The Story Continues (Luke 23:26-43)
As they led him away, they
seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the
cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him,
including women who mourned and wailed for him.
Jesus turned and said to them “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for
me; weep for yourselves and for your children.
For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women,
the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then “they will say to the mountains, ‘Fall
on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’” For
if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Two
other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull,
there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other
on his left. Jesus said, “Father,
forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting
lots.
The
people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save
himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”
The
soldiers also came up and mocked him.
They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the
Jews, save yourself.”
There was a written notice
above him, which read: This is the King
of the Jews.
One
of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him” “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
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.”
Then
he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus
answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
A Reading from Genesis:
1 After these things
God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" And he said,
"Here I am." 2 He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac,
whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt
offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you." 3 So Abraham rose
early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with
him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and
went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. 4 On the third day
Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 5 Then Abraham said to his young
men, "Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will
worship, and then we will come back to you." 6 Abraham took the wood of
the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the
fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his
father Abraham, "Father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son."
He said, "The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a
burnt offering?" 8 Abraham said, "God himself will provide the lamb
for a burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together.
9 When they came to
the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the
wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the
wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.
11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said,
"Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 12 He said,
"Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know
that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from
me." 13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its
horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering
instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place "The Lord will
provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the Lord it
shall be provided."
Isaiah wrote:
10 Yet it was the will
of the Lord to crush him with pain.
When
you make his life an offering for sin,
he
shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
through
him the will of the Lord shall prosper.
11 Out of his anguish
he shall see light;
he
shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The
righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
and
he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will
allot him a portion with the great,
and
he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because
he poured out himself to death,
and
was numbered with the transgressors;
yet
he bore the sin of many,
and
made intercession for the transgressors.
From the call of
Abraham on, it was the plan of salvation that by the sacrifice of a Son we
would be redeemed.
"God himself will provide the lamb for
a burnt offering, my son."
God himself will
provide his Son, the lamb, for a burnt offering.
The righteous one, my servant, shall make
many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
It’s hard to
fathom, that God had to die.
It’s even harder
to fathom, that Christ would willingly pour out his life for us.
What wondrous
love is this?
Christ, the
atoning sacrifice that paid the price of our sins.
Christ, the one
who by his death destroyed the power of death, and opened for us the gates to
eternal life.
Christ, who when
he was lifted up from the earth drew all people unto himself.
How could God
have demanded Abraham sacrifice his son?
How is it then
that God himself, instead of Abraham or any of us, would offer HIS son as that
sacrifice?
A dying Christ.
Hanging there for
you, for me.
There are but two
responses.
Ridicule. Or Adoration.
The people
stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save
himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”
The soldiers also came up and
mocked him. They offered him wine
vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
One of the
criminals who hung there hurled insults at him”
“Aren’t you the Christ? Save
yourself and us!”
“Let him save himself. . .”
“Save yourself.”
“Save yourself and us!”
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.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember
me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus answered him, “I tell you
the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
He would not save himself, for if he did, he
could not save us.
And so he died.
Behold your King!
From this earth, we can only see the Cross,
yet from the Cross, Christ saw the heavenly throne.
Paradise.
2 And I saw
the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared
as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard
a loud voice from the throne saying,
"See, the
home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell
with them;
they will be
his peoples,
and God
himself will be with them;
4 he will wipe
every tear from their eyes.
Death will be
no more;
mourning and
crying and pain will be no more,
for the first
things have passed away."
5 And the one
who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." (Revelation 21:2-5)
“I tell you
the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
He would be mocked and rejected, for us.
He would suffer the piercing pain of the
nails, for us.
He would be ridiculed, for us.
He would bleed, for us.
His final breath, breathed for us.
And then his heart stopped beating, for us.
Such is the love of Jesus. Such is the heart of Jesus.
He would not save himself, for then he could
not save us.
Amen
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