OVERHEARD AT THE CRUCIFIXION

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on March 6, 2022 under 2022 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday message; March 6, 2022 from Luke 23:39-43

Theme: The conversation between the criminal on the cross and the crucified Lord Jesus shows us the path to heaven.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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As we prepare to come to the table of the Lord this morning, I ask that we go back and remember the story in the Bible about an old friend. I certainly consider him to be our friend, anyway. I’ve learned so much from him; and I look forward very much to meeting him in heaven one day.

I don’t know how he will introduce himself; though. We don’t know his name. But you and I probably know him best just as ‘the thief on the cross’. He was one of the two criminals who were crucified on either side of Jesus. He’s “the other” that we find in Luke 23:39-43;

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 of 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” (Luke 23:39-43).

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; don’t you wonder what it was that our friend—the “other” criminal—did? What was his crime?

In Matthew’s and Mark’s Gospels, we’re told that he was a “robber”. But he may have been much more than just a robber. The word that’s used to describe him—the word that is translated “robber”—is the very same word that was used to describe the notorious man that Pontius Pilate released instead of Jesus—the man named Barabbas. Barabbas was much more than just a thief or a robber. We’re told in Luke 23:19 that he was “thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.”

So; we’re not told what exactly our friend did. But it must have been pretty horrible. It earned him the sentence of death … and death by the most dreadful form of execution imaginable. And perhaps it’s best that that’s all we know about his crime; because then, he can be a true representative of any of us who have sinned against the law of God and who are worthy of judgment.

But he also believed on Jesus and clearly received the gift of eternal life. And so, he’s also a representative to us of all who trust in Jesus in the right way—in a way that leads to the forgiveness of sins before God, and to the gift of eternal life. He shows us how someone is saved. We learn from him that it’s not by doing enough good deeds. It’s not by observing the right religious rituals. It’s not by living a good and worthy life. This friend of ours didn’t have any time to reform his life, or have the chance to do any good deeds, or have the time to ‘get religion’. All that he could do was to turn to the crucified Lord Jesus and ask for mercy.

And that was all that it took. As a result, he was saved. He’s in heaven right now.

And that, according to the Bible, is how anyone is saved. It tells us, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved …” (Acts 16:31). It tells us; “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). It tells us “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10). In fact, it’s the only way that anyone can be saved. The Bible says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

But this morning, I’d like to ask you to imagine—for a moment—that you didn’t know all that. I ask that you imagine that you were living long ago—in the time of that criminal—before the good news of the gospel was proclaimed. I ask that you imagine yourself as merely a passerby along the road on that day—someone who just stopped along the way and witnessed this terrible execution. I ask you to imagine that you overheard the things that were said there.

And as you do, I ask that you think about the things you would have learned from what you would have overheard at Golgotha. What you overheard would have shown you the way to eternal life.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; the thing you would have seen as you went along the way truly would have been a horrible sight. A crucifixion was a brutal, shameful, humiliating, dehumanizing way to die. It was reserved only for the worst criminals—something that the Romans invented as a way to deter anyone else from ever wanting to be a criminal. The mere sight of any crucifixion would have been something that you’d never forget. And here you would be … beholding three of them at once.

And perhaps as you drew near—and as you heard the crowd talking—you would have become aware of the fact that the Man on the cross in the center was none other than Jesus of Nazareth. You would have already heard a lot about Him; because everyone had been talking about Him in those days. He was the miracle worker who had healed the blind, and who had cleansed lepers, and who had calmed the storm at sea, and who had fed a multitude of people with only five loaves of bread and two small fish. People had been coming to Him from all over the land of Israel in order to be healed by Him; and He showed mercy to all. People were saying that He was a prophet. And others were saying that He was more than a prophet; that He was the long-awaited Messiah—the promised King—the Son of David. Some were even saying that He was “The Christ, the Son of the living God.” But look at Him now! He had been arrested by the chief priests and Jewish leaders! He had been savagely beaten, and spat upon, and scourged! A painful crown of thorns had been crushed down upon His head! He had been made almost unrecognizable as a human being! And now He hung dying on a cross between two criminals.

As you drew near—and made your way even closer to the place where the three men were crucified—you would have heard the conversation between them. You’d probably have had to draw very close in order to hear; because there was a lot of shouting from the crowds around you. And what’s more, the voices of the dying men on those three crosses were growing weak and faint. You would have had to strain to listen to their words. The conversation must have been something that only a few people could hear.

And as you drew near and listened in, what kinds of things would you have noticed? I believe one of the first things you would have noticed would be …

1. THE THIEF’S REPENTANCE.

You see; there were two of them—one on Jesus’ right hand, and the other on Jesus’ left. And at first, both of them had been cruelly mocking the Man in the middle. What a strange scene that would have been!—two crucified and dying men, using their last bits of energy and breath to mock the crucified and dying Man who was between them!

