You can turn in your Bibles with me to the Gospel of Luke. If you were here a couple weeks ago when I was preaching, I went a little long, a little loose with the time, so I'll try to give you some time back this Lord's Day morning, without doing violence to the act of preaching, of course. John 23, we're gonna have a look at the narrative concerning the dying thief and the king upon the cross. So we're gonna begin reading at Luke 23, beginning at verse 26.
And we will read to verse 43. Luke 23, beginning at verse 26, this is the word of God. Now as they led him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country. And on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.
And a multitude of the people followed him, and women who also mourned and lamented him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed, the days are coming in which they will say, blessed are the barren wombs that never bore and breasts which 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 in the greenwood, what will be done in the dry? There were also two others, criminals led, excuse me, 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. But Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.
And they divided his garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on, but even the rulers with them sneered, saying, He saved others. Let him save himself, if he is the Christ, the chosen of God. The soldiers also mocked him, coming and offering him sour wine. and saying, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.
And an inscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, This is the king of the Jews. 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. Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Amen.
Well, let's go to our God in prayer. Let's pray. Our Holy Father, we thank you that we can gather now for the worship of the living and true God, that we can, in this particular element of worship, the preaching of the Word, that we can avail of your revelation to the sons of men, that we can read of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. blessed salvation by Him. We do pray that you would bless our time in this act of preaching, that be with us by your Holy Spirit, that your saints may be lifted up rejoicing in their Savior, and that sinners may be saved by the power of the Holy Spirit, that by amazing and victorious grace you would bring forth sinners from the deadness of sin to life in our precious Christ, and that every tongue would leave this place singing the praises of our precious Jesus.
And it's in His name that we pray. Amen.
Introduction
Well, this is a passage that is one of the greatest portions of narrative in all of Holy Scripture, and I don't think that's an overstatement. This blessed occasion where this sinner, this criminal, this thief, this robber, this insurrectionist, this likely murderer and terrorist is saved by amazing and victorious grace and names the name of the Savior as his everything. It's important, of course, because Largely, and generally, the context is the crucifixion of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the day of days, and the hour of hours had arrived. All of creation, all of providence, all of redemptive history was bent, was tending towards this day, this hour, where the Son of God and Son of Man, yet one Christ, would work out the salvation of sinners upon Calvary's cross.
The Setting at Calvary
We're gonna look at verses 32 to 43 under three simple headings. First, the setting. Secondly, the scoundrels. And then thirdly, the Savior.
So looking at the setting here, notice beginning at verse 32, 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. So just first off, under the setting, we want to note some simple geography here. We're at Calvary.
First off, this is, of course, outside Jerusalem. And the note that this is Calvary is important for more than one reason, but with regards to its positioning outside of the gates of Jerusalem, depending on who you talk to, either 200 meters or 600 meters, somewhere in between perhaps, outside of the gates of Jerusalem. This is important for a particular reason that the book of Hebrews brings out, and you need not turn there, I can read it for you. But in Hebrews 13, at verse 11, we read, speaking of the Levitical system of sacrifices, and then joining it to, or speaking with regards to the fulfillment that Jesus Christ brings, with regards to those shadows, we read the Apostle writing, for the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp, so outside the gates of Jerusalem within the context of settled Israel in that holy city.
Verse 12, Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. So there's something significant to the location of Calvary, of course, being outside of the gates of Jerusalem. The weight of the emphasis is in our point right now, that just as those typical sacrifices were offered outside the gates, burned outside the gates, so too the one to whom they all pointed is outside of the gates, put to death, and upon Calvary's cross. So we have this Levitical connection close to the city gates, but outside the city gates, and also geographically in a position where a number of people could witness it.
The Romans were tacticians in the imposition of the weight of the imperial governance. They wanted people to see and to fear the Roman Empire, to fear transgressing and doing violence against the empire, and no doubt with regards to what These insurrectionists who were crucified, not Christ of course, but perceived to be so by many, they were to fear the weight of the Roman Empire. And so this location is where many who speak Greek, who speak Latin, and who speak Hebrew could see this is the King of the Jews hanging upon the cross, and they could feel the weight of the Roman Empire. As well, we ought to know that there's something important in the name Calvary.
