Christ Crucified

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?

There's a warning here Jesus is giving to those who are weeping over his own mistreatment. Behold, there's a day where blessed are the born. This is adding a certain burden to these women. This is devastating news. There's a whole confusion of categories. We've really got to go back and see the whole big picture of how God created us to appreciate what's happening here. Genesis 1.27. God created every human being, male and female, in his image. Every human being has the same dignity and worth and value and a purpose of exercising and stewarding God's goodness through our creation. We see there's a difference in men and women. Equal in dignity and honor, but different in design, function. The main difference is an ability difference. Women can have babies, men cannot. That's weird that somehow that feels controversial. But scripture tells us it's a blessing that the woman was created, designed to have a womb. to have a special role and ability in God's great plan to fill the earth with His glory by filling the earth with image bearers. It's supposed to be seen as a great privilege to be able to have a child in the womb, a blessing. to have another human being, an image bearer, formed in your womb and to give birth to that child and to nurse that child and to nurture that child. What a blessing. We sadly too often hear that children are some kind of a burden, that children are a consequence of some sort. Let me just give an exhortation, older women in Titus 2, You're commanded to teach the younger women to know how to love their children. Let's rejoice constantly so the younger women understand what a blessing children are. That takes us repeating constantly the joys we have. Yeah, there's difficulties, but there's a way in which we're supposed to be training up the next generation to realize what blessings God gives us. God blesses women, specifically here, in focus. Luke focuses here on these women. It's supposed to be a blessing that you would have a child in the womb. After sin, we know that blessing is affected. It's difficult for pregnancy to happen. There's barren wombs, there's miscarriages. We think about the great blessing God designed in Genesis 1 and 2, and then when we revolted and rebelled and we brought His glorious creation to a glorious ruin because of our sin. There's curses. I just want to help us think about for a moment, the way God brought His promises was to make a promise to a barren womb to reverse the curse over and over again. that the Savior came through the womb of a woman. If you want something just sweet to sing in your heart and meditate upon for Christmas, that one phrase from Joy to the World,

His blessings flow as far as the curse is found. His blessings flow as far as the curse is found.

The background of what Jesus is saying is children are a blessing. Therefore, when we hear Jesus in this incredible day declare, blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed, it's supposed to be shocking. How? Well, if we look in the context, The context of what he even says is very helpful because he quotes from Hosea 10.8. He says that the mountains and the hills, if only they would fall over us and cover us. And in the context there, there's a great threat of an enemy. And if the mountains would just fall over us and cover us, we would be hidden, we'd be protected. Revelation 6.16 also quotes Hosea 10. And in the context, it's the great persecution. He then speaks with his own bit of a parable. Verse 31, Jesus says,

for if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?

