Luke 23

Luke 23:1-46

Chapter 49 “Then Said Jesus …”How I pray that the Lord God will be pleased to grant me grace that I may live with the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ ever before my mind, with the scenes of my Saviour’s redemptive work and glory constantly upon my heart, and the redemption he accomplished for me by his substitutionary death ever flooding my ransomed soul. Let’s go again to Mount Calvary, asking God the Holy Spirit to inscribe the things we see here upon our hearts for the glory of his own great name, for Christ’s sake. What a scene of infamy we have before us! What a scene of grace! What a scene of the revelation of the glory of God! Our Lord’s Humiliation The Lord Jesus was hurriedly brought before Pilate, where the Jews slanderously accused him. But Pilate saw their accusations for what they were, nothing but the ranting of envious religionists. Once he found out the Lord Jesus was a Galilean, he tried to rid himself of the matter and sent him to Herod. When Herod could not persuade the Son of God to dance before him, he mocked him shamefully and sent him back to Pilate. And that day, those two political jackals became friends. And Pilate, willing to please the Jews, “delivered Jesus to their will” to be crucified. Pilate, Herod, the high priest, the Jewish mob, and the soldiers were but contemptible little imps, unworthy of further mention. There is but one thing worthy of notice in these verses, one thing they were written to reveal and that is the greatness of our Lord’s humiliation for us. What base contempt and mockery our God and Saviour endured in the house of the high priest, and at the palaces of Pilate and Herod! Truly, “he humbled himself”! He emptied himself of all the dignity and honour that rightly belongs to him, that he might redeem and save sinners who deserve to be forever mocked in the fires of hell and held in contempt by him. “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Depravity And Substitution In Luke 23:13-25 the Spirit of God gives us a terrible, graphic display of the utter depravity of our race and the vile hatred of the human heart for the God of Glory! What base, self-serving weaklings men in powerful positions often are! Pilate and Herod cared for nothing but themselves. Both, though men of almost absolute power in their realms, cowered before the people they ruled, just to gain a moment of approval from them. The whole crowd, religious and reprobate, Jewish and pagan, craved to murder the incarnate God. And Pilate “delivered Jesus to their will”. What an indictment this is against the will of man! Yet, there is something glorious here. We read in Luke 23:17 “For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.” By the arrangement of divine providence, there was a custom, and a man, in the scene before us who gave opportunity for our Lord to display everything he had come to accomplish. When Barabbas was released and the Lord Jesus died in his place, it is as though the Saviour had said, “See this! This is why I came to this hour, to die the Just for the unjust in the place of guilty sinners as their Substitute that they might go free”! Weep Not Luke is the only gospel writer who recorded the things written in Luke 23:26-31. “And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” It is not surprising to see these women weeping. It is shocking that those few women were the only ones who wept, as they beheld the Lamb of God surrounded by hell-hounds craving his blood. Yet, when the Saviour saw their tears and heard their cries, he said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.” He desired no pity. He was not a helpless sufferer, but Jehovah’s voluntary Servant, now performing his final deed of obedience. Yet, he looked upon the nation that was about to murder him with tender pity, as he anticipated the judgment that nation was heaping upon itself. Three Malefactors “And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left” (Luke 23:32-33). It is not by accident that Luke wrote, “And there were also two other malefactors (two other violators of the law), led with him to be put to death.” The obvious indication is that our blessed Redeemer was one of three malefactors. “He was reckoned among the transgressors” (Luke 22:37). “He was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many” (Isaiah 53:12). “And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors” (Matthew 15:28). Being our Surety and Representative, he stood before the offended law and justice of God as the greatest of all malefactors! “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). Seven Statements As he hung upon the cursed tree, bearing our sin, suffering all the horrible fury of the wrath of God for us, when he was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, the Lord Jesus made seven distinct statements which should ever be held in fond memory in our hearts. There have been mountains of words and thousands of sermons preached from these seven sayings of Christ from the cross. I cannot add anything to what has already been spoken and written by faithful men. But I do hope that God the Holy Spirit will enable me to give you a glimpse of what I see in them. These are the very words spoken by our great God and Saviour in his humiliation, spoken as he engaged the forces of hell and endured the indescribable wrath of God in the place of sinners. In these seven words from the cross I see the glorious Person, work, and offices of our Lord Jesus Christ beautifully demonstrated. A Word Of Forgiveness The first of those seven statements is found in Luke 23:34. “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.” Here I see Christ our Mediator, our High Priest and Advocate pleading for the forgiveness of guilty sinners. Here is the Son of God suffering by the hands of wicked men, suffering with wicked men, suffering as a wicked man, and yet praying for the men who made him suffer. “There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men”, and that Mediator is “the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). We must have a Mediator (Hebrews 5:1). The Mediator must be a man of God’s choosing (Hebrews 5:4-5). The Mediator must pray and be heard (Hebrews 5:7). He must have a sacrifice. Christ’s sacrifice was himself, his own life, his blood, his body and his soul! The sacrifice must be offered upon the altar of God. The Altar upon which our Saviour sacrificed himself was the Altar of his own Divinity. And the Mediator must have a blessing to bestow. That blessing is God’s salvation (Numbers 6:24-26). None but the Lord Jesus Christ meets the qualifications of a mediator between God and men (John 14:6; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2).A Word Of Assurance The second word is found in Luke 23:43. The dying thief cried, “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom”! “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Here is a word of salvation and assurance spoken to a believing sinner by Christ our Saviour and King. Even as he hung upon the cross, suffering untold agony under the wrath of God, Jesus Christ reigned as Lord and King over everything. Do not ever imagine that our Lord Jesus was in anyway the helpless victim of circumstances when he died at Calvary. Even in his death, he was the God of all circumstances and all events. Here is the sovereign King, the Ruler of the Kingdom of God, saving whom he will (Romans 9:15). Here is the King of Grace opening the door which no mere man can ever open. Here is the Prince of Peace giving peace that no man can give. Here is the King of Glory promising mercy and eternal life that no man can merit. “Salvation is of the Lord”! Grace comes from the throne of grace; and the King who sits upon that throne is the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:22; John 5:20-21; John 17:2). A Word Of Tender Care The third word spoken by our Lord as he hung upon the cross is found in John 19:26-27. Here I hear Christ, our Representative and Example, speaking a word of tender care. “When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.” Even in the agonies of death, under the penalty of sin, enduring the wrath of God, fulfilling the everlasting covenant, accomplishing eternal redemption for us, and satisfying the Divine justice, our Lord Jesus Christ did not neglect the responsibilities of manhood. Our Saviour, as our Representative and Example, deliberately gave attention to his responsibilities as a man, even in the time of his dying agony. Our blessed Saviour fulfilled all righteousness for us, both as our Representative and as our Example. He did everything that it is right for a man to do. He was circumcised. He was subject unto his parents. He was baptized. He attended the synagogue. Our Lord Jesus was “made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.” And in his dying hour, our Redeemer tenderly cared for his mother. He fulfilled all righteousness as our legal Representative (Romans 5:19; and he fulfilled all righteousness as our Example of Righteousness (John 13:13-15; 1 Peter 2:21-24). If we would learn how to live in this world for the glory of God, if we would learn how to serve our generation, if we would learn how to worship God, we must go to Calvary. There we behold the Lamb of God and learn how to be a man. There we learn what submission to the will of God involves. At Calvary we see patience in suffering, learn how to love our brethren, how to love our family (Ephesians 5:25-27), and how to give (2 Corinthians 8:9). Yet, there is more here than our Lord’s care for his mother. When our Saviour said to Mary, “Woman, behold thy Son”, I cannot help thinking that he was saying, “Behold me now, and remember what I told you when I was just a boy, ‘I must be about my Father’s business.’ Behold me now, and remember the song you sang when I was still in your womb” (Luke 1:46-55). A Word Of Agony The fourth word is found in Matthew 27:46. “And about the ninth hour (at 3:00 in the afternoon, after three hours of great darkness) Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Here I see Christ our Substitute crying out in agony of soul. This is the only time recorded in scripture that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to the Father as God. Here he takes the lowest place of humanity and cries out to his Father and our Father as a creature to be pitied by his Creator. In his great agony, this mighty Man who is God reverts to his childhood, speaking in his native Syrian tongue, not in the Hebrew of his fathers or in the Greek he acquired as he matured. At the height of his obedience to the Father, the Lord of Glory was forsaken by his Father, because we deserved to be forever forsaken of that God whom we have spent our lives forsaking. He was forsaken of God, because he was made sin for us. Reproach now broke his heart. “My God! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” This is a cry arising from depths of infinite anguish no human being can know. This cry no mortal mind can comprehend. This mystery no creature can fathom. Martin Luther, after studying and meditating upon this text for hours, closed his Bible, slammed his fists down on his desk and cried, “God forsaken of God! My God, no man can understand that”! I will not attempt to explain what no man can understand. But, with a happy broken heart, I rejoice in the fact of this our Substitute’s greatest sorrow. He was forsaken of God. That means those sinners for whom he died shall never be forsaken of God (Isaiah 53:9-11; John 3:14-16; Romans 5:6-8; Romans 8:1-4; 2 Corinthians 5:20-21; 1 Peter 2:24-25; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 4:9-10). What an infinitely, horribly evil thing sin must be! How holy, just, righteous, and good our God must be! O my soul, how great, how infinitely great is the love of God for his people! How anxious, willing, and ready the holy Lord God is to save poor sinners! “He delighteth in mercy”! A Word Of Great Need Our Lord’s fifth word from the cross is found in John 19:28. “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.” Here is Christ the Man expressing his great need and desire. Here we see our Saviour’s real humanity. This is the shortest of the seven statements he made on the cross; but it is every bit as instructive as the other six. I am sure it is meant to show us at least these three things about our Saviour. His body’s thirst: being in anguish of body, burning with fever, his tongue swollen and cleaving to his jaws, he thirsted for water, just like the rich man in hell, as he endured the fire of God’s hot, holy wrath for us. His soul’s thirst: being forsaken of God, he thirsted in his soul. “As the hart planteth after the water brooks”, so panted his soul for God (Psalms 22:1-21; Psalms 40:11-13; Psalms 69:1-20). His heart’s thirst: the Lord of Glory was made sin, made to endure all the horror of God’s holy, unmitigated wrath, because he thirsted for the souls of men. He thirsted for his people. He thirsted to be thirsted after. When I hear the Master cry, “I thirst”, I can almost hear his heart crying, “I will that they also whom thou hast given Me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.” A Word Of Accomplishment “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:28-30). “It is finished”! What a blessed, triumphant word! Our blessed Saviour was not crying a sigh of relief. He was not saying, “At last, it is over.” Most men leave this world with things unfinished. So many plans unfinished! So many hopes unfulfilled! So many desires unsatisfied! So many works incomplete! So many things they wanted to do, or see, or experience, unfinished! Not so with the Lord Jesus Christ, our great Surety! He accomplished everything he came here to do. What did he come here to do? Did he come here to do the Father’s will (Hebrews 10)? “It is finished”! Did he come here to save his people (Matthew 1:21)? “It is finished”! Did he come here to fulfil all the types, promises, and prophecies of the scriptures? “It is finished”! Did he come here to make an end of sin? Did he come here to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself”! It is finished”! Did he come here to bring in everlasting righteousness? “It is finished”! Did he come here to obtain eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12)? “It is finished”! Did he come here to redeem us from the curse of the law? “It is finished”! Did he come here to fulfil and make an end of the law? Did he come here to magnify the law and make it honourable? “It is finished”! This is the Surety’s cry of accomplished suretyship to the Father. “It is finished”! “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do”! Here our Covenant Surety says to his Father, I have finished all the work entrusted into my hands, I have redeemed all the souls entrusted to me. I have ransomed all the sheep. I have found all the lost ones I came to find. All the work is fully done, well done, perfectly done! This is the cry of our great Surety to poor, needy sinners! “It is finished”! Wrath is finished! Judgment is finished! Sin is finished! Righteousness is finished! Redemption is finished! Justification is finished! Sanctification is finished! Salvation is finished! Thomas Kelly wrote: “It is finished”! Sinners, hear it: Hear the dying Saviour’s cry; “It is finished”! Angels Sing it, Sing the praise of Christ on high. “It is finished”! “It is finished”! Tell it through the earth and sky! Justice now demands salvation For those souls whose wrath Christ bore; And it smiles with approbation On the ransomed evermore! Grace and mercy, grace and mercy Freely flow from boundless stores. Hear the Son of God declare it, All is done he came to do! Needy sinners, Hear, believe it. Is not this good news to you? “It is finished”! “It is finished”! All is done! Oh, yes, it’s true! “It is finished”! All is over. Jesus drank damnation dry! Never can a ransomed sinner God’s salvation be denied! “It is finished”! “It is finished”! Cries our Surety now on High! Who is he that shall condemn us? Who shall charge us now with sin? It is God who justified us, Christ who died, cries in our name, “It is finished”! “It is finished”! Praised forever be his name! A Word Of Rest The Saviour’s last word from the cross is found in Luke 23:46 “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” Our Saviour died with the Word of God in his heart and on his lips (Psalms 31:1-5). Here I see Christ our Sabbath entering into rest. Once our great Redeemer had finished his work, he “cried with a loud voice, and said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” Thus he entered into his rest and obtained eternal rest for us (Hebrews 4:9-11). Notice here, our Saviour who had cried, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” now calls his Father by that endearing name, “Father”. The storm of God’s holy wrath beat fiercely upon his holy soul; but now the storm is nearly over. Only one thing is to be done. He must yet die; but here he seems to say to poor, needy sinners, “Look here. Look unto me. Behold, now reconciliation is made. Anger is turned away. Judgment is gone”! (Read Isaiah 12:1-6.) Our blessed Saviour committed his spirit into his Father’s hands, not Satan’s. Some vainly imagine that the Lord Jesus was now taken to hell to be tormented of the devil for three days. That is not so (Hebrews 9:12). He owed Satan nothing. Here he conquered the fiend of hell forever. He committed his spirit into his Father’s hands, leaving us an example that we should follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:22-24). At last, in sovereign majesty, “he gave up the ghost”. He dismissed his spirit. This Man who is God our Saviour did what none but God, who gives life and takes life at his will, could do. “He gave up the ghost.” That is to say, he dismissed his spirit that we might come now to him and enter into his rest (Matthew 11:28-30).

