Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things…
Then they sat down and kept watch over him there.
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 sentence of 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.”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
My dear friends in Christ,
The two men hanging next to Jesus were criminals, this is true. But they occupied two very special seats, seats which James and John had begged Jesus for not that much earlier. Give us to sit, they sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, when you come into your kingdom. Jesus answered them, You don’t know what you’re asking for. Can you drink the cup from which I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am to be baptized with? We can they said. Jesus said to them that they would, indeed, drink as He did and be baptized as He was, but it was not for Him to give these seats to them, but to those whom the Father would give those seats.
The seats that James and John were asking for seemed glorious seats, seats of power and authority. But, when Jesus would come into His kingdom, it would not be in power and authority, but in weakness and shame. Beaten, stripped naked, mocked, Jesus would come into His kingdom by being nailed to a cross, and tortured to death. Would James and John be next to Him? No, they would be afraid. James would run, John would stand aways off. The seats prepared at Jesus’ right and left would be for two criminals, insurrectionists, murderers.
These are not what we think of when we think of men sitting next to Jesus in His kingdom, yet throughout His earthly life He surrounded Himself with tax collectors, prostitutes, Samaritans, lepers. He was always around the unclean, the unworthy, why should His death then be any different?
One man would rail against the Christ. Jesus was hung on a hill outside Jerusalem so that everyone coming into the Holy City would see Him. Thousands upon thousands, millions upon millions perhaps, would look at this man and see Him and think of the great crimes that He committed to get there. After all, that’s who the cross was reserved for, the worst of the worst. The cross wasn’t just normal punishment, the cross was special, if you can say that about a torture device. It wasn’t used all the time, it was only broken out when someone really had to be made an example of. And all these people would see it and wonder, what did He do to get there?
Well, what was His crime? He made the rulers of the Temple jealous. The Pharisees and Sadducees could not bear to have one who could do such great miracles, who taught with such authority, who always taught rightly, who never got caught in their traps out free. To raise people from the dead, to heal the blind from birth, to make the lame walk, to not only heal the lepers but cleanse them from their separation from God, well, that’s a crime that they could not bear. It was no sin against God, it was no sin against the state, but they viewed it as a personal offense. And since Jesus wouldn’t fall into their traps, since the people flocked to Him, He had to be done away with.
Let the people, then, no longer flock to Him but turn their eyes from Him. Let His visage be so marred and beaten that no one could look at Him without chocking back their own vomit. He wanted people around Him, let’s take them all away.
And as to make their point even clearer, they went to Him, they watched the cross, the giggled with glee every time the hammer drove the nail in, and they mocked Him. They made fun of Him, they tortured Him with their words. The God who had given them life was being murdered by their own hands. Surely, the people coming into Jerusalem for the Passover heard their words. He saved others, let Him save Himself. He raised the dead, let Him bring Himself down. He said He’s the Christ, yet, see our power. The Christ cannot just be killed by human hands, can He?
And almost as if he’s caught up in the jeers of the rulers, one of the criminals whose seat James and John asked for, began to mock Him, too. He got caught up in the moment. He got carried away. Aren’t you the Christ? Aren’t you the one the city welcomed with open arms? Aren’t you the one they greeted with palms and shouts of hosannas? Then save us. Get yourself down and then save us.
The words we often use for what this man said is railed, like he was just yelling and jeering and shouting. Yet, the word Luke uses is blasphemed. Then, one of the criminals who were hanging with Him blasphemed saying, aren’t you the Christ? With the word’s many meanings, perhaps Luke means more of the shouting and jeering. Or perhaps Luke just means more. Perhaps it’s to show us that Jesus isn’t just to be some kind of bread-king, who gives everything you could want, who provides the goods. Perhaps Luke is showing us that this man just didn’t get it. Jesus wouldn’t get these men down and He wouldn’t get Himself down.
