The Crucifixion of Jesus – Part 1
Luke 23:32-49 (32-35a)
January 24, 2021
This morning we enter a study that has such weight and glory
That the task of preaching it is really quite overwhelming.
In many ways it makes me feel like Moses must have felt when approaching the burning bush and he was told to take of his shoes because he was standing on holy ground.
We are of course talking about the account of the crucifixion of Jesus.
Though sermons beyond number have been preached on this event,
NO PREACHER WILL EVER DO IT JUSTICE.
There is no other day like this one.
There is no other event like this one.
December 7th was once called “A day that will live in infamy”
• And yet now less than 100 years after the event most born today, read about it as just another day in history.
Some of you remember the broadcast, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
• And yet today there are many who don’t even know what that was talking about.
Some of you remember when you heard the announcement that Kennedy was shot,
Some of you remember where you were when you heard report that the twin towers were brought down,
• And Americans swore we would never forget.
But the reality is that
Even though those events were in the moment larger than life,
None of them made even close to the footprint
Of the day Luke writes about here.
THIS IS THE DAY OF THE CRUCIFIXION.
This is the day that the sinless Son of God bore the eternal wrath of God
And paid for all the sins of all the elect for all eternity.
It is the pinnacle day of all human history.
• This one event affected every single day which came before it.
• This one event affected every single day which came after it.
• This one event affects all eternity even after time ceases to exist.
By comparison, there is no other event.
Nothing else stands in its class.
Even when we look into the book of the Revelation
And catch a glimpse of the majesty of heaven;
We hear their worship, and the worship of heaven is about this event.
Revelation 5:9-12 “And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
The crucifixion of Christ is THE EVENT of all eternity.
There is no message bigger than the message of the cross.
• Every other doctrine
• Every other truth
• Every other moment
• Must be seen in relation to this moment or it is wrongly understood.
You can’t understand anything written before this or after this
If you don’t understand this.
• The Old Testament gives us the SHADOW of the crucifixion of Jesus.
• The Gospel Accounts give us the STORY of the crucifixion of Jesus.
• The rest of the New Testament gives us the SIGNIFICANCE of the
crucifixion of Jesus.
IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER
THIS EVENT IS THE MESSAGE OF THE ENTIRE BIBLE.
This event tells us more than any other event about things like:
• The love of God – since it is here that God demonstrated His love
• The wrath of God – since God poured it out on Christ
• The justice of God – since God did not allow sin to go unpunished
• The sinfulness of man – since this was what the Substitute received
This event is our HOPE
This event is our PEACE
This event is our JOY
This event is our SHAME
This event is the FOCAL POINT of all the redeemed
This event is the STUMBLING BLOCK of all the lost
To try to use a sermon to grasp the magnitude is for me very intimidating.
But, that is the calling.
And so this morning we approach this sacred ground.
We approach the crucifixion of Jesus.
This event is the entire reason Luke wrote his gospel account.
• My notes tell me that we started our study of Luke on July 2, 2017.
• That means we have been studying for 3 ½ years to get to this point.
Everything Luke wrote was to prepare you for this.
• Everything about the prophetic birth of Christ.
• Everything about the evident power of Christ.
• Everything about the gospel preaching of Christ.
• Everything about the suffering of Christ.
It was all for this.
This is the story. This is the point.
And this morning we begin to look at it,
Knowing that we couldn’t possibly grasp it all.
BUT OUR COMFORT IS THIS.
That even the smallest glimpse of the cross
Can have the most profound impact upon a life,
So even though we may not see it all, to see any of it is pure joy.
So this morning let us begin to look at this sacred moment.
We’re going to break down the text into 4 points. (1st one this morning)
#1 THE SCENE
Luke 23:32-34
We actually continue seamlessly from the text we studied last week.
• Last week we called it “The Last Sermon”
• Jesus addressed the crowd that followed Him,
• He warned them of their coming judgment.
But if you’ll remember we spoke of A CONTRAST in that text.
• We contrasted Simon, who was walking behind Jesus carrying His cross,
• With the women who were also walking behind Jesus lamenting His cross.
We contrasted TRUE SALVATION from FICKLE EMOTION.
Well this morning we actually find that
There is a third group who was also on the road with Jesus.
(32) “Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him.”
Make no mistake, this is not a joyous walk.
• Jesus is on a death march.
