Good morning to everyone. I'm glad that we can be together and that we can continue to linger a little bit at the cross. This weekend we've looked at that and also the resurrection. Let us read from Luke, Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23 and we will read there from verse 26 Luke chapter 23 verse 26 and as they led him away they seized one Simon of Cyrene who was coming in from the country and laid on him the cross to carry it behind Jesus. And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them, Jesus said, daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, The days are coming when they will say, blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed. And then they will begin to say to the mountains, fall on us, and to the hills, cover us. For if they do these things, when the wood is green, what will happen when it's dry? And to others who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 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 these garments. And the people stood by watching. But the rulers scoffed at him, saying, He saved others, let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his chosen one. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. There was also an inscription over him, This is the king of the Jews. And one of the criminals who hanged, railed at him, saying, Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the other rebuked him, saying, Do not fear. 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. This is God's word. I especially just want to emphasize the verses from verse 32 to verse 42. Those verses I will just look at. One time they ask a little boy the question, what is forgiveness? And this young man, he gave the beautiful answer and he's saying, it's the smell that flowers breathe when they are trampled on. It's the smell that flowers breathe when they are trampled on. And that is what we see on the cross, where Jesus was trampled on, received the wrath. And what we find there is the breath of forgiveness, the breath of forgiveness. And therefore, my theme today is the smell of the cross, the smell of the cross. Now it's interesting when we read this passage that he's only using three words to describe the crucifixion. He's saying they crucified him. That's only those three words that is used. Nothing of the physical pain and all the other details are not given to us. Verse 33 is saying they came to the place called the Skull. Now the word for Skull is used differently and that's why we have different terms. In Greek it's Kranion, in Aramaic it is Golgotha and in Latin it's Calvary and that's why we have the different terms for Calvary, Golgotha. They say it looks like a skull, that little hill, and on the hill they crucified the people that were sentenced to death in the time of Jesus. It was just outside of the city of Jerusalem. They crucified him. That's all Luke is saying. They crucified him. And therefore we must be careful to over-dramatize and making too much of the sufferings, the physical sufferings. Yes, the physical sufferings were there. But Luke is just explaining it here in those three words. They crucified him. Now, they crucified, they could sometimes do it without nails, sometimes with nails. We know that the Romans especially do this from about the 6th century before Christ, till it was banned by Constantine in 337. Then he banned crucifixions, but in that time, that was what they've done. Now we must say, why is Luke just using those three words? Why is he just saying they crucified him and then he continues? And I think that's important that we understand that he wants to give us a message and that is what we must catch here. There's other things he wants to put emphasis on. The first thing that he put emphasis on is to say that this is the fulfillment of Scripture. That would be my first point. It's the fulfillment of Scripture. The second thing that he wants to draw our attention to is to the person of Christ. Who is the one dying on the cross? Who is that person that is dying here? Because many people were crucified. But who is this one? And the third thing is, what was Jesus doing on the cross? That's what Luke wants to emphasize. He wants to emphasize what he was doing there. And then the fourth thing that I want to touch on is actually a demonstration, a practical demonstration of those first three points, where Jesus as the person is doing what he came to do. on earth. So let us look at the first point, the fulfillment of Scripture. The fulfillment of Scripture. The first thing we must remember, and that's what Luke wants to emphasize here for us, he wants to emphasize for us that this is God's plan. This is God's plan. Jesus is not on the cross because God's plan failed, or God's plan did not work out and now he's on the cross. He's not on the cross because something went wrong. He's not on the cross because God did not foresee what these Jewish leaders will do. Jesus is not on the cross because the purpose has been derailed. No. He's on the cross because that is God's plan. That's God's plan. That's God's purpose. That's God's providence. That is God's way of salvation. I mean, we can start in Genesis 3, 15, where God was speaking to the snake and say, listen, there will be a seed from the woman and that seed will crush your head and you will bite him in the heel. And he was referring to this, what's happening here now. So it's God's plan. So Luke wants us to understand that this is exactly what scripture said will happen. And that is happening now. And we must know that. He's saying in verse 23, he's saying, two other criminals were led away to be put to death with him. Now, if we think of that, Isaiah 53 verse 12, it is saying, He poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. So it was God's plan. God's plan is going in fulfillment from the time that Isaiah spoke. He was speaking of the fact that was happening now. He's saying in Psalm 22, The verse that Jesus also quotes on the cross, where he's saying, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But in the midst of the psalm, in verse 16, he's saying, For darks encompass me, a company of evildoers encircle me. They've pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them, and my clothing they cast lots." So what happens on the cross must remind all the people of what God's plan was all these ages. It was God's plan. He's among the criminals. They cast the lots over his clothes. They are encircling him. They gloat over him. That's exactly what's happening here. And that's what Luke wants to emphasize