Tag: Cross
Consider His Compassionate Promise
In Luke 23:39-43, one of the thieves on the cross joins the soldiers and rulers in mocking Jesus. But the other thief rebukes him. He acknowledges his sin, and expresses faith in Jesus. And Jesus makes him an incredible compassionate promise: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Truly. No doubts, no questions – it is certain. And today. The moment the thief dies, he will be in Paradise with Jesus.
And when we acknowledge our sin and believe in Jesus, he makes that compassionate promise to us. We need not fear death. Yes, death is horrible – just ask Jesus. Yes, death is a result of the Fall. But on the other side of death is Paradise. That word has the idea of a garden, which brings our minds back to Eden, and forward to the new earth which is a new Eden. It speaks of a perfect place of peace and harmony and love. It speaks of a place with no more pain or sickness or death or sin. And we will one day be there with Jesus forever.
And he calls us to share this compassionate promise with others. Others need to hear it. They need to know that judgment is coming for their sins. They need to know that Jesus died to pay for their sins and take them to paradise if they will simply trust in him. How can we keep this to ourselves?
Consider His Compassionate Forgiveness
They have beaten him. Whipped him. Falsely condemned him. Now in Luke 23:32-38, they hang him on the cross. The rulers scoff at him. The soldiers mock him. And Jesus responds with…forgiveness. Forgiveness! That he would ask the Father to forgive them speaks of his own heart of forgiveness. No bitterness. No wrath. No anger. No reviling. No malice. No hate. Just kindness. Compassion. Forgiveness.
And he shows that compassionate forgiveness to us. He hung on that cross for my sin and your sin. He hung there for our rebellion, our rejection. He hung there for all the times we fail to love and serve our Creator. He hung there for all the times we become so self-absorbed and fail to love those around us. He hung on that cross so we might be forgiven of all of our sins.
And he calls us to show compassionate forgiveness to others. When someone hurts us, our tendency is lash out or run away. But Jesus calls us to forgive. To forgive as we have been forgiven. To put away all bitterness, wrath, anger, reviling, malice, and hate. To rather show kindness, compassion, forgiveness (Ephesians 4:31-32). Jesus told us to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who hurt us (Luke 6:27-28). And in this most extreme situation on the cross, Jesus lives out these instructions, and calls us to follow in doing so too. What a challenge! We can’t do this on our own. We need to stay so close to Jesus. And how convicting! How easily we fail, and need to run back to the cross to find his compassionate forgiveness again.
Consider His Compassionate Care
In Luke 23:26-31, Jesus is on the road to the cross. He is bleeding from the lashes and the thorns. He is bruised from the beatings. He is exhausted from the torture and lack of sleep. Every step is utter pain. And he is too weak to carry his own cross, so the soldiers grap Simon from the crowd to do it for him.
Here then we see the depths of his compassion, as he looks not to his own great needs but to the needs of others. He stops to show compassionate care to a group of weeping women. He cares enough to warn them of the coming judgment.
And does he not show this compassionate care to us? Does he not comfort us in our weeping? Did he not warn us of coming judgment and call us to himself? And as we came, did he not forgive us, embrace us, and celebrate over us? Did he not endure the cross for us?
And he calls us to follow in his steps. He calls us to show compassionate care to others. To comfort the weeping. To warn the sinner. Even in the midst of our own suffering. In our trials, we can become so self-focused that we see only our needs. We disolve into self-pity. We expect others to minister to us. And certainly we need care in our suffering. But Jesus shows us that we can care for others even in the midst of our own suffering. What a challenge! And how convicting. How often we fail in this and must run back to the one whose compassionate care provided a way to be saved at such great expense to himself.
Someone Worth Dying For?
I heard a song on Christian radio recently called “Someone Worth Dying For.” It had some good lyrics, and even a good purpose of encouraging those who are discouraged. My purpose here is not to critique the song but rather just this idea that each of us is somebody worth dying for. Are we? Really?
Starting at creation, we find that God makes us in his image. As image-bearers we are higher than the rest of his creation. It is wrong to kill or hurt another human being. As people in God’s image, we have great worth.
Then we sinned. God’s image in us was warped. We are still valuable as God’s image-bearers, but we are also sinners, depraved, and under God’s judgment. We deserve to die.
Which brings us to the cross. Listen to Paul’s thoughts on this:
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:6-8
Does Jesus die for us because we are worth dying for? No. According to Paul we are weak, ungodly, sinners. We don’t deserve to have someone die for us; rather we deserve to die for our sins. So why does Jesus die for us? Because God loves us. We aren’t worth it, but he loves us anyway.
Think of it this way. If we are worth dying for, then God kind of owes it to us to die for us. We are worth it after all! But if God dies for us even though we are not worth it, even though we are weak, ungodly sinners, then this is real love. And this is Paul’s point. Jesus died for us because he loves us, not because we are worth it.
