”
This beatitude is the opposite of all Jewish hope….. The worst thing
that could happen to a Jewish woman was to be barren….. This was like a divine
curse in their culture…... If you had no children, you bore the worst stigma
possible…... It must be because you were some kind of secret sinner….. cursed
by God…..
To be barren was viewed as a disgrace…... But there will be in that day
such horrible killing…… that they will say, “Blessed are the barren because
they don’t have to watch their children being massacred…... Blessed are the breasts that never nursed
because they don’t have to see their babies ripped out of their arms and
killed.” It’s going to be that kind of time……
Wow, what words Jesus says on the road to the cross…... Stop weeping for
Me …… weep for yourselves and your children…... Judgment is certain…. Jesus in
his unfailing love warns them…. He tells them…
When judgment falls….. the destruction will be so vicious that those who
have no children will have less suffering……. And you will cry out for the rocks
to fall on you…. V 30…. That is taken from Hosea 10:8….
here Jesus uses the language of Hosea, “Fall on
us and hide us.” Destruction and disaster came to Jerusalem a few years later…
in 70 A.D.
What happened in 70 A.D. to the Jews was only a preview of what will
happen to the world in the future. Jesus is saying, “Don’t weep for Me, weep for yourselves and your children.”
If Jesus was here today, He would say it again to us……
because…
God will judge all who have rejected His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ…….
Weep for yourself if you’re not ready for that judgment……. verse 31…..
Luke 23: 31 NKJV Schlachter 2000
31 For if they do these things in the green
wood, what will be done in the dry?”
31
Denn wenn man dies tut an dem grünen Holz, was wird an dem dürren geschehen?
This is a way of saying if this is what happens in the case of Jesus……
He Gives life….. If they did this to Him….
what in the world is going to happen to
the dry dead nation?
You better weep for yourself, not Me…...
Jesus…..
There are those who hate Him…. There are those who are simply curious
about Him….. But most will not repent and let Him rule their lives….. As we see
most of the people along the road…. Even those who are mourning….. Most of them
are not committed to Jesus….. and they turn their back on Him at the first sign
of trouble...... They are no better off than those who crucified Him…..
Let´s continue in the text…. Luke 23 verse 32……
Luke 23: 32- 43 NKJV
32 There were also two others, criminals, led
with Him to be put to death. 33 And when they had come to the place called
Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and
the other on the left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do
not know what they do.”And they divided His garments and cast lots. 35 And the
people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He
saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”
36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and
offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save
Yourself.”
38 And an inscription also was written over Him
in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged
blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him,
saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this
Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when
You come into Your kingdom.”
43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to
you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Luke
23: 32- 43 Schlachter 2000
32 Es
wurden aber auch zwei andere hingeführt, Übeltäter, um mit ihm hingerichtet zu
werden.
33 Und
als sie an den Ort kamen, der Schädelstätte genannt wird, kreuzigten sie dort
ihn und die Übeltäter, den einen zur Rechten, den anderen zur Linken.
34
Jesus aber sprach: Vater, vergib ihnen! Denn sie wissen nicht, was sie tun. Sie
aber verteilten seine Kleider und warfen das Los darüber.
35 Und
das Volk stand und sah zu. Es höhnten aber auch die Obersten und sagten: Andere
hat er gerettet. Er rette sich selbst, wenn dieser der Christus Gottes ist, der
Auserwählte!
36
Aber auch die Soldaten verspotteten ihn, indem sie hinzutraten, ihm Essig
brachten
37 und
sagten: Wenn du der König der Juden bist, so rette dich selbst!
38 Es
war aber auch eine Aufschrift über ihm in griechischen und lateinischen und
hebräischen Buchstaben: Dieser ist der König der Juden.
39
Einer der gehenkten Übeltäter aber lästerte ihn: Bist du nicht der Christus?
Rette dich selbst und uns!
40 Der
andere aber antwortete und wies ihn zurecht und sprach: Auch du fürchtest Gott
nicht, da du in demselben Gericht bist?
41 Und
wir zwar mit Recht, denn wir empfangen, was unsere Taten wert sind; dieser aber
hat nichts Ungeziemendes getan.
42 Und
er sprach: Jesus, gedenke meiner, wenn du in dein Reich kommst!
43 Und
er sprach zu ihm: Wahrlich, ich sage dir: Heute wirst du mit mir im Paradies
sein.
Here we are at the foot of the cross……The whole thing is twisted….. Wicked
men have wrongly crucified the Lord….. What terrible injustice….. Justice
should fall on them…. Instead it falls on the Lord Jesus….. Judgment should crush
them for their wickedness…. But it crushes Christ for our sake….. They accuse
Him of blasphemy…... But in truth…. They are the blasphemers….. Certainly our
Lord had every right to judge them….. every right to destroy them on the spot
and catapult them forever into hell…...
God’s fury should have come down on the sinful and wicked crowd…. it
instead came down on Jesus….. And it was because God so loved the world….
This is the character of God….. We learn about the LORD our God when we
look at Jesus…. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 1….. Isaiah tells us much about
the Messiah and the beatings that Jesus received…. it’s a
good thing to read and reread…..