for us. He wants to put our attention there. This is God's plan. This is God's plan. They crucified him, they divide his garments, the rulers scoffed at him, the soldiers mocked him. And Luke is saying, this is what has been prophesied. This is the plan of God. And just on the sideline, you know, God is always reaching his plan. Even in our lives, sometimes things happen that we would not like to happen to us. And then we can still hold, God is busy with His plan, even in my life, even in your life. As He's fulfilling His plan here on Golgotha, He's busy with His plan in our lives. If we look at the cross, it seems out of control. Here, their hope is dying. And sometimes in our own lives, we can say we want to lose hope. But then we must remember God's plan is continuing. He is reaching his plan. And that is what we must believe. So Luke wants us to believe that God's providential plan is coming here to fulfillment. God was not asleep at the switch. God was not caught off guard. It was going exactly as He planned. That's the first point that we must realize with the cross. It's according to God's plan. The second thing, Jesus' person is acknowledged here. Luke not only wants us to understand that this is the fulfillment of Scripture, this is the fulfillment of God's plan. Now He also wants us to recognize who Jesus is. Because you have to understand who Jesus is to understand the power of the cross. If we do not understand who He is, then we will not understand the power of the cross. The people are watching. They are standing around. They are watching. That's most many times. We are not involved, we are just watching. But the rulers, they are scoffing. The people that knows the best, the Bible the best, they are scoffing and they are leading the scoffing. And they say, in verse 35, He saved others, let Him save Himself. If He is the Christ of God, if He is the Messiah of God, if He is the Chosen One, let Him save Himself. Now it's interesting that Luke is using the mocking words of the leaders to reveal who Jesus is. It's not that they believe that, but sometimes people in their ignorance are saying the truth. And that's what's happening here. Now Jesus did not use these terms much in his public ministry, that he is the Messiah. He did not use that much. Because people had the wrong understanding of Messiah. They understood a political thing. They said Jesus will come, the Messiah will come, and he will set us free from the Romans, and he will kill all these Romans, and he'll set up the kingdom of Israel, of David again, and we will rule the world. That's why Jesus did not use these terms a lot in his public ministry. But we know when Jesus was speaking at Caesarea Philippi, he was speaking and he's asking them, who do you think I am? Peter answered that he said, you are the Christ. You are the Messiah. You are the son of the living God. And then Jesus said, exactly. That's that's right. What you say is the truth and it's not your own flesh that discovered that, it's God that revealed it to you. But in public ministry, Jews were not saying that. So how did these leaders know about that? It's because they had an insider, Judas. And they and Judas were talking and Judas were giving them as much things to say against Jesus as possible. And that's why they were feeding this as well. And that's why they are using these words. And if we the reader of Luke have now read this gospel and they would understand. But this is the truth that they are saying. It's true. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Blessed One of God, the Chosen One. He is the Christ. So they would have understood it. And therefore, as they mock, as they mock, they are saying the truth. That's what we must understand. Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Promised One. He is the Chosen One of God. That's the one that's hanging on the cross. That's the plan of God. Sometimes we say things and we don't know that we're actually speaking the truth. So these rulers are mocking Him with that. But even the soldiers, look at verse 36 and 37. He's saying the soldiers The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, saying, if you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. Save yourself if you are the king of the Jews. Now we know that there was that inscription above his head. The inscription is there to say what is the charge against this person? Why is this person dying? And that's what Pilate put on there to say he's the king of the Jews. And now these soldiers are mocking him. They are bringing him some things to drink, either to prolong his suffering, either to just mock him. But they say, if you are the king, save yourself. If you are then stronger than Caesar, save yourself. If you are the rightful king, save yourself. And that's what He was. He's what He is. He is the King of the Jews. But He's the King of the world. He's our King. And that's what we must understand. Who is on the cross? He's the King. The King that every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess. That's the one that's on the cross. And that's what Luke is saying here. That is what we must take note of. Not just the physical suffering. We must take note, it's God's plan, we must take note, this is the Messiah, this is the King, this is the Chosen One of God. He is everything. And that's what Luke wants us to understand. But the third thing, what is the work of Jesus? The work of Jesus. He does not just want us to understand the plan of God. He does not want us to understand the person of Christ. He wants us to understand the work that Christ is doing there. If he's on the cross, he said, Father, the city fall, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. They do not know what they do. That's the prayer, that Jesus pray there. Now we can meditate on this prayer, and there's much that we can say. But that's why Jesus on the cross to forgive. He is there to forgive you and me. And I pray that you have received that forgiveness and that you take hold of the forgiveness that's there in Christ. Because that's the only thing that we can receive that will take us with Christ one day. We can't work our way in heaven. We can't work our way to be with Christ. We can receive the forgiveness that He's giving there. That's why He's on the cross. He's there to forgive. He's there for our forgiveness. He's there so that we can be forgiven. He's there so that all of us can have rest and that we can trust on Him alone for our salvation. He is offered in the Gospels, can be forgiven and accepted and pardoned by