What kind of things would you have heard them saying? The Gospel writer Matthew gives us a clue. In Matthew 27:39-43, he wrote;

And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God’” (Matthew 27:39-43).

That would have been amazing to hear; wouldn’t it? People weren’t reviling Him for a crime He committed. Instead, it would be as if the people were mocked Him for who He claimed to be. In fact, they spoke as if they actually thought Him to be those things! And Matthew adds this in verse 44;

Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing (v. 44).

So; one of the first things you would have noticed was that this friend of ours had been—at one point—joining in and mocking and reviling Jesus along with the other criminal. Perhaps you would have seen them both straining to turn to Him and utter those cruel words; and you would have been a bit shocked by it all.

But then, as you gazed upon and thought about this strange scene, you might have begun to notice something even stranger. You would have noticed that, after a while, one of the two criminals was no longer mocking. Luke tells us, in verse 39, “Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ‘If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.’” It was a bitter and cynical thing to say; but what Luke lets us know is that only one of the two criminals was now saying such things. The other had grown quiet, and wasn’t saying those things any more.

What you would have been seeing, as you beheld this strange new thing, was ‘repentance’. The word ‘repent’ means ‘to change one’s mind’ or ‘to change one’s attitude’. And somehow—for some reason—this friend of ours was beginning to experience a change of attitude. He was repenting of his words against Jesus.

Why would this have happened? Perhaps it was because he had heard some of the things that Jesus had said—and because he had begun to think about those things. Perhaps he had heard Jesus pray for those who had crucified Him, and ask His Father to forgive them. Who had ever heard of such an expression of love at a time like that? Or perhaps he heard Jesus cry out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”; and he would have remembered that those were the opening words of Psalm 22—a psalm that describes, in vivid detail, the very things that Jesus was experiencing. Perhaps, he was remembering all the stories he had heard about this Man; and perhaps he realized that the Man he had been mocking was a truly holy Man; a genuine prophet of God—and perhaps even something more. And perhaps, it had finally come home to our friend that he was dying as a condemned sinner, and was about to stand before a holy God for judgment; and that in the presence of such a Man as this, he himself was not ready.

There’s an important spiritual principle involved. Before God shows saving mercy to a sinner, He first graciously opens their heart to the reality of their sin … and to the greatness of their condemnation before Him. He brings deep conviction to their soul. He bears witness to them of His holy commandments; and helps them to see that they have broken all of His commandments, and are now deservedly worthy of eternal judgment. Before God shows someone that He loves them and is willing to save them, He must first show them how desperately they need to be saved.

And so without doubt, as our friend gazed upon Jesus, the Holy Spirit was changing his heart, and was bringing conviction to his soul. Imagine yourself standing there—witnessing the fact that a condemned criminal, who had been viciously mocking Jesus, was now no longer doing so … and had become reverently quiet next to Him.

* * * * * * * * * *

And it’s then that you finally hear our friend’s faint voice. It could not have been a very loud voice. As he hung on his cross, his arms would be stretched out and his body painfully twisted at an angle. He could only push up with his legs for a second or two, take in a shallow breath, and speak in an almost gasping kind of way. But what you would have heard was …

2. THE THIEF’S REBUKE.

You would have seen him turning his head—as best he could—to look past Jesus to the other crucified criminal. And you would have heard him first say, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?” To ‘fear God’ would ordinarily be a way of expressing the idea of ‘reverencing God’. But perhaps, in this case, the idea was something more along the lines of actually being afraid of standing before God. Here was our friend—dying on a cross for his crimes—just a short while away from standing before God to give an account for his life of sin. And here also was the other criminal—also about to face God. Our friend was asking that other criminal, “How can you continue to mock; knowing that you face the same judgment that I face?” What a thing it would have been that you were overhearing!

And there’s more. You would have also overheard him say something that you’d almost never expect to hear from a condemned criminal hanging brutally and inhumanely on a cross, “And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds …” Our friend was reminding the other criminal that there was no injustice in what they were receiving. They had committed crimes against God and man; and now, they were receiving their just due from men in this world … and were about to face their just due before God in the world beyond. Our friend was testifying to his fellow criminal—and to all who overheard—that he was a sinner who was worthy of the death sentence.

And there’s still more. In his rebuke to his fellow criminal, you would have perhaps seen our friend gesture with his head toward Jesus; and would have overheard Him say, “but this Man has done nothing wrong.” This Man who hung between them was suffering the same condemnation that they were suffering—but He was doing so innocently. He had no sin of His own; and yet was hanging in the midst of sinners—suffering their condemnation along with them.

What words of rebuke these must have been to overhear—words not only for his fellow criminal, but also for himself. And as you would have listened, perhaps they came to be words of rebuke for you too.

