Resurrection Sunday - Gospels - The Conversion of the Criminal

I know that sometimes technology works, sometimes it doesn't. My voice is dying after waking

up at 430 in the morning. These sunrise services kill me. But it was such a blessing. We went

through each Gospel, the four counts of the resurrection, and the Gospels read one after

another. It was eye-opening. So consistent, but yet there's some slight truths in each

one that God gives. Just remarkable. So this message is specifically dealing with the crucifixion,

what the Gospel literally presented, and the impact it has on one particular man. So before

we get started there, I want to pray. And then we're going to go through a couple of

things that are very important for us to reflect on before we get into some of these things.

But I think there's some truths that need to be stated, especially during this time

of year. I always had the tendency to see all these ideas. There's so many professionals,

you know, professors to know things about the resurrection. Like, there's no way Jesus

was crucified on Friday. He had to be crucified on Thursday and rose from the dead on Saturday.

And that's so far from the truth. So I want to deal with some truths so that we are settled

in to the amazing timing of this great event in all of world history, the greatest event.

And then we're going to get into the impact of that event and the lives of the people

there. So let's pray. Father, I want to thank you so much for your faithfulness and goodness.

Thank you for your word. Your word is true. Your word is consistent. It is unchangeable.

It is everlasting. Lord, your word has impacted so many hearts. It is living and active, sharper

than a double edged sword. Lord, your word is used for all things pertaining to life

and godliness. And most of all, your word is you presented for us written on pages so

that we may know you and know your character. You have stated, Lord, that my sheep know

my voice and we hear your voice through your word and we thank you that your word speaks

loudly for all of creation to hear and all to hear the truths of who you are. We thank

you and praise you in Jesus name. Amen. So a couple of important important facts. The

Lord's Supper landed on Thursday, Nissan 14 that particular year. Why do I say that? Because

if you read the Old Testament and you do any research on the month of Nissan and the importance

of the 15th day of Nissan, because on the 15th day of Nissan, it was Passover. What

a lot of people have taught is that Passover is always on a Friday. That is not true. Passover

is always on Nissan 15 and Nissan 15 didn't always land on a Friday. That kind of messes

up some things for some people. They may not like that, but that's just a fact. I don't

know about you, but every five years my birthday lands on Thanksgiving. Does that mean every

Thanksgiving is my birthday? Hello? So that's one myth out the window. I like doing that

stuff. So remember, it's not the day of the week that we must remember, but the day of

the month that God commanded the Jews to follow. This was the meal of unleavened bread. The

full Passover meal has to be done on the 15th, which is Passover day, because they would

sacrifice the lamb and then they would partake of the lamb that day. That's why when you

read the scriptures, it's called preparation day. So when we sit down and do Passover or

the Lord's Supper, you notice there's something missing. There's no meat because Jesus is

the lamb of God. We partake in the same way almost to what Jesus would have partook in.

Nissan 15 was Passover. Happened to be that Nissan 15 was on Friday that year, which is

very interesting. So that's an amazing timing. It's important that we understand the timing

of this moment. There is no time in all of world history, and I'll show that in a minute.

Now, this is why Jesus had to be removed and placed in the tomb before sunset, because

the evening of Passover was about to begin. They had to get him down. He had to be sacrificed

on Passover day. If he's not sacrificed on Passover day and he's sacrificed on Thursday,

guess what? He's not the lamb of God. It's driving me nuts. You know, I watch YouTube.

It's like I don't watch CNN or anybody else. I watch YouTube. It's terrible. I know. I

should run. I should run. Number two, this fulfills the prophecy that he is the sacrificial

lamb that takes away the sin of the world. Here's the proof. John 1.29, the next day,

he saw John the Baptist, saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold, the lamb of God

who takes away the sin of the world. In the same way that they would take their lamb to

be sacrificed to cover the sin of their family, this Jesus is the sacrifice to cover the sin

of his family. Isaiah 53.7, he was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his

mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before it shears is

silent so he opened not his mouth. So again, a lot of teachers, quote unquote teachers

and scholars think they know, but they're so enraptured with their own ideology instead

of looking at the scripture and seeing the timing and the perfection of this day. And

the amazingness of our God and his sovereignty and control of all things all the way down

to his own crucifixion. It's quite remarkable. Every prophecy is fulfilled in him to the

T. Number three, his sacrifice and death were on the perfect day at the perfect time. There

would be no other time in history that it could have happened this way. No other time.