• He, and the criminals with Him, are going to be executed.
• There is no pageantry…
• There is no nostalgia…
• There is no honor…
Isaiah 53:3 “He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”
Psalms 22:6 “But I am a worm and not a man, A reproach of men and despised by the people.”
Psalms 69:7-12 “Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; Dishonor has covered my face. I have become estranged from my brothers And an alien to my mother’s sons. For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. When I wept in my soul with fasting, It became my reproach. When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. Those who sit in the gate talk about me, And I am the song of the drunkards.”
This is the humiliating walk of the condemned.
THE SCENE IS DARK.
And as we look at these 3 verses which describe the scene,
It is clear that there are points Luke wants us to see above any others.
IDENTIFICATION
We’ve talked about this now for several weeks.
• It was introduced by Jesus the night before in the upper room.
He told the disciples:
Luke 22:37 “For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘AND HE WAS NUMBERED WITH TRANSGRESSORS’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.”
You’ll remember that Jesus told the disciples that
• The days of easy ministry and abundant hospitality are over.
• Jesus was about to be labeled as a transgressor.
• Jesus was about to be reckoned as a blasphemer and a criminal.
And we know why.
He was identifying with us.
He was taking upon Himself our shame and our guilt.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Part of the saving work of Christ
Was to wrap Himself in our sin and our shame.
His work was to be treated as we deserved.
• We saw it in the garden where Jesus felt the coming condemnation of God.
• We saw it in His arrest where they treated Him like a phony rebel thief.
• We saw it in His trials where He was regarded as blasphemer.
And now we see it still
As He walks the death march accompanied by criminals.
(32) “Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him.”
Jesus is NOT a criminal, but He is being treated like one.
Jesus is NOT a sinner, but He is being treated like one.
And then comes the terrible event.
(33) “When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.”
They finally made it to “the place called The Skull”
• The Catholic church has their traditional site of this event.
• There is a more recently proposed site called “Gordan’s Calvary”
• Some think it may have just been a place where there were literal skulls of
previous crucifixion victims.
Who knows?
Either way the name itself rightly depicts the event that took place.
“there they crucified Him”
4 little words in the English language.
• None of the gospel writers go into great detail regarding the event itself.
• There is no gory description of the flogging He received first.
• There is no graphic telling of the nails being driven through His hands & feet.
Partly because to mention crucifixion to their immediate reader
Needed no explanation.
It would be today like if I told you
“Someone was executed by being shot in the back of the head.”
You wouldn’t need me to go into the graphic details
About what would be happening there.
Luke’s readers knew what crucifixion was.
• It was purposely a public event used by Rome for intimidation as much as it
was for punishment.
• Enemies of Rome were purposely crucified for all to see, and Luke’s
readers were well aware of what took place there.
WE ALSO NOTICE that the goal of the gospel writers is NOT to SENSATIONALIZE the event.
• The goal is NOT to simply move you to some emotional weeping.
• That makes you no better off than the women Jesus just rebuked.
• It is actually more important that you apply your mind and understand the significance of what is occurring here.
Beyond that, to focus too much on the physical horror of the cross
Is to miss the entire point of what actually happened there.
This is something Mel Gibson in his famous “Passion of the Christ” movie
DID NOT UNDERSTAND.
The horror of the cross IS NOT what man did to Jesus on that cross.
(as bad as it was)
The horror of the cross IS what God did to Jesus on that cross.
Perhaps that helps you understand why the gospel writers
Almost seem to understate the physical horror of actual crucifixion.
Now, without being overly graphic, if you are not aware what it meant to be crucified, you do need at least a little understanding.
• Crucifixion was likely invented by the Persians.
• Alexander the Great of Greece was known to have used it.
• The Romans certainly adopted it because it was powerful deterrent to criminal activity.
• Those who were to be crucified, were first to be flogged.
• They would be whipped and beaten and ultimately prepared for the cross.
• When the crucifixion actually occurred, they would be stretched out on a wooden beam and nails would be driven through their wrists and then through their feet.
• They would then be lifted up and the person on the cross died from asphyxiation.
• That is, they suffocated.
• You weren’t able to breathe in the way they had you hanging unless you pulled your body up to catch a breath, and this of course was terribly painful since the only thing you could pull against was the nails.
• That is also why, if the Romans sought a quick death the legs would be broken and then suffocation was almost immediate.
