Luke 23:35-43 Sermon

Fourth Sunday of End Time (Christ the King)

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

“With Me in Paradise”

Luke 23:35-43

35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” 38 There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “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.” 43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (NIV)

                 

There is nothing about the scene from our Gospel that evoked a genuine sense of royalty.  No onlooker or passerby would have been compelled to genuflect in the presence of this supposed king.  In fact, any sign of regality was intentionally a farce designed to serve as a cruel mockery.  In the place of an elegant throne was a crudely constructed cross.  Instead of a golden crown bedecked with gems and inlaid with precious stones, Jesus wore razor-sharp, skull-piercing crown of thorns. 

No outward evidence of royalty or its accompanying glory was present.  But it was there, nonetheless.  The glory was simply hidden.  It was hidden by shame.  It was masked by suffering.  But it was there.  In fact we call it “the hidden glory of God,” or the theology of the cross.

Had Jesus established a visible, worldly ideal of glory, for example, the earthly kingdom many expected him to usher in, it’s doubtful he would have had as many detractors.  But as it stood, the criminal being crucified right before them was the object of their scorn and rejection.  See how many rejected him, and at his lowest, miserable state, no less!  Even a hardened criminal suffering the cruel agony of such an excruciating death might expect to receive the slightest morsel of mercy, but none would be given to Jesus.  He was rejected.

First we see the rulers reject him.  Luke tells us “The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered him.  They said, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One” (v.35).  While it shouldn’t surprise us to see the religious leaders of Jesus’ day reject him, since they openly opposed him during his ministry, their words of rejection reveal a new low in terms of insult.  Notice what they said right before teasing Jesus about saving himself: “He saved others.”  They recognized and acknowledged that Jesus had saved others!  They saw first hand the miracles he had performed and the power he had demonstrated!  Yet it was insufficient evidence for hardened hearts that refused even to entertain the possibility that Jesus might be the Messiah.  It seems highly unlikely that even if Jesus had chosen to satisfy their request by saving himself, they still would not have been truly satisfied.  They were relentless in their rejection of him.

The soldiers didn’t shy away from shaming him in rejection, either. “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” (v.36, 37).  Roman pride would have been reluctant to give any Jewish people the benefit of the doubt from day one, as soldiers with experience in conquering and managing other nations had a puffed up sense of self.  They didn’t have a very high regard for the Jewish people, so they didn’t hesitate to reject the one who was supposedly their king.  They had entertained themselves at Jesus’ expense by playing up his claim of being a king.  They played dress-up with him and mercilessly taunted him the whole way, from the first moment of his conviction, to the final moments of his crucifixion.

Finally, in perhaps what could be the perceived to be the biggest slap in the face of all, even the criminal hanging right next to Jesus couldn’t help but join in on the rejection.  “One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: ‘Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’” (v.39).  Here was a criminal guilty of some crime heinous enough to deserve crucifixion, and what does he do?  He doesn’t come to the defense of his fellow “criminal” Jesus and hurl insults back at the bystanders.  Instead he joins them.  The temptation to taunt and ridicule is too great, and so he joins in the rejection.

And through it all, Jesus makes no reply.  He doesn’t defend himself.  He doesn’t scream at his tormentors, informing them that because of their rejection of him they can fully expect to burn in hell forever.  No, he silently absorbs the abuse.  And in the end, that only serves to strengthen the perception others had that he was nothing but a weak, powerless, flash in the pan prophet.

While it may be somewhat easier to understand why people back then would have been inclined to reject a convicted criminal  hanging on a cross, many are just as likely to reject Jesus today as well.  Some do so more blatantly than others.  As our society pins back its ears to go on the offensive against Christians, anti-Christian groups have become more emboldened and outspoken.  Atheists put up billboards denouncing God and religion.  They gather as atheist “mega churches” to ape worship, minus the inclusion of God or Christ.  And they aren’t the only ones to reject Christ.