There's no time in all of world history from the time it began to the time of this crucifixion

that had to be the day. All the players were present. All the things were in place for

the sacrifice and the exact hour and location was set. Look at that. Look at that intentionality

of God in the amazingness of the sacrifice of himself. Jesus knew. Example, Romans 5

says for while we were still weak at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. John 17

one, when Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, father,

the hour has come. Glorify your son that the sun may glorify you. It's interesting that

this word hours is literally the very minute. So let's deal with everyone present. Everyone

represented there is everyone guilty. The arrest and sentencing of the holy God. I want

you to get that the holy God is arrested and sentenced by guilty men. The Jews guilty.

Matthew 26, 66 through 68 says this. What is your judgment? They answered. He deserves

death and they spit in his face and he struck him and some slapped him saying, prophesy

to us, you Christ, who is that? Who is it that struck you? And Mark 14, 64 and 65 says

this. You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision? And they all condemned him

as deserving death and some began to spit on him and to cover his face and strike him

and say to him, prophesy. And the guards received him with blows. Everyone is guilty.

Luke 22, 63 to 64. Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they

beat him and they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, prophesy, who is it that

struck you? And they said, and they said many other things against him, blaspheming him.

In John 18, 22 to 23. And when he had said these things, one of the officers standing

by struck Jesus with his hand saying, is this how you answer the high priest? And Jesus

answered him, if what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong. But if what I said

is right, why do you strike me? This is the God man. This is the God who has created every

single one of you and me. And they knew it. The Gentiles are guilty. So now we see the

Jews are guilty. So any preachers or pastors, past, present, or future that blame it on

the Jews? It's not just the Jews. It's the Gentiles too. See, they want to say the Jews

crucified Jesus. Yeah, but the Gentiles did the work. All four gospels mention Pilate's

dealings with Christ. In Mark 27, verse 26, I mean, sorry, Matthew 27, 26, Mark 15, 15,

23, 25, and John 19, 15, and 16. And this is a summary. Pilate had released Barabbas

and scourged Jesus and had him crucified. Even the authorities partook. Everyone's guilty.

And Matthew 27, 27 through 31 and 33 through 37 says this, then the soldiers of the governor

took Jesus into the governor's headquarters and he gathered the whole battalion. You know

how much a battalion is? A thousand men. They gathered the whole battalion before Jesus

and they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him and they twisted together a crown of

thorns. They put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand and kneeling before

him they mocked him saying, hell, King of the Jews. And they spit on him and took the

reed and struck him with it in the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him

of the robe and put his clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. And when they

came to a place called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull, they offered him wine

to drink mixed with Gol, drugs. And when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when

they had crucified him, they divided his garments among themselves by casting lots. And then

they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put a charge against

him which reads, this is Jesus, the King of the Jews. I want you to notice something about

this charge. It's actually not really a charge, is it? It's actually true. In Mark 15, 19-20,

22-26 and Luke 23-33 and John 19-7, I'm going to give you the Mark's statement but they

all state pretty much the same thing, almost word for word. And they were striking his

head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked

him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him and led him

away out to crucify him. And they brought him into the place called Golgotha, which

means the place of the skull, and they offered him wine mixed with myrrh. But he did not

take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for

them to decide what each should take. You see, the soldiers then would take prizes to

say, we did that work. And it was the third hour when they crucified him and the inspiration

of the charge against him read, King of the Jews. Interesting, even the Gentiles are guilty.

