Is There any Value in the Cross?
Luke 23:32-33 / Easter Week Message / 2024
When Ricky arrived at the Pearly Gates there was hardly any line, he didn’t have to wait more than a minute before his interview. Naturally, he was a little nervous about getting through the gates and into the heavenly city. Very quickly he found himself standing before an impressive angelic being with a clipboard who started getting his entry data down. After name, address, and a few other particulars, the angelic being said Ricky, it would help the process if you could share with me some experience from your life on earth when you did a purely unselfish, kindly deed. Well, Ricky thought about it for a minute and then said oh yes, I think I have something you might be interested in. One day I was walking along and I came upon a little old lady who was being beat up by a huge motorcycle gang type of fellow. He was smacking her back and forth. Well, I just stepped right up and first I pushed over his motorcycle, just to get his attention. And then I kicked him real hard in the shins and told the old lady to run for help. Then I hauled off and gave the guy a great shot right to the gut with my fist. The being looked at Joe with a great deal of interest and said wow, that’s quite a story, I’m very impressed. Could you tell me just when this happened? Ricky looked at his watch and said oh, 2 or 3 minutes ago.
It all begins at the foot of the cross, and yet, the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:18; For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
The reason why the cross is foolishness is because of what it’s all about, but to us who are saved, it is the power of God!
Crucifixion was the method of torture and execution.
History records Alexander the Great crucified 2,000 citizens of Tyre when he captured the city.
The Romans later adopted this method and crucifixion became the Romans’ most severe form of execution.
Crucifixion involved placing the victim on a crossbeam that was attached to a vertical stake, nails would be used in the wrists, or they would use leather straps.
Blocks would sometimes be placed on the stake to give victims support as they hung suspended from the crossbeam, but most of the time, the feet were nailed to the vertical stake.
What would happen is as the victim hung by his arms, the blood would no longer circulate to the vital organs, and gradually, they’d become exhausted and give up and die.
Some could last for days, but if the victim was severely beaten, they wouldn’t live long.
To quicken their death, the executioners would break the victims’ legs with a club, that way they couldn’t support their bodies to keep the blood circulating, and they’d die quickly.
What’s so amazing, the Jewish Sanhedrin, the religious counsel, was somehow able to get Roman authorization to have Jesus crucified.
According to the scriptures, the soldiers didn’t break Jesus’ legs, by the 9th hour, 3:00 in the afternoon, 6 hours later, Jesus was already dead.
It’s been 2,000 years and the cross has been a major stumbling block to the Jews in keeping them from accepting Jesus as their Messiah.
We read in Luke 23:32-33; There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. 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.
I want to look at these 2 men who were crucified alongside of Jesus, I want to talk about what they did to get put on the cross, what they said while they were on the cross, and what happened to their souls after they died on the cross.
These men had received the death penalty for breaking man’s law.
They were condemned to death because the Scripture says they were robbers, what’s ironic is ordinary thieves weren’t usually crucified.
Some believe these men could’ve been partners of Barabbas who is called a notorious criminal in Matthew 27:16.
They hung on their crosses, convicted of a crime they had committed, they received the penalty from the law they had incurred.
I want to study the minds of these 2 men, I want to imagine what was going on in their heads as they inched closer and closer toward the horrible death of suffocation and asphyxiation the cross brings.
I want us to relate their experience to our own, as we ask ourselves what does the cross mean to me?
1) (1st Point) They both started the day in the same condition
In the beginning they both rejected Christ, we read in Matthew 27:41-44; Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.
Their legal condemnation of death on the cross caused their already rebellious hearts to become even more hardened and enraged.
Mark 15:25 tells us the crucifixion started at about the 3rd hour, or around 9:00 in the morning, both men were reviling Jesus, they were insulting and berating Him.
Just like us, before we came to Christ, we were in a state of rebellion.
A certain man used to come home dead drunk each night. He was always so drunk, he would fall into bed fully clothed, pass out, and then snore loudly all night long. His wife was losing so much sleep because of his snoring that she went to a doctor and said Doctor, I can’t stand it any longer. If you will tell me how to keep him from snoring, I will pay you anything! The doctor told her whenever her husband passed out and started snoring, she was to take a ribbon and tie it around his nose, and his snoring would stop. That night, her husband came in as usual, fell across the bed fully dressed, passed out, and started snoring. The wife got up, pulled a blue ribbon from her dresser, and tied it around his nose. Sure enough, the snoring stopped. The next morning, the wife woke up refreshed from a solid night’s sleep. She asked her husband as he was awakening, where were you last night? The husband, still fully clothed, looked in the mirror and seeing the blue ribbon around his nose, replied I don’t know, but wherever I was, I won first place!
The Bible says we rebel so much against the Gospel, if God didn’t put in our hearts the desire for Christ, we would never seek Him.
Jesus said in John 6:44; No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Now He doesn’t say, no man WILL come, He says no man CAN come.
At some point we’ve been where these men were, face to face with Jesus, rejecting Him, but then a miracle happened, one man changed!
2) (2nd Point) They became separated because of their convictions
The Gospel of Luke tells us before the 6th hour, something happened to one of the robbers, he saw Jesus for who He really is.
Luke 23:39-41; Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”
Now we have two men, one on either side of Christ, with two totally different points of view about the Man in the center;
1) One was mocking Christ’s Character
He was saying if You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.
He didn’t forget his own plight, he added save Yourself and us.
This guy didn’t see he needed forgiveness, he probably didn’t even think what he had done warranted his execution.
He didn’t think he deserved the cross, and if Jesus got down from the cross, then he should be able to get down too.