Here it's called Calvary. In other places, it's called Golgotha. And that's just simply two different words for the same thing. The actual Greek in our text is cranion, which means skull or head.
The Latin translation is Calvaria, where we get our English Calvary. The Aramaic or the Hebrew is Golgotha. And we have it translated in Matthew as the place of the skull. And I want us to appreciate the weight of what that means, the place of the skull, where Christ himself is crucified.
Some have posited different reasons for the naming of Calvary, or Golgotha, or Cranion, the place of the skull. Some simply say it looked like geographically, or what's the proper word, geologically, it was shaped like a skull. You know, perhaps indentations in the rock that look like eyes, brows above eyes, and sort of the rough shape of a human skull. Others think it's called Calvary, the place of the skull, because that's where the Romans put to death many people.
And so there were bones mounted upon bones, and skulls upon skulls, if you will, because of that being the place of crucifixion. There's a tradition in the early church that has a lot of weight to it, that that's where Adam's skull was buried. The place of Adam's skull. The place of the skull being the one where the first transgressor was buried, and his skull was there.
So, such that Christ, the second Adam, bleeding upon Calvary's cross, the blood, if you will, as those would would with theological flourish engage in this image that the blood of the second Adam bleeds upon the blood of the first Adam and represents the redemption of mankind. Others would say that that's the place where David brought the skull of Goliath in his victory after he swung his sling and shot the rock into the forehead and severed Goliath's head with his own sword, that he took the head to Jerusalem and Calvary is the place where David brought the head. And others, sort of a fifth idea would be simply that it's an idiom for a place of death. Where would I land or where should we land?
Well, We could say that all four of those first things are true. They're not mutually exclusive. But one thing that we do know for certain is that with regards to the language of the place of the skull and Christ being crucified there, Christ is According to Genesis 3.15, the hero born of woman who would crush the skull of the serpent, the devil, with his cross work. And so here we have, in the very least, that blessed and certain reality that the skull-crushing seed of the woman has come to die upon Calvary's cross for the sins of the people.
So under the setting, that's some of the geography that we have connected to it. Next we have prophecy. Notice some of the language that we have here in verses 32 to 35, maybe moving to verse 34, then Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. And they divided his garments and cast lots.
And the people stood looking on, but even the rulers with them sneered, saying, He saved others. Let him save himself, if he is the Christ, the chosen of God. So we have here, and in all of it, but here we're focusing on the fulfillment of prophecy. Remember that Christ going to Calvary's cross is just not a haphazard event in the ebbing and the flowing of a purposeless world, but rather that Christ goes according to how it had been written.
He goes according to the divine counsel, the divine will, the divine purpose. And all of the Old Testament was proclaiming Christ upon the cross, working out the salvation of sinners, and Luke in his narrative here is bringing out much in the way of Old Testament prophecy with regards to what is going on with Christ and with the crowd and with the criminals with whom he is crucified. Isaiah 53, 12, and he was numbered with the transgressors. Psalm 22, 7 and 8, all those who see me, ridicule me, they shoot out the lip.
They shake the head saying, He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him, let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him. That's what the crowd is doing. They're fulfilling the words of Isaiah. They're fulfilling the words of Christ Himself in Psalm 22 as they ridicule the Lord and Prince of life.
Isaiah 53, 9, he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. The thief, as we'll notice in a number of minutes, confesses the innocence of the Lord Jesus Christ. This man has done nothing wrong. We justly receive the recompense for our ill deeds, but this man Jesus Christ has done nothing wrong.
He is the innocent one, the holy, harmless, and undefiled one. He is innocent for the act of substitution, and He is innocent as that spotless and blemishless sacrifice for guilty sinners. So much in the way, of course, of prophecy is coming to bear here. And we could go to places such as Acts 3, where Peter preaches the reality that all the prophets from the beginning and all afterwards wrote, spoke concerning this Christ who would die upon Calvary's cross for the redemption of a multitude that no man can number.
