[Machine transcription]
The seven words from the cross, the first word from Luke chapter 23.
And when they came to the place that is called the skull, there they crucified him,
and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
And Jesus said, Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do, and they cast lots to divide his garments. Amen.
In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Dear Saints of God, in the Old Testament, the Lord hid his presence in the Holy of Holies,
inside the tabernacle, where only the priest could go once a year on the Day of Atonement.
This hidden glory of God was to protect the people, because it was dangerous to look upon
the glory of the Lord. In fact, the Lord warns Moses and says,
because no one can see My face and live.
But here, as we consider these words of Jesus,
as we sit or stand at the base of the cross
and watch the three hours of suffering
and three more of darkness,
we are in the most holy place.
seeing the very face of God, the heart of God exposed for us by the death of Jesus.
We have seven words that Jesus spoke on the cross, and here we heard the first one.
There’s going to be something that the first three words have in common,
and that is that in all of them Jesus was not concerned with himself but rather
with those around him. The first is the prayer to the Father, a prayer that the
Lord would forgive the soldiers who were crucifying Jesus. They don’t know, says
Jesus what they’re doing. Now there’s no doubt that the soldiers did know a
little bit about what they were doing. They knew just where to put the nail to
hold the hands to the cross. They knew just how to tie a man to the beam so
that he wouldn’t move as they drove the nail through his hands and through his
feet. They knew just where to put a sword or to put a spear to pierce a man’s
heart. They knew what they were doing when it came to crucifixion. They
didn’t know what we don’t know or at least what we often forget. That every
sin of ours, every breaking of God’s law is reaching up and slapping God in the
face. They had no idea how offensive their own sins were on this day. But
Jesus still prays for their forgiveness. Father, forgive them. If there’s anything,
it seems, that could take the eyes of Jesus off of those around him and put it
on to himself, it seems like this would be the moment. I just imagine myself
being being thrown down to the ground and tied to a cross and a nail being
driven through my hands. I would imagine that my attention would be 100% focused
just on the nail, going into my hands, but Jesus’ attention is not on his own hands
being pierced, but on the hands of the soldiers that are swinging the hammer and holding the
nail.
And that’s how it always is with Jesus.
Nothing can take his eyes off of the sinner.
Nothing can take His eyes off of us. So there’s no anger as Jesus is suffering.
In fact, the blood that He sheds is putting out anger and wrath and winning for us the
forgiveness of sins. No doubt God the Father heard this prayer of Jesus so
that you and I dear friends will be able to meet this soldier on the day of the
resurrection. He’s your brother because his sins are forgiven. Father forgive
them. They know not what they do. Amen. O Lord, forgive us for all of our sins. Wash them away
in the flood of Jesus’ blood and bring us at last to the joys of life everlasting. Amen.
The second word, Luke chapter 23. One of the criminals who were hanged railed at
him saying, are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the other rebuked
him saying, do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of
condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our
deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said,
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
And he said to him, truly, I say to you, today,
you will be with me in paradise. Amen.
in the name of Jesus. Amen. Jesus is taking care of the most unlikely people
from the cross, first the centurion and then the thief crucified next to him.
Matthew tells us that both of these criminals, one on the right hand of Jesus
and the other on the left, started out their crucifixion all railing against the
Lord, but one of them sees something different, even in the suffering and death of Jesus.
He sees that Jesus is suffering innocently.
He sees that he’s suffering something that he doesn’t deserve, and perhaps as he looks
at the mockery of those going around him, he hears the truth of what they say, that
And Jesus truly is the King of the Jews, and he believes in Jesus, and he’s saved.
He says, Jesus, remember me, and Jesus does.
Truly I say to you, today, you will be with me in paradise.
Here is our King on the cross, here is his crown, here is his throne, and here is his
kingdom of blood and suffering and life eternal in the forgiveness of sins.
So that this one, crucified next to our Lord Jesus, will also stand with us on the resurrection
day.
Jesus dies unjustly, so that we sinners could live forever. So we pray that Jesus
would remember us as he’s come into his kingdom, and he says to us that we will
be with him in paradise. Amen. O Lord, grant us the confidence to live and to die trusting
in your mercy and knowing that we will one day stand before your throne in the joys of
life eternal. Amen. The third word, John chapter 19. But standing by the cross of
Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary
Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing
nearby, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. Then he said to the
disciple, Behold your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her to his
own home. Amen. In the name of Jesus, Amen. When Joseph and Mary brought Jesus into
the temple to be circumcised on the eighth day, and then to offer the offering for Mary’s
purification on the fortieth day, they were met by the old man Simeon, who took Jesus
into his hands and prayed the Nuncta Menis, but then gave this promise to Mary, saying,
saying, a sword will pierce your own heart also.
And now the sword is piercing her heart
as she sees her beloved Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
suffering the agonies of crucifixion.
But even here, dear friends, even here,
Jesus’ mind is not on himself, but rather on all those around.
And he turns to Mary and gives her into the care of St. John.
He turns to John and commends to him his mother Mary, so that she would be taken care of.
And this is the point, Jesus is pouring out his life, not for himself, but for us.
Woman, he says, behold your son.
Son, to John, behold your mother.
Amen.
O Lord, we give you thanks that you perfectly kept the law of God for us and in our place.
