Last Sunday After Pentecost / Christ The King, 11/21/2010

Sermon on Luke 23:27-43, by Carl A. Voges

The Passage

And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them Jesus said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,' and to the hills, ‘Cover us.' For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews."

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." [English Standard Version]

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through the blood of his cross. [Colossians 1.19-20]

In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord

For the Lord's baptized people living from Sunday to Sunday can be difficult and produce much anxiety. On Sundays we're confident and secure because the Lord is impacting our lives with the holy realities of his Scriptures and the Sacraments. On the other days, however, we see that impact either pushed back or wiped out by the realities of the world's life. The world claims that it wants to bring out the best in its people, but its natural tendency is to show the worst in people.

Thus, while the baptized are trying to focus their attention on this Sunday, marking the Festival of our Lord as King / concluding the six-month Pentecost season, the world is hollering for us to notice an ugly brawl in a suburb, the shaky economy of a state and/or a country, the unrestrained self-absorption of a politician. Such hollering by the world only hints at all the other things which are churning our stomachs, racing our hearts and confusing our minds. It is no wonder, then, as we live from Sunday to Sunday, that we find the days in-between to be difficult and producing much anxiety.

It is those kinds of days, however, which make our gathering in the Lord's presence on this day so gratifying and so exhilarating. Today we are forcefully reminded that there is only one authentic and eternal Life, the Life streaming from the Lord's Cross. To catch its full impact this morning we are being plunged into Luke's description of Jesus' Crucifixion.

Luke's introduction to the crucifixion and death of Jesus in verse 27 is ominous as Jesus' followers lament and mourn for him. In shadowy comments our Lord notes that what is approaching is so fierce people will wish they did not exist. But as the verses continue Luke lets us know the people who are involved and the place where the crucifixion and death occurs. The Roman soldiers have brought Jesus to this place, along with two criminals. The presence of the criminals is striking because Isaiah's fourth Servant-Song, 53.12, stated that the Messiah would be found with such people!

The place is called the Skull. There are two thoughts behind that description. One is that the area was a rock quarry which resembled a skull from a distance. The other is that the area was used regularly for crucifixions and received its name from the dead bodies suspended there. Building on the second thought, Jerome, an early Church father, suggested that this place was also the location where Adam was buried. This would mean that Jesus, the new Adam, ushers in the new creation and Life to overwhelm the old Adam and the curse of death he brought to the Lord's original creation described in Genesis 1 and 2.

In the early Church's icons of the crucifixion, a skull is often depicted beneath Jesus' Cross (revealing what Jerome suggested). This means that Jesus' death is destroying the power of the unholy trio - sin, Satan and death.

The rest of this passage describes Jesus' Crucifixion. It begins with Jesus' prayer for the Father's forgiveness of the people and it ends with his promise to the repentant criminal of paradise (paradise is where forgiveness ultimately leads). Jesus' two announcements of forgiveness surround the mocking he has to endure.

There are four instances of this mocking. The first is by the Roman soldiers, then it's by the Jewish rulers, then it's the inscription attached to the Cross and finally it's by the unrepentant criminal. However, let's go back to Jesus' request for forgiveness because it dominates everything in this passage.

The forgiveness of the Father in Jesus was already mentioned by Luke when he described Jesus' birth at the beginning of his Gospel. When Luke concludes his Gospel he gives Jesus' final words to his followers - they are to preach repentance to all people so they may receive the forgiveness of their sins. Thus we should be not surprised when Jesus asks Father to forgive those responsible for his crucifixion: the soldiers, Pilate, Herod, Sanhedrin, the chief priests, the rulers and all the people.

Such forgiveness flows from the Cross, making it very fitting that Jesus' first word from there is the word of forgiveness. In saying that word, Jesus states these people do not know what they are doing. The ignorance of those who crucified Jesus is matched by ignorance of Jesus' followers.

All of them consented to the crucifixion by deserting him at his arrest; none of them understood him as King until after the Resurrection. These people are being spurred and directed by the unholy trio and, while ignorant of who Jesus really is, they are still being held responsible for their actions. The overwhelming strength and comfort of Jesus' words is that Jesus asks forgiveness for those who are ignorant!

