Pastor Thomas Kock    4^th Sunday in Lent    March 22, 2009

 

How can I know if Jesus really died for me?  That’s a huge question, isn’t it, a question for which each one of us absolutely needs to know the answer.  As we read our text for this morning, excerpts of Jesus’ crucifixion from several of the gospels, look for answers to that question, “How can I know if Jesus really died for me?”

 

Luke 23:33-43; John 19:30; Matthew 27:54 NIV

When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.  Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.  The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”  The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”  There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”  But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”  Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’”  Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.  When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

 

In the name of Jesus, our Savior who went to the cross, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ.  Would you agree with me that we all see the world through our own filters?  I think that’s true.  I mean, you and I have certain thoughts about life, what is hardship and what is ease, how life “should be,” etc. 

What if you had been born in a country where there was massive starvation going on?  You know, one of those remote villages where you see pictures of terribly mal-nourished people laying there just begging for something to eat.  If you had been born in a place like that, do you think you might view the world a whole lot differently than you do today?  Oh, I’m guessing we would!  And, it’s probably valuable for us to think about things like that on occasion, because it changes our perspective on the lives which we lead, allows us to see more clearly the blessings of God which we enjoy, etc. 

One of the ways in which my eyes were opened one time was to see a break-down of the world’s population, looking at it this way: if the world was a village of 100 people, with all the ratios remaining the same, what would it look like, including how many people in it would be Christian, how many would be other religions?

There would be:

57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south, 8 would be Africans

52 would be female, 48 would be male

70 would be non-white, 30 would be white

6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be from the United States.

80 would live in substandard housing

70 would be unable to read

50 would suffer from malnutrition

1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth;

1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education;

1 (yes,only1) would own computer.

And for our use today…

70 would be non-Christian, 30 would be Christian

 

Wow – it’s eye-opening, isn’t it?  We’ve been blessed to live in a part of the world where most of the people around us are believers in Jesus.  The reality is, that’s not the way most of the world is.  By far most of the world doesn’t believe in Jesus.  Most of the world doesn’t believe that Jesus died to pay for their sins.  Most of the world doesn’t care that we’re celebrating Lent, most of the world won’t pause on Good Friday, most of the world won’t care that it’s Easter Sunday. 

And you know what?  As Jesus went to the cross, He knew all that!  As Jesus went to the cross, He knew that most of the world wouldn’t care, would reject, would turn their back on Him. 

And, in amazing love, He died for them anyway.  I guess it’s just really hard for us to fathom this, but can we try to imagine the emotions which were going through Jesus as the religious leaders stood and sneered at Him?  As they mocked and made fun of Him?  Can you imagine how Jesus might have felt?  It had to be heart-rending! 

And He died for them. 

Can you imagine how Jesus must have felt as He looked at those Roman army men?  The Romans – as well as the Greeks – had a multi-god system, and had temples to Zeus and Artemis and all these “gods,” none of whom were really gods at all, none of whom could save.  We don’t know, but likely most of those soldiers there at the cross were part of that pagan system.  Would most of them end up in hell?  We don’t know, but it’s certainly likely. 

And Jesus died for them.

Can you imagine Jesus looking down the years and seeing the time when Mohammed would show up, and lead all sorts of people astray, following the “god” Allah?  Can you imagine Jesus’ eyes scanning the countries like Iran and Syria and Egypt and Libya and seeing all those people bowing down towards Mecca, thinking that they were worshiping a real god, when in reality they weren’t worshiping anything at all?  Can you imagine the pain of heart as He saw those millions of people through the years who would not only NOT worship Him, but would make it a goal of theirs to wage war against Him and His people?  Can you imagine how painful that must have been for Jesus? 

And He died for them.

Can you imagine the heart-ache as Jesus considered Judas?  Judas, one of His own inner circle!  Judas, who had eaten with Him, had drunk with Him, who had taken care of the finances for Him.  Judas, who had turned his back on Jesus for the sake of 30 pieces of silver, who had betrayed Jesus, and even as Jesus was on the cross Judas was preparing to – or had – hung himself.  Can we imagine the heart-ache?

And Jesus died for him, too. 