We thank you that you honored your Father and your earthly Mother and that your righteousness
is now given over to us. Grant us the joy and peace of knowing this great righteousness as your gift of mercy to us. Amen.
The fourth word, Matthew chapter 27. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness
over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out
with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, that is, my God, my God, why
Why have you forsaken me?
Amen.
In the name of Jesus,
Amen.
Dear saints, we know the answer
to this question of Jesus.
We know why God is forsaking Him.
We know why God is pleased to bruise Him.
We know why God is smiting Him
and turning His face from Him so that the sun doesn’t even shine.
We know why. We know that Jesus is the Lamb of God who’s bearing our sin,
who’s being stricken for our transgression, who’s being afflicted because of the things
that we’ve done wrong, who’s being forsaken because of us, because of me,
because of you. This darkness and this cry, this is the real suffering of
the cross that wins salvation. It’s true enough that there’s a lot of physical
agony, it’s true enough that there is shame, but the true suffering that wins
Because our redemption is right here, as Jesus suffers the wrath of God in our place.
There is a favorite phrase of the old theologians, especially I’m thinking here of Philip Melanchthon,
the old Lutheran theologian who used to love to say that faith sets Christ between us and
the wrath of God.
Between us and God’s anger over sin.
Between us and God’s wrath over our transgression.
between us and all the things that have done wrong,
between us and the consuming holiness of God,
between us and the brilliance of His light,
between us and all that we have deserved,
faith sets Christ, and He suffers it,
in your place.
Jesus prays,
Say, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Psalm 22.
So that we sinners can pray, Psalm 23.
Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,
Thou art with me.
You will not be forsaken.
you will not suffer God’s wrath. Jesus, your Jesus, has done that already. God, be praised for this
prayer. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Amen. Oh Lord, we give you thanks that you
suffered the anger and wrath of God in our place so that we might know your love and your smile
and your life eternal. Amen. The fifth word, John chapter 19. After this, Jesus,
knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill the scripture, I thirst. Amen.
In the name of Jesus, amen.
There were a few more promises to keep.
This is one of the last ones.
That he was thirsty.
So he let everyone there know.
And the soldiers who had at first presented him gall mixed with wine to drink, and he
refused it, now offer him some sour wine and he takes it.
so that his parched lips would be able to at last preach and pray.
Jesus has won the victory.
He has suffered the wrath of God.
He has paid the price for your redemption.
He has accomplished the atonement that he set out to accomplish
in his birth and even before the foundation of the world.
and now He will preach that victory and now He will commend Himself to His Father’s hands.
Amen.
O Lord, we thank You for Your thirst, that You suffer with us and for us.
and we thank you that from your parched lips you will preach to us victory and hope and peace.
Amen. The sixth word, John chapter 19. A jar full of sour wine stood there so they put a
a plunge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch,
and held it to his mouth.
When Jesus had received the sour wine,
He said,
It is finished.
And He bowed His head
and gave up His spirit.
In the name of Jesus, Amen.
When Adam and Eve took the fruit in the garden
and ate from it,
And it started this war between heaven and earth,
this war between God and man,
this war between you and God.
And it raged this war for a long time.
It raged through the family of Abraham.
It raged through the exodus in Egypt.
It raged through the kingdom of Israel.
It raged and still rages.
Our sin, crying out, making us, as St. Paul says, enemies of God, and yet while we were still enemies,
God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law,
and He accomplished that redemption.
It is finished.
The war between heaven and earth, between you and God, it’s finished.
Your salvation, your desire to come to everlasting life, it’s finished.
Jesus has done it.
He reached the finish line, and not for himself, but for you and for me.
And he has accomplished all that he set out to do.
Now, I think of all of the words that Jesus spoke from the cross,
it’s this one that the devil attacks most.
The devil comes along and tempts us to think that our salvation is not finished,
that our salvation is not accomplished, that we have to do something to add to it.
But listen to Jesus on the cross. It is finished. Having been justified by grace,
we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
O Lord, we give You thanks that You finished the work of redemption,
that You suffered and died so that we might have life eternal.
Grant us the joy of your finished work, now and always. Amen.
The seventh word, Luke 23.
It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed.
and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said,
Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. And having said this, he breathed his last.
Amen. In the name of Jesus, Amen. Jesus ends as he began with a prayer to God the Father.
He began by praying that the Father would forgive them their sins, and now he ends
with this prayer to the Father, commending himself into his Father’s care. The words of
Psalm 31, into your hands I commit my spirit.
So Jesus dies, trusting in God the Father.
So Jesus dies, knowing that He is safe.
So Jesus dies, with the confidence that redemption is won.
so Jesus dies with the expectation of meeting the man crucified next to him in
paradise. So Jesus dies to free us from the fear of death. The sting of death is
sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but praise be to God who gives us the
victory in Christ Jesus our Lord, because there is no more sting in death for you, dear
saints.
There’s no more fear, because there’s no more judgment, because Jesus has finished
your salvation.
So we, when our last hour comes, can pray this same prayer.
Father, into your hands I commit my spirit, and we can breathe our last, knowing that
for us to live is Christ and die is gain, and that nothing will separate us from the
love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, no, not even death.
because everything that Jesus has done, the suffering, the bleeding, the dying,
all of it was for us so that we might be with Him in eternal life. May God grant it. Amen.
And the peace of God that passes all understanding. Guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ,
our Lord. Amen.