We also see in the setting here, we see mockery. Notice what we find in verses 35 and all the way to 38. We already read 35, but let's note it again. The people stood looking on, but even the rulers with them sneered, saying, He saved others, let him save himself, if he is the Christ.
The soldiers also mocked him. coming and offering him sour wine and saying, if you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. And then we read this inscription, which is given not to proclaim truth, but also in an exercise of mockery. But it does proclaim truth. I mean, on the part of the Romans and the Jews complicit in the crucifixion of Christ, they're doing it in an act of mockery.
But it is, of course, ironically and juxtapositionally, it is very much true. An inscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. This is the King of the Jews. We see these mockers and these sneerers looking upon the Lord and Prince of Life and doing exactly that sinful act, those sinful actions, sneering and mocking the one who at the same time that they're doing so is sovereignly and omnipotently giving them the very breath by which they sneer and they mock the Lord of life and the giver of salvation.
It's truly a picture of total depravity in action. And we'll see that on the part of the blaspheming criminal in a moment. But we would want to note again the fulfillment of prophecy with regards to this mockery. If you'd like, you can turn with me to Psalm 69.
If you'd like to follow along, excuse me, with the reading of prophecy concerning this mockery. Notice in Psalm 69 at verse 20, Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness. I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. Just pause for a moment.
Remember that this is Christ speaking. This is Christ praying. This is Christ, as Pastor Butler has been preaching, as the subject and the object, the blessed chief topic of the Psalms himself speaking. Verse 21, they also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." This, of course, connecting with, comporting with, being fulfilled by, verse 36 of our text, the soldiers also mocked him, coming and offering him sour wine.
John Gill, on the Psalm 69 text, wrote Christ, when on the cross was a thirst, which was occasioned by a fever that usually attended persons in his circumstances." See Psalm 2215. And that this scripture might be fulfilled, he signified it saying, I thirst, which other gospels capture, upon which vinegar was given to him, as all the evangelists relate. What are we instructed in? And we'll see this a little bit more tonight because tonight we're gonna look at the instructions of Calvary from the same text, more theological reflections.
But we see here the blessed and true humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. that our Savior, our precious Son of God, did take upon Himself our nature for our redemption and recovery. He didn't feign humanity. He wasn't a specter or a phantom of humanity. It wasn't just the appearance or the semblance of humanity, but He really did take to Himself our nature that He might save us.
It's a blessed truth. When we use that confessional language that Christ took upon himself essential properties, so body and a rational soul, and we say common infirmities, that's what our confession says, that when he assumed our nature, he assumed our nature with all the essential properties and common infirmities. Well, a common infirmity is thirst. Christ thirsted, Christ hungered, Christ wept, Christ sorrowed, he grieved, he bled, he died.
These are all aspects of his assumed humanity. And so Christ, blessedly, took to himself our nature for our redemption. And these here are mocking the Savior of men by by calling upon him to save himself, by giving him sour wine when he asks for drink. It is the height of depravity.
And notice as well this title given to him, verse 38, and an inscription also was written over him. In letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew, this is the King of the Jews. It truly was. He truly is the King of the Jews, though they issue this in mockery.
Israel puts to death their own God and King, their Messiah and Covenant Lord. Of course, God cannot die, but Jesus Christ being God, who assumed himself our humanity, he dies according to the nature he assumed. Nevertheless, the one who is God dies upon Calvary's cross. Melito of Sardis wrote these words, Why, O Israel, did you do this strange injustice?
You dishonored the one who honored you. You held in contempt the one who held you in esteem. You killed the one who made you to live. O frightful murder, O unheard of injustice." That's what we're reading here.
That's what we're hearing of here is, O frightful murder, O unheard of injustice. These are putting to death the King, the one who is ruler of all. And in their mockery, they are nevertheless confessing truly that this one is the king. He said this himself before the audience of Pilate and others.