Luke 23:24-49

Chapter 52 “Beholding These Things”In this portion of holy scripture God the Holy Spirit describes the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ when he was hanged upon the cursed tree, bearing our sin in his own body and made sin for us. Let us take our place with all his acquaintances and the women who followed him from Galilee, “beholding these things”. We have before us an amazing, marvellous record. It is amazing and marvellous in our eyes when we remember who suffered these things. The great Sufferer before us is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the only truly holy and good man ever to live in this world. It is amazing and marvellous in our eyes when we remember for whom he suffered.

The Son of God suffered the wrath of God for sinners who are by nature the enemies of God (Romans 5:6-8). And it is amazing and marvellous in our eyes when we remember why he suffered. The cause of his great sorrow and agony of body, soul, and spirit was the fact that the Son of God suffered for sin, as the sin-bearer. “Christ died for our sins”! The Sorrow In Gethsemane We have seen our Saviour’s sorrow in Gethsemane, when he prayed three times, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” Such was the shock of his holy soul at the thought and prospect of being made sin that our holy Redeemer broke out into a sweat of blood. Luke describes it in these words. “Being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). The Scourging Of Gabbatha We have seen the scourging of Gabbatha too. Our Lord was condemned in a mockery of justice at Pilate’s judgment hall, called Gabbatha (John 19:13). There he was delivered into the hands of cruel, barbaric Roman soldiers to be scourged. They took him into the common judgment hall, where they gathered an entire band of soldiers, between five and twelve hundred of them, to scourge our Saviour. They stripped him. They mercilessly whipped him with a Roman scourge. They mocked him. They beat him with their fists. They spat upon him! “Then they led him away to crucify him”! We have before us Luke’s inspired narrative of the crucifixion at Mount Calvary. May God the Holy Spirit Who gave us this record now fill our hearts with reverence as we meditate upon it and seek to worship the Lamb of God Who was there sacrificed for our sins. The verses before us describe … The Slaughter At Golgotha “And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left” (Luke 23:33). Matthew wrote, “And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull.” “Golgotha” means “place of a skull”. Golgotha was just another name for Calvary. Perhaps it was called Golgotha because in this place of slaughter, people who were stoned to death or crucified were simply covered over with a little dirt. Consequently, in a matter of time skulls and bones were everywhere. God’s Sovereignty In this scene of slaughter at Golgotha the Holy Spirit shows us a tremendous display of God’s glorious sovereignty in three things. First, we see here the fulfilment of scripture by men who had no regard for the scriptures. The soldiers who tormented our Lord had no more regard for the scriptures than hogs have for diamonds. Yet, they did exactly what God ordained they would do and said they would do (Acts 4:27-28; Acts 13:27-29). The Lord God made even those men who murdered his Son to be his witnesses. The soldiers who mocked him, gave him vinegar to drink (Luke 23:36-37; Matthew 27:34). Their mixture of vinegar (flat wine that had gone sour and bitter) mixed with gall was thought to be a mixture that would prolong one’s life. It was given by the soldiers because they must, according to God’s decree, fulfil the prophecy of Psa 69:21. “They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” John Gill wrote … “This potion of vinegar with gall, was an aggravating circumstance in our Lord’s sufferings, being given to him when he had a violent thirst upon Him; and was an emblem of the bitter cup of God’s wrath, he had already tasted of in the garden, and was about to drink up”. “When he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.” Our Lord refused to drink of the mixture because he was determined to suffer the wrath of God for us without any distraction or intoxication of mind. And he refused to drink of it because he would make all to know that he would do nothing to prolong his life, but was willing to die now that his hour, the fulness of time, had come. Matthew tells us that they parted his garments, casting lots for his vesture (Matthew 27:35). Again, we are reminded that the Lord God Almighty was in total control of all the affairs of this day of infamy. The barbaric soldiers did nothing except what God had long before said they would do. This parting of our Lord’s garments was a fulfilment of Psa 22:18. “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” Then, like the women and his acquaintances who followed him, Matthew tells us, “sitting down they watched him there” (Matthew 27:36). After they had scourged him, mocked him, beat him, and crucified him, those hardened men sat down to watch the Lamb of God die. Like little boys cruelly throw a worm into a fire just to watch it wriggle, squirm, and die, they watched the Son of God; but to their utter astonishment, there was no squirming, and no dying until he gave up the ghost by his own sovereign will. Notice also that our Lord was crucified between two thieves, as the prophet Isaiah declared he must be (Isaiah 53:12; Luke 23:32; Matthew 27:38). As we have seen, these two thieves also give us a display of God’s sovereign, distinguishing grace in salvation. One of these thieves was plucked as a firebrand from the burning out of the very jaws of hell by God’s sovereign grace, while the other was left to suffer the just consequences of his sin. Let it never be forgotten by us that if we are saved, we are saved because God did it. The only distinction between God’s saints and the damned in hell is the distinction that grace has made (1 Corinthians 4:7; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Romans 9:16). Here at Calvary we see a great display of God’s sovereignty in causing reprobate, unbelieving men to declare his truth, to declare the very essence of the gospel, though they never knew it themselves. We do not know because we are not told, but it may be that it was the testimony of spineless Pilate, the testimony of these wicked, taunting, jeering Jews, and the testimony of the mocking chief priests, scribes and elders that became the instruments by which God taught that elect thief the gospel and brought him to faith in Christ. Hear now the testimony that he heard. Pilate declared, “This is Jesus” (Matthew 27:37). “Jesus of Nazareth” (John 19:19). “The King of the Jews” (Luke 23:38). This proclamation was made in Hebrew the language of religion, in Greek the language of philosophy, and in Latin the language of science. That was no accident. There is no true religion, no true philosophy, and no true science that does not begin with the acknowledgment and confession that Jesus Christ is King. The priests, scribes, elders, and people, danced in a drunken, hellish party around Immanuel’s cross, and in their blasphemy spoke the truth of God as distinctly as inspired apostles. “Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days” (Matthew 27:40). Though they knew it not, those religious ritualists proclaimed the fact of our Lord’s death and resurrection. He destroyed the temple of his body in death. He raised it up again in three days. Mockingly they cried, “He saved others; himself he cannot save” (Matthew 27:42; Luke 23:35). That is the very essence of the gospel. The Son of God died as our Substitute. Because he saved us he had to sacrifice himself. Then, they jeered, “He trusted in God” (Matthew 27:43). Our Lord Jesus Christ, as a man, lived by faith, in all things trusting God his Father. Thus he taught us how to honour, obey, and live for God in this world by faith. But there is more. The Holy Spirit tells us repeatedly that we are saved and justified “by the faith of Jesus Christ.” After that, they jeered again. “He said, I am the Son of God” (Matthew 27:43). Infidels choose to ignore it, but these people heard his doctrine plainly. Jesus Christ of Nazareth openly, publicly declared himself to be the Son of God. And that is who he is! He is God and man in one glorious Person. He was the God-man in Mary’s womb, the God-man in his obedience for us, the God-man when he died upon the tree, and the God-man when he rose from the dead. Christ is the God-man exalted to save to the uttermost all who come to God by him. And the hellish crowd declared, in Luke 23:35, that he who saved others, but could not save himself is “the Christ, the chosen of God” (Psalms 89:19; Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 43:10; 1 Peter 1:3-5). Scene Of Guilt But there is more, much more, that I see as I stand before my dying Saviour, “beholding these things”. Calvary is a scene of great guilt, guilt that deserved death. “There were also two other malefactors led with him to be put to death” (Luke 23:32). The Lord Jesus was crucified between these two murderous malefactors, as if he were the greatest of the three. “He was numbered with the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12). He was “reckoned among the transgressors” (Luke 22:37). And in a very real sense, he was made the greatest of transgressors, for he who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And when he was made sin, he was made a curse for us, and made to die under the wrath of God in our place.

