The Cost of the Cross

I'm excited to preach for you this morning. I'm excited at the passage that we have this morning.

After we read it, you might be thinking, something's wrong with Matt. He's excited about this passage

because it's about the death of Jesus and the cross that he died on.

I'm excited not because, obviously, it's going to be a topic that gets a little emotional,

but I'm not excited just because I know next week is about the resurrection.

I'm excited about what the cross is for us as Christians,

and we're going to dig into that in just a few minutes.

As you know, there have been a lot of people, a lot of influential people

throughout the time span of human existence.

People that have done really great things.

We could name them.

There would be a lot of them, but just as an example,

people like Albert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci,

Marie Curie and Aristotle, William Shakespeare,

and Martin Luther King Jr.

We could go on and on because there's been so many people that have done good things

that have changed history in some way.

Maybe put some things into motion that now affect our lives for the better.

And those are really good things.

Those are things to be thankful for.

But none of those acts compared to the greatest act of all,

and that is the death of Jesus Christ on a cross for us.

Why is it the greatest?

One of the reasons is because unlike all the other acts,

Jesus' act affects everyone.

All the other people affect some people at some time,

but not everyone.

And the other reason is because it affects people not just in this lifetime,

but for all eternity.

So you expect this act that took place,

this act of love,

so important and so affecting of everyone,

would come at a high price.

And it did.

Because no human could achieve this.

No normal human born from a man,

because as we know,

Adam and Eve started sin back in the Garden of Eden.

And anyone born from man is born into that sin.

But God had an answer for that,

and that was Jesus Christ.

Romans 5.17

For if because of one man's trespass,

death ran through that one man,

much more will those receive the abundance of grace

and the free gift of righteousness reign in life

through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all,

that is, Adam's sin, Eve's sin,

led to condemnation for all men.

So one act of righteousness,

Jesus Christ's act of righteousness,

leads to justification and life for all men.

God knew that the only way,

the only act that could fix our sin problem,

and men, that relationship

that was first created in the Garden of Eden,

that paradise that God created,

there was only one way to fix that,

and that would require the death of his son.

Amen.

Jesus would have to come.

He would have to live on this earth with us.

Out of his paradise in heaven,

he would have to live a perfect life.

He would have to go to the cross and die

and take our punishment for sin

and then be raised again.

Defeating death and sin

and providing a way of salvation

because that's what we needed

and we would never be able to do that on our own.

Of those actions,

it's Jesus' crucifixion and his death

that are the greatest act of love toward us

that we will ever know.

And that's what our message this morning is about.

The cross is the center of it all.

It's the center of the gospel that we believe.

It's the center of the gospel that we preach.

It's the focal point of the Bible.

The Old Testament points to it.

Everything after it in the New Testament

points back to it.

It's the dividing line in human history.

And it's also the deciding factor

in each one of our eternities.

And by that I mean

our eternity is based on your belief

of that cross,

of what took place on that cross for you.

So the title,

the main idea for our message this morning is this.

The cross,

the crucifixion of Jesus

is God's greatest

planned out act of love toward us

in all of history.

Our passage this morning

is the second half

of Luke 23.

And as you know,

Luke is writing to Christians

for the purpose of

helping them know more fully

what they've been taught.

To help them to believe

how they have been taught

through the scriptures.

Luke's gospel has brought us up

through his life

and now we're coming to the end

of his earthly ministry

here in Luke chapter 23.

Luke 23 · chapter mention

So we're going to read this together.

If you have your Bibles,

Luke 23.

If you don't have your Bibles,

if you could throw your hand up.

We have some Bibles you can borrow.

Awesome.

Luke 23.

And we're going to start

in verse 26.

And as they led him away,

they seized one,

Simon of Cyrene,

who was coming in

from the country

and laid on him the cross

to carry it behind Jesus.

And there followed him

a great multitude

of the people

and of women

who were mourning

and lamenting for him.

But turning to them,

Jesus said,

Daughters of Jerusalem,

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?

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 scoffers,

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 are the king of the Jews,

save yourself.

There was also an inscription

over him,

This is the king of the Jews.

One of the criminals

who were hanged,

railed at him,

saying,

Are you not the Christ?

Save yourself and us.

But the other rebuked him,

saying,

Do you not fear God,

since you are under

the same sentence

of condemnation?

And we indeed justly,

for we are receiving

the due reward

of our deeds.

But this man

has done nothing wrong.

And he said,

Jesus,

remember me

when you come

into your kingdom.

And he said to him,

Truly I say to you,

today you will be

with me in paradise.

It was now about

the sixth hour,

and there was darkness

over the whole land

until the ninth hour,

when the sun's light failed.

And the curtain

of the temple

was torn in two.