You say truly that I am a king for this purpose I was born and for this purpose I came into the world. So Jesus Christ is blessedly the king of the Jews, the king of all things, as we read in Matthew 28, the one who upon the heels of his resurrection is given all authority in heaven and on earth and ascends to the father where he ever rules, where he ever reigns, and where he ever intercedes.
The Scoundrels
We move next to the scoundrels. Notice as we move along further in the text, Scoundrels, of course, referring to these wicked men crucified with Christ. We read at verse 32, there were also two others, criminals led with him to be put to death. And then we also read in verses 39 to 42, regarding these particular criminals, we ought to note if you back up to Matthew with me for a moment in the in the companion text, Matthew's rendering of the events.
Notice in Matthew 27 at verse 44, even the robbers, plural, who were crucified with him reviled him with That is, he trusted in God, let him deliver him now if he will have him, for he said, I am the son of God. So both robbers in this scene were blaspheming the Lord Jesus Christ and joining in with the mockers and with the scoffers. We need to understand that as we read this here because we have set before us a beautiful picture of conversion, a beautiful picture of salvation, a glorious declaration that salvation is by amazing and victorious grace. But first off, let's note
The Blaspheming Criminal
the one blaspheming. then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him." Perhaps the question may be asked, because if we read the language here, if you are the Christ, save yourself and us. The question may be asked, well, how is that blasphemy? Well, we could answer by observing that to mock the messianic title, this isn't just rudeness on the part of this particular unbelieving criminal, to mock the messianic title while Jesus is exercising his messianic office is to dishonor the God who anointed him as Messiah, as the Christ. And so, therefore, and also, it's a theological offense against the divine majesty of Christ.
To say, if you are the Christ, save yourself and us. This criminal blasphemes by mocking, again, the messianic title, at the very moment that the Messiah, whom he is mocking, is working out the salvation of sinners. And simultaneously, by his majesty and omnipotence, giving the breath, into the lungs with which this blaspheming robber blasphemes Christ. Think about it for a moment.
We obviously don't know what it's like to be crucified, praise God for that, but a horrific method of execution. For this thief, for this robber, thief is kind of a light word as if he stole a Snickers from Walmart. It's much more than that. It's a terrorist, an insurrectionist, a murderer.
A robber is heavier, but even still a bit light. But he's been beaten. Not talking about Christ, talking about the robber here for a moment, this one blaspheming, he's been beaten, he's dehydrated upon the cross, he's bleeding, he has nails in his hands and in his feet, and he's pushing up on that block of wood to get enough breath in his lungs that he might blaspheme the creator and upholder of all things, the promised Messiah, the glorious Christ. It is the height of depravity. but
The Confessing Criminal
we have the blessed reality of the confessing one, this confessing criminal who, remember, according to Matthew, was minutes, however long ago, was blaspheming Christ and mocking Him. We now have that robber, that criminal, that scoundrel, now confessing." Notice in verse 40, 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.'" We see him continuing, then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. So wonderful conversion account, the blessed conversion of the criminal here.
And amazingly, consider these words of Spurgeon with regards to the conversion of the thief, because as we, As we marvel at the blasphemer blaspheming the one who is the Savior of all men, we should move to marveling this one who confesses Christ in the context of the most horrific method of execution ever devised. Spurgeon wrote, it is not only the weakness of our Lord which makes the salvation of the penitent thief memorable, It is the fact that the dying malefactor saw it before his very eyes. Can you put yourself into his place and suppose yourself to be looking upon one who hangs in agony upon a cross? Could you readily believe him to be the Lord of glory who would soon come to his kingdom?
That was no mean faith which at such a moment could believe in Jesus as Lord and King. If the Apostle Paul were here and wanted to add a New Testament chapter to the 11th of Hebrews, he might certainly commence his instances of remarkable faith with this thief, who believed in a crucified, derided, and dying Christ, and cried to him as to one whose kingdom would surely come. The thief's faith was the more remarkable because he was himself in great pain and bound to die. It is not easy to exercise confidence when you are tortured with deadly anguish.
