Luke 23:50-56 The Burial of Jesus - December 29, 2024

 Luke 23:50-56 The Burial of Jesus

Good morning! Turn with me once again to Luke 23, this morning we will examine verses 50-56, and that is on page 884 in the pew Bibles.

We are amazingly nearing the end of Luke’s Gospel, his first work, and I am so looking forward to studying Luke’s second work, the Book of Acts. We began working our way through the Gospel of Luke in January of 2022, and it looks like we may be wrapping it up in January or February of 2025. Not to worry, the book of Acts is even longer that Luke!

Over the last three weeks we have been considering Jesus’ last words from the cross, and now, in our text for this morning, after three hours of darkness, and earthquake, and the tearing of the curtain of the Temple, Jesus has breathed His last and has now died.

It is at this point that an unlikely little group rises up in service of Jesus in His death, in fulfillment of prophecy, and in honor of our King.

50 Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. 54 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. 55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Let’s pray.

All four Gospels record this event unsurprisingly, and they all have their own details to share to fill out this account. You can read them in Matthew 27, Mark 15, and John 19.

First, let’s consider this man Joseph of Arimathea, what do we know about Him? This is the first and last time Joseph is mentioned in Scripture but his role is an important one.

Matthew tells us that he was a rich man, Mark tells us that he was an honorable counselor who boldly went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus, and John tells us that he was a disciple of Jesus but secretly for fear of the Jews.

Here in our text from Luke we can see that Joseph was a good and righteous man, who had not consented to the council’s decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God.

Joseph of Arimathea was by all accounts an Old Covenant believer. He believed in the prophets, he followed the Law, he looked forward to Messiah coming in His kingdom, and he believed that Jesus was that Messiah.

Joseph had the honor of not only seeing some of those prophecies fulfilled, but actually helped fulfill some of them.

Isaiah 53:9, And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Joseph was that rich man, lending his own new tomb, where no one had yet been laid, to the Messiah Jesus.

It was not customary for crucified criminals to be honored with a proper burial. Typically, those crucified stayed up on the crosses to be eaten by scavengers, and when the crosses were needed again what remained of their bodies would be thrown into the city garbage dump, a place known as Gehenna, translated into Greek as, “Hell.”

By asking for Jesus’ body Joseph spared our Lord from that dishonor and so fulfilled another prophecy from Psalm 16:10, which says, For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

Joseph was also not alone. John 19 tells us that he was accompanied by another, a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus. Nicodemus was the one who came to Jesus by night in John chapter three. It was to this man that Jesus explained that a person must be born again in order to enter the kingdom of God and that God so loved the world that he gave His only Son that whoever believed in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

Joseph and Nicodemus exposed themselves to the hatred of the council and the nation by honoring Jesus in His death even if they had not publically followed Him in life. This courage could only come from the Holy Spirit to use the resources they had to honor the Lord.

My question is, where are the disciples? Where are the Eleven, where is Peter? He claimed that he would follow Jesus to prison and to death, and now where is he?

The Eleven were nowhere to be found. The sheep were so scattered that even the care for the corpse of the Shepherd couldn’t bring them together out of hiding.

But do you know who was there to the end? The women.

Their great love for the Savior turned them into heroines for His glory. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, Salome, the mother of James and John, and Mary the mother of Jesus and her sister.

These women were there when Jesus was crucified, they were there when Joseph and Nicodemus took Jesus down from the cross and took His body to the tomb. They were there as the men wrapped His body in linen and laid Him in the tomb and rolled that great stone to seal Him in.

The women returned home to prepare the spices and the ointments for the body of Jesus as was customary but were interrupted by the Sabbath. Jesus died around three o’clock in the afternoon and the Sabbath officially began at six, so all of this took place within that three hours.

But as RC Sproul put it, “Before the final act of anointing of His shrouded body could be completed, death surrendered to His power.”

But we’ll talk more about that next time.

What’s most important is that we understand the purpose of Jesus’ death and how we identify with it.

One of the most important observations that we can make about this little account is that the Good News is for both the rich and the poor, for both male and female, there is no distinction.

Galatians 3:27-28 says, 

27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

All have equal access to Jesus by faith and this is good news.

