Luke 23:33-34 The Love of God For His People 6/27/2004 ßà
#1. Father, Forgive Them (Luke 23:32-38, Rom 6:23)
#2. Today Shalt Thou Be With Me (Luke 23:39-43)
#3. Woman, Behold Thy Son (John 19:25-27, Gen 3:15, Gal 4:4)
#4. My God, My God (Matt 27:45-47, Isa 53:10, Gal 3:13, John 15:6, Matt 25:30)
#5. I Thirst (John 19:28-29, Isa 53:10)
#6. It Is Finished (John 19:30, Heb 10:14)
#7. Father, Into Thy Hands (Luke 23:44-48, 2Tim 1:12)
Please open your Bibles to the Gospel According to Luke 23:32 (2X). The title for our sermon today is, “The Love of God For His People” (2X). How can we describe the Love of God in a 40-minute sermon? I can only superficially touch on the Love of God within this length of time. Today I do want to preach about the Love of God, since this is a “Lord’s Supper Service”. And as you know, in the memorial that is called “The Lord’s Supper”, we “do shew the Lord’s death till He come”. His death on the cross is a huge manifestation of the Love of God for His people. The Lord Jesus Christ came to do two things: #1, He came to atone for the sins of all those who believe on Him, and #2, He came to preach the Gospel to the nation of Israel, who in turn were commanded to preach this Gospel to the nations of the world. Why does the Gospel need to be preached to all nations? God says that all mankind is under the wrath of God, and God will “take vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ”. The Gospel is the Good News that we can be saved from eternal damnation. To this end, God spoke and His words are written in the Bible as a set of principles and doctrines. The Lord Jesus preached primarily before He went to the cross. He preached very little after His resurrection. Therefore, the last sayings of Jesus before He died are of particular importance to us, because these are the last messages of a dying Father to His children.
Most certainly these are messages of utmost importance. These are
messages that must agree with the entire system of principles and
doctrines taught by the NT Apostles and the OT Prophets as they are written for
us in the Bible. There are 7 last sayings of Jesus on the cross. In the
past 2 years I have preached on these 7 last sayings of Jesus whenever we had a
“Lord’s Supper Service”. I thought it might be a good Idea to summarize
these 7 last sayings of Jesus in one sermon, because they show God’s love in
action. If we love someone we must not only say it in words, but particularly
we must say it in action. Our actions speak louder than words. And whenever we
think of the cross, we must remember what the angel said to Joseph in Matt
1:21, “She shall bring forth a son, and thou
shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins”. The Lord Jesus Christ did not provide the possibility
for His people to become saved. No! He shall save His people! And since Christ
is God, He shall mightily save His people, without any other conditions
imposed. He shall save His people from their sins in this life, which
means that sin will not have dominion over them in this life, and He shall save
His people from the consequences of their sins in the life hereafter,
which means that they will not have to go to Hell to suffer the consequences
for their sins. But who are His people? Is that the nation of
#1. Father, Forgive Them (Luke 23:32-38, Rom 6:23)
Lu 23:32 ¶ And there were also two other, malefactors, led
with him to be put to death.
Lu 23:33-34 And when
they were come to the place, which is called
Lu 23:35 And the
people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying,
He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.
Lu 23:36 And the
soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,
Lu 23:37-38 And
saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And a superscription also was written over
him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Whom did Jesus pray for when He said, “Father,
forgive them; for they know not what they do”?
And please understand that this request from Jesus was fulfilled. Since Christ
is God He cannot do or say anything that will be frustrated. Who was
forgiven of the sin of crucifying the Lord Jesus? Was it the Jews for
requesting from Pilate that Jesus be crucified? Or was it the Romans who nailed
Him to the cross? But God is not an unrighteous judge that He would forgive
sins just because Christ has asked for it. God, the Righteous Judge,
must demand satisfaction for every sin before He forgives that sin. And so, the
Lord Jesus would have to suffer in His soul and die in His body
on the cross for that sin also. In fact, the Lord Jesus had to pay the
equivalent of what the sinner had to pay for that sin. Each sin, no matter how
small, is a slap in the face of God, and God has promised that “the wages of
sin is death” (Rom 6:23), in which the death that God has in view is
the 2nd death, an eternity in the
#2. Today Shalt Thou Be With Me in
At first this dying thief had reviled Jesus, just like everyone else did. But then, under the influence of God the Holy Spirit, God poured His grace upon him and he repented. We read in Luke 23:39,
Lu 23:39 And one of
the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ,
save thyself and us.
