Well, good morning again. And please turn in your copies of God's Word to the Gospel of Luke. Luke chapter 23. Our text today is v. 26-49. Luke 23, beginning in v. 26. Hear the word of the Lord. Now as they led Him away, They laid hold of a certain man, Simon the Cyrenean, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. And a great multitude of the people followed, and women who also mourned and lamented him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed, the days are coming in which they will say, blessed are the barren, wombs who never bore and breasts which never nursed. Then they will begin to say to the mountains, fall on us, and to the hills, cover us. For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry? There were also two others, criminals, led with him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified him. And the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left, Then Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. And they divided his garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, he saved others. Let him save himself if he is the Christ, the chosen of God. The soldiers also mocked him coming and offering him sour wine and saying, if you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. And an inscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. This is the king of the Jews. Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him, saying, If you are the Christ, save yourself and us. But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, assuredly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit. Having said this, He breathed His last." So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God saying, certainly, This was a righteous man. And the whole crowd who came together to that site, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned. But all his acquaintances and the women who followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Last week we covered the trial, the kangaroo trial as it were, and particularly the trial that Jesus had before the civil magistrates, the Roman officials. And we noted, and I would also remind you that the psalmist in Psalm 59 highlights this very thing as well. You notice that the declaration from Pilate, and according to Pilate, from Herod as well, was that Jesus was innocent, that he had done nothing deserving of death. And yet, because of the insistence from the Jews and a desire to appease the Jews, he gives a death sentence, an order for crucifixion. that Jesus of Nazareth would be crucified. And what we see in this particular text, we see not only that Christ was crucified, but we see that there's a variety of responses to this crucifixion. And so we're going to cover those as they show up in the text. And the first is a response of ignorance. You'll notice that as Jesus is carrying the cross, well, I guess, for the sake of the children, One of the punishments kids that the Romans would do. It's like a secondary punishment. After they torture whoever it is that they're going to crucify. And we know in Jesus case they tortured him to a point beyond recognition. They used a whip called a cat of nine tails that had various sharp implements. in the cords themselves. That could be glass, that could be rocks, bones, a variety of things. And what it does when they beat you with it is it rips the flesh off. Rips the flesh off. And then the Romans would have whoever was being crucified carry their cross to the place that the crucifixion will happen. In this case, it is Calvary. Some accounts record it as Golgotha, the place of the skull. It is where Jesus will be crucified. Now, oftentimes today when we see a cross, we see it already put together. It kind of looks like a lowercase t, right? It wasn't uncommon that the cross would be carried in two pieces. Your vertical piece and your horizontal piece. In this case, you have Simon who is recruited, albeit against his will, to carry at least part of the cross for Jesus. And as they are carrying this along, the women that have followed Jesus, and as Luke tells us at the end, they've followed Him from Galilee. That is to say that this is part of that group of women that has been following Jesus for the vast majority, if not all of His ministry. And they're weeping. And I think, on the one hand, it's understandable. This response is an understandable response. The man that they've come to know as the Son of God, the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the world, has been beaten, has been falsely accused, and then to appease a group that hates him, has been sentenced to death. I mean, seeing anyone, any of our loved ones, any of our close friends, beaten nearly to death, marred and bloodied beyond recognition, and then being forced to their place of execution, that would cause any of us to weep. This isn't an unnatural or It's not something that's hard to understand, that they're weeping. However, this weeping, though understandable, I think, in part, is out of ignorance. Because it's been clearly shown throughout the Gospel that one of the things that the disciples seem to never get is that Christ the Messiah must die. It's understandable, knowing that they've been with Him for three years, that they've followed Him, they've heard His teaching, they've seen how He interacts with people, They've seen the miracles that He's performed. And they understand that He is the Christ. And yet, Jesus tells them, do not weep for Me. Now, we might be tempted to think, aside from the fact that we know Jesus is sinless, we might be tempted to think that that's a selfish thing for Jesus to say. But when we remember the whole of Scripture, that this was