We begin our text this morning in the letter of Paul to the
Church in Corinth,
1Corinthians 15.01-05 What
we will study today is what is commonly known as the Seven Last Words of Jesus.
When Jesus was on trial (Matthew 27.16-26; Mark 15.07-15; Luke 23.18;
John 18.40),
the crowd demanded that Pilate release the criminal Barabbas who was accused of
insurrection. Barabbas the criminal was given freedom and the innocent died.
That cross was for Barabbas, yet Jesus took his place. We are all murderers,
all sin must be paid for and Jesus paid for them with His blood (1John 03.15).
Jesus takes the sinners place on the cross. He takes the punishment and gives
us the reward. He takes death but He gives you eternal life (Isaiah 53.04-07).
01. Forgiveness (Luke
23.34)
His Father who is in Heaven is the first person that Jesus
talks to while He is on the cross.
The first words of Jesus show us that He is our great High
Priest (Hebrews
02.17; Hebrews 03.01; Hebrews 04.14-15; Hebrews 05.10;
Hebrews 06.20;
Hebrews 07.26;
Hebrews 08.01;
Hebrews 08.03;
Hebrews 09.11)
interceding and standing in the gap between sinful man and a Holy God (Isaiah 53.12;
1Timothy
02.05; Hebrews 08.06; Hebrews 09.05; Hebrews 12.24).
There are some people who say that ignorance of sin is an
excuse, so all should be saved regardless. They will bring up the argument
about the bushman in Africa who has never heard about God. But Paul tells us
that ignorance is not an excuse. Writing under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, Paul tells us that mankind has “the work of the Law written in their hearts, their
conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else
defending them” (Romans 02.15). Man knows innately what is
right and wrong.
Here, Jesus is talking about how the Romans and the Jews
didn’t completely understand that the Son of Man had to die so that we could be
redeemed, forgiven and have eternal life.
02. Salvation (Luke 23.43)
Matthew and Mark (Matthew 27.44; Matthew 15.32) record for us
that both criminals were insulting Jesus with their speech, probably joining in
with the crowd and soldiers (Luke 23.35-39). It is then Luke tells us that one
of the criminals rebuked the other and said in Luke 23.40-42, “Do you not
even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? “And we
indeed are suffering justly, for we
are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing
wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!””
Here is a man, condemned to death because of his sin, asking
for Jesus to remember him and not his sins. Scripture tells us that “the wages of
sin is death” (Romans 06.23) and that “He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished” (Exodus 34.07;
Numbers
14.18; Nahum 01.02-03). This man was dying on the
cross, but he faced something far worse, the threat of eternal condemnation in Hell.
Just as David in distress cried out “Remember, O YHWH, Your compassion and Your
lovingkindnesses, For they have been from of old. Do not remember the sins of
my youth or my transgressions; According to Your lovingkindness remember me,
For Your goodness’ sake, O YHWH.” (Psalm 25.06-07) so too was this
condemned man crying out to the Saviour, asking Jesus to “remember me when You come in Your
kingdom!” (Luke 23.42) This condemned man would have
heard the first words of Jesus, asking the Father to forgive the people (Luke 23.34),
and I wonder how much of an impact those words had on this man’s heart, hearing
Jesus asking for the Father to forgive the people (Luke 23.34)? In response to the condemned sinners words, Jesus said, “today you shall be
with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23.43), not tomorrow, not in a thousand
years, not after you have been in purgatory, but “today”. As Paul reminds us, “to be absent
from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” (2Corinthians
05.08).
03. Relationship (John 19.26-27)
The only disciple at the cross was John, the one who “was reclining
on Jesus’ bosom” (John 13.23) at the Last Supper of Jesus. Again
we see the concern was for those around Him (forgiving the people and the thief),
this time for His mother.
Jesus is the perfect example of keeping the Law, for not
only did He keep the first tablet of the Ten Commandments, but also the second,
taking care of His mother and honoring her (Exodus 20.12). Joseph, whose
life is a type and shadow of Jesus, when His father and brothers came to Egypt,
“provided
his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according
to their little ones.” (Genesis 47.12) Even in His most excruciating
time, there was Jesus providing for those whom He loved.
Woman is the same word that He used to address His mother in
Cana at the wedding feast where He performed His first miracle (John 02.06).