Lu 23:40-41 But the
other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in
the same condemnation? And we indeed
justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done
nothing amiss.
Lu 23:42 And he said
unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
Lu 23:43 And Jesus
said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me
in paradise.
This dying thief on the cross was a very stubborn man. During his entire
sinful life as a thief and a robber he never repented. He brought great sorrow
to many whom he robbed of their money or of other valuables, but he never
repented. And now that he was condemned to die he brought great sorrow to the
Lord Jesus when he reviled Him. It was at this time that God had mercy on him.
What an incredible love of God, to have mercy on this enemy of Christ at a time
like this. But God’s providence arranged his execution for the same time as when
Christ was crucified. The timing could not be more perfect. God stripped him of
everything he had. God stripped him naked and nailed him to a cross, next to
Jesus. God put him face to face with physical death, to make him meditate on
the life hereafter. Then God gave him repentance and then God made him see that
the man next to him was not a common criminal but the Christ, the Anointed One.
Then, to everyone’s surprise, he said to Jesus, “Lord”. He addressed Him
as “Lord”, the Greek word Kurios, because He believed Jesus was a King.
“Lord, can you please forgive me that I have reviled you a couple hours ago?”
And “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy
kingdom”. But he received much more than
he had asked for. Jesus said unto him, “Verily I say unto thee, To
day shalt thou be with me in paradise”. He asked for a future blessing, but
Jesus promised him, “Today!” He asked only to be remembered, but Jesus
said, “Thou shalt be with Me”. He asked for a humble place, but Jesus
gave him a place “in
#3. Woman, Behold Thy Son (John 19:25-27, Gen 3:15, Gal 4:4)
Put a sticker here in Luke 23 and please turn to the Gospel according to John 19:25 (2X).
If it seems that in the 2nd saying
of Jesus on the cross He forgave the sins of only one person, then consider
that in the 3rd saying of Jesus He forgave the sins of all those
whom He came to save. Here Jesus was addressing all the elect, of all
times, and out of all nations. Jesus said to His mother:
Joh 19:25 Now there
stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife
of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
Joh 19:26-27 When
Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved
(John), he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the
disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her
unto his own (home).
What has this to do with the atonement of Christ? Well, we
have to remember the principle that Jesus regards spiritual relationship
with Him of more value than physical descendancy. Secondly, we have to
remember the principle that during the atonement the OT ceased and the
NT began. It meant that the OT ceremonial Law ceased to exist when Christ
died. It meant that the OT nation of
Put another sticker here in John 19 and please turn to the Gospel According to Matt 27:45 (2X).
#4. My God, My God (Matt 27:45-47, Isa 53:10, Gal 3:13, John 15:6, Matt 25:30)
We have here the 4th saying of Jesus on the cross. What
insight of the atonement does this give us? Remember, the love of God for His
people in forgiving them their sins is in view. This is the first and
foremost step in the atonement of Christ. The 2nd step of giving
His people the rank of sons of God cannot be acted upon until that 1st
step has been completed in full. What is required for this? How can God be
merciful and just at the same time? God does it through the principle of
substitution. The guilt of all the sins of all the elect had to be
imputed on our Substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. But God is not leaving any
sin unpunished. Therefore, the Lord Jesus had to endure a penalty for our sins
that was equivalent to the penalty we would endure if Christ had not
paid for our sins. God specified what that penalty is. It is to be cast into a Lake
of Fire forever, or to be cast into Hell forever, or to be cast into
outer darkness forever, which is the darkness outside the
Mt 27:45 Now from
the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
Mt 27:46 And about
the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama
sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Mt 27:47 Some of
them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man
calleth for Elias.