He did not merely bear the curse for us. He was made a curse for us (Galatians 3:13), because our guilt was made his guilt (Psalms 40:12; Psalms 69:5). Place Of Infinite Love Calvary is the place of indescribable, infinite love, eternal love, enduring love, self-denying love, saving love, everlasting love, divine love. Hear love welling up in the breaking heart of the Son of God, our crucified Substitute, as he prays, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34; John 13:1; 1 John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10; Romans 5:6-8; 2 Corinthians 8:9). Grace And Salvation “Beholding these things”, I have before my eye a scene of abounding grace in the salvation of sinners. “And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots” (Luke 23:32-34). “And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:39-43). Upon the basis of his blood atonement, the Lord Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of the very people who mocked him and crucified Him; and he obtained it. That forgiveness he obtained is made manifest in the saving operations of his grace upon the dying thief. The Saviour said to him, “Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise”! Here we have a portrait of God’s sovereign saving grace that is full of instruction and of consolation. The whole of salvation is summed up in the two words spoken by our Lord to the thief “with me”. He was with him in the covenant, with him in his obedience and with him in his death, and now he is with him in Paradise. “With me” is all the thief wanted. “With me” is heaven. “With me” is salvation. None are beyond the reach of omnipotent mercy. The Lord Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God by him. Our great God and Saviour is as willing to save as he is able to save. His salvation is by grace alone, without works. This dying thief was justified, sanctified, washed clean, and glorified in one great, single stroke of mercy! Learn this too. Those saints nearest death are nearest glory. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Judgment And Mercy “Beholding these things”, I see both great judgment and great mercy. “And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst” (Luke 23:44-45). The three hours of darkness over all the earth seems to me to be a declaration of God’s great wrath and judgment against sin. All who are without Christ are in great darkness; and darkness shall be their portion forever if they die without our Saviour. But the rent veil is a declaration of God’s infinite goodness and mercy. The blood of Christ has opened the way for poor sinners like us to come to God (Hebrews 10:19-22). Death Accomplished Once more, “beholding these things”, I see death accomplished. “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost” (v.46). Our Saviour came here to die; and he accomplished his mission. He was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. His accomplished death has brought life and immortality to us, and gives us peace. Like those described in Luke 23:48, I smite my breast in repentance, “beholding these things.” Blessed be his name, his death is the death of death for this poor sinner! Believing on the Son of God, I shall never die. “Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”!

Luke 23:32-43

Chapter 51 Lessons From Calvary Let us go again with our blessed Saviour to that horrible scene of sin and woe, that blessed, glorious scene of mercy, love, and grace, just outside the city of Jerusalem. I have before my mind’s eye the scene of three crosses, three criminals, soldiers, priests, a religious crowd, all gathered to slaughter the Son of God. Scattered among the others, I see a few weeping women, and in the distance, one or two heart-broken men. There is much to be seen here on the very surface. But there are other things hidden beneath the surface and unobserved by men. I see before me something of the character of God, much about the character of man, a great display of substitution, God’s great salvation, a tremendous picture of sin pardoned, a sad picture of sin unpardoned, a Saviour despised, a Saviour embraced, a sinner forever lost, and a sinner forever saved. I have found a few lessons in this passage that I pray the Spirit of God may be pleased to graciously apply to our hearts. How deep, bitter, universal, and vile is the hatred of the human heart for God! “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7). Oh, how fallen man hates God! We see it in the priests and the scribes. We see in the soldiers and the people. Hatred echoed through Pilate’s judgment hall. Malice rang in Herod’s court. Envy was the motive behind every word and deed performed on that infamous night by wicked men. The arrest, the scourging, the mockery, the spitting, the smiting, the cries of “Crucify him! Crucify him”!, the wagging of heads, the drunken songs, the nailing, the thieves’ railing, everything was but the outpouring of man’s utter hatred for God. Here we see what is in every human heart by nature. The heart of man is enmity against God. Man declared his heart in the crucifixion of God’s darling Son. Here is fallen man showing himself openly, making an unconscious confession of his hatred of God. It was man who erected the cross and nailed the Son of God to it. God gave the wild ass’s colt his reins and seems to have said, “Vent the feelings of your heart.” And he did, taking God by the throat, as it were; man snatched the only begotten Son of God from his Father’s heart, and crucified him with hellish delight. Reckoning the death of the cross the worst of all deaths, man says, “This is the best way to show my contempt for God. This is exactly what I think of the Son of God.” Thus, the enmity of the natural heart speaks out, and man not only confesses publicly that he is a hater of God, but he takes pains to show the intensity of his hatred. He glories in his shame, crying aloud, “Crucify him! Crucify him”! The cross interprets what is in man’s heart. The cross rips the mask of pretended religion off of the face of our race. The cross of Christ exhibits man’s heart as a cesspool, overflowing with the malignity of hell. Most would say, “I don’t hate God. I may be indifferent to him. He may not be in all my thoughts; but I don’t hate him”! If that is so, let men explain their daily crucifixion of the Son of God. What is man’s wilful unbelief, but the crucifying of the Son of God afresh? What is rebellion to Christ, but the crucifying of the Son of God afresh? What is blasphemy, but the crucifying of the Son of God afresh? What is man’s mockery of Christ, but the crucifying of the Son of God afresh? Will you dare look at your hands? They are red, dripping with blood! Whose blood is that? It is the blood of God’s own Son! Blood you shed continually in your heart, because you hate God, because you really want to be God yourself! Reading these lines, you may think I am being harsh. You may retort, “How dare you judge me”! I am not judging you. It is the cross that judges you. I am asking you to judge yourself by it. It is the cross that interprets your purposes and reveals the thoughts and intents of your heart. Oh, what a revelation of man the cross is! Man hating God, and hating him most, when God displayed his love most fully. Man acting like the devil, taking Satan’s side against God. Yes, the cross was a public declaration of man’s hatred for God and his Son. The cross is proud man spitting in God’s face and saying, “I am holy. I need no Saviour. To hell with God and his Son”! Our Saviour asked, “What think ye of Christ?” Man’s answer was, “Crucify him”! Man’s heart, his hands, his tongue all combine to scream out hatred for God and his Son. Everything I see in man on Calvary’s hill is hatred, utter hatred for God, the hatred of the human race toward the triune God. That is what your unbelief is: hatred for God and his Son (1 John 1:7-10; 1 John 5:10). What a horribly evil thing sin must be, if it takes the blood of God’s own Son, the death of heaven’s Darling to put it away! What must sin be when, in order to expiate it, the Lord of Glory must die upon the cursed tree as an outcast, a criminal, a curse? What a horribly evil thing sin must be! It is rebellion against God, treason against his throne, man’s attempt to rape and defile the holy Lord God, to drive the Almighty from his throne, to murder the Eternal Son. Sin is the expression of fallen man’s enmity against God, the display of our natural heart hatred of God. Sin is that which makes us obnoxious to the holy Lord God. Sin is the defilement of our race. Sin has brought us under the curse of God’s holy law. Sin has put us under the sentence of death, eternal death. Sin shuts the door of hope upon all the human race. It is no easy thing for sin to be put away. No carnal sacrifice can put away sin (Hebrews 10:1-7). Isaac Watts wrote: Not all the blood of beasts On Jewish altars slain Could give the guilty conscience peace, Or wash away the stain.” No work of man can put away one sin. No amount of repentance can put away sin. Not even our faith can put away sin. Toplady said in Rock of Ages: Not the labours of my hands Can fulfil Thy law’s demands; Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears for ever flow, All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone! Even God himself cannot, in his pure, absolute character as God, put away sin. If sin is to be put away, it must be put away by the sin-atoning death and substitutionary sacrifice of the incarnate God, the God-man Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. But his sacrifice was enough. He died but once; and once was enough. That is the meaning of these words. “Now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Christ’s sufferings and death for sin are of infinite value, merit, and efficacy. Therefore, he suffered for sin only once. He appeared once in the end of the world to put away sin; and he has done it. Our Lord Jesus Christ put away the guilt of sin by his atoning sacrifice. He put away the punishment of it by his sufferings and death as our Substitute. The incarnate Son of God put away the penalty of the law by his satisfaction of Divine justice. He put away the consequences of sin by his obedience unto death. He puts away the dominion of sin in his people by the power of his grace in the new birth. He puts away the filth of sin by his sanctifying grace. And he shall put away the very being of sin in resurrection glory. This work of putting away sin was accomplished by him bearing our sin in his own body upon the cursed tree. He carried it and took it away. This is what was pictured in the Old Testament type of the scapegoat. The Lord Jesus has removed sin from us as far as the east is from the west, by finishing and making an end of it. He disannulled and abolished it, insofar as the law and justice of God is concerned. When he paid our debt, he cancelled it in one day, by his one sacrifice. In one great day, the whole work was done (Zechariah 3:9). Our sins, being forever, effectually put away by the sacrifice of Christ, shall never be found and can never be charged to us again (Jeremiah 50:20; Romans 4:8). My sin, (O the bliss of this glorious thought!) My sin, not in part, but the whole, Is nailed to his cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord! It is well with my soul! Horatio Gates Spafford How immeasurable and infinite the love of God in Christ is. I see in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ love to the uttermost, unquenched and unquenchable (John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10). Man pours floods upon this love to quench it, but it grows more intense. What patience with man’s utmost malice; what forbearance with his sin! “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Was ever love like this? So vast, so free, so overflowing. Sin abounding, grace did much more abound (John 13:1; Ephesians 3:14-19. O how he loves! The purpose of our great God and Saviour is unalterably fixed, relentlessly pursued, and perfectly executed. Our Saviour came here to do a work (Matthew 1:21), a work appointed to him and purposed by him from everlasting (Psalms 40; Hebrews 10); and he was determined to accomplish it, “straightened”, as he put it, until it was accomplished. It shall be accomplished. It shall be finished. He had come here to accomplish death; and it shall be accomplished (Luke 9:30-31). How will he do it? By what means shall the holy Lamb of God be sacrificed? The altar shall be built, built by man’s enmity. The sacrifice shall be slain, slain by man’s hatred. The work shall be done, done by man’s will. It shall be done exactly according to the purpose of God (Psalms 76:10; Acts 2:23). How willing, how anxious the Lord Jesus Christ is to save poor, lost sinners! The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is a vivid declaration that “where sin abounded grace did much more abound”! What is the meaning of the cross? Why was our Lord Jesus nailed to the cursed tree? Behold the dying thief and hear the answer. The Son of God came into the world to save sinners! Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost! The Dying Thief The dying thief is a true specimen of God’s elect. This man appears to have done nothing but evil all his life. We know nothing about him, except that he was a thief, a thief who had executed his crimes with violence, a thief who continued to blaspheme, even as he was being executed, a thief who was loved and chosen of God (1 Corinthians 1:26-31). Why was Immanuel’s blood poured out at Calvary? Christ Jesus poured out his life’s blood upon the cursed tree to wash away sin. Here I see it washing away the sins of one like myself, whose heart and life were as black as hell. Why did Christ suffer and die? It was to pardon the most guilty. It was not merely to save us from hell, but to open Paradise to the chief of sinners, to open it at once; not after years of torment, but “today”. Today “shalt thou be with me”. Yes, the Lord Jesus went back to heaven with this saved thief in his hands. What an efficacy there is in the cross! What grace! What glory! What cleansing! What healing! What justice! What blessedness! By his death upon the cursed tree, the Son of God delivers and saves his people from their sins! Satisfying the justice of God, he plucked us as brands from the burning, conquered hell, and defeated the devil and cast him down to hell. The first sinner saved by the cross, after it had been erected upon Calvary’s hill, was a wretched, justly condemned thief; and the Son of God went up to heaven with him to join in that joy that is in heaven over one sinner who repents. See how near a person may be to hell and yet be saved! That thief was, as it were, upon the very brink of hell. He had one foot in the pit. Hell was in his heart. Hell had been his life. Soon, hell must be his portion forever! He had done nothing but evil continually all the days of his life. In the very last hour of his life, he is heard blaspheming and railing against the Lord Jesus. Yet, he was plucked from the fire by omnipotent mercy! Saved by the Son of God! He was just about to step into everlasting damnation, when the omnipotent hand of the Son of God seized him and lifted him up to Paradise! Oh, what grace is here! What boundless love! What power to save! Who after this need despair? Truly our Lord Jesus Christ is mighty to save! See how near you may be to Christ and yet be lost forever! The other thief was as near the Saviour as the one who was saved. Yet, he perished. He went to hell from the very side of the Son of God, from the very presence of Immanuel! There are two men. Both are thieves. Both are damned. Both are lost. Both are without God, without Christ, without hope. Both are in the immediate presence of the crucified Christ. One is taken up to glory. One is taken up to heaven. The other is cast down to hell. What made the difference? “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Throughout the Word of God we are constantly assured of these two facts. First, if anyone goes to hell, it is his own fault alone, his own responsibility, altogether the result of what he has done, and that for which he alone must bear the blame forever. Second, if anyone is saved, if anyone goes to heaven, it is God’s work alone, altogether the result of that which God has done, and that for which God alone must have the praise forever. “The wages of sin is death”! Sin is what we all are by nature; and sin is all that we do in a state of rebellion against God. It is as impossible for a sinner to do good as it is for water to be dry. Our corrupt nature corrupts all our thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds. As a corrupt fountain only brings forth corrupt water, so a corrupt heart only brings forth corruption. That means that the very ploughing of the wicked is an abomination to God, and even our righteousnesses are filthy rags in his sight (Proverbs 21:4; Isaiah 64:6).

