Let's read from Luke chapter
23. For those of you, I don't know
if anybody that saw this last week, Joe shared a message online
last week that my nephew Tanner preached. I don't know if anybody
here watched it, but if you did, you'll recognize it's Luke 23.
His message was awesome, and it kind of was with me all week,
and I just kind of went from there. So it's covering some
of the same stuff. But yeah, we'll read from Luke
23. Then the whole assembly rose
and led him off to Pilate. They began to accuse him, saying,
we have found this man subserving, subservient, subverting, there
we go, our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to
Caesar and claims to be Christ a king. So Pilate asked Jesus,
are you the king of the Jews? Yes, it is as you say, Jesus
replied. Then Pilate announced to the
chiefs and priests of the crowd, I find no basis for charge against
this man. But they insisted, he stirs up
the people all over Judea by teaching. He started in Galilee
and has come all the way here. On hearing this, Pilate asked
if the man was a Galilean. When he learned that Jesus was
under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also
in Jerusalem at the time. When Herod saw Jesus, he was
greatly pleased because for a long time he had been wanting to see
him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform
some miracles. He plied him with many questions,
but Jesus gave him no answer. The chief priests and the teachers
of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. Then
Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him
in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. That day,
Herod and Pilate became friends. Before this, they were enemies. Pilate called together the chief
priests and the rulers of the people, and the people, and said
to them, you brought me this man as one who is inciting the
people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence
and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither
has Herod, for he sent him back to us. As you can see, he has
done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him
and then release him. With one voice, they cried, away
with this man. Release Barabbas to us. Barabbas
had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city and
also for murder. Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate
appealed to them again, but they kept shouting, crucify him, crucify
him. For the third time he spoke to
them, why, what crime has this man committed? I have found in
him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore, I will have him punished
and then release him. But with loud shouts, they insistently
demanded that he be crucified. and their shouts prevailed. So
Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who
had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the
one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will. As they
led him away, they seized Simon and Cyrene, who was on the way
in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him
carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed
him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned
and said to them, daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me,
weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come
when you will say, blessed are the bared women and the wombs
who have never bore and the breasts who have never nursed. And then
they will say to the mountains, fall on us and to the hills cover
us. For if men do these things when the tree is green, what
will happen when it is dry? Two other men, both criminals,
were also led with him to be executed. When they came to the
place called the Skull, there they crucified him along with
the criminals. One on his right, the other on his left. Jesus
said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are
doing. And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. The
people stood watching and the rulers even sneered at him. They
said, he saved others, let him save himself if he is the Christ
of God, the chosen one. 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. There was a written
notice above him which read, this is the king of the Jews.
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him and
said, aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the
other criminal rebuked him. Don't you fear God, he said,
since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly,
for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done
nothing wrong. Then he said, Jesus, remember
me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus answered him, I tell you
the truth, today you will be with me in paradise. It was now
about the sixth hour and darkness came over the whole land until
the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the
temple was torn in two. Jesus called out in a loud voice,
Father into your hands I commit my spirit. When he had said this,
he breathed his last. Let's pray first of all. Dear Lord Jesus, these words
carry so much weight. To read them, to experience them
together this morning, it's hard not to be emotional. But we just, we thank you, Lord,
for every single thing that happens in these words. For it was all
according to your plan. Even the parts that seem to not
make sense to us, we can now see that they made perfect sense. We pray, Lord, that you will
be with us this morning, as we know you will. Give us confidence in knowing
that your promise is that you're here with us. I pray, Lord, that
any word I speak this morning is yours, that any word that
is heard this morning is yours. We thank you, Lord, for bringing
us together this morning. We pray that you're with Joe
and Tanner as they're in the conference in Michigan. We pray
that they have a blessed time and that you give them safe travel
home as well. We thank you, Lord, for everything you are. We pray
this in your name. Amen. Okay, so, like I said, Tanner
preached last week at a place called The Lighthouse in town
here. They just asked him to preach. Tanner, for those of
you that don't know, is my nephew. He goes to school. Oh, did I
skip a song, Katie? I did. We'll sing two later. I get caught up in things, and
I start not paying attention to the actual order of things. So Tanner lives in, kind of by
Des Moines, goes to school there. He's my brother's son. He preached
last week. He's been coming to church here
more often. Been a wonderful blessing to see that. But last week was just an incredible
sermon on his part, and it was not only a blessing to hear just
in the fact that it was the gospel, but it was a blessing to hear
from my nephew. As a person, as a man, as a human, it's nice
to see that. Someone I love and care about
speaking the truth. I mean, it was the truth. It
was the gospel, and it was nothing but the sovereign grace of God.