04. Abandonment (Matthew 27.46)
Here Jesus quotes from Psalm 22.01, calling out to God as a man in
need. Only the condemned in Hell know what it is truly like to be forsaken by
God. We talk about places being God-forsaken, and sometimes we feel like God
truly has forsaken us. God has not forsaken us and never will! The Father
forsook Jesus so that the Father will never forsake you. To be forsaken by God
is the punishment of Hell, and that is what makes Hell, well Hell. The weeping
and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13.41-42; 2Thessalonians 01.09; Jude 01.07;
Revelation 21.08)
and eternal torment don’t make Hell, Hell; it is that the Father has forsaken
them that induce the most torment. We cannot imagine what it means and feels
like to be forsaken by God. Even in our darkest hour when we feel forsaken, we
are not!
We often don’t recognize the goodness of God. If we didn’t
have the goodness of God, we would be in Hell. This is what Jesus suffers on
the cross in your place as a substitute. God forsakes Him so that you never
have to be forsaken by God.
The cross is the crossroads of God’s love and justice. God
is love, and He loves His creation, He loves you. He does not desire the death
of the sinner, but that the sinner will turn from their sin and repent from the
way that he is living (Ezekiel 18.23; Ezekiel 33.11). Yet, your sin
MUST be dealt with because God is just. He can’t just sweep it away as if it
never happened. He can’t just wink at sin and say, “Well boys will be boys” and let sin go unpunished. God hates sin. When
we hear of a judge who let’s the guilty free, we call them unjust. “Well they said that they were sorry and
will never do it again?” It doesn’t matter sin cannot be ignored. When Adam
and Eve sinned, not only did they get “the wages of sin (which) is death” (Romans 06.23), but also their
sin got them kicked out of the Garden of Eden! If God ignored our sin, He would
be an unjust God.
How does God merge His love with His justice? From before
time began, He had a solution, sending His Son to take on human flesh to take
mans place and have Him die on earth (1Peter 01.18-20). He had His Son forsaken so
that we will never be forsaken. So Jesus takes our sins upon Himself.
When you feel forsaken, be reminded of these words by the
Son of God, that He purchased you for God by His own blood and was forsaken so
that we will not be forsaken (1Peter 01.18-20).
But we often feel forsaken, especially when we are
suffering. We know the Scriptures that remind us that suffering is God’s
blessing and gift to you. Suffering is given to you by His grace and in His
love because through suffering God breaks all of your idols in your life, all
the things that you fear, love and trust more than Him. He wants you wholly to
Himself and He will not share you with other gods (Exodus 20.05). So He drives you
to the utter depression of yourself, and all removes all your resources so that
you come alone to Him, driving you to prayer (James 01.02-04). God works great
good out of great evil (Romans 08.28), and oftentimes you will never
know like Job why you are suffering. But you “walk by faith, not by sight--”
(2Corinthians
05.07) holding on to the promises of God that He “WILL NEVER
DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,” (Hebrews 13.05).
Jesus was forsaken by God on His cross so that you will
never be forsaken and God “cause(s) all things to work together for good to those who love
God” (Romans 08.28) just as He worked all things for your good in
the suffering and death of His Son, Jesus the Christ. God forsook Jesus to
reconcile His love for you and His justice against your sin, that He might be
just and the justified of the one who has faith in Jesus. God forsook Jesus so
that you could be absolutely certain that God will never forsake you.
05. Distress (John 19.28)
This phrase in the English is only one word in the Greek (G1372.
diqaw)
and it shows us Jesus was 100% man as well as God. And yet, despite the fact
that He created all things, including water, simple water was denied of Him. Jesus
was thirsty, and He knows what its like to be thirsty. Blood loss dehydrates
people, the passion and fervor with which He prayed with no doubt added to
this. You dehydrate yourself simply by talking. Our LORD exhausted Himself
interceding that night for His disciples and us (John 17.01-26).
But this thirst is not just physical, for “Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
(Matthew 05.06).
He thirsted for your righteousness. He humbled Himself in nakedness in front of
all so that you being naked from your sin might be covered and forgiven. Jesus said
to the Samaritan woman “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but
whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the
water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to
eternal life.” (John 04.13-14)
On the cross, Jesus willing submits to the lack of water so
that you may drink freely from the well of everlasting life (John 04.13-14).
It is for you that He thirsts, for your salvation, for your sin (Psalm 42.01-11;
1Peter 02.24).