something that Jesus voluntarily went through with, that this was something that Jesus, even in his addressing of the religious leaders and A Pilate and Herod told them, you would have no authority if God hadn't given it to you. We know that Jesus, as the Son of God, could have commanded legions of angels to come and rescue Him. But why didn't He do it? Why would Jesus tell these women whose mourning and lamenting is understandable, don't weep for Me? Because Jesus understood, and the apostles will understand later, that His death was necessary. And Jesus understood even for those that had followed Him, His death would secure something far greater of benefit for them. It was for the joy set before Him that He will endure the cross. And what is that joy? It is the salvation of a people dead in their trespasses and sins, incapable of saving themselves. Salvation that will be accomplished through the shedding of his blood. Jesus understood this. And I think that is in part why he tells them in the midst of their weeping and mourning, don't mourn for me. One, because he knows why he's dying. And the reason he's dying is a joyous thing. It is the accomplishment of salvation, of freedom from sin, of raising spiritual dead people to life that cannot happen any other way. And so He tells them, do not weep for Me. Jesus knew, and He had always known, why it was that He was sent into the world. Jesus knew that He had a particular mission. The Son of God was sent into the world to save sinners. And one of the things that we see over and over again in the Gospels, even as this hostility between Jesus and the Pharisees was building, is that Jesus escapes them, and what does the Gospel writer say? Because his time had not yet come. But Jesus wasn't so focused on what He had to do on Calvary's hill that He was blind to the distresses that would come upon His disciples. And so He doesn't merely say, don't weep for me. But in what is, according to Luke, one of the last teachings of Jesus, He gives this instruction. Weep for yourselves and for your children. Don't weep for me. Weep for yourselves and for your children. And I think as we continue reading, and it's part of the reason why we read from Hosea. Hosea is being quoted here by Luke. The reason that he is telling them to weep for themselves is it's a way of instructing that that there's going to be a fallout that is going to be painful for you as my followers. And we'll see more of this, particularly in the book of Acts. What is the fallout from the crucifixion of Jesus? It is those who have already responded to Christ in the negative. with disbelief, turning their anger, turning their unbelief against His disciples, and according to Paul, breathing out threats and murder against them. He is warning His disciples. He's warning these women that the day will come when His people, the church, His disciples, will be persecuted for following Him. That is why He's telling them, weep for yourselves. Not because they are going to receive God's judgments, But because a world that hates Christ, that refuses to believe upon Him, that remains in open rebellion, will turn its gaze and its attention to the only ones that it can harm. And this is the way of the world from the beginning. Satan was an angel of light, right? And he fell because he rebelled against God. Could Satan harm God? No. So what did Satan do? He targets God's image bearers. And you see this repeated over and over again. When you get to like the times of the prophets, can the wicked rulers? You can think Jezebel. That's a really easy one. Could Jezebel harm God? No. But who could Jezebel harm? Elijah. And so after the confrontation on Mount Carmel, the battle of the gods, we might say, she threatens him, curses him, and says, you're going to be as one of my false prophets by morning. And it sends Elijah running. Jesus is telling these women that this same pattern will continue. and that they will suffer the effects of an unbelieving world that remains in open hostility to the Lord of glory. Now, Jesus doesn't say it here. But we know from Paul and his testimony that these persecutions will even come believing that they're being done in the name of God. Weep not for me. Weep for yourselves. Not because salvation is coming to your soul, but because there's a cost to following Christ. It's a cost that has often resulted throughout the history of the church in the blood of God's people being shed. Weep for yourselves because they, these unbelieving persecutors of Christ, would rather be crushed by mountains than bow the knee to King Jesus and receive forgiveness of their sins. They would rather meet a bloody violent end and still retain their rebellion, which means they will pursue that against you. Pray, weep for yourselves. You see, our Savior, even as He is walking the hill to Calvary, is still instructing His disciples. And when He hears well-intended ignorance weeping for Him in a loving way, He corrects This ignorant response. Well, wouldn't it be great? Or to reference. An old band, wouldn't it be nice? Wouldn't it be nice If this response of ignorance was the only kind of response that we ever saw to the good news of Christ and the Gospel, it would be nice. But not all things that are nice are true. The other response that we see, and we actually see it from a variety of people, It's a blasphemous response. A blasphemous response from hard hearts who don't understand that the very thing they are pursuing, the very desire that they are seeing upon Jesus, their desire upon Him, that is His death, It is a response where they do not believe His claim to be the Christ, the Chosen of God. They do not believe that He is the King, not