It is full of pronounced judgment and it is full of promises of
salvation…… And you see the heart of God here….. a true assessment of the
condition of the sinners…. a true proclamation of coming judgment….. And at the
same time….. God mercy and grace is offered
to a sinful and rebellious people…. People just like us…. We can see a glimpe
in the first chapter of Isaiah…. Let´s turn there…. Isaiah 1…
In Isaiah´s day…… The people were still religious….. but they were
hypocrites….. They were only pretending to love and serve the Lord……. They were
in reality a sinful nation of rebels…. God says…… You don´t even know me…. You
don´t understand… Read this chapter in your quiet times….. You will be
blessed….. I´ll pick up the text at verse 15…..
Isaiah 1: 15- 20 NKJV
15 When you spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.
16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;[a]
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;[a]
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.
18 “Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
20 But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
20 But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Isaiah
1: 15- 20 Schlachter 2000
15 Und wenn ihr eure Hände ausbreitet7, verhülle
ich meine Augen vor euch, und wenn ihr auch noch so viel betet, höre ich doch
nicht, denn eure Hände sind voll Blut!
16 Wascht, reinigt euch! Tut das Böse, das ihr
getan habt, von meinen Augen hinweg; hört auf, Böses zu tun!
17 Lernt Gutes tun, trachtet nach dem Recht,
helft dem Bedrückten, schafft der Waise Recht, führt den Rechtsstreit für die
Witwe!
18 Kommt doch, wir wollen miteinander rechten!
spricht der Herr. Wenn eure Sünden wie Scharlach8 sind, sollen sie weiß werden
wie der Schnee; wenn sie rot sind wie Karmesin9, sollen sie [weiß] wie Wolle
werden.
19 Seid ihr willig und gehorsam, so sollt ihr
das Gute des Landes essen;
20 wenn ihr euch aber weigert und widerspenstig
seid, so sollt ihr vom Schwert gefressen werden! Ja, der Mund des Herrn hat es
gesprochen.
Look at this invitation in … v18….
Isaiah 1: 18
NKJV Schlachter
18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the
Lord, “though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow. Though
they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.”
18 Kommt doch, wir wollen miteinander rechten!
spricht der Herr. Wenn eure Sünden wie Scharlach8 sind, sollen sie weiß werden
wie der Schnee; wenn sie rot sind wie Karmesin9, sollen sie [weiß] wie Wolle
werden.
That magnificent verse is God offering grace and mercy to a sinful
people…… A people upon whom He has pronounced judgment….. They will fall in
judgment unless they repent…..
Back to Luke 23… verse 39…
Luke 23: 39- 43 NKJV
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged
blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him,
saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this
Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when
You come into Your kingdom.”
43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to
you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Luke
23: 39- 43 Schlachter
2000
39
Einer der gehenkten Übeltäter aber lästerte ihn: Bist du nicht der Christus?
Rette dich selbst und uns!
40 Der
andere aber antwortete und wies ihn zurecht und sprach: Auch du fürchtest Gott
nicht, da du in demselben Gericht bist?
41 Und
wir zwar mit Recht, denn wir empfangen, was unsere Taten wert sind; dieser aber
hat nichts Ungeziemendes getan.
42 Und
er sprach: Jesus, gedenke meiner, wenn du in dein Reich kommst!
43 Und
er sprach zu ihm: Wahrlich, ich sage dir: Heute wirst du mit mir im Paradies
sein.
Here is Jesus the
innocent….. the only truly righteous man……. He is executed by the sinful guilty
leaders….. justice is turned on its head…..
He is cursed by His enemies who hate Him….. but cursed in an infinitely greater way by His Father who loves Him….. As
the scriptures say….
2 Corinthians 5: 21 NLT Neues Leben
21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be
the offering for our sin,[e] so that we could be made right with God through
Christ.
21
Denn Gott machte Christus, der nie gesündigt hat, zum Opfer für unsere Sünden,
damit wir durch ihn vor Gott gerechtfertigt werden können.
He appears unable to save Himself or anyone else, yet being unwilling to
save Himself becomes the Savior of the world…….. And we who repent and believe
the Gospel are saved….. redeemed….. Jesus
is the one who gives life…. He is life….
It is Jesus who is dying that those who are dead in sin…… might receive grace
and forgiveness…. And eternal life……
One such dead sinner is hanging next to Him on the cross…..
God miraculously…. Sovereignly and instantly transforms…… This condemned
man is given life….
One thief blasphemes Jesus…. The other acting in faith…. begs for
mercy…. And is forgiven and redeemed……
These two thieves show us two options….. Jesus said…. You’re either with
Me or against Me……
There are only two possibilities……You either repent and confess Jesus as
Lord and enter into paradise…… Or you refuse to repent of your sins…… and are
condemned and judged…. As we have already seen in John 3…….
They are condemned already….. because they loved darkness….. John 3 :
18, 19….
If you do not repent and confess Jesus as Lord…..
It does not matter if you are a murdering criminal or just a fan…….
you’re going to end up in the same place…... Anything short of genuine
commitment to Christ will send you to hell…… That’s what the Bible says…...
Only a real and true repentance and confession of Jesus as Lord can help
us…….. Only Jesus can help this lost and dying world…. .
There are only 2 groups….. those who repent and come to the LORD Jesus
and those who refuse to repent and be saved…. The sinner is not helped by
having nice thoughts about Jesus…… It is not enough to be a fan of Jesus…..
Which group do you belong to?
The message again is simple and clear…. the age-old timeless message of
salvation through faith alone in Christ alone…. Let´s pray……