You see, his own impending death, and his spirit of rebellion, blinded his eyes toward who Jesus was and what Jesus was doing.
2) The other was moved by Christ’s Countenance
I believe He looked at Jesus and saw in Him exactly what he needed to see; forgiveness, mercy, love, compassion.
I can speak from personal experience, when I’ve done wrong in my life, the most powerful love I’ve felt is when a person forgave me for it.
When this man looked over into the forgiving eyes of Jesus, He knew He was the Savior.
Think of what must’ve been going through his mind before looking into Jesus’ face from that cross.
He was probably dealing with a thousand changes about his own life choices; what if I didn’t get caught, what if I had chosen a different path, what if I had just been a fisherman instead of a thief?
All these questions may have been flooding through his mind, then, his eyes caught Jesus’ eyes!
You might’ve heard the saying the eyes are the windows of the soul.
I believe His eyes were special, I believe His eyes were full of love, compassion, mercy, and grace, even when they were blood shot and tired from the pain of His crucifixion.
Just that unconditional love He has for each one of us! (Jesus looked at Peter when he denied Him)
When this man caught Jesus’ eyes, he felt forgiveness radiating from Christ’s Spirit, he knew this was no ordinary man.
He knew death was coming quickly, and death is what he deserved.
He didn’t try to coerce Jesus to take him off the cross, he understood he had committed the crime, now he was suffering the punishment.
Looking at Jesus, all this man said was remember me!
He didn’t say save me, he didn’t say have mercy on me, he didn’t say take me to Heaven with you, he simply said remember me, and Jesus, with those forgiving, loving eyes, looked on him and said today you will be with Me in paradise!
Can you imagine the calm that must’ve overwhelmed his spirit, his body still torn in anguish, but his soul was at peace.
He, who once feared death’s sting, could now look forward to its reprieve, he now had assurance of his place in paradise by the mouth of Jesus Himself, literally, by God Himself.
Martin Luther King Jr. said like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the Promised Land.
3) (3rd Point) They both secured their destiny by their choices
The one who rejected Christ looked to death as his final destination, not even realizing and understanding, the torment that was yet to come.
He probably thought the pain of the cross was the worst he would ever feel, he probably thought it would be the finality of his existence, but Jesus taught death is not final for anyone, death is simply a door to eternity, eternity in Hell, or eternity in Heaven.
His destiny was hell, he stepped into eternity without the forgiveness that was offered for His sins through Jesus Christ.
The one who received Christ looked to his death as not the end of existence, but the end of suffering in this life.
He knew his present suffering would be over, and when it was, he would stand next to Jesus in paradise, not because of any good He had done.
Think about this; he didn’t have time to do any good deeds, he didn’t have time to be baptized, he didn’t have time to become a member of a church, he didn’t have time to pay tithes, all he had time to do was repent of his sin and say remember me, and his destiny was secured.
People have said to me I don’t believe in death bed repentance.
Well, whether you believe in it or not, God’s Word says it right here!
This man is proof we’re saved by grace apart from our good works, and you know, I’ve never met a Christian who I believe loved Jesus more than this robber did at the moment he was converted.
He’s the epitome of Romans 5:20; Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,
* These two men in today’s story had the same physical perspective of Jesus.
* They both had been condemned to death, nailed to a cross, and were crying out there last words on earth.
But even though the physical points of view were equal, the spiritual points of view were drastically different.
1) From one side of the cross, Jesus shown brightly like the sun in the eyes of the man He saved.
Looking at Jesus was like gazing at the road to Heaven and preparing to walk it.
From this point of view, death was something that could be conquered by faith and forgiveness.
2) From the other side of the cross, Jesus must’ve looked very dim in the eyes of the man who rejected Him.
Looking at Jesus dying wasn’t convicting to him, Jesus was just another criminal, in fact, the guy was only concerned with saving his life.
Today people find themselves on one side of the cross or the other.
From the side of those who have received His forgiveness in faith, Jesus shines as our hope, our incredible assurance, our blessed redeemer.
From the side of those who have never received that hope, Jesus is just a religion among religions, not essential for salvation, not assurance of heaven and not redeemer of sins.
Chuck Swindoll, in his book The Darkness and the Dawn said before the scourging began, Jesus was stripped of His garments and bent low over a low post, with wrists and ankles shackled into that position. The instrument used for scourging was a piece of wood fourteen to eighteen inches long, circular in shape, to which were attached long, leather strips. Into these leather strips or straps were sewn bits of glass, bone and metal. The flagellum was brought all the way back and whistled forward, making a dull drum sound as the strips of leather smashed against the back of the rib cage. It was designed to reduce the naked body to strips of raw flesh and inflamed, bleeding wounds. It was not uncommon for a man to die on the stump. It’s easy to forget Jesus was tortured, brutalized, and mistreated for an extended period of time before He was led to the place of execution. He had become so marked and swollen that His individual features were scarcely distinguishable. Jesus wasn’t a helpless victim of fate. He wasn’t a pitiful martyr planned by God so you and I might have our sins forgiven, the death of Jesus opened the pathway to Heaven, a pathway prepared and paved with His blood.
Here’s my fear this morning, that we can harden our heart to the gospel and end up dying in our sin, than to call on Jesus for forgiveness!
In Conclusion, Jesus didn’t come to give us a new set of facts, He didn’t come to give us new rules, what He offers is not just a new way to do things, it’s a whole new existence, a whole new life, a life that is satisfying.
The Cross is what our life is all about, may we never forget the price our Lord paid for us to be with Him for all eternity!