Our own rest of mind has at times been greatly hindered by pain of body. When we are the subjects of acute suffering, it is not easy to exhibit that faith which we fancy we possess at other times. This man, suffering as he did and seeing the Savior in so sad a state, nevertheless believed unto life eternal, herein was such faith as is seldom seen." Isn't that true? We, with our human eyes, look upon particular things and gauge them usually according to sight.
When we think of a king, when we think of nobility, when we think of a monarch going into his kingdom, we think of one with a crown, one with a flowing robe, one with a bedecked scepter and an army going into his kingdom. Eyes of unbelief don't look upon a savior, don't look upon a bleeding and a battered and a bruised and a naked savior hanging upon the cross and think there's a king who will be going into his kingdom. But thanks, thank God for amazing grace, all of us, all of you here who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, by virtue of amazing and powerful grace, can look upon a bleeding Savior just like the dying thief, with eyes of faith, not with the vanity of imagination, but with eyes of faith, look upon a bleeding Savior and say, there's my King, there's my Savior, there's my Redeemer, there is my blessed one. Truly, as we sang that hymn, the dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day.
And we, like him, see that fountain, see the one who is bleeding upon the cross, and we own him as Savior. Ultimately, this is what the evangelistic weight of this passage is for. Kids, if you're here this morning and you're outside of Christ, you're in unbelief. Adults, anyone here outside of Christ in unbelief who do not confess Christ as Lord and Savior, note that there is not a median position between the blaspheming criminal and the confessing thief.
There's no median position there. You're either with the blasphemer or you're with the confessor. you now looking with eyes of consideration, with the eyes of reflection, with the ears of hopefully attention, hearing the stuff of the blessed Savior who's working out the salvation of sinners upon Calvary's cross, do not be found siding with the blaspheming criminal, let him save himself if he is the Christ, the chosen of God, but rather be found with this confessing robber, the one who says, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. The converted criminal's confession is very strong. This account of the dying thief should not be used to argue for a mere Christianity.
That is, that, you know, we don't really need, we can just have a propositionless Christianity, and we, you know, in the 11th hour, we can just say, you know, Lord, remember me. And we don't have any knowledge of Christ, or any knowledge of his work, and that sort of a thing. Of course, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, but the thief knew things, and he confesses things. Notice he says, do you not even fear God?
He knows God exists and that he is to be feared, that there is a divine moral authority before whom men are accountable, but most likely, and as well, being an Israelite and being converted, that this God is the God of the Holy Scriptures. We also see in the language, seeing you are under the same condemnation, he knew that death was not the end, of accountability, that condemnation extended beyond the legal and the juridical into the spiritual and the eternal. It wasn't just the physical reality of a temporal and corporeal sentence that Rome gave, but rather he moves on that to a divine reckoning. We indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong." And to that point, he knew the moral law, that there were immovable objective standards that God has given, right and wrong, the moral law, and that his deeds, the robber's deeds, are measured against that standard, and he justly deserved the condemnation.
He confesses the innocence of Christ, but this man has done nothing wrong. He knew the innocence of Christ, and not merely that he was legally acquitted, and should have been in the eyes of Rome and in the eyes of those of Judaic polity, but that he was morally without fault. He confesses, this man has done nothing wrong. In other words, he is truly the one who is wholly harmless and undefiled, the blessed Savior of men, the spotless and the blemishless sacrifice.
And he calls him Lord. He confesses the Lordship of Christ. He says, Lord. Verse 42, then he said to Jesus, Lord, yes, Lord in name, yes, Lord in reputation, but also Lord in his sovereign authority.
And he commits himself to the Lord as he calls out, with these words, remember me when you come into your kingdom. He beseeches the Lord. He, with an urgent and an eager tongue and a humble tongue and a dependent heart, asks of Christ to remember him when he comes into his kingdom, knowing that Christ had the power to act beyond death. Isn't that amazing, given this scene again? saying, remember me when you come into your kingdom, knowing the thief knows that Christ, he can look upon this bleeding one, he can look upon this battered one, he can look upon this one light crucified, though innocent, and he can know that Christ has the power to act beyond death.