just of the Jews, but of the world. Psalm 2, See I have set My King to reign. And who is the psalmist addressing? The Gentiles. And they're so caught up in this idea that Jesus is the Messiah or claims to be the Messiah. They're so caught up on that. that one, they have failed to see that this is what the Scriptures pointed to. They've failed to see that this is what God foretold back to the prophets of old, even going as far back as Adam and Eve in the garden. A seed will rise of the woman who will crush the head of the serpent. The promise made to Abraham, in your seed, which is singular, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. The illustrations that God gave to the people of Israel in the desert as they fled from Egypt, that the blood of another must be shed for their forgiveness of sins. The message from Isaiah that this Savior would be a suffering Savior. This Savior would be none else than the Lord God Himself. The problem is that the Jewish leadership particularly, refused to believe not merely Christ and His Word during His earthly ministry. They refused to believe the message of the prophets as they spoke the Word of God. They refused to believe because they had adopted an entirely different system from that which was given to the Jewish people. They had adopted a system that taught that if you did all of these things, you can save yourselves by your works. which is why you have commands in the rabbinical writings regarding how you keep the Sabbath. And as long as the lid isn't too heavy on your water pitcher, you can keep the Sabbath by drinking water. Otherwise, if it's too heavy and you lift it, you're violating that command by doing the very thing that God made you dependent upon for earthly life. drinking water. They spent so much time focused upon nitty-gritty laws, like tithing of their spices, that they failed to grasp that what God required, even more so than the sacrifices, even more so than The tithing of little things was mercy. Justice. A humble walking with God. And this blasphemous response, you notice how it comes from three groups of people? It comes from the religious leaders. The leaders of the Jewish people. Who remain hardened to the idea that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. That He has the words of life and there's no one else to go to. That they sneer at Him saying He saved others. Why can't he save himself? But it ties back to one of those things that we saw earlier on. And we've really seen this, if we've been careful in our Bible reading, we've seen this all throughout the Scriptures as well. God is pleased to show signs and wonders to help unbelief. He's not doing it to appease one's unbelief. Do you see the difference there? Think of Gideon and his putting out the fleece. That's because he had weak faith, not because he denied God. God does miracles. Christ did miracles. to help those whose faith was weak, not for the enjoyment and appeasement of those who deny God altogether. So you have the religious leaders. You have the soldiers. The soldiers had already been mocking Him. We saw in the previous passage. They gave Him a crown. thorns Which if you want to idea like the size of those thorns if you think of the thorns on like a rose bush Not that size Not at all Kids Y'all do all y'all have pinkies Yeah, let me let me see them Okay Those thorns, at a minimum, would have been the size, the length of your pinky. And these soldiers fashioned a crown with a bunch of thorns that size, and then they shoved it onto his head so that the thorns go into his head. It's very painful. And then, if that wasn't enough, they get a purple robe, which was often viewed as colors of the rich or royalty. And they had put the robe on him while they were still beating him in one of the other courtyards and mocking, saying, Hail, King of the Jews. Then they go and they offer Him, which Luke tells us this is part of their mocking, that they offer Him sour wine. Do you all know what is meant by sour wine? Kids especially? Do you want to know? Vinegar. Imagine saying to your parents that you're thirsty and getting vinegar. Is that going to quench your thirst? No. So Luke doesn't tell us this, but some of the other Gospel writers record that Jesus actually said to the soldiers, I thirst. and they gave Him sour wine. All part of this mocking Jesus for being who He claimed to be. And what they didn't realize even then is that Jesus remained in control even while He's on the cross. Why were their lives spared? Why were they not killed by legions of angels? Because Jesus refused to give that command. Why? So that you and I could have our sins paid for. It was the ultimate expression of God's love for an unworthy and a sinful people. That God demonstrated His love for us by dying for us, by Christ dying for us while we were still sinners. Jesus, as a sinless, perfect Savior, willingly dies so that an unworthy, sinful people might be saved from the wrath of God justly deserved for our sins. That third group that mocks Jesus is one of the criminals on the cross who speaks, well he doesn't, his co-criminal speaks very profound words. One says, if you are the Christ, save us, and the other rebukes him. Why? Because he understands what Pilate understood, what Herod understood, what you and I understand, that Jesus was innocent. He understood it from a different point of view, that he's not innocent. This criminal understands that he is paying the price for his sin, for his crimes. And his sin, which we're not told what it was, in Roman eyes, warranted the death penalty. That could mean any number of things. He could be a rebel against Rome. He could be a murderer. Either way, to get