Sin is also our choice. We all drink iniquity like water (Job 15:16). And that which sin deserves is death, eternal death, which is eternal separation from God and the eternal vengeance of his holy wrath. Death is the debt God owes to sin. And God always pays his debts. The one thief went to hell because he ate the fruit of his own way. Eternal Life “But the gift of God is eternal life”! Eternal life comes to guilty sinners not as a debt, or a reward for something we have done, but as the free-grace gift of God. The new birth, which is the beginning of eternal life in the soul, is the gift of God. Faith in Christ is the gift of God. Heavenly glory, which is the consummation of eternal life, is also the gift of God. Death, hell, and judgment are things we earn by sin. But grace, life, and heaven are things freely given to sinners “through Jesus Christ our Lord”! Christ, having paid the debt of sin for his people by his death upon the cross, has made it right and just for the holy Lord God, who must punish sin, to give eternal life to all for whom he died. Through the merits of Christ, through his blood and righteousness, God gives eternal life to everyone who believes on him. Even the faith by which we receive this gift is the gift of God and the result of his operation of grace (Ephesians 2:8; Colossians 1:12). Faith in Christ is not the cause of God’s gift, but the result of it. If you now believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, God has given you eternal life. It is altogether his work. “Salvation is of the Lord”! Can anyone be nearer to Christ than that thief was? Looking at him, hearing him, speaking to him, he was lost after all! Be warned. Outward nearness, religious duties, familiarity with the Word of God, baptism, eating and drinking the symbols of the Saviour’s body and blood, none of these things can save. You may be very near Christ, and yet not be in Christ. Salvation is not being near Christ. Salvation is being found in Christ. Hear the taunts of the crowd, “He saved others; himself he cannot save” (Matthew 27:42; Mark 15:31). That is the very essence of the gospel. The Son of God died as our Substitute. In order to save us he had to sacrifice himself (Hebrews 10:9-14; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 Peter 1:18-21; 1 Peter 2:24). In the light of all these things, my heart cries, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Because he saved others, the Lord Jesus Christ could not save himself.