But let’s go further. Consider Psalm 103. In this psalm, David celebrates God’s love, and it is found in two ways, both of which are related not to our worth but to our unworthiness.
First, we see God’s love in his forgiveness of our sins (v6-13). He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve. We deserve his judgment, but we get forgiveness. This is the same thread of thought we saw in Romans 5.
Second, we see God’s love in his care for us though we are like dust (v14-19). Compared to God we are nothing. Are we worth God dying for? Even apart from our sin, we are not worth as much as God. To suggest that we are worth God dying for is to suggest that we have greater worth than God. It is essentially to make an idol of ourselves. And it is to miss the point that God loves not because we are worth it, but despite the fact that we are not worth it, that we are but dust compared to him.
To sum up, we are valuable as God’s image-bearers. But we are not worth dying for. Jesus died for us despite our sins and despite our frailty. He died because he chooses to love us. We can magnify ourselves by thinking Jesus died for us because we are worth dying for. Or we can magnify God’s love as we recognize that Jesus died despite the fact that we are not worth dying for.
Amazing love! How can it be? That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me! – Charles Wesley
Passion Points
Here are few good posts focused on the cross, resurrection, and our salvation for your weekend reading:
Jared Wilson considers the many things Jesus accomplished on the cross for us.
Steve Dewitt writes about Jesus’ resurrection body – which points to what our resurrection bodies will one day be like.
Tullian Tchividjian reminds us that because of Christ we are already righteous – and that changes everything.
Have a great Resurrection Sunday celebrating our Risen Savior!
Our Sins Drove The Nails
And let us learn from the story of the passion always to hate sin with a great hatred. Sin was the cause of all our Savior’s sufferings. Our sins twisted the crown of thorns; our sins drove the nails into his hands and feet; on account of our sins his blood was shed. Surely the thought of Christ crucified should make us loathe all sin.
– J. C. Ryle
For Us
Was he flogged?
It was done so that “by his wounds we are healed” (Isa. 53:5).
Was he condemned though innocent?
It was done so that we might be acquitted, though guilty.
Did he wear a crown of thorns?
It was done so that we might wear the crown of glory.
Was he stripped of his clothes?
It was done so that we might be clothed in everlasting righteousness.
Was he mocked and reviled?
It was done so that we might be honored and blessed.
Was he reckoned a criminal, and counted among those who have done wrong?
It was done so that we might be reckoned innocent, and declared free from all sin.
Was he declared unable to save himself?
It was so that he might be able to save others to the uttermost.
Did he die at last, and that the most painful and disgraceful death?
It was done so that we might live forevermore, and be exalted to the highest glory.
– J. C. Ryle
Without A Murmur
J. C. Ryle writes regarding the cross:
Let us meditate frequently on these things: let us often read over the story of Christ’s cross and passion. Let us remember, not least, that all these horrible sufferings were borne without a murmur; no word of impatience crossed our Lord’s lips. In his death, no less than in his life, he was perfect. To the very last, Satan had no hold on him…
These words challenge me. As he stood in turn before the chief priests, Herod, and Pilate, he endured a mockery of justice without a murmur. He endured the lashings without a murmur. He endured the mockery with a murmur. He endured the beatings without a murmur. He endured the spitting without a murmur. He endured the crown of thorns without a murmur. He endured the nails piercing his body without a murmur. He endured hanging on that cross without a murmur. He endured the wrath of God for my sin without a murmur. Without a murmur.
And yet these words also convict me. They point to my own sinfulness. He endured horrible suffering without a murmur, yet I can easily murmur at the smallest things. A slow driver in front of me, an interruption while I’m trying to focus on a task, and many other small things in life can cause me to murmur. In his perfect example I am confronted afresh with my own sin. I simply don’t measure up. And yet that is why he endured the suffering without a murmur. So my sins could be laid on him. So his perfection might be attributed to me.
As I ponder his sufferings for me, it moves me to change. I want to be more like Jesus. I want to face the trials of life without a murmur. On my own, I simply can’t. But with his help in the power of the Spirit, I can press forward, I can grow more like him, I can begin to face life without a murmur.
Father, help me to face today’s trials without a murmur, as I remember Jesus who endured for me so much more – without a murmur. Amen.
His Love For You
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
– Matthew 26:39
What is this cup? It is clearly a reference to the wrath of God for your sins and mine….
That’s why there’s shuddering terror and deep distress for him at this moment. In the crucible of human weakness he’s brought face to face with the abhorrent reality of bearing our iniquity and becoming the object of God’s full and furious wrath….
This is what bearing our sins means to him – utter distress of soul as he confronts total abandonment and absolute wrath from his Father on the cross, a distress and an abandonment and a rejection we cannot begin to grasp.
In this, our Savior’s darkest hour…do you recognize his love for you?
– C. J. Mahaney
Brian J. Mikul 