Now we turn to the mockers. There are the Roman soldiers, they completely disregard Jesus' forgiveness. They unknowingly fulfill Psalm 22.18 by casting lots for his clothes. It is ironic that the Scriptures are fulfilled by gambling; gambling relies on chance or luck. In Jesus' journey to the Cross, Luke has shown there is no chance or luck, it is all part of the Father's plan, sketched out both in Psalm 22 and Psalm 69.

The Jewish rulers then continue the mockery. They mock Jesus by urging him to take his salvation of others and apply it to himself. They mock Jesus for being the Christ of God yet that's exactly who he is! They mock Jesus as God's Chosen One and he is!

The soldiers return to the mockery by offering Jesus rancid wine, an offer mentioned in Psalm 69. In the middle of this mockery by the soldiers and rulers, the people simply stand by watching. Are they beginning to turn back in repentance? Are they forced into silence at the scene being played out in front of them? Will they be moved to repentance? We do not know the answers to such questions.

But then we are brought back to the mockery with the inscription on the Cross. It gives Jesus the title of King and he is, not only of the Jews, but of all the world's people! The unrepentant criminal concludes the mockery of our Lord. He, too, challenges Jesus to be the Christ, saving himself and them. In the face of these assaults, Jesus remains silent, he knows that if he caves in to their taunts, his salvation of them will not occur.

Then we are brought back to his forgiveness as the repentant criminal speaks. He declares Jesus to be innocent and publicly confesses him. This contrast between the mockers and the confessor fulfills the prophecy that Jesus would divide people.

The repentant criminal represents all those who, when confronted by our Lord, turn to him in repentance and faith. This criminal on the edge of death and hell is the first person to be converted by Jesus' announcement that sin is forgiven by his Cross. He recognizes the wrong in his life and the death which is deserved. He confesses his sin and announces that Jesus is the suffering, innocent Messiah. He calls on Jesus to remember him when he comes into the Kingdom.

The passage closes off with our Lord forgiving him. Jesus announces that the criminal will be with him in paradise. Paradise sparkles with the brilliance of the Garden planted by the Lord God in Genesis 1 and 2. The Garden is dominated by the tree of Life and is sustained with living Water. It is the place where the saved feast at the banquet of salvation on living Bread in fellowship with the Lord God.

In this passage, which opens with forgiveness and closes with it, the mocking endured by our Lord reflects all of humanity. The world's people lash out against him with unbelievable attitudes and actions. What stuns us about mocking, however, is that it reveals the workings of the Lord's Cross. It shows that the Lord's power to save is hidden in the suffering and dying of the Cross.

As he hangs naked on the Cross, accused and condemned as a criminal, his mercy is flowing out to every person in the world. He us suffering now (unable to breathe even though he is surrounded by fresh air!), but he will be vindicated two days later. That's why we are so grateful and so exhilarated to be reminded there is only one authentic and real Life, the Life streaming from the Lord's Cross.

Think of how that Cross intersects our lives. At the beginning of our lives it is marked over our bodies by a pastor at Baptism. At the end of our lives it is again marked over our bodies by a pastor. The first marking pulls us into the Lord's Life, the second marking completes it. In between the Baptism and the death are thousands of markings that accumulate because we remember that Baptism not only daily but numerous times during a day. These markings remind us that the Lord's Life is driving / sustaining us, no matter the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Like our Lord we are plunged into the world's suffering to reflect his Life to the people who cross our lives, but also like our Lord, we will be vindicated. The workings and ways of the unholy trio appear to dominate most, if not all, of the world's life. That's why the days between Sundays can be so difficult and produce so much anxiety, but this passage makes it clear that such days will be broken and shattered. This shattering has already taken place in Jesus' Cross, and will reach its full completion at the End-of-Time.

The Cross destroys every part of the world's life, nothing is left of it, nothing. But the Cross also brings us Life, the Life streaming from the Lord's Resurrection! That's why, in spite of the days from which we have emerged or the days into which we have to enter, we are so grateful and exhilarated. The Lord has reminded us again that there is only one authentic and eternal Life, the Life streaming from the Son's Cross!

Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our hearts

and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord.

Pr. Carl A. Voges
Columbia
E-Mail: cavoges@bellsouth.net

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