False religions reject Jesus as well, refusing to acknowledge him as Savior.  Jehovah’s Witnesses reject him by denying Jesus’ claims of divinity.  Mormons reject him by seeing him not as the Lamb, by whose blood we have been fully and completely redeemed, apart from any effort on our own, but as a second Moses, who came to tack on additional laws and promise, “do as I do, and life with Heavenly Father is yours.”  Muslims reject Jesus, relegating him to the role of human prophet, and denying him as divine Savior and King.  Even “Christian” churches, if they point to any source other than Christ along for salvation, reject Jesus.

Jesus is no stranger to rejection.  He faced it from his enemies while on the cross, and he’s faced it from unbelievers ever since then.  But perhaps what makes his heart ache the most is when he faces rejection from you and me, his own children.  That rejection comes when we make anything in this life a higher priority than Christ the King.  When without hesitation we set aside the first commandment and shuffle Jesus around to fall in rank somewhere else on our list of priorities, we reject him.

We must also acknowledge and confess the times in our lives when we’ve placed ourselves right there in the thick of things, along with the rulers, the soldiers, and the criminal, heaping insults on Jesus in rejection.  “If you really are my king,” we reason, “then why don’t you fix my loveless marriage?”  “If… then why am not take better care of me so that I’m not scraping by just to make ends meet?”  “If… then how can you stand by and do nothing while I suffer?”  “If… if… if…” as if Christ needs to prove himself to you and me!  As if it is the place of the peasant to demand that the king prove himself!  As if the ones who have done everything to deserve death and hell have any business whatsoever pushing our requirements on him, when we not even come close to meeting his requirement of perfection.  What we should be expressing when bold enough to approach the King is confession, repentance, and a pleading for his mercy.  What we should be begging is, “Since you are the king, please don’t give me what I deserve!” 

That’s what some would have been pleading when Louis XII became king of France.  Upon becoming king, he had a list made up.  On this list were the names of any of his detractors and persecutors.  Next to each name on the list he placed a large black cross.  As one might imagine, when those whose names were on the list heard of it, they fled to get away from the king, fearing for their lives.  As this became known to him, King Louis XII reached out to assure them it was safe to return.  He explained that the crosses beside their names were not to be symbols of death, but rather reminders of forgiveness.  King Louis XII wished to imitate Christ as he hung from the cross and prayed on behalf of his detractors and persecutors, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

It isn’t surprising that so many have and will continue to reject Jesus.  What is surprising?  It is how Jesus chose to respond to that rejection: with redemption.  Why was it that Jesus didn’t holler back at those punishing him with verbal insults while on the cross?  It is because, while they were busy rejecting him, he was busy redeeming them.  While Jesus’ glory may have been hidden by his suffering and crucifixion, what wasn’t hidden was his attitude toward sinful men, yes, even those who rejected him.  On behalf of the very individuals responsible for pounding nails into his flesh and hanging him up on the cross to die, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:24).  They had rejected him, but our Savior refused to respond in kind.  So he not only pleaded for their forgiveness, but carried out all that was necessary to guarantee it.

Because he did, he still speaks those words of forgiveness to us today.  Each week as we are gathered together in his house we confess our sins, and then, through the absolution, Jesus speaks the words, “Father, forgive them.”  As our eye is drawn to the cross, we can’t help but recall those words, “Father, forgive them.”  Then our eyes fall below, to the altar, which recalls his sacrifice, again echoing the words, “Father, forgive them.”  But in front of the altar stands the font, where we were first brought into his kingdom through water and Word, which applied to us Jesus’ plea, “Father, forgive them.”  Should we doubt Word and water, then surely we cannot question what our lips taste when they meet bread and wine together with body and blood, through which we personally hear Jesus whisper again, “Father, forgive them.”

Finally, what is the point?  Why does Christ the King go to such lengths to ensure that we hear we’re forgiven?  Wouldn’t once be enough?  Couldn’t he just remind us on occasion?  Why the overabundant proclamation of forgiveness through the means of grace?  It’s so that our tender consciences will know that God in Christ Jesus has undeniably responded to our temporary moments of rejection with his permanent and eternal redemption.  And because he did, his final Promise of End Time to us is the same as that given to the thief on the cross: Jesus promises you, “Truly I tell you,… you will be with me in paradise” (v.43). Amen.

                                                              

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)