Then Jesus,

calling out

with a loud voice,

said,

Father,

into your hands

I commit my spirit.

And having said this,

he breathed his last.

Now when the centurion

saw what had taken place,

he praised God,

saying,

Certainly this man

was innocent.

And all the crowds

that had assembled

for this spectacle,

when they saw

what had taken place,

they returned home,

beating their breasts.

And all his acquaintances

and the women

who had followed him

from Galilee

stood at a distance

watching these things.

Now there was a man

named Joseph

from the Jewish town

of Arimathea.

He was a member

of the council,

a good and righteous man

who had not consented

to their decision

and action,

and he was looking

for the kingdom of God.

This man went to Pilate

and asked for the body

of Jesus.

Then he took it down

and wrapped it

in a linen shroud

and laid him

in a tomb

cut in stone

where no one

had ever yet been laid.

It was the day

of preparation

and the Sabbath

was beginning.

The women

who had come with him

from Galilee

followed

and saw the tomb

and how the body

was laid.

Then they returned

and prepared spices

and ointments.

On the Sabbath

they rested

according to the commandment.

There's a lot

in this passage.

There's a lot

about the cross

and we only had

this building

until one o'clock.

Now I say that

just because

there may be aspects

about this passage

that we may not

be able to cover

for sake of time.

If that leaves you

with questions,

please come up

and see me afterwards.

See Sean,

see Ray,

bring it up

in your community group.

But

wrestle with it.

Those are good rustlings.

Those are helpful

to our soul

and our belief

in what we read here.

But in this passage

we're going to look

at three aspects.

Some of these

are repeats

from two weeks ago

when Sean

brought his message.

But they are

aspects that are

in this passage

so I feel like

Luke put them there.

We need to bring them out

and see what he's

talking about

because they're important.

Because if we're

talking about

the greatest act

in history

then it's important

to look at the details

of that greatest act.

To look at the smaller acts

that made that larger act

so large.

So we're going to be

looking at Christ's

compassion and forgiveness.

We're going to be

looking at Christ's innocence.

And we're going to be

looking at Christ's deity.

And as we go

through the passage

these aspects are going

to come out

at different times.

So to try to help

the flow

I'm just going to

point them out

as we go chronologically

through the passage

instead of just

picking out

all the compassion

or all the innocence.

So hopefully

that's a help to you.

It was in my mind

so we're going to

go that way.

But we're not just

pulling out

things from these

sections because

Luke put them

in his gospel

but we're going

to talk about them

because

they're helpful

to us.

So when we look

at Christ's compassion

if Jesus had shown

no compassion

then what kind of friend

what kind of savior

or shepherd

would he be?

Forgiveness

that's a big one

that's kind of obvious.

Forgiveness is all

about the cross.

Forgiveness

for all the atrocities

toward God

that we've done.

Christ's innocence

if he wasn't innocent

then he's not

the perfect son of God

and he would have

no power

over sin and death.

And Jesus' deity

if he wasn't deity

then he's not

the son of God

he's just another man

and he couldn't have

accomplished

what he accomplished

on the cross.

So these three things

because they're in the passage

because I think

that they will be

extremely helpful

for us this morning.

As we approach

verse 26

where Sean

left off

two weeks ago

we know that Jesus

is beaten

and scourged.

The skin on his back

and the surrounding areas

have been ripped open

and his muscles

are lacerated.

so that

combined with

the amount of

blood

that has been lost

at this point

you can imagine

that his strength level

isn't what it normally is.

At this time

someone who was being

crucified

wouldn't carry

a full cross

because it was

too heavy.

They would just put

the cross beam

on their shoulders.

shoulders

but even at that

it's somewhere

between 40

and 100 pounds

on your back

that has just

been ripped open.

So imagine

the pain

as he tries

to make his walk

out of the city

because that's

where they're crucified.

They can't be crucified

in the city itself.

He makes it

out of the city

but not very far

so the Romans

as part of

what they're allowed

to do

is they can pick

someone

actually they

pretty much

force that person

to carry that

cross beam

for whoever's

being crucified.

In this case

it's Jesus.

So they grab

Simon of Cyrene

and they force him

to carry

this cross beam

behind Jesus.

So that's the scene

where we have Jesus

now just enough

strength

to walk

himself

struggling

just to walk

towards the place

where he'll be

crucified

while Simon

is behind him

carrying his cross.

It's at this

moment

that you would

think all the

attention

and all the

sympathy

would be

on Jesus

as it should be

for anyone

being crucified

at that time

that would be

normal.

they are about

to die.

They're the ones

going through

the excruciating

pain.

But as we

read verses

27 and 28

we see something

a little different.

And they followed

him a great multitude

of people

and of women

who were mourning

and lamenting

for him.

for him.