And Hearing that alone is great but hearing it for someone you
love that you don't know. He didn't grow up in this church.
He doesn't hear it as often as we do. You don't know anything
about anybody's heart. But man was that a sermon and
it was a blessing to me both as just a sermon and as to hear those words come out
of Tanner's mouth. So he preached on Luke 23 as
well. He focused most of his message
on the two thieves crucified alongside our Lord. It was a
great message. It is a perfect example of the sovereign grace
of our God. And we'll touch on that a little
bit later. But I couldn't get it out of my head this week.
So as I was going over it in my head, I noticed what I thought
was really, really cool, in the series of events that make up
the crucifixion, I could see three different points, three
different symbols of what the crucifixion actually means. I
mean, this book is so full of Christ. Everything about this
book is about Christ. So much so that when telling
us what happened, in the day of his crucifixion, it literally
gives us three perfect examples and symbols of what that crucifixion
means for us during the crucifixion. I mean, we're pretty hard-headed
sometimes, pretty much all the time. So, I mean, I just found
this so, you know, three different times, like, look, God's people,
look at this. There's three different times
here where what I'm doing right now, this is what it means for
you. So, let's go through them. Luke 23, let's start in verse
13. Pilate called together the chief
priests, the rulers, and the people, and said to them, you
brought me this man. As one who was inciting the people
to rebellion, I have examined him in your presence and have
found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod,
for he sent him back to us. As you can see, he has done nothing
to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him
and then release him. But the whole crowd shouted, away with
this man. Release Barabbas to us. Brabus thrown in prison for insurrection
and murder a bad guy Wanting to release Jesus pilot appealed
to them again, but they kept shouting crucify him Crucify
him. I mean the picture of this crowd. It's pretty nasty. This is an
Angry mob if we've ever heard of one They are literally outside
of their minds. What logic would mean at that
point, they don't care. Innocent man, convicted murderer,
release him, crucify him. Logic is out the window at this
point to the human mind. And in John it actually says
that the priests and the rulers were inciting the people, were
pushing them. You can almost kind of visualize
it. The Pharisees were going to this group, this crowd, and
saying, you really should crucify him. They're kind of pushing
him. And it actually says that. It says that the leaders and
the priests were inciting the crowd. See, the Pharisees are the ones
that truly wanted Jesus gone. They had, their entire lives
were built upon what they had created. This tier that they
had put themselves on. The Pharisees lived on a different
level compared to everyone else. They loved it. That was their
life. They had the little scriptures
on their head. I mean, they wore special clothes. They walked
around, man, they were holy. They were set apart. And they
loved it. And then Jesus shows up. Says,
the kingdom of God is here now. I am the son of God. Well, what
does that do to the Pharisees? It tears down everything they've
built. They can't have that. So the people that have literally
been the teachers of the Old Testament are the people that
want nothing to do with the New Testament. The law hates grace. So, Pilate could see this. He could see that this was something
that the Pharisees were pushing, which is why three different
times he says, listen, he's done nothing wrong. How can I put
him to death? And they keep screaming. He says
it again, three different times. He says, I have gone through
everything and I found absolutely nothing wrong. He's done nothing
to deserve death. And yet they scream, crucify
him, crucify him. But with loud shouts, they insistently
demanded, this is verse 23, that he be crucified. And the shouts
prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their
demand. He released the man who had been
thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked
for, and surrendered Jesus to their will. Now this release,
this had become a Passover tradition that they would let someone go
from prison during Passover. Just the fact that this is during
Passover, if you think about that. Passover happened thousands
of years before this, was pointing to what was about to happen with
Christ. The blood on the door during Passover was picturing
the blood that Christ was about to spill. So they're celebrating
Passover. without realizing that what it
symbolizes is about to happen. And every single one of them
has something to do with it. This is all according to God's will.