We can also observe here in this text as well that God’s providence is always at work, He is always working even in the smallest things. Here, two secret disciples finally work up the courage to step forward and Give Jesus a proper burial and God used that to fulfill prophecy. Every little pebble thrown into the pond has ripple effects that we will never see or understand but we can trust that the Father is at work through them.

But as for the death of Christ itself, it is the single most important event in the history of the world. And through His death, not only did Jesus purchase forgiveness and salvation for all who would believe in Him, but He gave us a great example of how to live by faith in Him.

Romans 6:2-14 says,

How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Through faith in Jesus Christ, our old self, our old way of thinking and living, was crucified with Him and we were set free from sin.

So instead of using this account to compare bold and loud discipleship to secret and quiet discipleship, let’s instead focus on real discipleship, living lives dedicated to following Jesus according to His Word, dead to sin and alive to God in Christ.

Amen.

Luke 23:44-49 Words from the Cross part 3 - December 22, 2024

Luke 23:44-49 Words from the Cross part 3

Well Merry Christmas!

As accustomed as you might be on the Sunday before Christmas to hearing from the Gospel of Luke in chapter 2, today we are going to continue our study in the Gospel of Luke but with chapter 23, verses 44-49, and that’s on page 884 in the pew Bibles.

As much as you might like to focus on Bethlehem today, we are instead going to be focused on Calvary. I would encourage you to join us here Christmas Eve at 6pm for a more Luke 2, Bethlehem-y experience.

Let’s pray.

We have been looking over the last two weeks at the last words of Jesus from the cross. 

At this point in the text Jesus has been crucified there on the hill called Calvary between two thieves, one penitent and one belligerent. Jesus had already prayed over and over for the forgiveness of those who crucified Him there because they did not know what they were doing. Jesus had promised the penitent thief that today he would be with Jesus in paradise because of his faith in Jesus. And now we come to the final words of Jesus from the cross.

Unlike the first two words from Jesus, the last word was preceded by two miraculous events which we will examine briefly.

44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 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. 47 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” 48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. 49 And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

May God add His blessing to the reading of His Word.

So I wonder, do any of you imagine the crucifixion of Jesus happening at night? My uninformed flannelgraph imagination always pictured it that way, it was always dark.

But we don’t need to rely on our imaginations to tell us. Verse 44 tells us what time it was: the sixth hour. Now don’t be fooled into thinking that this means 6 o’clock, it was actually noontime. 

And from noon to 3pm the whole land was covered in darkness.

People have tried to explain this away as a natural event, such as a solar eclipse. But we know that Passover only happens during a full moon and solar eclipses can only happen during a new moon. 

This was not a natural event. It was however, an act of nature. Verse 45 says the sun’s light failed.

A Scripture that we read every Christmas is Isaiah 5:2, The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

But now those who had seen that great light were once again enveloped in darkness.

There is a parallel to this darkness also in the book of Exodus chapter 10.

21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.

This was the ninth plague against the Egyptians, the tenth was the death of the firstborn. God commanded Moses to tell the people of Israel to slaughter an unblemished lamb and paint the doorposts and lintels of their houses with its blood. That night the angel of death would pass over their houses and only kill the firstborn in houses without the blood on the doorposts.

Jesus is the true Passover Lamb whose blood painted the cross and all those who receive Him by faith will also be passed over by the angel of death and receive the gift of eternal life. Our very own exodus.

Verse 45 also tells us that at the same time the curtain in the Temple was torn from top to bottom.

The curtain of the Temple was a huge thick curtain, 60 feet high, thirty feet wide and four inches thick. It was so heavy that it took over three hundred priests to hang it. This hug curtain hung between the Holy place and the Most Holy Place.

This curtain divided the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple so that the people not only couldn’t enter the Holy of Holies but they couldn’t even see the place that housed the Ark of the Covenant where God localized His presence.

Now that the curtain was torn people had free access to the Most Holy Place, they truly had free access to the Father through the death of Jesus and now no more sacrifices were required.

Hebrews 9:12-14 says,

12 [Jesus] entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

It’s interesting to me that the curtain was torn from top to bottom, a feat that would be impossible for man to accomplish. Even if they tried it would tear from bottom to top. They simply wouldn’t have been able to reach the top thirty feet in the air. This was an act of God, allowing us in through faith in Christ but also unleashing His presence on the whole world.