So in that

moment

Jesus

out of

compassion

turns to

this crowd

and tells them

don't weep

for me

weep for

yourselves.

an act of

compassion

because

he would

normally

just be

thinking

about himself

any normal

dying human

would

but he

thought about

them.

Compassion

and love

because he

cared about

them.

Now why

is he saying

this?

Verse 29

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

nurse.

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?

What is

Jesus

talking

about?

Well as

he said

don't cry

for me

cry for

yourselves

that's

because

bad

things

are going

to happen.

Normally

it would

be a

blessing

to have

children

but there's

a time

that is

coming

when having

children

will be

a curse

because

Jesus

is talking

about the

judgment

that is

coming

towards

Jerusalem.

He's

telling the

people

don't cry

for me

because

there's

coming

a time

when you

will be

asking for

the mountains

to fall

on you

and for

the hills

to cover

you

to put

you out

of your

misery.

for

those

with

children

for those

with

children

it will

be

worse

because

not only

do you

have to

go through

that pain

yourself

you have

to watch

your child

go through

that same

pain

and endure

that same

agony.

for those

who are

parents

and I'm

sure you

can imagine

if you

don't have

kids

but you

would take

the pain

of something

if you

could take

it away

from your

child.

So you

can see

the

cursedness

of someone

who has

a child

or

children.

He says

in verse

31

but if

they do

these things

when the

wood is

green

what will

happen

when it

is dry?

In the

Jewish

language

the idea

behind

this is

if

something

great

can

happen

how much

easier

it will

be for

something

lesser

to

happen.

If God

allows

his

righteous

son

to

suffer

and

die

on

the

cross

what

will

be

the

judgment

for

those

unrighteous

people

of

Jerusalem

who

crucified

him

or for

centuries

have

refused

to

follow

him?