The condemnation, the condemned are guilty. The men who deserved their punishment. Jesus,

holy God, executed with the guilty. The innocent with the guilty. All four gospels mention

the criminals' dealings with Christ. All four of them. It's interesting. In Matthew 27,

38 through 40, and Mark 15, 27, 32, and John 19, 18, the two robbers were crucified with

him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him. The word

derided here is the word blasphemo. Blasphemy. To speak evil of or revile. Wagging their

heads. So imagine they're walking by, making fun of him, calling him names, and they're

just, you're pitiful. You're just so pitiful. After he went and healed them and healed their

diseases and fed them when they were hungry and preached to them for three years and cared

for them and took care of their families. Once they get, once you get what you want

from Jesus, you just throw him away. It's the same today, isn't it? This is what they

said to him. You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself

if you are the son of God. Come down off the cross. So also the chief priests with the

scribes and the elders mocked him saying, he saved others but he cannot save himself.

He is the king of Israel. Let him come down from the cross and we'll believe in him. He

trusts in God. Let God deliver him now if he desires him. For he said, I am the son

of God. Here's the sad part. It didn't matter if he came down from the cross. They wouldn't

have believed in him anyway. They would have still killed him. Of course, if I came down,

if he came down off a cross, I don't know about you, but I'd be terrified. That's kind

of like, all right, we're in trouble. And this is what it says in verse 44, and the

robbers who were crucified with him also reviled. On i dedzo or didzo. On i dedzo is the word

here. And this word means undeserved reproach. Define guilty with, revile or to speak through

one's teeth. See, they know he was not guilty. And they were just both of them talking nonsense

to be part of the crowd thinking, I'm thinking that they did it because they wanted to get

down. Like if we, if we're against them, maybe they might take us down. No, bro, you're nailed

too. Then Luke says it this way. It's very interesting. Out of all the gospels that give

this account, Luke gives two very important facts here. So I want you to get this picture.

They are brought with Jesus crucified. They're brought up. They're set up. In the same way

the serpent was lifted up, so shall the son of man be lifted up. And so Jesus is there

and everybody is making fun of him, a fun of him. And even the two robbers, the two guilty,

the two condemned, the two that deserved it. Then all of a sudden this happens. This is

what it says in Luke 23, the two robbers 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, they were

crucified. They, there they crucified him and the criminals, one on his right and one

on his left. And at this point is when everybody starts making fun of him. Everybody's blaspheming.

Everybody's saying things about Jesus, including the criminals. Then all of a sudden Jesus

says, father, forgive them for they know not what they do. That was a scud missile in the

middle of a very evil moment. So much so there are two statements that impact one, LOI LOI

MA SABATINI and this statement. The scripture says, and they cast lots and divided his garments

and the people stood by watching. But the rulers scoffed at him saying he saved others.

Let him save himself. He is the Christ of God, his chosen one. And the soldiers also

mocked him coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, if you are the king of the

Jews, save yourself. You notice both the Jews and the Gentiles are mocking him. And there

was also an inscription over him. This is the king of the Jews. And one of the criminals

who were hanging, railed at him saying, are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.

Why is this there? Why does he say one, not two? Because the two had already made fun

of him. And this one just had a little bit more gusto, I think. Why does Luke record

this slightly different than the other gospels? Is Luke wrong or was there something that

happened that was worth mentioning? One of the criminals was changed. Luke is the only

gospel that records and Jesus said, Father forgive them for they know not what they do.

And that's Luke 23, 34. And is the only gospel that records the repentant criminal. This

statement changes everything. Not only for the guilty criminal, but for all who are guilty.

His forgiveness is real and it's genuine and it's true. You are truly and really in every

sense forgiven in Christ. You are forgiven. That's the point of the cross. The criminal

has received what only those who are chosen and changed can receive, true freedom in Christ.

Repentance and believing in the son equals eternal life. Mark 1, 15 says this and saying,

the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.