I believe he's referring to himself as the root of Jesse, the one who has come to bring life, the one who is there as a life giver. If this is how they're going to treat the king, how are they going to treat his citizens? He's communicating to those who are weeping. What comes next is also terrifying. He's warning those who would come after him. He's warning those who are grieving and realizing the difficulty of what is taking place with Christ about to be crucified. It's going to be difficult for those who follow Jesus. And the whole point of the parent womb is how difficult it must be for a parent to watch a child suffer. Every child has gotten the flu this last week and it's been hard for us to watch them all suffer and coughing. Oh, how much worse whenever we see evil governments, evil people, if they were to attack our children for holding fast to Christ. This is an incredible warning. Believer, it's an opportunity for us to consider what we're signing up for. Hear the words of Jesus. You weep for me, weep for yourselves. What is about to happen is terrifying. He's already given a warning of sorts. He's told them that Jerusalem is gonna be attacked, and when you see it, flee. He has not in any way softened the great high calling of discipleship. He's made it clear there's going to be suffering, and you're gonna want protection from that suffering, and it's not always gonna come. He wanted to be clear to his disciples. I'm not promising you paradise in this world. Next week we'll consider how he does offer paradise in the world to come. But we too often think when we believe in Jesus, well then we're gonna get a paradise here and now. No, this is why back in the Reformation we meditated upon Luther's theology of the cross. We too often meditate and think, well, there must be a prosperity gospel. There must be a theology of glory. So if I believe in Jesus, he'll give me all the glorious things I want. No. We see God most clearly on the cross in his justice, his love, his mercy. We also see him most clearly in our suffering, his justice, his love, his mercy. Jesus promises many things. One of them is not paradise here and now. One of them is that we will have the opportunity to participate with him in suffering. We will have the opportunity to witness to him in the midst of suffering. And here, the promise, I'm with you in suffering, he says. I'm with you with all authority, with all power. Believers, we need to repent of the prosperity gospel. that makes church a casual thing we do rather than a real commitment. We need to repent of the prosperity gospel that prioritizes everyday entertainment over our own spiritual disciplines. We need to repent of the prosperity gospel that believes we can just coast through this Christian life and that it doesn't require real effort, duty, and discipline. Simon is a model of discipleship. We have to deny ourselves, carry the cross, and follow Jesus. The second point. we'll look at is this capture of the word fulfillment. There's many ways in which Jesus is fulfilling numerous promises here in this text and in this event. All of creation since the fall has been pointing towards, all the promise has been pointing towards is a moment in the cross of Christ. There are many promises. I wanna focus here on just one simple phrase though. They put over his head, on verse 38, the inscription, this is the king of the Jews. Now that's meant to be mockery, but it's the most true thing that's been said this day. It's true. He's the king of the Jews. The Jews have rejected him and want to grab us instead of him. The king of the Jews who have hated him and declared he needs to be crucified. He's come to fulfill the promise that God would provide the king we need. He's the king. And we have to think about how they're treating their king. We could go back and look at the different promises in Genesis 12, when God first promised to Abraham, I'll bless you and make you a blessing. He includes in there, there'll be nations that come from you. That assumes a king. Genesis 49, more specifically, we see that the king will come from the tribe of Judah. God makes it clear there will be a king. We go to 2 Samuel 7, and we see that that king will not only just come from Judah, but come from David specifically, and he'll be a forever king, and he'll be like a son to God, and God will be like a father to him. Think about God's instruction for what a king should be like. That's found in Deuteronomy 18. God says you cannot choose a king of the nations, a king who's like the kings of the nations. He says when you choose a king, he's among you, and he has a certain prerequisite before he can serve. He has to receive the law from the priest, and he has to write down his own copy. Now, think about how that king is supposed to function within Israel. The king is supposed to be an instrument of God's justice, not what he thinks is justice. The king has to receive the law. He isn't a law in himself. The king is supposed to execute God's good righteousness and justice because he's received that law, and that law is supposed to promote the fear of the Lord in him. He's supposed to reflect God's goodness. Now the reason for this is God is the rightful king of Israel. God is their king, but he's going to want and put a earthly king in place so that the people would know who to follow. This morning, we want to see Jesus has fulfilled the promise that God himself will shepherd his people. He is the great king because he's God, and he is the human fulfillment of all God promised. He is the son of David. He is from the root of Jesse, as we've already sung in some of our songs. I want us to meditate upon what kind of king we have here. Jesus is the king. What kind of king? Well, it's the season of Christmas, and it's the season to be generous. I think there's something right about that, because the first thing I want us to know about King Jesus is he's a generous king. He doesn't acquire. He doesn't take. He gives. He gives the most precious gift we could possibly ever desire. He gives us himself. God gives us himself. The father gives us his son. He's exercising absolute rule by giving himself here to be crucified on the cross. He's a generous king. Second thing we must see, he's a king who has all authority in power. That's a bit confusing if we're thinking of Christ on the cross, because he looks defeated, doesn't he? No, Christ is the one true absolute authority. It's important that we take these two concepts together, that he is a good and generous king, and he's an all-authoritative king. Because we have to be able to believe in a concept that's difficult. There's such thing as good authority. We don't see it that often. We see the opposite too often. But here, as we look at Jesus, he is good authority. He is himself the good God who gives us all what we need. And he has it all authority to do so. There's such thing as good authority, and it's an authority we should joyfully submit to. If you believe in Jesus, You believe in a good king, a generous king, an authoritative king. You believe in a king who died for you. With all his authority, he forgives you of all your sin. With all his authority, he forgives you of all your sin. With all of his authority, he loves you while you are a sinner. With all of his authority, he intercedes for you. He mediates for you. With all his authority, he blesses you with every spiritual blessing. Christ has all authority to give us all we need, and we need to hear this. His rule is good. We need to stop resisting it. His rule is absolute. We need to stop negotiating. His rule is forever. We need to quit pretending we've got pause buttons. You're king. We sing of his birth. We meditate on his death. We trust him with our lives. Something else we need to realize, he has always meant to be our king. He has always deserved to be our king. We were designed to be ruled? That feels uncomfortable. But the way God designed us was to be ruled. He has designed us to rule over. If we want to know what the kingdom of God is, it's God's people properly responding to God's righteous rule. His rule is always righteous. Are we always properly responding? When we doubt if God is truly good, go to Romans 8, 32.

He who did not spare His own son.

