March 22, 2016
Evening Service

This morning we saw the mock trial, the scourging and how God used the hatred of man to fulfill His plans.  Jesus has suffered greatly already, but now He must face not only the burden of carrying His cross and dying an agonizing death, but He also will have the weight of all the sins of the world upon His shoulders.  When He said “I am the Way,” He knew that meant He was the only One who could pave a way for man to be reconciled to God.

Luke 23:26-31 And as they led Him away, they laid hold on one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country. And they laid the cross on him, that he might carry it after Jesus.  (27)  And a great multitude of people were following Him, and of women who also were bewailing and lamenting Him.  (28)  But turning to them, Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.  (29)  For behold, the days are coming in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts which did not suckle.  (30)  And they shall begin to say to the mountains, “Fall on us! And to the hills, cover us!”  (31) For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” 

·         Even on the road to Calvary, Jesus’ mind is focused on ministering to those around Him.  He again warns them of what will befall Jerusalem and the Jewish people in the future.

·         In our times of suffering, try to focus on others and be a blessing to them any way you can.  I believe it will lessen our pain.

 

Luke 23:32-34 And two others, two criminals, were led with Him to be put to death.  (33)  And when they came to the place which is called Calvary, they crucified Him and the criminals there, one on the right, and one on the left.  (34)  And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And parting His clothing, they cast

lots.

·         Unlike the Jews leaders who demanded with an attitude of hatred and anger that Jesus be crucified; Jesus with no resentment, no anger, but only mercy and love asks for these who are doing this to Him be forgiven.

·         Cathy’s song today was very appropriate for what we are studying; “The Shepherd’s point of view.”  To us it seems impossible for Him to ask God to forgive those who are treating Him so unjustly; but from His (the shepherd’s) point of view they were only playing a part in something He knows they don’t understand.  Something very ugly on the small scale (man’s view) is transformed into something beautiful on the large scale (God’s view).

 

Luke 23:35-38 And the people stood watching. And also the rulers with them, scoffing, saying, “He saved others, let Him save Himself, if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”  (36)  And coming near, the soldiers also mocked Him, and offering Him sour wine,  (37)  and saying, “If You are the king of the Jews, save Yourself.”  (38)  And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

·         Jesus was mocked right up until the very end as they challenged Him to show His power and come down from the cross.  Little did they know, it was a greater display of His power and love by staying on it?

 

Luke 23:39-43 And one of the hanged criminals blasphemed Him, saying, “If you are Christ, save Yourself and us.”  (40)  But answering, the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are in the same condemnation.  (41)  And we indeed justly so, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this Man has done nothing amiss.”  (42)  And he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”  (43)  And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

·         What a beautiful picture of salvation this story paints.  The thief did no good works to earn his salvation; he simply was repentant of his sins and asked by faith for forgiveness.

 

Rom 10:9-10 Because if you confess the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.  (10)  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation.

·         The new covenant we are under is not about rules, regulations and rituals.  It is about issues of the heart; faith, repentance and surrender.  The thief displayed all three in his final moments on this earth and it was enough to save him.

 

Mat 27:45-50 And from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.  (46)  And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” That is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?”  (47)  Some of those who stood there, when they heard, said, “This one calls for Elijah.”  (48)  And immediately one of them ran and took a sponge and filled it with vinegar, and he put it on a reed and gave it to Him to drink.  (49)  The rest said, “Let Him alone, let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.”  (50)  And crying again with a loud voice, Jesus released His spirit.

·         This was the moment in time that I believe Jesus dreaded the most.  The moment that all the sin of the world was placed upon His shoulders.  It was in that moment that God had to turn away from Him.  He was truly alone for the first time ever.  The perfect sacrifice freely gave up His life for us.

 

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  (17)  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.

·         This was the plan from the very beginning.  It is right on course.  Jesus is taken and placed in the grave for three days until the plan is completed with His glorious resurrection.  Tonight we leave our Savior in the grave.

 

To close tonight I would like for you to turn with me and read Isaiah 53 which was written 600 years before Jesus was born.  Listen as we see the Shepherd’s point of view of the crucifixion being foretold through Isaiah.

 

Lord may we never take the price of our salvation lightly, but may we always have a grateful heart and realize how much You love us.