Micah

3.12

says

this

therefore

because

of you

speaking

of the

leaders

of

Jerusalem

Zion

shall

be

plowed

as

a

field

and

Jerusalem

shall

become

a

heap

of

ruins

you

might

remember

just a

few

verses

earlier

in

Luke

after

the

triumphal

entry

when

everyone

is

praising

Jesus

they

lay

down

their

coats

they

wave

palm

branches

blessed

is

the

king

who

comes

in

the

name

of

the

Lord

then

after

that

we

find

Jesus

weeping

over

the

city

why

because

of

their

upcoming

rejection

of

him

he

knew

what

was

coming

and

he

knew

of

the

judgment

that

was

coming

to

them

Luke

Luke 19:43

19

verses

43

and

44

say

this

for

the

days

will

come

upon

you

when

your

enemies

will

set

up

a

barricade

around

you

and

surround

you

and

hem

you

in

on

every

side

and

tear

you

down

to

the

ground

you

and

your

children

within

you

and

they

will

not

leave

one

stone

upon

another

in

you

because

you

did

not

know

the

time

of

your

visitation

it's

such

a

dark

and

painful

time

for

Jesus

as

he's

walking

towards

crucifixion

and

he

offers

this

word

of

compassion

and

of

appeal

for

the

people

to

turn

they're

crying

and

weeping

but

for

most

their

hearts

are

far

from

Jesus

and

as

we

know

the

hearts

of

the

people

do

not

change

and

Jesus

words

come

true

just

40

years

into

the

future

when

the

Roman

army

under

Titus

comes

in

and

destroys

all

of

Jerusalem

and

the

temple

Jesus

knew

that

so

as

we

move

in

our

passage

we

see

more

of

Christ's

compassion

down

in

verse

34

two

other

criminals

were

being

put

to

death

along

with

Jesus

and

they

were

being

brought

to

the

place

called

the

skull

or

Golgotha

it

was

there

that

Jesus

and

the

other

two

criminals

were

to

be

crucified

nailed

to

a

cross

and

hung

up

naked

or

close

to

naked

if

they

had

a

loin

cloth

on

the

most

painful

and

humiliating

way

that

you

could

die

and

at

that

moment

we

see

Jesus

says

father

forgive

them

for

they

know

not

what

they

do

with

all

that

is

happening

who

but

Jesus

would

be

praying

for

the

forgiveness

of

those

who

are

mocking

and

crucifying

him

showing

compassion

and

forgiveness

towards

his

enemies

in a

way

we

could

never

do

fulfilling

for

us

what

he

taught

concerning

loving

others

loving

those

who

wrong

us

it

will

happen

strangers

friends

family

co-workers

Christians

in the

church

your

children

your

spouse

accidentally

on

purpose

people

do

us

wrong

and we

do other

people

wrong

it

hurts

sometimes

it

really

hurts

and

sometimes

we

will

struggle

because

of

what

they

have

done

but

look

to

the

cross

where

Jesus

bore

all

our

sins

look

to

Christ

to

truly

know

love

and

forgiveness

there's

a lot

more

we could

get

into

in the

area

of

forgiveness

but

for

now

just

to

know

this

that

the

cross

gives

us

the

power

to

forgive

because

of

what

we've

been

forgiven

moving

on

under

the

heading

of

Christ's

deity

to

to

to

to

to

the

300th

prophecy

even

at

50

prophecies

it's

some

outrageous

number

that

couldn't

be

possible

so

I want

to

point

these

out

because

they

mean

something

they're

prophecies

that

like

who

would

say

these

things

unless

you

knew

they

were

going

to

take

place

in

the

future

we

see

one

of

those

such

prophecies

if

we

look

at

Isaiah

53

and

the

second

half

of

verse

12

it

says

because

he

poured

out

his

soul

to

death

and

was

numbered

with

the

transgressors

yet

he

bore

the

sin

of

many

and

many

intercession

for

the

transgressors

he

was

counted

he

was

numbered

with

the

transgressors

and

we

see

this

as

he

is

hung

among

two

criminals

him

being

put

to

death

for

his

innocence

next

to

two

criminals

who

were

being

put

to

death

for

murder

for

robbery

for

insurrection

so

he

was

numbered

with

them

the

second

half

of

verse

34

in

our

passage

says

that

they

cast

lots

to

divide

his

garments

now

there's

a

prophecy

given

for

that

back

in

psalm

22

and

verse

18

it

says

they

divide

my

clothes

among

themselves

and

throw

dice

for

my

garments

who

would

say

that

why

would

anybody

say

this

about

someone

who

was

going

to

die

sometime

in

the

future

unless

a

psalmist

was

instructed

by

God

to

write

that

all

all

the

other

scoffers

said

he

joined

in

and

like

all

the

other

scoffers

Jesus

doesn't

respond

that

was

one

of

the

criminals

but

we

see

something

different

happen

with

the

other

one

before

we

get

into

that

just

a

brief

mention

of

Jesus

innocence

when

you

have

two

hardened

criminals

hanging

on

either

side

of

you

they

know

who's

guilty

and

who's

not

both

of

them

knew

they

were

hanging

for

what

they

did

but

they

knew

Jesus

was

hanging

for

nothing

that

he

did

that

was

never

in

question

in

this

mocking

that

took

place

it's

your

Jesus

save

yourself

the

other

one

we'll

get

to

that

he

asked

for

repentance

but

neither

one

of

them

was

never

in

question

that

Jesus

was

not

innocent

of

guilty

of

anything

that

he

did

so

we

have

one

criminal

who's

mocking

Jesus

and

we

have

another

one

that

may

have

started

out

mocking

Jesus

we

think

he

started

out

mocking

Jesus

because

in

the

gospels

of

Matthew

and

Mark

they

both

read

similarly

by

saying

those

who

were

crucified

with

him

also

reviled

him

they

seem

to

point

out

that

both

of

the

criminals

at

one

point

reviled

against

Jesus

or

at

Jesus

but

at

some

point

while

hanging

on

the

cross

while

forced

to look

at

their

own

punishment

and

upcoming

death

and

hanging

and

hanging

there's

a

change

that

takes

place

in

one

of

their

hearts

why

because

as

one

criminal

rails

against

them

we

see

in

verse

40

the

other

one

rebukes

him

saying

do

you

not

fear

God

since

you

are

under

the

same

sentence

of

condemnation

we

indeed

justly

for

we

are

receiving

the

due

reward

of

our

deeds

but

this

man

has

done

nothing

wrong

and

then

as

we

look

at

verse

42

that

same

criminal

says

Jesus

remember

me

when

you

come

into

your

kingdom

hanging

on

the

cross

just

a few

hours

from

death

and

this

criminal

is

asking

Jesus

to

remember

him

another

act

of

compassion

and

forgiveness

because

if that

was

me

I

would

say

no

way

man

I'm

hanging

on

the

cross

I'm

gonna

die

I

didn't

do

anything

wrong

you're

the

murderer

you

screwed

up

your

life

you're

up

here

because

you

deserve

it

and

you

want

me

to

remember

you

I

don't

think

so

I

don't

think

so

man

but

that

wasn't

Jesus

in

that

moment

out

of

love

he

saves

this

sinner

this

criminal

accepts

his

punishment

because

he

knew

he

had

done

wrong

and

Jesus

sees

that

as

an

act

of

confession

he's

confessing

what he

did

wrong

he's

believing

that

Jesus

is

innocent

and

he

knows

Jesus

has

the

power

to

save

him

if

he

didn't

why

would

he

ask

him

to

remember

him

see

this

criminal