What good thing would he withhold from us? I want to speak to you if you're an unbeliever today, welcome. We're so thankful you're here with us today. We hope you're here with us tomorrow. Come Monday, pop in, say hello. Come next week, Sunday. We want you to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. And maybe if you're a skeptic, I just want to point out some ways in which you could pursue some truth if you want to get past being a skeptic. If you actually want some confidence in what you can believe in, I encourage you, read your Bible. Read passages that we've already read like Psalm 22, Psalm 110. These are some of the most quoted Old Testament promises that are then fulfilled in the New Testament. My challenge to you is to consider how so Great, a plan of salvation actually was so clearly fulfilled in one person who died and rose again. Take up the challenge. Ask me, I'd love to sit down and show you how to do that. Even here, notice the little addition of what Luke tells us. The criminals, or I'm sorry, the soldiers who mocked him, they divided his garments? These are Roman guards. They don't have the Jewish scriptures, and yet they're actually fulfilling what God said was gonna happen in the psalm we read earlier, Psalm 22. The way God orchestrated this to give us confidence. Hear me, it's not that God's word isn't clear or convincing, it's that we too often just come into it as skeptics. Not ready to believe. Our third point is forgiveness. Forgiveness. Here are the different characters that are in this particular section. Verses 32 to 38.

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're the king of the Jews, save yourself. There was also an inscription over him, this is the king of the Jews.

First, notice Luke wants us to know he's fulfilling what Jesus has already said. He's dying between two criminals. He is numbered among the transgressors. That is from Isaiah 53. It was already quoted by Jesus saying it must be fulfilled that I would be numbered among the transgressors in Luke 22, 37. He is dying among criminals as the righteous one of God. Second, pretty amazing, Luke just says he's crucified. Doesn't go to the explanation of what that means. I feel the need to kind of pause there and unpack that because we have a lot of crosses. I see them on you right now. The cross has taken on a different value, a different meaning because of what happens on this day. Up until this day, the cross was something you'd never wear or tattoo upon yourself or want to be associated with. The cross was the ultimate symbol of shame, torture, disgust. Crucifixion was the Romans' way of punishing the worst criminals. It was one of the greatest tortures. It was meant to be shameful. They would hoist you up high so everyone could see you exposed, strip you of your clothes, strip you of all your dignity, put nails in your hands and your feet. For Jesus, they put a crown of thorns on them. The idea is that you don't bleed out from the hands and the feet. The idea is that as time goes on, you have a more and more difficult time of breathing. And so you pull up on those nailed hands and feet, adding more torture as you're trying to catch your breath. So eventually, you get so exhausted from the pain in your hands and your feet, you can't hold yourself up anymore to breathe, and so you suffocate. And if you took too long, they would break your legs. This is a wicked torture reserved for the worst criminals. And we need to remember, what did Pilate say about Jesus three times? He's not guilty. He's not deserving of this. The third thing, the people watched. They were spectators. Not sure what's going on in their hearts, but we already see again the rulers, they haven't stopped mocking him. And twice, even three times, we look at the next passage that we'll look at next week. One of the criminals, the soldiers, and the rulers are all saying something very similar. Save yourself, Jesus, in a mocking way. Wouldn't you save yourself? Let's see who he really is. Let him save himself. This is the king of the Jews. Now the rest of our time, I just want us to think about that incredible statement of Jesus. There's seven sayings of Jesus on the cross. This one, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. This is one of the most incredible statements of Jesus. First, we see he's showing us how he prays and the way he's invited us to pray to God in a new way. We take for granted we call God Father because Christians have been doing that for 2,000 years, but that's a new way of talking to God, introduced to us by the true Son who invites us into adoption. We take for granted this language, but here Jesus is this true Son of God, the only begotten one who's come from the bosom of the Father to save us. And on the cross, in that suffering and the suffocation he's experiencing, his mind, his heart declares, Father, forgive them. Now, who's he talking about? Is his focus just on the Roman guards who nailed him? Is it on the rulers who are mocking him? Is it on the whole crowd who's there just to be spectators? Could be the whole company. Everybody there is witnessing or somehow participating in crucifying their creator. But I want us to see the significance of these words. Falsely accused. mistreated, mocked, beaten, spat upon, crucified. And what he declares, his father, forgive them. The good, generous, all-authoritative God, those are the words we receive from him while on the cross. What does it mean? I have more questions than I have answers for this passage. One, I want us to see the most effective mediator is praying a prayer. Jesus is a righteous man and God here is a righteous man. More so, he's the son of God who said,

ask anything in my name and I will give it to you.