06. Triumph (John 19.29-30)
Notice Jesus didn’t say, “I Am finished!” In the Greek, “It is finished!”
is just one word, (G5055) tetelestai
and it literally means that everything has been
accomplished which by the appointment of the Father as revealed in the
Scriptures Jesus must do and bear. That’s what
He did on the cross for you and I. Finished is the work and it never needs to
be done, for our salvation is all a work of God and not a work of man! He became sin for us, even though He was
perfect (2Corinthians
05.21)! He is the only One who knew it all, saw it all and willingly paid for it
all (1Peter
01.03). He rose
from the dead on the 3rd day, just as He said that He would (Mark 16.06). The writer
of Hebrews tells us that offering the sacrifices can never make us free from the
guilt of sin (Hebrews 10.01).
Paul tells us that Jesus’ death on
the cross “canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against
us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed
it to the cross.” (Colossians 02.14) The
picture here in this verse is that of a written contract, in which we bind
ourselves to do any work, or to make a payment, and which remains in force
against us until the pledge is fulfilled. Once the contract is fulfilled, they
would either then blot out the names, or draw lines through it, what was also
common in that culture they would take a nail and drive it through it. The
Jewish law is here represented as such a contract, binding those under it to
its observance, until it was then nailed to the cross when Jesus died. So,
what this means is that the burdensome requirements of the Mosaic Law are
abolished, and that it is now replaced by the death of Christ. His death had
the same effect, in reference to those laws, as if they had been blotted from
the book of the law. This was accomplished by
fulfilling them, by introducing a more perfect system and by rendering their
observance no longer necessary, since all that they were designed to symbolize
had been now accomplished in a better way.
If the blood of animals would have
been good enough, the writer of Hebrews says that they would no longer have to
offer sacrifices (Hebrews 10.02-04). All
that the sacrifices did was to cover their sins; it never took away the guilty
conscience that is within man. We see a perfect illustration of this after Adam
and Eve sinned and that “YHWH God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and
clothed them.” (Genesis 03.21) The first
shedding of blood is recorded here. But what we see is God’s perfect plan of
redemption already laid out that there needs to be the shedding of blood to first
cover then to forgive us of our sins. This shedding of blood only covered them,
later when the Savior came He completely forgave! Offering sacrifices reminded the Jews about
how sinful they were.
But Jesus said to
the disciples to remember that He died for us
once and for all (Luke 22.19). We no
longer need to offer sacrifices, or be bound by legalism. Did I read my
Bible and pray today? Did I go to church this week? The
blood of animals was not sufficient because in order for our sins to be
completely forgiven and us to be redeemed, we need a kinsman redeemer (Leviticus 25.25). You see, in order for us to be redeemed (bought back) we
needed One who was a man like us to do the buying back. Since an animal is not
related to us, there sacrifice could only cover our sin…but Jesus came as a man
(Philippians
02.08)! This is something that the
High Priest had to do, every year, go into the Holy Place and make atonement.
Today, we don’t have to have a High Priest, because Jesus is our High Priest (Hebrews 02.17). Finished are the demands of the Law
upon you, finished is the wrath of God on you, and atonement has been made. So why “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why
have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.” (Psalm 42.11) Sin has lost its power, yet we still
live in its grip, forgetting that our sins are cast as far as the east is from
the west (Psalm
103.12). If we deny
this truth, we are saying that the work of Jesus on the cross was not finished,
but incomplete.
If it is finished, why do we scurry around trying to
accomplish only what Jesus did on the cross, to appease the debt of our sin? We
try to earn His love, earn His grace, and earn His forgiveness. We want to prove
that we are righteous and worthy of His forgiveness. Peter tells us that Jesus “Himself bore
our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” (1Peter 02.24)
Because it is finished, He has rescued us. Because it is finished, “there is now
no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For
what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh and as an offering
for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might
be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the
Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things
of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the
Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit
is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for
it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh
cannot please God.” (Romans 08.01-08)
07. Reunion (Luke 23.46)
The ramifications of death of Jesus were experienced in the
physical world as well as the spiritual. The sun failed to shine for three
whole hours (Matthew
27.45; Mark 15.33; Luke 23.44)! This was not a
lunar eclipse, no blood moon here, for there was a full moon at Passover. The
veil was torn, the earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs of the dead
saints were opened up and the dead saints were raised from the dead and they
entered in Jerusalem (Matthew 27.50-53)! This veil was 13-17 feet
high, 06-08 inches thick, and it took 100 priests to move it! The tearing of
the veil in the Temple was showing that it is now possible for man to approach
God (Hebrews
04.16).
