Title: Three Crosses (Luke 2339, Good Friday)
Contents
Three crosses (Luke 23:39-43)
39 One of the evildoers slandered, saying, Aren't you the Christ, save you and us?
40 One rebuked the man, saying, "Do you not fear God, though you are under the same condemnation?
41 We receive a fair reward for our deeds, and it is only natural that there is nothing wrong with this man's deeds.
42 He said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
43 Jesus said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise."
i. three crosses
Today is Good Friday in the church calendar, the day Jesus died on the cross.
As we read through the Gospel of John, the Special Meditation on the Week of theft,
Our Lord, who was found innocent by Pilate,
He was sentenced to be crucified and died on that cruel cross.
There are many movies coming out to express the death of Jesus on the cross...
It is clear that this tragic and tragic death is not a death in a movie or a novel.
It is a death that actually occurred about 2,000 years ago from now.
But when Jesus was crucified, He did not go alone.
There were two men who were crucified together.
In Luke 23:32, ‘two evildoers’ are recorded, and in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, they are expressed as ‘robbers’.
So the day Jesus died,
Three crosses were erected on Mount Calvary,
The Gospels in common testify that Jesus died on the cross among these three (Matthew 27:38, Mark 15:27, Luke 23:33, John 19:18).
Three crosses erected in the same place, at the same time...
But the content of death that these three tell us is quite different.
So today, we are going to think about each of those three crosses.
ii. one cross
He of the first cross was an evildoer.
A person who uses violence to achieve his or her own interests or ideas.
So, like Jesus, he is innocent, but he does not die unfairly.
A person who pays the due price for the sins he has committed.
How wicked he is is briefly mentioned in the Gospels.
What does he do when he dies?
He curses the person next to him who is crucified with him.
According to the Gospel of Matthew, when the people ridiculed and reviled Jesus, he also reviled Jesus.
Part of that curse is found in Luke 23:39, which we saw.
“Are you not the Christ, save you and us”
Whether you've heard the rumor about Jesus from a long time ago, or know it by seeing the nameplate "King of the Jews" hanging on the cross of Jesus...
In any case, what he insults Jesus is ridiculing the fact that “Jesus is the Christ.”
No matter how bad a person is, it is human nature to become a little bit kinder in the face of death.
Also, not those who crucify themselves.
He is swearing at other people who are suffering and dying in the same situation as you.
He is a very evil person.
iii. two crosses
The second person on the cross.
He, like the first man, is an evildoer. Robber.
He is paying the due price for what he has done by dying on the cross.
When this man was also crucified, he slandered Jesus at first.
Read Matthew 27:38-44.
38 At this time two thieves were crucified with Jesus, one on the right and the other on the left.
39 Those passing by shook their heads and insulted Jesus.
40 He said, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross."
41 In the same way the chief priests mocked with the scribes and elders, saying,
42 He saved others, but he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel. Come down now from the cross, and we will believe.
43 He trusts in God, and if God is pleased with him, he will now save him. I said, I am the Son of God.
44 So also the robbers who were crucified with him cursed
However, according to Luke 23:40-42, which we saw today, one of them is referring to Jesus, and the second is him.
Combining the contents of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, it seems that at first he slandered Jesus, but later changed his mind.
Read Luke 23:40-42.
“40 One rebuked the man, saying, “Do you not fear God, though you are under the same condemnation?
41 We receive a fair reward for our deeds, and it is only natural that there is nothing wrong with this man's deeds.
42 He said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
This is what it means.
1. To the thief who slandered Jesus
- You don't know how to fear God when you're dying.
- We sinned as we deserved, but this man dies without sin.
2, to Jesus
- Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
I don't know if he knew Jesus before or if he was just getting to know him for the first time.
But at first he slandered Jesus, but the longer he was with Jesus, the more
trust Jesus,
He becomes a person who trusts his soul in Jesus.
Theologically, he is a repentant thief.
The words of Jesus to him are verse 43.