This New Life

There’s a saint and a sinner on Mount Calvary. What separates them is Jesus. In Luke 23:35-43, we find Jesus hanging between two criminals—one a scoffer and one a brand-new believer. Having mocked Jesus earlier during the crucifixion (Mark 15:32), this “repentant thief” has a change of heart at some point, asking Jesus to remember him when he comes into his kingdom. Jesus responds with memorable words of grace and assurance: “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

With death approaching, the repentant thief begins to fear God and take responsibility for his own wrongdoing. Perhaps his heart was softened by the prayer of forgiveness that Jesus had prayed earlier (Luke 23:34). Showing both courage and confidence, he takes a public stand for Jesus, expressing his belief that Jesus would have a life beyond the cross. As a result, the man learns he would be spending eternity with Jesus in heaven. Nowhere in Scripture is it clearer that salvation is by grace through faith.

Throughout this series, we’re looking for both the “good news” and the “good life” in each of these sayings from the cross. That is, each statement has in it divine grace for us to receive (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and a divine example for us to follow (1 Peter 2:21). Practical applications, then, abound from this second saying of Christ from the cross:

Jesus dies in the company of unbelievers, attracting them to God.
Believers should live in the company of unbelievers, attracting them to God.

Jesus dies refusing to retaliate for the insults and injuries inflicted on him.
Believers should live refusing to retaliate for the insults and injuries inflicted on him.

Jesus dies submitting to God’s agenda rather than to the world’s agenda.
Believers should live submitting to God’s agenda rather than to the world’s agenda.

Jesus dies speaking words of hope and encouragement to the hurting.
Believers should live speaking words of hope and encouragement to the hurting.

Jesus dies helping someone in a similar predicament as himself.
Believers should live helping someone in a similar predicament as themselves.

Jesus dies serving someone who is totally unable to return the favor.
Believers should live serving someone who is totally unable to return the favor.

Jesus dies joining God where he is at work, sharing the good news.
Believers should live joining God where he is at work, sharing the good news.

In short, the message of this second saying from the cross is twofold: Humble yourself to receive the gift of Jesus, and pattern your life after the death of Jesus. It’s still true today—what separates saints and sinners is Jesus. Thankfully, God in Christ can respond to the faintest cry in the last moments of a person’s life (cf. Rom 10:13). Including ours.

On a Personal Note

Don Francisco used to sing a gospel folk song called “Too Small a Price,” told from the vantage point of this repentant thief on the cross. Francisco came to a meeting of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in the Towers 3 dormitory at West Virginia University back in the day when the Lord was pursuing me big time. This song, more than all the others he sang that night, bore deep into my soul, and it was instrumental in my own conversion to Christ. I’ll place a recording of it below for those who may not have heard it.

Though the agony continued there it was still too small a price
To be allowed to hear those words, and to die beside the Christ.
– Don Francisco

Sermon Resources:

The Word of Assurance (Sermon Outline PDF)Download

The Word of Assurance (Sermon PowerPoint PDF)Download

“Too Small a Price” by Don Francisco

Contact This New Life directly for the sermon audio file.

The first statement of Jesus from the cross is, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). One can hardly think of a more unlikely thing for Jesus to say, given the circumstances in which he says it. Crucifixion was designed to be maximally painful. As the ancients said, to be crucified was to “die a thousand deaths.”

As such, this gracious prayer is spoken from inside the vortex of a living hell on earth. Jesus does not defend his innocence or curse his enemies; rather, he prays for those who are torturing him. Indeed, he is practicing what he preached about forgiveness, which is noteworthy because he has the power to stop the entire ordeal. But the removal of our sin is more important to Jesus than the removal of his own suffering, so he endures the pain.

Mercifully, a great exchange is taking place here at Calvary (1 Peter 3:18; 2 Corinthians 5:21). “Bearing shame and scoffing rude / In my place condemned he stood.” God didn’t sweep our sins under the rug; he swept them onto Christ. Jesus takes our place and dies our death. What Jesus is really praying here is, “Father, forgive them, and condemn me. Charge their wrongdoing to my account, and I will pay the cost.” In the cross of Christ, then, we see what God has done about what we have done. For God to take our part, he had to take our place. And he does so in Christ.

Moreover, though immersed in agony, Jesus died believing in the goodness of God despite the wickedness of man—as revealed by the fact that his first word from the cross is, “Father.” His steadfast faith is the kind of faith we need to extend forgiveness to others, too, which is always difficult. We tend to attribute other people’s faults to their character, and our own faults to our environment. The cross challenges that perspective, for as Jesus himself taught us to pray, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” When we don’t forgive others, we tear down the very bridge we need to walk on to connect with God. Forgiving those who’ve wronged us is actually the key to not being victimized or controlled by them any longer.

In the end, if the murder of the Son of God is forgivable, then your sin—whatever it may be—is forgivable, too. So, accept your acceptance from God, and then forgive others as Christ forgave you—gracefully and extravagantly.