* * * * * * * * * *

And as you heard our friend say those, would you have perhaps remembered some other words that you had been taught from childhood?—the words that are found in Isaiah 53? It would not be at all unreasonable to think that our friend would have remembered these very same words as well. Perhaps they all came back to his memory at that crucial moment. They’re the words from Isaiah 53 about the suffering of the promised Messiah. Verses 1-4 say;

Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him (Isaiah 53:1-4).

Hadn’t they just been despising Jesus? Wasn’t the crowd all around the cross doing so? And would our friend then have remembered—and you along with him—why that Old Testament prophecy said that the Messiah would suffer? It goes on to tell us in verses 5-9;

Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth (vv. 5-9).

And as he may have thought of those words, would our friend have thought of what the result of it all would be?—and of the glorious future that would be brought about by the Messiah’s suffering? Verses 10-12 go on to say;

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors (vv. 10-12).

In Isaiah 53, God promised that the Messiah would die in the place of sinners and would bring them to a place of glorious victory beyond the grave. Perhaps because of this, our friend—the dying transgressor on the cross—now knew what he needed to do. He needed to appeal to this Man who was crucified next to him. Perhaps that’s why you would have overheard him say what we then read in Luke 23:42; and that is …

3. THE THIEF’S REQUEST.

What a simple request it was. “Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’” But consider what profound understanding there would have been behind it. Our friend knew that there was life beyond death—that though the body dies, the soul lives on and stands before God. And he knew that this holy, innocent, miracle-working Man named Jesus had a kingdom beyond death waiting for Him; and that He was going to receive that kingdom from God and reign over it. He knew that—somehow—this Man Jesus was suffering for transgressors like him. And he knew that if he appealed to Jesus, Jesus would show mercy to him, forgive his sins, and ‘remember’ him in His eternal kingdom.

And so; as you stood there overhearing all these events, you would have heard the greatest prayer that any fallen sinner could ever pray. You would have overheard the prayer that has saved countless sinners in the centuries ever since (myself included). It may be expressed in different words; but it’s simply this: “Lord Jesus, You have died for sinners. I now know and believe that it is true. Please look upon me—an unworthy sinner who is justly condemned for my sins. Have mercy on me. Remember me in Your kingdom.”

* * * * * * * * * *

And then; as you overheard all of this—last and most wonderful of all—you would have overheard …

4. THE LORD’S PROMISE.

Perhaps you would have seen the Lord Jesus turn His holy head painfully to our friend, and heard Him say—with a look of divine love upon His face—“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

You would have heard our Lord give our friend the most solemn promise He could give—saying essentially, “What I am about to tell you is the absolute truth. It will not fail. You can count on it with all of your being. You will not just ‘be’ in Paradise—that is, in heaven; but you will be with Me in Paradise.” Can you imagine the joy you would have seen on our friend’s face as he heard those words from the dying Savior Himself? Can you imagine the tears of gratitude?

And perhaps you would have especially noticed that our Lord said “today”. It may be that our friend had been thinking that some day—long in the undefined future—our Lord would have begun to reign over His kingdom; and that at that time, He would kindly remember our friend and bring him there. But no! Our Lord said that he would be with Him in Paradise “today”. In the Jewish reckoning, the day ended at sunset. You would have been standing there watching all these things happen at around 3 pm or so. That meant that it would only be a couple of hours at the most; and our friend would be in Paradise. That means, by the way, that our friend—a condemned criminal—a thief and a malefactor—was the first person ever to enter heavenly glory by an immediate conscious faith in the crucified Lord Jesus; before any of the apostles; and before any of the followers of Jesus who were a part of the church after Pentecost; and before any of the countless millions who have believed on Jesus and were redeemed by Jesus’ blood throughout the centuries that followed.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; shortly after all this—if you had remained at this scene, you might have overheard Jesus cry out with a loud voice, “It is finished!”—and watched as He then, bowed His head, yielded up His spirit, and died in our place as the Substitute for sinners. And then, after that, you might have watched as the Roman soldiers would have come to hurry up the deaths of the other men on the other two crosses by breaking their legs. They would then no longer have been able to push themselves up to breath. Our friend would die shortly after that.

But may I suggest to you one more thing you would have seen—if you had stayed long enough. You would have watched as this crucified criminal who believed—our good friend—could no longer take in a breath. You would have watched him as he breathed his last. And I don’t know that this was the case; but I strongly suspect that it was so. All the way up to the moment that he took that very last breath—all the way up to the moment that his spirit left his body—he would never have taken his eyes off Jesus. He would have been looking at his Savior the whole time.

I believe that the last thing you would have seen on our friend’s face would been joy.

* * * * * * * * * *

I love my good friend, the thief on the cross. Don’t you? I look forward to meeting him. I look forward to hearing him tell me more about the things that we would have overheard if we had been there. But most of all, I look forward to seeing the Lord Jesus who died for him—and for me. I have followed our friend’s example; and have prayed, “Lord, remember me!” And I know He will remember me.

As we come to the table of the Lord, to commemorate His sacrifice of love for us, please make sure you have prayed that prayer too.

AE