That's the part that's hard to understand. Like, they're yelling,
crucify him, according to God's will. It has to happen. So here's the first symbol of
what Christ's sacrifice and what it means for God's people. The
guilty despicable murderer that everyone knows is guilty is set
free because Jesus took his place. Sound familiar? That's you. That's me. That's
God's people. Guilty, murderers, as bad as
you can be, In prison. They're holding court. Barabbas
isn't even out there to plead his case. He's in prison at the
time. He can't plead his case. He can't
beg for mercy. He's not getting time for good
behavior. He's not even there. He has nothing to do with the
fact that he is one minute away from death row and the next minute
absolutely free. He's sitting in that cell waiting
to die. Doesn't even know this is happening
outside. And a second later, that door flings open and he
is set free forever. That is God's people. Until you are shown the truth,
we are in prison. Don't even know what's happening
outside. We don't even know that someone is arguing on our behalf
or about to take our place. We certainly can't help ourselves.
There's nothing we can do. And by nothing of our own power
or our own contrition, that door is opened and we are set free. Why? The exact same reason Barabbas
got free. Christ took his place. That's us. Thank God. That's the first one. Let's move
on to verse 35. Verse 35 in Luke 23. The people
stood watching and the rulers even sneered at him. At this
point Christ is on the cross. He saved others. Let him save
himself if he is God's Messiah. The chosen one. 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. There was a written notice above
him which read, this is the king of the Jews. One of the criminals
who hung there hurled insults at him. Aren't you the Messiah?
Save yourself and us. They are literally mocking him. I said earlier that Herod put
a really nice robe on him, simply to mock him, saying, this is
a king, take your robe. This is the king. Right at that
moment, he was the king of all things. But they're asking him, why not
save yourself? You know why not? Because he
was saving us. He wasn't saving himself, he
was saving his people. In Matthew, it talks about the criminal who
hung there hurled insults at him. It actually says in Matthew
that both criminals were hurling insults at him. So here is the
other symbolic showing of what Christ's crucifixion does for
his people. In one second, the criminal on
the left went from hurling insults, saying, save us, save yourself,
One second later, he says to the other criminal, don't you
fear God? He said, since you are under
the same sentence, we are punished justly, for we get what our deeds
deserve, but this man has done nothing. And then he says, Jesus,
remember me when you come into your kingdom. That is the second symbol. Two
guilty thieves getting exactly what they deserve. They were
guilty. They deserve death. That is man since Adam sinned. And we've added plenty of sin
on top of that. But every single man born is
deserving death. There's no difference between
these two criminals. How can there possibly be? One
can't do anything that the other one can't do. Like, one can't
go to church. He's literally being crucified.
They're both hung on a cross. Two guilty thieves, both getting
what they deserve according to the flesh, according to the court,
and according to the spirit. Because they are sinners, deserving
hell. And they're both about to experience both. Both hanging there, literally
using their last breaths to spew hate. They're hanging there. They can hardly breathe. And
instead of begging for mercy, they're spewing hate at our God,
at our Lord. That's the kind of people we
are. We're about to die, and what are we doing? We're angry.