What do we see here? #1 Not only did the righteousness of God require that Jesus must suffer the equivalent of eternal damnation for our sins, and #2 not only must Jesus "make His Soul an offering for sin", according to Isa 53:10, and #3 not only had Jesus come under the curse of God, for "Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree", according to Gal 3:13, and #4 not only was Jesus "cast forth as The Branch into the fire", according to John 15:6, and #5 not only was Jesus forsaken by God as if He was left in Hell, but #6 Christ also had to suffer in the midst of a darkness that resembled the outer darkness of Hell itself, according to Matt 25:30. This darkness was for us the evidence that this entire world was in the clutches of Satan, and that Christ had to suffer the agony for our sins alone, all by Himself, abandoned by man and by God. God indicated hereby to us that the Lord Jesus in His Soul was suffering in the midst of Hell. Here was a fire that burned infinitely fiercer than Nebuchadnezzar's furnace. These words of unparalleled grief reflected the fullest manifestation of Divine love, and it was the most awe-inspiring display of God's inflexible justice, because God is infinitely Just. At the cross we learn that this cry from our Savior was uttered that we might be allowed to know of what passed there. At this point in time, at about 3 O’clock in the afternoon He suffered under the most intense wrath of God. When Jesus went through this deepest and darkest moment of His suffering He saw light at the end of the tunnel, and He knew that the end was near. Then He said:
#5. I Thirst (John 19:28-29, Isa 53:10)
Please turn again to the Gospel according to John 19:28 (2X). We read here in John 19:28-29,
Joh 19:28-29 After
this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture
might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar:
and they filled a
spunge with vinegar, and put it upon
hyssop, and put it to his mouth.
We have here the 5th saying of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Why did God write, “After this”? The first three hours on the cross the Lord Jesus suffered in bright sunlight, until about 12 O’clock. Thereafter the whole earth was plunged into darkness for 3 hours, and it was during these cool hours of the day that the Lord Jesus suffered the most intense suffering. Then, in the coolest part of the afternoon Jesus said, “I thirst”. He did not ask for a drink during the first three hours. Why not? It was because He did not want any assistance that man could offer. He had to endure the wrath of God alone. Why then did He ask for a drink at this time, in the coolest part of the day? The answer to this question is contained in the words, “After this”. After Jesus had suffered in the deepest and darkest portals of Hell, and when He then emerged at the other end of Hell, He knew that the end of His suffering had come. It was then that Jesus knew “that all things were now accomplished”. He was still hanging on the cross, but the suffering for our sins was now over. Now He was ready for a little drink to relieve His thirst. He was no longer enduring Hell for our sins. Can you see, this proves that the physical sufferings in His body were not His only sufferings? He suffered in His Soul a great deal more than He suffered in His body. That is the only way we can make sense out of this verse. “All things were now accomplished”, and with the words “all things” we understand that God refers to the payment for the guilt of our sins. Let me read to you what God says in Isa 53:10, “when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand”. This passage says that Christ made His Soul an offering for sin. Even a perfect human soul cannot substitute for the soul of someone else. But the Soul of the Lord Jesus Christ was God the Son, who was God from eternity past. He could do what no other person could do, because He was and is God. Now we turn to the 6th saying of the Lord Jesus. He said:
#6. It Is Finished (John 19:30, Heb 10:14)
Joh 19:30 When Jesus
therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he
bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar”. What is the “therefore” there for? The word “therefore” refers to everything that has gone on before. The fact that Jesus was offered the vinegar was not enough. He also drank the vinegar, so that every last detail of the Law and the Prophets would be fulfilled. Every prophecy concerning Christ’s first coming was fulfilled when Christ died and rose again from the grave and ascended into Heaven. Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “It Is Finished”! It was not the voice of someone defeated, saying, “It is all over now; you can go home boys; the case is lost” No! It was the voice of triumph. “It Is Finished”! The work for which I came is finished! The full payment for every last sin has been paid. The full payment implies that Jesus suffered in His Soul the equivalent of an eternity in Hell. The Greek word that has been translated “It is finished” is the same Greek word that was translated “accomplished” in verse 28. Since all things were now accomplished Jesus could say, “It Is Finished”. Not only were all the OT prophecies fulfilled but Jesus also knew in His spirit essence that all the sins of all the elect had been paid, satisfying the righteousness of God, plus He had bought all the OT and NT Saints, body and soul, plus He had bought the corporate NT church as a visible manifestation of His body, plus He had bought the world and this universe to rule over it, so that all the elect can be saved out of the clutches of Satan. He was still hanging on the cross. He was still suffering in His body the pains of crucifixion, but all these pains were negligible compared to the suffering in His Soul that was now accomplished. The spiritual part of His atonement was completed. The Lord Jesus was overjoyed at this present time that He finished paying for our sins. Does this not prove that Christ’s suffering in His Soul was much greater than the suffering in His body? This cross experience of the Lord Jesus was His most glorious event. In fact, it is the most glorious event in all of eternity. Here “by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified” (Heb 10:14). Now we have one more saying of Jesus. He was still very much alive. After He said “It Is Finished” we turn now to the 7th saying of Jesus on the cross
#7. Father, Into Thy Hands (Luke 23:44-48, 2Tim 1:12)
Please turn again to the Gospel according to Luke 23:44 (2X). The Lord Jesus was still very much alive. Most of His blood was still in His body. Then we read in Luke 23:44-48,
Lu 23:44-45 ¶ And it was about the sixth hour, and there
was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent
in the midst.