Luke 23:39-43

Chapter 53 One Taken, The Other Left He did not learn it until he was in hell; but in hell the rich man learned that between him and Lazarus “there is a great gulf fixed; so that they who would pass” from one side to the other cannot (Luke 16:26). So it has been, so it shall be, and so it is. The human race is divided into two parts: sheep and goats, elect and reprobate, Jacobs loved of God and Esaus hated by him, vessels of mercy and vessels of wrath. Goats will never become sheep; and sheep will never become goats. Elect will never become reprobate; and reprobate will never become elect. Jacob will never become Esau; and Esau will never become Jacob. Vessels of mercy will never become vessels of wrath; and vessels of wrath will never become vessels of mercy. The gulf was fixed in eternity. The division was made in the decree of God. The distinction was established in eternity. It will be made clear to all at Christ’s second coming, in that great day when the Son of God sits in judgment upon his Great White Throne (Luke 17:33-36). In that day, “one shall be taken, and the other left.” As it shall be in that day, so it is today. When the appointed time of love is come for the salvation of God’s chosen, one is taken, and the other left. We have already seen this fact vividly set before us in the two thieves who were crucified with the Lord Jesus. Only Luke was inspired to tell us of our Saviour’s abundant mercy and distinguishing grace bestowed upon this dying thief. It is a story that deserves to be written in gold, told often, and remembered by all. Salvation By Grace The first thing that is obvious in this story is the fact that salvation is altogether the work of God’s free grace, altogether without works. This dying thief had no merit of any kind. He had no pre-disposition of heart toward the Son of God. He rendered no service to the Lord. He observed no ordinance. He was not baptized. He never united with, or even visited a church. He never observed the Lord’s Supper. Everything we know about this man tells us that he was a depraved sinner, a moral degenerate, whose life of infamous shame was about to be ended by penal execution. Yet, this poor, wretched, degenerate man was saved. No explanation can be given for that fact except this: “By grace ye are saved” (Romans 9:16; Ephesians 2:1-5; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:3-7). Sovereign, Distinguishing Grace Second, God’s saving grace, in every instance of it, is set before us in holy scripture as sovereign, distinguishing grace. Certainly, that is obvious in the story of these two thieves. Both of the other malefactors crucified with the Lord Jesus were guilty thieves, justly condemned. Matthew and Mark tell us that both joined in the rabble of Pharisees and the soldiers, mocking the Lord of Glory and railing upon him. Then there was a sudden change. One of the thieves ceased to curse the Saviour and sued him for mercy, crying, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” Both were equally near the Saviour, one on his right hand and the other on his left. Both saw and heard all that happened during the six hours that he hung on the cross. Both were dying men. Both were suffering acute, torturous pain. Both were alike wicked sinners. Both needed forgiveness. Yet, one died as he had lived, hardened in sin, proud and without repentance, unbelieving and without hope. The other repented, believed, cried to the Son of God for mercy, and was saved. What made the difference? Grace! Grace alone! The penitent thief was made penitent because the Lord Jesus gave him life and faith by the power of his omnipotent grace. He snatched the dying thief from the very brink of hell and took him with him to heaven as a trophy of his rich, free and sovereign grace. His conversion cannot be accounted for in any other way. We can only say, “Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight” (Matthew 11:26). How can two people hear the same sermon, from the same preacher, in the same condition, and one be converted, while the other remains dead in sin? How can one be totally indifferent and the other bowed in brokenness before God? How can one pray for mercy, while the other blasphemes? How can one see and the other remain blind? There is only one answer that can be given to those questions. “The LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel” (Exodus 11:7; 1 Corinthians 4:7). In election, in redemption and in effectual calling it is God, and God alone, who makes the difference between men. Timely Grace Third, this dying thief shows us an example of the fact that grace is always on time. Many say, concerning this man, “He was saved just in the nick of time.” But that is hardly the case. He was saved precisely at the divinely appointed time. He could not have been saved at any other time; and he could not have been saved at a better time. He could not have been saved at any other time, because, for him, this was “the time of love”, when he must be called. As illustrated in Gomer, the Prodigal Son, Onesimus, and this dying thief, there is an appointed time for the salvation of each of God’s chosen (Galatians 4:4-6). Some are saved in youth. Some are saved in the middle of life. And some are saved in old age. But all who are saved are saved at the only time they could be saved, because for each of us it took the whole experience of our ruin to bring us to our Saviour. And he could not have been saved at a better time. You might think, “But, wouldn’t it have been better for him to have lived longer, that he might serve and honour Christ upon the earth?” Let me answer that question by asking you what human being has ever been more useful. What man has ever been more influential for good? What person has been such a blessing to so many others? Who has ever been more instrumental for the glory of his maligned, blasphemed and ridiculed Redeemer than this man? Every saved sinner is saved at God’s appointed time; and each one is saved at the best time. The Means Of Grace The fourth thing that strikes me about the conversion of this man is this: The means of grace is not always obvious. We know that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). We know that sinners are “born-again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever … And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (1 Peter 1:23-25). But many point to the dying thief and say, “That man was saved without hearing the gospel.” Was he? No. Let me remind you of the things he heard, as he hung upon the cross. I do not know what he heard, or did not hear beforehand. But as he hung by his dying Saviour, he heard and saw the gospel as clearly as anyone ever could. He heard the Lord Jesus hailed as “the King of Israel” (Matthew 27:42). He heard that the Man hanging beside him had claimed to be the Son of God. “He said, I am the Son of God” (Matthew 27:43). He heard the chief priests and scribes say, “He saved others; himself he cannot save” (Mark 15:31).

He heard the Lord Jesus himself pray, probably just as he and the other thief had railed upon him, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). How many times he heard people that day crying, “Save”! Save”! “Save”! to the Saviour, as they derided him! He read Pilate’s testimony, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (Luke 23:38; John 19:19). And he saw the Lamb of God dying as a substitute in the place of a guilty man (Barabbas), who was released from death because he died in his place. The Character Of Faith Fifth, the dying thief shows us the character of true, saving faith. This man stands before us as a defining example of God-given faith (Luke 23:39-42). “And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” Here are seven things that are always characteristics of that faith that comes to chosen, redeemed sinners by the gift and operation of God the Holy Spirit. True faith is the result of conviction and arises from Holy Spirit conviction. It acknowledges justice. Oh fall down and own that the sentence of the law, which curses you for sin, is just. Denounce the pride and self-righteousness of your heart. True faith confesses sin. True faith confesses Christ’s holiness. “This man has done nothing amiss.” It confesses Christ as Lord and King. True faith looks to Christ alone for mercy. “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” True faith obtains God’s salvation. “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). This man’s faith was, in all those respects, precisely the same as that which God gives to every heaven-born soul. Yet, his faith in Christ is the most remarkable display of faith to be seen in all the Word of God, the most remarkable faith to be found in the history of the world! He trusted Christ as God his Saviour, his Lord and King, when all others had forsaken him, as he was dying! A Willing Saviour Sixth, this inspired narrative declares in bold letters that the Lord Jesus Christ is willing to save all who come to God by him, and “able to save to the uttermost” (Hebrews 7:25). The Saviour is able to save any sinner in any circumstance, any place, any time. He is willing to save. But that is not all. The Son of God will save all who come to God by him (John 6:37-40). Glory Near Seventh, this brief history of the dying thief tells us how near we are to glory. Heavenly glory is but a breath away! What a consolation that fact ought to be to all God’s saints, especially when we find ourselves dying. Heaven is but a breath away. Our Saviour said to this new-born soul, who would soon cease to live in his tortured body, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Without any past works to commend him, without possibility of future goodness, altogether by the work of Christ, he was assured of everlasting salvation with Christ in heaven! “Today” speaks volumes. It tells us that as soon as this earthly house, this tabernacle of clay is dissolved, we have a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 4:17 to 2 Corinthians 5:9). In that blessed state, in that place called heaven, we shall be with Christ! What is heaven like? Look yonder to the assembly around the throne. What are their joys, their feelings, their happiness? All is explained by this simple statement: They are with Christ. If the sheep are with the Shepherd, if the members are with the Head, if the saints are with him who loved them and gave himself for them, if the Bride is with her Beloved, if the redeemed are with the Redeemer, if the saved are with the Saviour, all is well. Nothing is lacking. Their joy is full! I do not know and cannot describe what heaven is; but the name of that city is Jehovah-Shammah, “the Lord is there” (Ezekiel 48:35). I want no more. I ask no more. I can have no more. “Christ is All”! Well did the Psalmist sing, “In Thy presence is fulness of joy” (Psalms 17:15; Psalms 27:4). Jesus, Thou art the sinner’s Friend; as such I look to Thee. Now in the bowels of Thy love, O Lord, remember me. Remember Thy pure word of grace, Remember Calvary, Remember all Thy dying groans, and then remember me. Thou wondrous Advocate with God, I yield myself to Thee; While Thou are sitting on the throne, Dear Lord, remember me. I own I’m guilty, own I’m vile; yet Thy salvation’s free; Then in Thy all abounding grace, dear Lord, remember me. However forsaken or distressed, however oppressed I be, However afflicted here on earth, do Thou remember me. And when I close my eyes in death, and creature helps all flee, Then, O my dear Redeemer God, I pray remember me. Richard Burnham One Taken, The Other Left When Joseph had interpreted the chief butler’s dream, how pathetically does he plead with him! “Think on me when it shall be well with thee” (Genesis 40:14). But such is the base ingratitude of man, that all was in vain. When the butler was restored, he cared nothing for Joseph in prison. Exalted men seldom care for needy souls. But it is not so with the King of kings. He is ever the Friend of poor sinners. He remembers us in our low estate. For us he hung on the accursed tree between two accursed sinners. One was taken, the other left. In the saved thief we see the marvellous power of God’s sovereign grace. Here is a reviler changed into a suppliant. What caused the change? Let every proud notion of self-righteousness, self-worth and freewill forever perish! Fall down before the Son of God and adore his distinguishing grace. One malefactor was left to himself and went to hell blaspheming.