We're mad. when suddenly one of them sees
Christ for who He is. He no longer sees a weak, bloody
man being punished for lying about being the Son of God. That's
what everyone else is seeing. That's what they think. Suddenly, that man is given eyes
to see Christ, to see the ruler of all things, the creator, the
high priest, the savior, the king hanging there. And he goes from mocking him
to one sentence later, Jesus, remember me when you enter your
kingdom. That's you, that's me, that's
us, that's God's people. We are hanging on the cross deserving
everything we're about to get. And because of God's will and
pleasure, we are given the ability to see God, see Christ for who
he really is. Did that man on the cross ever
go to church? Did he ever open the Bible? Did
he ever say a prayer in his life? Did he even know who Christ was
up until that very moment? Probably not. Yet he was saved
right then and there. Why? God's will, God's pleasure. We are that thief, guilty, deserving
death, already dying, unable to do anything for ourselves. But through the unknowable grace
of God, We can see Christ as the King. Minutes from death and hell.
Minutes. We could be minutes. He literally
was. He was about to die and go to
hell. And in a split second, he went from minutes from hell
to forever in paradise with his King. That's us. The grace of God, if this doesn't
show that it's free, what does? He couldn't pay for it. He spent
his whole life being a criminal. When he finally was given eyes,
he was strung up on a cross. There is no better picture of
the fact that he could do nothing for himself. Grace of God is free, and it
absolutely has to be. That thief had absolutely no
way to earn it. But God, according to his will
and pleasure, showed him mercy. That's exactly what he does for
his people. That's the second symbol of what
the crucifixion that is literally happening is going to do for
his people. Now let's move on to Luke 23,
or 2344, excuse me. It was about noon and darkness
came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. For the
sun stopped shining and the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
Jesus called with a loud voice, Father, into your hands I commit
my spirit. When he had said this, he breathed
his last. Here's the third symbol of what
Christ's sacrifice and what it means for God's people. That
curtain. That curtain in the temple. What
it was, was blocking off the innermost area of the temple
called the Holy Place. No one was allowed in there except
for the high priest once a year. And he could only go in there
if he filled the room with smoke. Literally, it's a picture of
how since Adam's sin, all man separated from God. God does
not, God can't be around sin without punishing it. So we had
to be separated We could no longer approach God. We could not be
in the presence of God without being destroyed. Before Adam's
sin, Adam and Eve were literally in the presence of God at times,
something we can't even fathom. I surely can't. But since that
sin, there was a separation. That's what that curtain is.
It's a separation from the holy place, a separation from where
God is. We cannot enter. It's too dangerous. So, as that curtain is there,
the most holy place was inside this temple where God was. Before
Adam and Eve sinned, they could actually commune with God. So
from the original sin to thousands of years later, that separation
was there. That symbolic curtain made sure
we could never enter the presence of God. God can't be in the presence
of sin until this day. when Christ died on that cross.
This is the most symbolic thing I can picture. That curtain,
the separation between God and His people, was literally ripped
in half, torn apart, ended. There had become a way for us
to approach God. We were no longer separated.
There was a path. That path is Christ and Christ
alone. He is the way, the only way. And when he gave up his life,
that separation ended right there forever. Christ had made a safe and perfect
way for God to love us and still be just and still punish
sin. He doesn't just let sin go. It
has to be punished, and it was the moment that curtain was torn. What did we do to help that along? We weren't even there. We weren't
even born for 2,000 years. But that's when your salvation
happened. And it was finished right there.
Thousands of years before you were born. It's free. It has nothing to do with you.
It doesn't have to do with how good you are or how bad you are.
You don't focus on the good things you do. Thinking it's gonna get
you closer to salvation, you don't focus on the bad things
you do, thinking, man, I am so awful, and we all struggle with
that. But guess what? It's over. It's done. That curtain's
torn. It's never coming back. We are
no longer separated. God's people have a perfect and
safe path through Christ to salvation. Hallelujah. The curtain is torn, the divide
is bridged, the way is open. The way is Christ. Amen.