Jesus stated. A changed heart to a changed mind, the repentant criminal. And Luke 23,

40 through 43 says this, but the other rebuked him saying, do you not fear God since you

are under the same sentence of condemnation? One criminal says, hey, save us. The other

one says, are you nuts? Don't you fear God? You're under the same sentence and condemnation

as this man who just said that we're forgiven. If he had just said that, I think it's safe

to assume that's what he means. Verse 41, it says, and we indeed justly, for we are

receiving the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. What changed

this criminal's mind? What changed his mind from both of them condemning and blaspheming

Christ to the one going, I can't believe I'm up here. Lord, I deserve this. Will you forgive

me? If Christ can forgive the man on the cross without a baptism or a prayer, he can forgive

you. The prayer of salvation is nonsense when it comes to the reality of the conversion

of the heart. There is no prayer that saves you. It's the loving power of the cross and

Christ dying on it at which he gave his blood for you and wassas away your sin. It's not

the prayer that saves you. It's the crucified Christ, the risen Lord who saves you. And

the criminal knew this. And look what he says. And the criminal said, Jesus, remember me

when you go into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, truly, I say to you today, you will

be with me in paradise. Wow. If God can forgive the criminal at the moment of the cross, watching

the gospel being truly lived out before his eyes and seeing the God, the holy God of all

creation saying, father, forgive them for they know not what they do. How much more

will he do it for you? All are guilty. The Jew is guilty. The Gentiles guilty. The government

is guilty. The criminals are guilty. Every human being on the planet is guilty. But God

forgives in spite of our evil and our brokenness. Isaiah says this. The spirit of the Lord is

upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has set me

to bind up the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty to the captive and the opening of the prison

to those who are bound to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Every single one of us

are prisoners. Guilty. Deserve death. We are just like the criminal on the cross. Father,

forgive me. Will you remember me when you go into your kingdom? Isn't that what Jesus

says? Where I go, you will be also. I go to prepare a place for you. If it were not so,

I would not have told you. Because in my father's house there are many rooms. And Luke, Jesus

states this very scripture. He says the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed

me to proclaim the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captive

and recovering sight to the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed, a physis.

The word here is imprisonment, bondage, or forgiveness. Do you see the criminal on the

cross was imprisoned and in bondage and in need of forgiveness. And Jesus gave him a

thesis. He set him free. We all need to be set free from our bondage. And the reality

of the criminals short but so important story is the repentant and believing sinner is

a sinner set free. Whom the son sets free will be free indeed. We the condemned are

guilty and are freed. Romans 8, 1 through 3 says this. Through the work of the cross

of Christ he set the condemned free. There is therefore no condemnation for those who

are in Christ Jesus for the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from

the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not

do by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin he condemned sin

in the flesh. He tore the bars off and has set you free. My last statement is this. If

you do not know this and if the Holy Spirit is convicting your heart right now please

know you will come. You will come. Love is as strong as death. You will come. My hope

in prayer is that moment is today. That moment is the day when you say Jesus is Lord and

have been justified by the power of the Holy Spirit by believing in the gospel. This is

the gospel that Christ died according to the scriptures. Was buried and rose again on the

third day according to the scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4. There is no other

gospel. There is no other way. It does not matter what others say or what others think.

Jesus says I am the only way. There is no other way. Your good works will not save you.

Only the power of God through the work of the Holy Spirit and through the amazing gospel

will he implant in you the gift of faith to believe. So if you hear his voice do not harden

it. Run to the arms of the Savior. As the prodigal son was coming the father ran to

him and brought him home. Come home. Come home. Father I want to thank you for this

amazing moment. This amazing event in all of world history of the conversion of the

criminal as the gospel is literally opened wide for him to see and he is a participant

in what is happening. You draw the broken one. You draw the evil and guilty and even

among those who were not crucified with you you have shown the reality that you are forgiving

in spite of their disbelief. Lord we praise you. We thank you that you are good, faithful

and you are the only way. Thank you for the reality that this criminal was with you in

paradise because you resurrected as you said on the third day. Tear down this temple and

in three days you would raise it up and you did. They are looking at a temple made by

the hands of man when they miss the very temple of God the holy one. The holy of holies standing

before them. I pray that no one walks away and rejects the reality of the truth of who

you are. And bless those who have not seen but yet believe. To you be honor and glory

in Jesus name. Amen.