And then, after these two miracles, Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

Jesus died just as He had lived, pure, with unshaken, unvanquished faith, and with the Scriptures on His lips. He quoted King David from Psalm 31:5.

For those that might think that Jesus is just a helpless victim in this scene I would remind you that Jesus only died because He willed it. 

Jesus wasn’t murdered, He laid His life down voluntarily as a sacrifice for our sin.

He said in John 10:14-18, 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

JJ VanOosterzee wrote, “Into the Father’s mighty hand our Lord now commits, as a precious deposit, the spirit which is ready to depart His body, and departs, therefore with composure and hope, to the condition of separation preceding the penitent thief and all the fellow-redeemed.”

Jesus died with complete trust in the Father and His plan.

John Calvin wrote, “For there could not have been a more splendid triumph than when Christ boldly expresses His assurance that God is the faithful guardian of His soul, which all had imagined to be lost.”

Jesus wasn’t just committing His own soul to the hands of the Father but also all the souls who would believe in Him so that we might together be eternally preserved with Him.

This statement from Jesus, again, should give us an unshakeable hope for our eternal future. We need not fear death, but trust that we have a place in His eternal kingdom through faith in Jesus.

John Calvin again wrote, “Everyone who shall believe in Christ, when he comes to die, following this example, will not breathe his soul at random into the air, but will resort to a faithful guardian, who keeps in safety whatever has been delivered to Him by the Father.”

There at the foot of the cross at the death of Jesus there were three different groups of people, Jesus’ friends and followers, the crowds that assembled for the spectacle, and the Centurion in charge of the crucifixion.

47 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” 48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. 49 And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

Jesus’ friends and followers, who should have been right there at the foot of the cross, watched from a distance, I’m sure with a mix of feelings of fear and disappointment. 

For the most part this group had lost hope as we will see in the coming verses in chapter 24. Jesus didn’t do what they expected and they were disappointed. Don’t be like them.

Those that had just come to the show left and went home, pounding their chests in sorrow. They didn’t understand what had happened either even if they were emotionally affected by it. 

Being stirred emotionally is not true faith in Jesus. 

I went to the altar every summer at camp and cried at every campfire because I was emotionally stirred but as soon as the music faded and the fire went out, the fire went out. Don’t be like that.

Lastly we have the Centurion, an officer in charge of a hundred soldiers, who oversaw the crucifixion. He may have been aware that both Pilate and Herod found no guilt in Jesus, we don’t know. 

But after witnessing three hours of supernatural darkness, after hearing what Jesus said from the cross, and seeing the way that He died, Luke records that he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!”

Matthew records him and those with him saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Even after a brief encounter with Jesus, with His Word and with His power the Centurion confessed that Jesus was the innocent Son of God. May this be our confession as well.

Hebrews 10:19-25,

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Amen.

Luke 23:39-43 Words From the Cross part 2 - December 15, 2024

 Luke 23:39-43 Words From the Cross part 2

Good morning! Turn with me back to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 23, verses 39-43, page 884 in the pew Bibles.

As we move through this season of Advent, this season of expectation, we have been looking at the last words of Jesus from the cross. Last week we examined Jesus’ repeated prayer, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” This morning we will examine a promise from Jesus, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

I know that there are no shepherds or manger scenes or singing angels in our text today, but I pray that together we will see that there is a great gift for all who would receive it.

Let’s look at our text together.

39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Let’s pray.

Now I’m sure that somebody here noticed one of two things, if you’re super attentive maybe you caught them both.

One, there are three different people who are crucified in our text, three very different hearts represented, so that means that this must be a three point sermon… No!

The second, Jesus says, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” That means that this is going to be a sermon about the intermediate state and the consciousness or unconsciousness of dead believers and soul sleep… No!

This is a Christmas sermon, an Advent sermon, the only point of this sermon is: hope.

The world seems content during Christmastime to celebrate love and joy and hope, but only in vague and, truthfully, hollow terms.

The world’s definition of hope is more like just a wish that things will get better eventually.

“I hope it stops raining, I hope I pass my finals, I hope they stick with the program.”

But that is not the Bible’s definition of hope. Hope is looking forward with a confident expectation of that which is good and beneficial. The only kind of hope that does not disappoint is hope in God.

In our text this morning that is the main point, hope found in the gospel, the promise of Jesus.