God. We even get it in the words of the rulers again. They are mocking him in verse 35. They are saying, he saved others, let him save himself. They acknowledge he's the savior. He is the one that saves. Let Him save Himself. They want to mock Him, but they noticed, and Luke wants us to understand that that's what Jesus did. He saves us. He saved others. Let Him save Himself. That is what the cross accomplished for us. One day, before judgment, throne of God, we will hear these words, you are forgiven. by what Christ did on the cross. You have been saved or you've not been forgiven and you've not been saved. Go away from me. Because that's what Christ accomplished on the cross. Luke wants us to understand that when we look at the cross, that when Jesus prays, Father, forgive them, that when you look to him in faith, you will be forgiven. The grace that God offers in the gospel is all the grace that we need. That's what we need. We need what Christ, the Messiah, the chosen one of God did on the cross. We need that. That's what we need. So Luke want to emphasize for us that it's the plan of God. The person is the Messiah, the chosen one. He forgives and He saves on the cross. And then the fourth thing, a practical demonstration of these truths. Practical demonstration. Verse 39, one of the criminals who hanged Ray of the team saying, are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. So this one is also joining in the blaspheming. He's joining in. He's in trouble and he is saying he wants to be saved. He wants to be off the cross. He said, save yourself and save me as well. And sometimes that's all we want from Christ. We just want from him, he must just do some good for me. He must just give me some money or some happiness or he must just give me something. This is this guy, he's looking at him, he says, yeah, save yourself and save me, man, and we can just go. But he's mocking, but I think he was also serious because he heard all this noise and all these shoutings, and he saw the king of the Jews. And perhaps that's why you also reach out to the cross, perhaps just to get some benefits. I don't know. But the other criminal, verse 14, is rebuking him. He is saying, do you not fear God since we are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong. Perhaps he heard Christ. Perhaps he's just heard all the mocking. Perhaps God through his spirit have worked in him and he could realize, but you know, here is more than just a man dying. There's more. And he's starting actually to confess his own sin because that's where it starts. He confessed his sin. He said, we are here because we have done wrong. But this one did not do wrong. We've done wrong. He confessed, acknowledged his sin. And confession is an integral part of repentance. And then he rebuked the other one. And he said, don't live with your mocking. Repent. Turn to Christ. And then he's saying in verse 42, he's saying, and he said, Jesus, remember me. when you come into your kingdom. Remember me." Now this remember is not the remember that we think on, I remember I ate yesterday nice brie flakes. That's not the remember that is here. Think of when the Israelites were in Egypt. It is saying God remembered his people. Think of Hannah when she prayed. After a while, the word is saying, God remembered Hannah. So this is more than just to think of. This is actually a commitment. This criminal is saying, Lord, remember me. Lord, think of me. Lord, save me. He's crying out for salvation. Save me. That's what he's doing there. on the cross. Remember me when you are in your kingdom. So it's more than just ask for something. He's asking for salvation. And then look at the answer, because Jesus is now proving that he is God, he is the Messiah, he is the King, he is here to save. Jesus said to him, verse 43, truly, I say to you, today you'll be with me in paradise. Today you'll be with me in paradise. Interesting that Jesus is using paradise here. If you think of paradise, that's in the Garden of Eden. That's where the perfect rule of God was still valid. That's where there was perfect harmony between Adam and Eve and God before they sinned and God pushed them out of the garden. And Jesus is saying, you'll be with me today in that perfect relation again. You'll be with me in a perfect relation again today. That's what for each one of us. We can stand in the perfect relation of God. Yes, while we are still alive, we sin in this and we must repent from it. And when we die, we are with Christ as we are here. Today, you'll be with me in paradise. Today, when you die, you'll be in that perfect relationship with me. You will enjoy fellowship with me. It will be as if you are in the Garden of Eden again. So it's the that's also for us. Why we do not need to fear death? Because when we die and we are in Christ, we are in the perfect relation with Him then. Directly after death. My friends, do you know this Jesus? Do you know, do you realize it's the plan of God? The cross is the plan of God. And the one hanging there, he's the Messiah, he's the chosen one of God. He's the chosen one, the only one that came to give us forgiveness and salvation. Do you know him? What's your reaction? Here we have the practical example of responses of those two next to Jesus. The one, he wants something for himself, but not turning to Jesus. Are you perhaps that one? You know the truths? You see the cross as Luke is explaining at the end? You see who is on the cross? You realize what he came for? But you're hanging there, or you're sitting here. Or are you like the other one, that realize, I need the Savior. I need someone to save me. That you can call out and say, Lord, think of me. Remember me. I'm a sinner. I'm guilty. But I give myself to you. Thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Who are you? What's your reaction? What's your response? That flower in the beginning, I've said that that is the definition of that. person gave for forgiveness. And the flower is trampled on the smell that's coming off. That's what's coming off from the cross. Forgiveness and salvation. What are you going to do? Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Lord, for The fact that it's your plan, the cross was your plan and you're still using it because you are the Messiah, you are the chosen one. You're still forgiving, you're still saving. And Lord, I pray that your work today, that each one will thank you for the salvation they've received or that they will cry out to you, remember me. Please, Lord, work above what we can think or pray. In your name we ask it. Amen.