The other died in faith, trusting Christ and praying. He was snatched, by omnipotent grace, from the jaws of hell, as a brand our Saviour would not allow to be burned. Do you see your nature to be as wicked and your state as desperate as this thief’s? If so, your soul is humbled before God. Do you see that nothing but the same grace of Christ can save you? If so, you will exalt the free grace of God in Christ.

Oh my soul, exalt the mercy, love and grace of Christ! Oh, may God the Holy Spirit teach you to pray as he taught this man to pray, “Lord, Remember me. There is no Saviour but you, no salvation but by you. I am a hopeless, helpless sinner; unless you save me, I must be damned forever. You are the King. Yours is the kingdom. Oh bring me with you into your kingdom”! If God will grant you such faith in the Saviour, Christ Jesus, you will soon be in Glory with the same Lord, who “is rich” in mercy “unto all who call on him” (Romans 10:12). Oh, what a great magnet the crucified Christ is to poor, needy, helpless sinners! “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die” (John 12:32-33). Let every member of Immanuel’s Bride cry as we are taught of God, “Draw me, we will run after thee” (Son 1:4).

Luke 23:44-49

Chapter 55 Our Saviour’s Death What great wonders attended the death of God’s darling Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, upon the cursed tree! Two Great Miracles In the passage before us we are told that two great miracles attended the sacrifice of our Saviour at Calvary. First, God the Holy Spirit here calls our attention to the fact that there was “a darkness over all the earth” for three hours. “The sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.” Our Saviour, the true Passover, is here delivering his true Israel out of great darkness. Therefore, as the sun was darkened in Egypt for three days, it was darkened for three hours when the Lamb of God was sacrificed for us. Nothing could be more proper and fitting. When the great sacrifice for sin was offered, when the Son of God was dying, darkness covered the earth. This was done by the hand of God once before in the sight of all Israel. When the Lord God came to redeem Israel out of Egypt, he sent darkness upon that cursed land for three days. And when the law by which we are condemned was given on Mount Sinai, God sent darkness upon the mountain of terror. Now, as the One who gave the law suffers all the penalty of the law for us, being made a curse for us, on Mount Calvary the sun was darkened for three hours. Such a miracle, complete darkness at mid-day, was a miracle that should arrest our attention. It should compel us to stop and think. During those three hours of darkness, our Redeemer was assaulted by all the powers of darkness with utmost might and malice. But he foiled them all and spoiled them all. He made an open show of them (as Roman conquerors used to do), triumphing over them on his cross, as on his chariot of state (Colossians 2:13-17), dragging his vanquished enemies and ours bound behind him (Ephesians 4:8; Psalms 68:17-20). Next, we read that “the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.” That huge, thick curtain that hung between the holy place and the holy of holies was ripped from top to bottom. This was a miracle that must have shook the priests in the temple in their very souls. What an instructive miracle it is! The law that once separated man and God has been completely fulfilled, satisfied, and terminated by the death of our Substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 6:14-15; Romans 7:4; Romans 8:1-4; Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:13; Galatians 3:24-26; Galatians 5:1) Christ is the fulfilment of the law. Christ is the satisfaction of the law. Christ is the end, the finish, the termination of the law. We have no covenant with the law. We live under a covenant of grace. We have no commitment to the law. Our commitment is to Christ, who obeyed the law for us. We do nothing by constraint of the law. “The love of Christ constraineth us.” We fear no curse from the law. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.” By the rending of that veil, God and men are reconciled; and by the rending of that veil, everything that separates men from one another is destroyed (Ephesians 2:11-22). Sinners like you and me have free access to God in all his glorious holiness (Romans 4:25 to Romans 5:11; Hebrews 10:19-22). Signs like these are part of the ways God speaks to arouse man’s attention and warn. He often performs miraculous things, forcing eternity bound sinners to open their eyes whether they want to or not, and to hear his voice though they try to be deaf to it. He has done so many times in the days that are past: when he brought Israel out of Egypt, when he gave the law at Sinai. And he did so when by the sacrifice of his Son, he brought in this great day of grace. He will do so again when Christ comes in his glory (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 1:7). He says, “Yet once more, I will shake not the earth only, but also the heavens” (Hebrews 12:26; Isaiah 24:23). The Saviour’s Cry In Luke 23:46 we hear our Saviour’s cry to his Father and our Father, as he left this world, having finished everything he came into the world to accomplish. “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” There was something mysterious about our Lord’s death, which made it unlike the death of any mere man. He who spoke those words is both God and man. His divine and human natures are inseparably united. Our Saviour did not die as we shall. He did not die because he was compelled to die, or could not avoid dying. No! He voluntarily laid down his life as our Good Shepherd (John 10:15-18). He died as our sin-atoning Substitute. And he set before us in his death the example we ought to follow in life, committing himself entirely to God (1 Peter 2:19-25; Philippians 3:7-10). The Centurion “Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man” (Luke 23:47). I do not doubt at all that this centurion was converted by his dying Redeemer. His testimony in Matthew and Mark goes further: “Truly this was the Son of God.” He glorified God. He confessed that Christ was the Righteous Man. And he worshipped him as the Son of God. “And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned” (Luke 23:48). They were terrified by their crime. They were repentant, pricked in their consciences; but theirs was “a repentance to be repented of”. They returned to their homes under the wrath of God. “And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things” (Luke 23:49). They stood afar off from danger, because their Surety had died. They stood, “beholding these things”, with wonder, as well as looking upon their dear suffering Lord, with aching hearts and flowing eyes, remembering all he had taught, reflecting upon what they were beholding that day: redemption accomplished! Sons of peace redeemed by blood, Raise your songs to Zion’s God; Made from condemnation free, Grace triumphant sing with me. Calvary’s wonders let us trace, Justice magnified in grace; Mark the purple streams, and say, Thus my sins were washed away. Wrath Divine no more we dread, Vengeance smote our Surety’s head; Legal claims are fully met, Jesus paid the dreadful debt. Sin is lost beneath the flood, Drowned in the Redeemer’s blood, Zion, oh! How blest art thou, Justified from all things now. John Kent