And so he can confess victory over death. He implores the Savior. to give mind to him in his forthcoming reign. It's a wonderful expression of faith. And lastly, with regards to that beseeching, when he says, when you come into your kingdom, He knows that this one, though dehydrated, though bleeding, though beaten, though battered, though the eyes of unbelief looking as undefeated, is the conquering king who has a kingdom, and he calls the king to show graciousness to him.
And then we close here with the words of the Savior.
The Savior's Response
Notice the blessed words of the Savior in verse 43. And Jesus said to him, Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Some of the sweetest words ever spoken by anyone ever. spoken by Christ to the thief. Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise." Just three things as we look to close after this point.
We see first, certainty.
Certainty in Christ's Word
He says, assuredly, I say to you. The language is actually, amen, I say to you. It's something very unique to the Lord Jesus Christ. When the prophets speak, they say, thus says the Lord.
When Jesus speaks as the Lord Almighty himself, he says, amen, assuredly, most assuredly. I say to you, this wonderful language of amen to announce grace to the robber, this one is the one immutable in his person. perfect in his merits, the one who by the weight and the emphasis and the glory of the eternal and divine counsel of the Trinity can say, assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. There is certainty to the gospel of Jesus Christ. the glorious amen reality that if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved.
Immediacy of Mercy
Not only do we see certainty, but we see immediacy. So certainty in the amen or the assuredly, and then immediacy, we see today you will be with me in paradise. Perhaps on the part of the robber, he's saying, Christ, remember me when you come into your kingdom. So a distant, a future act, When you come into your kingdom, thinking perhaps a number of years, decades, centuries, millennia in the future, but Christ with the weight and the glory of immediacy says, no, today you will be with me in paradise.
It's no distant hope. It's no distant mercy, it's a now, it's a today hope, and it's a today mercy. And that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's a today hope, and it is a today mercy.
It's one that comes to anyone who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. It is a blessed truth that comes to them. And notice as well, there is felicity. So
Felicity in Paradise
there is certainty, there is immediacy, and there is felicity. a peace and a glory and a calmness and a joy and a happiness in a thing. There is felicity. He says, today you will be with me in paradise. The word for the Garden of Eden is used here in the LXS, the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament.
Paradise is the word used for the Garden of Eden. And now here, Christ uses it with regards to everlasting glory. The second Adam returns, if you will, what the first Adam lost. Have you ever thought about the crown of thorns in the context of Christ's saving work? connected to Adam and Eve in the garden.
Remember the account of the curse that God pronounces upon Adam and Eve. We see thorns and thistles pervading the land. Well, the second Adam comes, and it's not just a happy accident that he bears a crown of thorns. The one bearing the curse bears an element of the curse, if you will, As he's dying upon Calvary's cross, he bears the thorns, he bears the curse for all those who believe upon his most high name.
He takes upon him the curse in the stead of all of his people. What a blessing we have. He reverses the curse, what Adam lost, Christ restores, and the criminal will be with that altogether lovely one in a place of unutterable beauty, glory, and majesty. Cyril of Jerusalem wrote these words, what power, O robber, led thee to the light?
Who taught thee to worship the despised man, thy companion on the cross? Pause there for a moment. It's a wonderful question. What power, O robber, led thee to the light?
He answers the question here after he says, who taught thee to worship that despised man, that companion on the cross? O light eternal, which gives light to them that are in darkness. Therefore also he justly heard the words, be of good cheer, not that thy deeds are worthy of good cheer, but that the king is here dispensing favors. Today you will be with me in paradise.
The request reached unto a distant time, that is, the thief thinking distant mercy, but the grace was very speedy. Verily I say unto thee, this day shalt thou be with me in paradise, because today thou hast heard my voice and hast not hardened thine heart. Very speedily I pass sentence upon Adam, very speedily I pardon thee. To him it was said, in the day wherein ye eat, ye shall surely die.