But perhaps the best way I can tell you, without getting graphic,
Of the physical torment of the cross is like this.
When we want to talk about the worst form of pain,
We often use the word “EXCRUCIATING”
Excruciating comes from the Latin word “EXCRUCIATUS”
And that word literally means “OUT OF THE CROSS”
IT WAS BAD.
But what happened there happened because that is what sinners deserved.
• The cross was designed for criminals.
• The cross was designed for thieves.
• The cross was designed for rebels.
Jesus was none of those things, but He was identifying with us
And so He was being treated as we deserved.
“there they crucified Him and the criminals”
Luke also adds: “one on the right and the other on the left.”
This is NOT incidental.
This is intentional.
As you will see later in the story,
The entire scene of mockery and shame is centered around Jesus’ claim to be a King.
What is happening here is His mockery coronation.
• They already clothed Him in a purple robe
• They already placed a crown of thorns on His head
• And now they have lifted Him up on His throne with His most fitting subjects on His right and on His left.
This is an intentional move of humiliation.
It is there way of saying that He is “The King of Criminals.”
Perhaps we might borrow from Paul’s self-assessment
And say they are labeling Him “the chief of sinners”.
It’s all part of their desire to totally humiliate and discredit Him.
He doesn’t deserve it, but we do, and so He is enduring it.
He is being treated as though He lived our life.
Isaiah 53:1-6 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”
IDENTIFICATION.
There is a second clear point Luke makes by showing us this scene and it is:
INTERCESSION
(34a) “But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
It is probably the most famous of all the statements
Jesus made on the cross.
It certainly appears to be Luke’s favorite, since even when Luke wrote the book of Acts he included the similar statement from Stephen as he was being stoned.
Acts 7:60 “Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.”
AT SIMPLY FACE VALUE IT IS
A remarkable demonstration of meekness and mercy and forgiveness.
To see that Jesus was not only willing to forgive,
But actually pleaded for the forgiveness of His murderers
Certainly encourages us regarding the depth of the mercy of Christ.
If Christ would willingly forgive and intercede
For those who physically hung Him on the cross,
Then here is hope for the vilest sinner.
The mercy of Christ truly knows no limits.
Jesus has even taught us:
Luke 12:10 “And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.”
• Blasphemy against the Spirit would be to refuse the Spirit’s call to believe in
Christ.
• That sin can’t be forgiven since to reject the Spirit’s call is to reject the Savior.
• But remarkable about the verse is that Jesus had said that even those who
speak against Him can still be forgiven.
And on the cross we find that this mercy reaches even to those who
• Falsely testify against Him
• Falsely condemn Him
• Brutally flog Him
• Actually nail Him to a cross
And so I can confidently tell everyone listening,
That regardless of the degree of your sin,
Regardless of what you have done, Jesus Christ will forgive you.
Recently we were listening to a John MacArthur sermon on the Love of God and in that sermon he shared a story that honestly shocked me, but I think it will help reiterate our point.
“I don’t know how it struck you, but it struck me as an amazing thing on one hand, and yet not so amazing on the other, that before Jeffrey Dahmer – the mass-murdering, homosexual who killed seventeen and cannibalized a number of them – died at the hands of some fellow prisoners, he had made a confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and been baptized. In fact, I had occasion to read his will, in which repeatedly he expressed his genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in confidence that Christ had forgiven all his sin. And I heard an interview with the chaplain who said that there was no question in his mind but that the faith of Jeffrey Dahmer’s was indeed placed in Jesus Christ and that he was now in His presence.”
https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/90-77/the-love-of-god-part-1
It only goes to illustrate what we see depicted here that
Jesus Christ came to save sinners; even really bad sinners.
Romans 10:13 “for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
Paul wrote:
1 Timothy 1:15 “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.”
That should comfort you.
Here, Jesus prays for the sinners who are killing Him.
This does NOT mean that all sins there were instantly washed away.
NOR does it mean that the sin for crucifying Christ was instantly rendered null and void.
Peter is going to make it clear at Pentecost
That those who participated in the event must still “repent”.
But what it does reveal is that
When a sinner does repent they will find mercy.
Christ already asked for it.
And Christ even gave the basis on which He asked for this forgiveness.
“for they do not know what they are doing.”
And this by the way introduces us to the third theme
That Luke highlights in this crucifixion scene, and that is
IGNORANCE
(34b-35a) “And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. And the people stood by, looking on.”