There is a lot to think about in this passage to be sure, and the disposition of those who die in Christ is certainly one of them but it’s not the main thing here. 

The main things are the plain things, and the plain things are the main things.

John Calvin wrote, “’Today you will be with me in paradise.’ We ought not enter into curious and subtle arguments about the place of paradise. Let us rest satisfied with knowing that those who are engrafted by faith into the body of Christ are partakers of that life, and thus enjoy after death a blessed and joyful rest, until the perfect glory of the heavenly life is fully manifested by the coming of Christ.”

The main point of our text is the hope that entrance into that joyful rest is possible through faith in Christ alone.

If you are familiar with the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, you may recall that they record that both of the criminals who were crucified with Jesus railed at Him along with the rulers of the people, but Luke says that only one of them did. 

Two things are possible in thinking about this paradox: One, Matthew and Mark meant that only one of the two criminals railed at Jesus while the other didn’t, or, the penitent thief began that way but then had a change of heart. I favor the second idea.

The two thieves truly do represent the two hearts of mankind, one hardened toward Jesus, and one softened by Jesus.

39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

I’m not sure our imaginations can capture the chaos and noise of this scene, but in the midst of the horror this hardened sinner demanded that Jesus get them out of their predicament. 

It’s as if he said, “Some Messiah you are! Why won’t you get us out of here and off these crosses!”

How many times have you heard of people making demands of God in order to earn their faith? Maybe you’ve done it too, “God, if you get me out of this, I’ll trust you, I’ll be your servant…”

In his hard-heartedness and pride, the thief rejected Jesus as Messiah and blasphemed Him even to the point of his own death. 

And though I believe the second thief started in the same way, something happened, something changed. He went from railing at Jesus to rebuking the other thief and even repenting of his sin!

39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him… 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

Katie Orr who is one of the contributors for our Bible study material wrote, “The first step toward salvation is the recognition of sin.”

The second thief recognized, not just his sentence of condemnation but the justice of it, he recognized that he was getting what he deserved for his crimes.

This is often overlooked when it comes to putting faith in Jesus Christ: confession and repentance. 

In order to be saved we must recognize what we are being saved from, and that is the just punishment for our sins, what the Bible calls, “God’s wrath.” If our concept of God is just love, love, love, and we don’t recognize God’s justice and righteous anger against sin, then grace means nothing and forgiveness is unnecessary which means that Jesus died for nothing. But Jesus did not die for nothing.

John Calvin wrote of the penitent thief, “With a mangled body, and almost dead, he is looking for the last stroke of the executioner, and yet relies on the grace of Christ alone.”

JJ VanOosterzee wrote, “Grace and mercy suddenly diffuse their bright beams through the night of the deepest humiliation.” The theatre of judgment became the working place of grace.

42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And [Jesus] said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

The thief had everything necessary for conversion, for salvation: repentance and faith in Jesus.

And this is what every poor sinner should pray daily: Lord, remember me. Be graciously mindful of me when you come again as King.

So I told you that the one point of this sermon is hope, and that hope is in the power of “today.”

According to the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, In the promise of forgiveness the “one day,” becomes, the “today,” of fulfillment. Paradise is opened even to the irredeemably lost man hanging on the cross. He is promised fellowship with the Messiah. This shows how unlimited is the remission of sins in the age of forgiveness which has now dawned.”

Our hope is that Christ is satisfied with repentance and faith and will receive all who come to Him through them. While there is life, there is hope.

The thief on the cross had no time to get baptized, or get confirmed or take Communion. He never got the chance to tithe or go to Sunday school or attend a church service. He had no time to live the kind of life that the religious people might consider worthy of Jesus but he was still promised by Jesus that he would go with Him to paradise.

It isn’t fair. And in truth, we don’t really want it to be. Fairness isn’t the goal. If life were fair, we’d all be dead because we would get what we deserve. Jesus’ death on the cross was the ultimate act of unfairness. The righteous for the unrighteous, He died so that we could live. 

Jesus took upon Himself what we deserve so that, by faith in Him, we could receive what He deserves.

That’s the hope that we have, that’s the hope that the thief on the cross had, that he, and that we, would have a place in His eternal kingdom, and that’s a great gift.

What is our hope in life and death? Christ alone! Christ alone!

Amen.