He has a unique access to God and what he has declared to ask at this moment is forgive them. Was this prayer to stop the immediate judgment of God at this moment to delay judgment? Maybe. Maybe this prayer is a declaration of salvation for all those who are guilty of crucifying. I find that unlikely because there's no one who's ever been saved without faith. I believe we can see here a declaration forgiveness is offered. Forgiveness is what he's come to do, and I think that's where we wanna just linger here. In all the noise from the religious leaders, save yourself, the soldiers, save yourself, even the guy crucified next to him, save yourself. What is Jesus communicating? He's come to offer forgiveness. He's not come to save himself, he's come to seek and save Sinners. They're mocking him. And he's making the greatest declaration. He is on the cross at that moment so that God is just, sin is paid for, and the justifier, all who believe him, can be forgiven. Forgiveness is essential to everything we believe as Christians. You cannot be a Christian if you've not asked for forgiveness. You cannot be a Christian if you don't extend forgiveness. But here we see the most significant focus, forgiveness. I want to go into forgiveness here because I think it's one of the most misunderstood concepts we have. Forgiveness is too often treated as a thing where if the person feels enough pain of me, of mine, and shows enough contrition, well then I'll say I forgive you. Or something I weaponize to make sure someone feels enough pain before I'll again begin to trust them. That's not what forgiveness is at all. Forgiveness is us seeing the pain we have because of someone else's sin. in deciding we're going to not let that pain interrupt our relationship with that person. And there's only two things you can do with pain. You can either put it on the person so they feel it, or you can absorb it and make sure you feel it. Instead of forgiveness being, or sin against you being a weapon, it's meant to be absorbed. Instead of making them eat it, we consume it. So this is what Jesus is doing on the cross. This is what forgiveness is with God. Our rebellion, our mockery, our refusal, our rejection, our dishonor, our lack of gratitude, it's all being punished right there on Christ. He absorbs all the wrath of God that we deserve. so that we don't feel the pain, so that we don't experience God's wrath. God removes the obstacle of our sin by separating us from us, from as far as from the east is to the west, but he does so by absorbing it in Jesus. This is the most incredible thing. Jesus has come to fulfill what he has promised. I'll renew a relationship with you that I designed you for. I'll come and be your king, and I'm going to rule over you with forgiveness. Forgiveness is not that cheap thing we often hawk. No, it's great. It's costly. It's powerful. It's effective. On the cross, we see why Jesus came, because our sin is such a significant problem. We see why Jesus came, because God loves us and loves us while we're sinners and loves us and wants to know us and be known by us. Our sin did not keep God away. The pain that our sin brings does not keep God away. No, he comes to absorb it. 2017. So far, up to these 44 years, the worst year of my life. I don't usually speak of myself, because I want you to know Jesus more, but I could be helpful for somebody. I was accused of many sins I've committed, and I was falsely accused of many things I hadn't. And as I wrestled with all the things, three specific people spoke to me. Jim Kiner, Noel and Rebecca's father. Ed Moore, Amelia's former pastor, a counselor up in Capitol Hill. Those were the only people I talked to, but those three guys spoke to me very clearly and said,

you need to learn how to receive the forgiveness of God so that you can forgive them.

They pointed out my own sin and that I was angry. So for about six months, outside of preparing sermons, the only text I read was Psalm 32, Psalm 51, and Matthew 18. And over time, the word of the Lord proved to be good yet again. And as I looked at the sin that I was holding in my hands not forgiven, I wrestled with Matthew 18. That's where the concept of absorbing, where did the debt go that the man owed the king? The king absorbed it. He is now forever more in poverty because of his forgiveness. The more I considered my sin against God, the more I considered how much he absorbed, the sin didn't disappear, it just kind of rotted away. The sin I thought was done against me, over against all the sin I can now see so clearly God had forgiven me for. It's hard to ask for forgiveness. It's hard to receive forgiveness. I've had numerous opportunities this week, more than normal even, to see how hard it is to say I'm sorry. The reason this text is here, Father forgive them, is to remind us God is not like us. He is quick to forgive. He is powerful to forgive. We are slow. We want to hold on to it because we think somehow that gives us some kind of control or comfort. No, he's quick. Praise God for how quick he is to forgive us. Here, we have the table before us. It's meant to be a time of just Thanksgiving. So we call the Eucharist. He suffered. He took our punishment so that we might rejoice that we are saved. We approach this table with all kinds of mixed emotions. And I just want to be clear, we should be approaching this table with all kinds of mixed emotions. There's a sense of trepidation. He's holy and we are sinners. There's a sense of sorrow. It was my sin that had to be paid for on the cross. There's a sense of amazement and rejoicing because when he died and declared it is finished and we believe in him, he secured our forgiveness. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that you are not slow to fulfill your promises. We thank you that you are patient with us who are slow to repent. We thank you that you are powerful to save, quick to forgive. Lord, as we get the opportunity to meditate upon all the promises Christ has fulfilled, Lord, help us to meditate upon How in Him we have every heavenly blessing. In Him the blessings do flow as far as the curse is found. Lord, help us to know how to greatly rejoice in the great salvation Christ bought for us with His precious blood. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.