They were suffering, yes, but they were suffering justly. That’s what the other man reminds us of. The men did the crime, now they must pay the fine. That fine is death. Jesus won’t bring them down from the cross, no matter how horrific it may be. Their seats have been prepared for them; they are facing justice. They deserve it.
The other man, sitting in the seat prepared for him, begins to get it. Enlightened by the Holy Spirit, convicted of his sins, begins to get it. Perhaps he had heard this Jesus before, perhaps not. Certainly though, he read the inscription above Jesus’ head, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. And perhaps then he began to get it. Perhaps he was reminded of all the lessons he had received as a young boy of the coming Messiah. Perhaps he was reminded that we would see the Messiah stricken, smitten, and afflicted. Perhaps it all began to make sense, because the words he would speak next would be the most important words he ever spoke.
In fact, it’s as if they’re the only words that he ever spoke or ever would speak. We don’t hear where he came from, we don’t hear his cries from the cross ever again. And that’s because what he asks Jesus to do is the only important thing, ever. Jesus, he says, remember when you come into your kingdom. It’s a plea for mercy, not temporal mercy for his crimes, but eternal mercy for his sins. It’s a plea to be with the Christ forever. And Jesus hears his plea.
Jesus hears the pleas of sinners. Jesus hears the cries for mercy. Over and above the cries of angry men, Jesus hears. It’s as if it’s a whisper heard above the shouts. The man couldn’t have been speaking loudly. He was likely as weak and as broken as Jesus. Nailed through, he cries for mercy, softly, not as a proud sinner, but as a repentant sinner, not as the angry rulers, but as softly as the whimpers of Jesus’ mother as she watched her beloved son die in agony.
And Jesus still hears him. And He tells the man, today you will be with Me in paradise. Jesus upon the cross has come into His kingdom and even at that moment remembers this man, this criminal. Even amidst His agony, He thinks on this man, sees his face, hears his cry for mercy. Jesus, in His great self-sacrifice, doesn’t focus upon His own pain, but hears the pain of sin as one of His beloved creation dies with Him. Today, not tomorrow, not soon, not never, but today, you will be with Me in paradise.
A simple cry for mercy brings it. The man never speaks again. There is no need. He has all that he needs for this body and life. He has the agony of his cross that he is bearing as he dies justly for all his crimes, but he has the promise of the Savior. What more could he want? What more could you want?
For indeed, it is the same for us, that as we follow our Lord and bear our crosses, we cry to Him for mercy. It may be that we beg in loud voices when we are strong, or weak voices as we suffer. Yet, no matter, our Lord hears even the smallest whimper. And He has pity. Christ’s heart has already been moved in compassion towards His creation. He cried at the death of Lazarus, not because He missed His friend, but because of what sin has wrought upon the world in death. He lamented, cried loudly and sobbed over Jerusalem, who turned away from the Messiah when He came to teach and lead them into the Promised Land, not because His feelings were hurt, but because they rejected the everlasting life promised in the Word of God. He wept even for Himself in the Garden, as He sweat anxious drops of blood, not because He was just scared of the agony, but because He knew that, though He would die for the sins of the world, there would be others who rejected Him, who would desire to feel that anguish for themselves for eternity in hell.
Christ has been moved to compassion for His creation, He has been moved to compassion for you. He has heard your cries for mercy, and though you may not die today, though you did not have the seat prepared on His right and His left, today you will be with Him in paradise. You have the benefit of His death even now, the promise, the down payment of everlasting life now, even if you do not see it yet. But, when you do see it, when you speak your last, when you speak the only words that ever matter, when you cry for mercy, you will remember the words of Jesus, today, you will be with Me in paradise. You shall close your eyes in death and shall open them in new life forever. Today, you will be with Him in paradise.
And as for the seats on His right and left? They were filled. You won’t have to sit there. You may be as James and John, you may drink of the same cup of torture and wrath that He drank, you may baptized as with fire as He was, but remember the promise to the one who cried for mercy. Cry for mercy. Scream it or whisper it, Jesus hears you. Today, you will be with Him in paradise. Forever. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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