But thou today hast obeyed the faith, today is thy salvation. Adam by the tree fell away, thou by the tree art brought into paradise. And note that this is true for anyone here who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. God pronounced by virtue of your union with Adam, curse upon you, but if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that curse is removed because Christ bore the curse for all who believe in him.
And so it is true of any one of you, anyone who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, very speedily I pass sentence upon you, very speedily I pardon thee. Adam by the tree fell away, thou by the tree art brought into paradise. This is the blessed hope of all who believe in his name.
Application
And so in closing, the three things that we observe here, the sufficiency of Christ alone. Remember earlier, we noted that it could be the case that the place of the skull is named such because David brought Goliath's skull there. the place of the skull. Well, think about the comparisons between David and Christ. David alone goes into that patch, that portion of the Valley of Elah, to battle the giant Goliath alone.
He conquers him with his own weapon, with his sword. Christ comes and he goes to the cross alone, armorless, just like David. And he alone, by the weapon of the enemy, that is the devil, death, conquers death, sin, and the devil. And so it's right to speak with regards to this language of the sufficiency of Christ alone, because Christ, it's interesting, if we think of, and we can, I don't think this is an exception, and I don't think God is giving this as an exception of salvation.
That, you know, that was for the dying thief, but for all the rest of you, you know, you need to have a particular season where you really feel the weight of your sin. You need to go off for a particular season and really examine yourself more carefully to be more certain of the inward condition of your heart. before presuming to address the Savior. What does Christ do immediately upon the heels of this beforehand blaspheming man, only minutes, only maybe hours ago blaspheming, who now cries out, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus says to him, not go off and feel the weight of your sin, and hopefully you do that before your dying breath, But rather assuredly, amen, I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise.
Christ does not rebuke the dying thief and prescribe a lengthy process of conviction, humiliation and preparation before accepting his confession, but rather he owns the thief, the robber as his own and says, amen. today you will be with me in paradise. And that is true of anyone here who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't be found as the robber who blasphemes, but as the robber, as we sang, as vile as he. We have all of our sins washed away by the blessed one who said, today you will be with me in paradise.
The posture of unbelief versus the posture of belief. The unbelieving criminal mocks Christ and makes demands. The believing criminal pleads with empty hands. You know, there's a modern hymn that says something like, ashamed I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers.
There is none of us here that should think of ourselves as higher and better than these ones who were mocking, than these ones who were scoffing. We should see ourselves as the mockers and the scoffers who, by amazing and victorious grace, were made alive to plead like the robber. Christ, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And the immediacy of the matter.
Notice Christ uses the language today. We close with the immediacy and the urgency of the matter. We're not promised tomorrow. We're not promised a minute from now.
We're not promised an hour from now. And so with that said, don't be found as the mockers, don't be found as the scoffers, don't be found as the blaspheming robber, but now by grace, through faith, call out to the one who was crucified, who rose again, who ascended to the right hand of the majesty on high, and who now sends his spirit through the act of preaching to call sinners from the deadness of sin to life in Christ. Believe on the blessed one. Today is the day of salvation.
Look with eyes of faith upon the savior of men, and in him find your everything.
Closing Prayer
Well, let's pray. God, we thank you for your word. We rejoice in your truth. We thank you for this account of the dying thief who called out to his savior, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
We thank you that hope is not deferred, that hope is not distant, that neither is mercy, but that we have hope, that we have mercy, that we have all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ our savior. Do be with us. be with your people, strengthen them by the knowledge of their Christ. Lord, we pray that by the Spirit, you would call forth those dead now in their trespasses, like that blaspheming robber, that you would call them forth from deadness to life, that they might, with that confessing robber, own the Savior of men. and in Him believe for their salvation. We do pray that you go with us, help us to rejoice in Christ, to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of Him, that you might receive all honor and all glory.
We pray in Christ's name, amen.