This fills in the scene for us.
• While Christ is hanging on the cross dying,
• Below the cross there is the most despicable event imaginable taking place.
• Before He is even dead the Roman Soldiers are gambling for His garments.
This, by the way, was PROPHESIED.
John 19:23-24 “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be”; this was to fulfill the Scripture: “THEY DIVIDED MY OUTER GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.”
That of course was a direct quote from Psalms 22:18:
Psalms 22:18 “They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots.”
Christ is dying for sinners while they are fighting over His clothes.
This might be expected, even routine, for the soldiers
But Luke adds that “And the people stood by, looking on.”
We might say OBLIVIOUS
But no doubt the better word is IGNORANT
That’s what Jesus said:
“for they do not know what they are doing.”
• They don’t have a clue.
• They don’t realize who I am.
• They don’t realize what I am doing.
• They don’t realize why they need it.
They are ignorant people who simply don’t know any better.
This, by the way, would be the foundation for the apostles preaching.
Acts 3:17-19 “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;”
Peter noted that
• They were ignorant of the prophets…
• They were ignorant of the Scriptures…
• They were ignorant of the necessity of the suffering of the Christ…
• They were just ignorant.
And in that ignorance they committed a terrible sin.
Acts 13:27 “For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him.”
Paul actually attributed this ignorance to himself.
1 Timothy 1:12-16 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”
• Paul said the same about himself.
• I was ignorant.
• I didn’t understand what was going on.
This ignorance, by the way, is in all of humanity
Until they come to know the truth.
Paul wrote:
Ephesians 4:17-18 “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;”
The world is ignorant of the truth.
Romans 3:11 “THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;”
And again:
1 Corinthians 1:18a “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing…”
The world just doesn’t understand
Who Christ is, why He died, and why they need it.
And that is also put on full display here.
So from Luke’s perspective can I
SUMMARIZE THE SCENE of the crucifixion for you.
Here we have the sinless Son of God,
Dying AS a sinner, FOR sinners, AT the hands of sinners;
And the sinners don’t even know why He is doing it.
Isaiah 53:4 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.”
And so the first objective of any study of the crucifixion of Jesus
Must be to make sure we remove the ignorance.
You must understand what is going on here.
You must not be some simple bystander just “looking on”
This event is too important for you to miss.
Jesus Christ was here atoning for sinners.
• He was the propitiation (appeasement) meant to satisfy God’s holy wrath.
• He was paying for the sins of all those who had believed in Him in the past, as in the Old Testament.
• He was paying for the sins of all those who believed in Him at the present, as in the disciples.
• He was paying for the sins of all those who would believe in Him in the future, as in the church.
He was offering to God the FIRST, LAST, and ONLY sacrifice
God would ever accept as a suitable payment for sin.
Hebrews 7:27 “[Jesus] does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.”
Hebrews 9:11-12 “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”
Hebrews 9:24-26 “For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
Hebrews 10:10 “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Hebrews 10:11-14 “Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”
What He was doing here was the greatest event in all of human history.
He was paying the entire sin debt
• For everyone who believed in the present,
• For everyone who had ever believed in the past,
• And for everyone who would believe in the future.
If anyone would ever realize their sin and the wrath of God on that sin
And would then turn to Christ for forgiveness,
He was atoning for that sin here.
PAID IN FULL.
And the people standing around were totally oblivious.
HOW ABOUT YOU?
• Do you see that He is being treated as you deserve?
• Do you see His great mercy even for you?
• Do you understand that the calling is for you to repent of your sins and trust in what He did?
On the day the church was born,
Peter stood up for the first time and addressed the ignorance
And the rebellion of this entire crowd who crucified Jesus.
I want us to end by reading what he said.
TURN TO: Acts 2:22-40
And there it is.
Maybe Peter’s sermon addresses your life so far.
• You’ve done some terrible things.
• Maybe you did them out of ignorance, but you did them none the less.
• Maybe even in your past you have rejected Jesus.
Well, here’s the good news.
• God has seen fit, in His tremendous mercy, to allow you today to hear the truth about the cross.
And the offer that Peter extended to the Jews that day in Jerusalem,
I now extend to you.
“Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself…Be saved from this perverse generation!”
That is what the cross is about.
It’s about saving sinners.
I hope you see that this morning, and I hope you will respond.
