Word #1:

Luke 23
³⁴Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."^[1] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots

• His first concern was still others after all He had gone through.
• Unlike us, His first concern is forgiveness, not justice.
• His concern was always for saving us from ourselves, and this day would be no different.
• Christ’s concern was with the sinners, not the sin (He used They and them)
• Just as He says in Romans 5:8 “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us�?SPAN>  He atoned for us before we repented�?/SPAN>
• I have always wondered if Jesus was not only talking about the men that were in front of Him, or about the whole of humanity, because we indeed, do not know what we are doing many times when we act out in sin.
• The sin of man encounters the wrath of God here so that now we can all die to sin and be raised to New Life in Christ.
• This verse also answers a prophecy in Psalm 22, written hundreds of years prior, which reads:

¹⁸ They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.

Jesus left clues as to His identity even in death, as we will see throughout Psalm 22, and other places�?/SPAN>

 

Word #2

Luke 23

³⁹One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
⁴⁰But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
⁴²Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.^[1] "
⁴³Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

 

• Here we find Jesus where He usually was, in the midst of sinners.
• I always thought this was a litmus test for us though.  We can get to heaven by either living a perfect, sinless life like Jesus or we can call upon Him as our savior knowing that we can never live a sinless life.  Even this thief realized that he was helpless without Jesus.
• The irony here is that during this whole ordeal, there is only one person that actually verbally stands up for Jesus.  Not one of His disciples did, but this common thief identifies Jesus as the Christ, and then asks to be remembered.
• The thief  goes from guilt to repentance to salvation, and represents the true picture of Christianity.
• I notice also that this thief did not ask for escape, only to be remembered, he takes full responsibility for himself.
• God promises in His Word that He will never leave us or forsake us, and I believe this is proof of that statement.
• This is also a good example for us that whether or not we are suffering we can always take time to “win one more for the kingdom�?/SPAN>

Word #3

John 19
²⁶When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," ²⁷and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

• I think this speaks on two levels.
• First, Jesus did not forget the commitments of His Jewish manhood.  His mother became His responsibility when Joseph died.
• This is a great example of living by the 10 commandments in that He truly honored His parents.
• Jesus does not waste any time in rebuking John for allowing Him to be taken, and not defending Him, but He does recognize the pain that John and Mary are experiencing at that moment.
• That is the second level to which this statement refers.  This speaks to the family of believers.
• We all become brothers and sisters in Christ.
• We are the family of the crucified, the community of the redeemed and the fellowship of the forgiven.
• This means that no one should ever have to face a trial or carry a load alone ever again.
• This sets a high bar for us to aim at.  Too often we are caught up in our own daily stuff to take a look around and see that someone else is suffering, and that we could do a lot to ease that pain.
• Jesus at the height of His pain recognized a need and filled it.
• Consider others first and yourself last.

Word #4

⁴⁵From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. ⁴⁶About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi,^[1] lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"^[2]

• I have read that the phrase “all over the land�?could have also been translated “all over the earth�? and that is important, because Jesus was born under a brilliant light and would then die under a supernatural darkness.
• Christ begins to bear the entire weight of the sins of all mankind at this point.
• Christ was 100% God, but was also 100% man, and as he bore the sins, God the father had to separate from Him, because God cannot be in the presence of Sin.
• Jesus was, in effect, abominable in the eyes of God, and yet was still His only begotten Son.
• You parents can begin to understand how painful this must have been for God.
• God forsook His Son to death on the Cross, and this death was the horrible cost of our salvation.
• Men tend to flee death, Jesus faced it head on, because He knew that without a death there could be no resurrection, and without a resurrection there would be no salvation.
• This was the loneliest point of Jesus�?life on earth.  The disciples had fled, because they figured that if God would forsake Jesus, what chance would they have, and God had forsaken him so that the work could be finished.
• It is easy for me to forget when I read this that Christ’s life was not taken, but He voluntarily gave it for us and for our salvation.
• This also answers prophecy again from Psalm 22:1-5:

¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
² O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.

³ Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel. ^[1]
4 In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
⁵ They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

• Right here, Jesus gives us a starting place in the old testament to begin looking for who He really is.  In the obscure psalm written hundreds of years prior to His birth, the crucifixion is foretold.
• Jesus was focusing on the future of mankind here.  He knew that he had to be separated from God in order for us to be able to come back to the Father through Him.
• Through His separation we get restoration�?/SPAN>

Word #5

• For 3 hours, most of which in unnatural darkness, Christ hung on the cross with the weight of the world’s sins upon Him and separated for the first time from His Father in Heaven, and He says:

John 19

²⁸Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty."

• This also answers a prophecy in Psalm 22, verse 15, which reads:

¹⁵ My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me ^[1] in the dust of death.

• This also serves to identify Jesus as 100% man.
• This statement comes hours after His ordeal began, and yet represents the first time He says something concerning His own discomfort.
• This statement bids us to listen to the needs around us, it contains the message that we should not just concern ourselves with spiritual needs, but also physical needs.
• At this point Christ’s fate was sealed, and He waits until His work is basically completed prior to asking for something for Himself.  This is the epitome of unselfishness.