For what reasons is it so important for us to recognize all that?  It’s so important for us to recognize all that because of this: it’s only if Jesus has died for the whole world that I can be sure that Jesus died for me.  Only if Jesus died for all can I know for sure that when He died, that He’d paid for MY sins, too.  And thank God, the Scriptures emphasize over and over again that Jesus died to pay for the sins of the world. 

You can see various aspects of it in our text.  As Jesus is being nailed to the cross, what is Jesus praying?  “Father, forgive them.”  When Jesus dies, the centurion – an army officer with charge over 100 soldiers, so a fairly important man – confesses that this is the Son of God. 

But perhaps most amazing is the account of the thief on the cross.  As Jesus is crucified, two thieves are being crucified with Him.  Now, what sort of person do you crucify?  What sort of person do you execute?  Yeah, you don’t execute nice people; you execute horrible people!  So we assume that these two thieves were, by our standards, horrible guys.  And as the account begins, both thieves are making fun of Jesus, mocking Him.

But then something happens.  God does His wonderful thing in the one thief’s heart, and he begins to look at Jesus in an entirely new way.  Indeed, he rebukes the one thief: "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? {41} We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." {42} Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."  He’s asking Jesus to take him to heaven. 

Now stop a minute.  What kind of guy is this?  Yeah, this is a bad guy!  How would you have felt if this guy had moved into your neighborhood; would you have been happy?  I doubt it!  Would you have invited this guy into your home?  No way!  And so all logic would say to us that what Jesus will say to this man is, “No way!  Look what kind of life you’ve led!  You’ve been terrible!  And now you dare to ask me to take you to heaven?!?  No way!  That’s what we’d expect Jesus to say, if we were to use human standards and human logic. 

What does Jesus say?  “Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’"  In short, Jesus says, “You’re in!”  Indeed, Jesus doesn’t just say it, but Jesus swears to it.  The word translated “I tell you the truth” is often used in the Greek for taking oaths.  So, Jesus is saying to the man, “I swear to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”  It wasn’t a possible, it wasn’t a maybe.  It was a for-sure. 

And our human logic balks: “But this was a bad guy!  What right does he have to go to heaven!” 

He has no more right to heaven than you or me.  Yes, we heard correctly: he has no more right to heaven than you or me.  You see, it’s easy to slip into thinking that God will take us to heaven if we’re good people.  That idea is totally wrong, and insulting to God.  Yes, insulting to Him.  You see, His standards are far higher than that.  His standard if we are to get to heaven is that we be perfect.  Yes, absolutely perfect.  And no, there’s not one of us who can come even close to matching up to that standard.  So, reality is, you and I have no right to go to heaven.  No right whatsoever. 

But then again, neither did the thief on the cross, and … he went!!!  And why was he welcomed into heaven?  For the same reason that you and I will be welcomed into heaven: because Jesus died and rose.  Yes, Jesus’ death did exactly what you and I needed – it took our sins away, and took them away completely.  It did so for that thief on the cross; it does so for you and for me. 

And now we re-think that whole thief on the cross thing.  If there was room in heaven for the thief on the cross, well, for whom might there be room?  Ah yes!  There’s room in heaven for you and for me, too!  If Jesus can take the thief to heaven, if Jesus can forgive the thief, then He can forgive you and me, too! 

And as you look at the cross, you see it.  For indeed, there at the cross we see the sins of the entire world, paid for, in full.  The thief’s sins; your sins; my sins. 

One time Martin Luther made a statement which at first glance sounds kind of funny.  He said, “I’m glad that nowhere in the Bible does it say that Jesus paid for Martin Luther’s sins.”  Sounds strange, doesn’t it?  But he went on to explain: “I would assume that there was some other Martin Luther out there to whom that applied, and not to me.  Instead, I’m glad it says that Jesus paid for the sins of the world, because no matter how hard I try, I can’t take myself out of the world; I’m simply part of it.  And if Jesus paid for the sins of the world, then I know He paid for my sins, too.” 

Luther hit it right on the head.  Since Jesus paid for the sins of the world, you and I can live with joy and confidence.  Your sins ARE forgiven.  It’s true.  It’s true for those who nailed Him to the tree, it’s true for those religious leaders, it’s true for those millions – billions – who don’t believe in Jesus, it’s true for the thief on the cross, it’s true for you.  And because God has worked the miracle of faith in your heart, you ARE going to spend an eternity with Him.  Amen.