a death penalty, you commit a serious crime. It's not merely that they stole something. And this man, this criminal understands Which, by the way, this is the third response to Christ. He understands that what he deserves for his sin, for his crime, he is getting as he is being crucified. But he also understands, first, that Jesus is who he claimed to be. He is the Messiah. He is the Son of God. And he is sinless. He understands that Jesus has done nothing wrong, and therefore Jesus doesn't deserve what He is getting. But understanding that Jesus is who He claims to be, He understands that there is a Savior who can save Him from His justly deserved sins and the consequences of it. But just as Jesus was looking beyond Calvary's hill, so is this criminal. You see, notice what he doesn't do. The criminal who blasphemes Christ says, if you are the Christ, save yourself and us. What that criminal wants is he wants freedom from the just consequences of his actions. He wants it to be that Christ would save him from the consequences of his own sin, not from the sin itself. If you are the Christ, save yourself and us. The other thief wants salvation from God's wrath. He is less concerned with salvation from Roman wrath. He understands that he deserves that wrath. Paul tells us in Romans 13, that the civil magistrate should be a terror to evildoers. And this criminal understands it. He also understands that God is a forgiving and a merciful God. And that those who place their faith and hope in Christ can receive forgiveness and restoration with God. So that even murderers Even murderers. Can be remembered in paradise. Even murderers can be brought in to the kingdom. Of God. If they will repent of their sin and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what this. Criminal does. when he turns to Jesus and he says, Lord, that is bowing the knee as much as he is physically able to do at this time, because he is nailed to a cross. Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom. He is not saying a sinner's prayer. He's not even saying the formula that we would expect. I believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and I repent of my like he's not saying that. But Christ knows the intention of his statements. Christ knows the intention of his heart. And Christ. Saves him. While they're both on the cross. What one criminal says, mocking, mockingly saying, save yourself and save us, another says, deliver me, remember me. And he essentially gets that salvation, but it's not salvation from the Roman cross. It is salvation from his own sins. Assuredly, I say to you, today, you will be with me in paradise. Not in 30 years after all of your sins have been purged. Not after you are baptized. Not after you memorize catechisms that aren't out yet. today. Beloved, this teaches us that when Christ saves, He saves completely. There's nothing left to save. There's no work left to be done. That when He saves, He saves completely. There's no going after Christ and purging out whatever might remain. There's no filling up the salvation through good works. There's no good Christian to-do list that we have to keep track of in order to be saved. Christ. Christ saves. And do you know who it is that will see to it? Should we live longer than this thief on the cross does? Who will see to it that we grow in holiness? The other, one of the other members of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit. so that the work of salvation that Christ accomplishes, the Holy Spirit then applies, and the fruit of that, the fruit of that is holiness in life. So let me wrap this up. I know I'm going a little long. Let me wrap it up with this question. What is your response to Christ crucified. Do you understand why Christ had to die? Jesus didn't have any sins needing atonement. Caleb does. I've got lots of sins. I've got sins that I'm not even aware of just yet. Christ died not to make another pharisaical group of followers who will go and say, well, if you don't look like me and talk like me and dress like me, then you're not one of God's people. Christ had to die because the only possibility of you and I having a restored relationship with Christ, with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, is through the death of another that would cleanse us from our sins. if you think that Christ's death was unnecessary. And there's a couple of ways that we can think that. We can think that by thinking, well, if I'm good enough, God will let me into heaven. It makes Christ's death unnecessary. If you think that so long as you're a good person, that God will let you into his heaven, it makes Christ's death unnecessary. If you think you are beyond salvation, that's another way of making Christ's death unnecessary. Because you're saying that there are some people That it's impossible for Christ to save. All who come to me, Jesus said. All that the Father gives me. I will by no means cast out and I will lose none. What is your response? To the Gospel. What is your response? to Christ crucified on Calvary. The response that Christ calls us to is a response of repentance, a response that acknowledges who he is and who we are. A response that acknowledges there is no one else who could possibly save and that you and I deserve God's wrath for our sins, yet Christ. Yet Christ. Christ dies. For the joy set before him, he endures all of the suffering and pain on the cross to save a people unable to save ourselves. Christ calls you to respond with repentance and faith, trusting that his work on the cross was sufficient is sufficient and will forever be sufficient to secure our salvation. How will you respond? How will you respond? Let us pray.