Lu 23:46-47 And when
Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. Now when the centurion saw what was done,
he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.
Lu 23:48 And all the
people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done,
smote their breasts, and returned.
The 6th hour in Luke refers to Jewish time, from sundown to sunrise and to sundown. So, the 6th hour is 6 hours after sunrise, which is about 12 Noon. On the other hand John refers to Roman time, which is the same time of our present day clocks. The 6th hour in the Gospel of John is 6 O’clock in the morning, or 6 O’clock in the evening. So, the darkness over all the earth was from about 12 Noon till about 3 O’clock in the afternoon. Jesus died at about 3 O’clock in the afternoon. The darkness had passed. It was beginning to get light again. A few minutes earlier, in the depth of His suffering, Jesus addressed His Father as “My God, My God”. But now He says, “Father”. It means that the line of communication with His Father had been restored. And why did Jesus say this with a loud voice? For two reasons: First, Jesus spoke with a loud voice to let His enemies know that He obtained the victory. His prize was to have purchase the mercy and grace for all His elect people. All the efforts of His enemies to destroy Him were turned upon their own heads. Secondly, He let His disciples know, and He has let us know, that Jesus laid down His life for His sheep. It was not taken from Him, but He laid it down of His own accord. He was not an exhausted victim on the cross. He laid down His life because in His Spirit He had completed the torments of Hell, which was required for the atonement for our sins. And now He said, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit”. By an act of faith He confidently laid His Spirit in the hands of His Heavenly Father. His Spirit went to Heaven and His dead body went into the grave. Two days later His Spirit returned to His body, and His body became alive again. Can we see that the Lord Jesus left us here an example? He committed His Spirit to the Father because it was in the Father’s hands all His life. Can we claim this also? Can we say, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day”? (2Tim 1:12). Happy are we when we can apply these words to ourselves. Let us now read one more verse:
Lu 23:49 And all his
acquaintance, and the women that followed him from
Historically these women were required to stand
afar off. They could not come near, because the Roman soldiers were in
control of this execution. Except for John all the other Apostles have fled.
They were in total disarray because their Lord and Teacher had been crucified.
But the women did not cease to treat the Lord Jesus with reverence. They
would come near if they were allowed to. They were even willing to become
unclean by embalming His dead body. They were eyewitnesses of His death, and
they were the first to experience His resurrection. Secondly, these
women stood afar off because they had read only the OT Scriptures. They could
not come near to God except through a mediator who was a Priest, or a High
Priest. But where do we stand? Do we also stand afar off, or do we dare
to draw closer? What is our relationship to Christ? Do we love Him as much as
these women did, who supported Jesus from their own substance, and who did not
cease to minister unto Him? Is there any reason why our faith should waver?
Certainly, we need to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. But
after we have examined ourselves, and we found that we have faith, and we found
that our faith is solidly rooted in love for Christ, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of
faith” (Heb 10:22). We have the NT
Scriptures, which teach us that we can draw closer to God through the atoning
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. How much are we willing to risk in our service
to the Lord Jesus. Let us draw closer to Him not only in word, but also in
doing those things that are pleasing in His sight.
AMEN. Let us turn to the Lord in prayer.
We have looked at the chronological sequence of the last 7 sayings of Jesus on the cross, and we have seen that they all refer to the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ for the guilt of all the sins of all the elect. When this payment is applied to each elect person individually that person is changed from a sinner to a Saint.