Luke 23:50-56

Chapter 56 Joseph Of Arimathaea Some flowers only bloom at night. Joseph of Arimathaea was just such a flower. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all tell us the story of this man. Yet, there is no mention of him anywhere in the Word of God, until late in the evening of our Lord’s crucifixion; and there is no mention of him afterward. In so far as the record of holy scripture is concerned, he seems to have stepped onto the stage of history just after our Saviour died, did just one thing, and then stepped off the stage into oblivion. This rich man of Arimathaea was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, that mob of self-righteous Pharisees, that horrible Jewish religious court that had the Lord Jesus crucified. Yet, the Holy Spirit expressly tells us that he was “a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews” (John 19:38). Because he was a member of the Sanhedrin, because his fear of the Jews kept him from openly confessing the Lord Jesus, Joseph of Arimathaea is often overlooked, or looked upon with disdain. We all naturally imagine that we would not have feared those men Joseph feared, that we would not keep our faith in Christ a secret thing, and that we would not remain a part of any church or religious body that had condemned the Lord Jesus and cried for his crucifixion. In fact, our proud, self-righteous hearts would quickly cast this man aside as a reprobate hypocrite, except for one thing. God the Holy Spirit tells us (Luke 23:50-51) that Joseph of Arimathaea “was a good man, and a just … who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.” The word translated “good” in this particular place means “ready”. The word “just” means “righteous, right, innocent, or faultless”. That sure messes things up. Doesn’t it? It messes things up only if we are so foolish that we imagine that we know the heart of another and insist upon sitting ourselves up as judges before whom all the world must stand or fall! No one around him, believers or unbelievers, church folk or street folk, no one around him imagined that Joseph was one of the Lord’s disciples. “If he had”, as proud religious men say, “been put on trial for being a Christian, there would not have been enough evidence to convict him.” But Joseph of Arimathaea was the right man in the right place at the right time. He was one of God’s saints, a man chosen for a specific service, brought forth to the light at exactly the right time. I do not excuse his fear of the Jews. I do not excuse his refusal to identify himself with his Lord. I do not justify his membership in the Sanhedrin. And I do not imagine that you would have done any better or any different than he did had you been in his place. I am certain I would not have behaved better. Having said all that, somehow, when he saw his Saviour, whom he dearly loved, whom he trusted, the King for whom he had been looking, crucified upon the cursed tree, extraordinary courage nerved his spirit, and boldly he went to Pilate and begged the body of his Lord, that he might give him a proper burial. When others were cowardly, Joseph was courageous. When others showed themselves lax, Joseph was loyal. When others denied their Saviour, Joseph stepped forward to identify himself with his Redeemer and Lord. When others were reluctant, Joseph was ready. Multitudes, like Joseph, have been emboldened by the cross of Christ to do what they would never have thought of doing otherwise. When night comes, the stars appear; and in the darkest night in the history of the world this star shined brightly. Seven Lessons Our great God rules and overrules all things for his own glory and the good of his elect. How could Isaiah’s prophecy have been fulfilled, that Christ would make his grave with the rich in his death (Isaiah 53:9), except as it actually came to pass? He who was numbered with the transgressors and bare the sin of many made his grave with the rich. When the Jewish leaders went to Pilate to have the Lord’s legs broken and the body taken from the cross, they did not say, “We need to bury the body”, and did not ask that his body might be buried. The bodies of the crucified men were thrown into a common pit to be meat for buzzards and wild animals. The bodies were left in the open to rot, until the sun had bleached their bones. There was no thought of burying the crucified felon. Even if the disciples had gotten up the nerve to have their Lord buried, they had no grave in Jerusalem. They were Galileans. They could not carry the Saviour’s body back to Galilee. Red Heifer But, back in Numbers 19 there was a law given in Israel, one of the ceremonies required by God that the Jews never kept. It involved the sacrifice of a red heifer. This red heifer offering was one of the most beautiful, intimate and intricate types of the offering of the Son of God for sinners given in the Old Testament; but it was never observed by anyone. This is what God required in Numbers 19. “And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke: And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face: And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times: And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn: And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even. And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even. And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin. And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever” (Numbers 19:1-10). “And a man that is clean shall gather.” A ceremonially clean man, one who has kept the ceremonial law of Moses, one who had no taint of ceremonial defilement on him, he “shall gather up the ashes of the heifer.” All that was left after the sacrifice was to be gathered by a clean man. He was to “lay them up without the camp in a clean place.” What was an unclean place? An unclean place under the law was anywhere a dead body had been. So it was essential that Christ be buried outside the camp. It was essential that he be buried in a clean place. Where could such a burying place be found? God supplied this rich man from Arimathaea, Joseph, who had a sepulchre nearby, “that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid” (Luke 23:53). If the Lord Jesus had been buried in a sepulchre where some other dead body had been laid, the ceremonial law would have been violated; but there was a tomb already prepared by God’s providence, where never man was laid. Joseph of Arimathaea had cut out the tomb for himself. It was to be his own grave. He had no idea, when he cut through the stone that prepared that burial place, that he was fulfilling the words of Isaiah chapter 53. “He made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death.” But that is exactly what he did. There is more. The law required a clean man must do the job. You could not have found a cleaner man in all Jerusalem, as far as the ceremonial law of God was concerned, than Joseph of Arimathaea. He was a member of the Sanhedrin, one who rigidly observed the ceremonies of the law. Still, one thing stood in the way. Joseph was a terribly timid man. He was a secret disciple. But something happened. A miracle was wrought in his heart, and Joseph suddenly became a very bold man. He went in boldly and craved the body of the Lord Jesus. Still, there is a problem. Once a clean man touched a dead body he was unclean. That meant he could not keep the Passover. But that problem vanished in an instant. Joseph now understood that he did not need to keep the ceremonial Passover, because Christ his Passover had been sacrificed for him. The dead body he was handling was not his defilement, but his cleanness. The Lord Jesus had, by his shed blood, made atonement for his defilement (sin). The crucified Saviour had made him clean; and he could not be made unclean again (Romans 4:8). The bodies of God’s saints ought to be treated with honour and buried. As our Saviour was buried as our Surety, brought to the dust of death (Psalms 22:15), that he might conquer death in his resurrection, we bury our brothers and sisters in Christ in hope and expectation of the resurrection. As our Lord Jesus was wrapped for his burial in a linen garment like a priest, we who are his shall be buried in the white linen, priestly garments of his righteousness, as a holy priesthood (Revelation 19:6-9). Death is not something God’s people have any reason to fear. C. H. Spurgeon wrote, “That rock-hewn cell in the garden sanctified every part of God’s acre where saints lie buried. Instead of longing to live till Christ comes, as some do, we might rather pray to have fellowship with Jesus in his death and burial.” None of us has ability to look upon the heart of another. The fact we do not see grace in a person does not mean that grace is not there. “Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations” (Romans 14:1). Salvation is altogether by the grace of God. Our only righteousness is the righteousness he gives us in and by Christ. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to us for justification. And the righteousness of Christ is imparted to us in regeneration, by the irresistible power and effectual grace of God the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 3:10-12; 2 Peter 1:3-4; 1 John 3:7-9). Just as the fallen, unrighteous nature of Adam was imparted to all men by natural birth, the holy, righteous nature of Christ is imparted to all God’s elect in the new birth. I am not saying that the believer is without sin. He is not. Sin is what we are by nature. Sin is mixed with all we do. Sin mars our best thoughts, blackens our best deeds, corrupts our best words, and defiles our best aspirations. I am not saying that the old nature is changed in regeneration. It is not. Flesh is always flesh. It never improves. It never becomes spirit. It only corrupts, rots, and, thank God, in time dies. I am not saying that the believer’s works can ever be accepted before God upon their own merit. They are not. We offer up our prayers and sacrifices to God, which are accepted by him only upon the merits of Christ’s righteousness and blood atonement (1 Peter 2:5). But I am saying that the person who is born of God is a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). He has a new nature, which is “Christ in you the hope of glory.” All who are born of God have in them that “new man created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). Those who do not have this imparted righteousness are no more born of God than those who do not have Christ’s imputed righteousness are justified before God. God knows the best time to bring forth his servants to do the work for which he has ordained them, and the best means to secure it. When Joseph was needed, the Lord God had him ready for the service he was to perform. The sabbath was a day of rest in the Old Testament. Christ our Sabbath is our rest. We keep the sabbath by faith, ceasing from our own works and resting in our Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:9).