1 00:00:01,801 --> 00:00:04,788 Luke 2332 through 43. 2 00:00:04,888 --> 00:00:08,758 Two others who were criminals were led away to be put to death with him, 3 00:00:09,259 --> 00:00:12,929 and when they came to the place that is called the skull, there 4 00:00:12,929 --> 00:00:17,934 they crucified him and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 5 00:00:18,301 --> 00:00:22,022 And Jesus said, father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. 6 00:00:22,589 --> 00:00:25,141 And they cast lots to divide his garments. 7 00:00:25,141 --> 00:00:27,477 And the people stood by watching. 8 00:00:27,477 --> 00:00:31,014 But the rulers scoffed at him, saying he saved others. 9 00:00:31,097 --> 00:00:32,665 Let him save himself. 10 00:00:32,665 --> 00:00:35,668 If he is the Christ of God, his chosen one. 11 00:00:36,152 --> 00:00:41,241 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, 12 00:00:41,391 --> 00:00:44,394 if you are the King of the Jews, save yourself. 13 00:00:44,728 --> 00:00:46,429 There was an inscription over him. 14 00:00:46,429 --> 00:00:48,782 This is the King of the Jews. 15 00:00:48,782 --> 00:00:51,768 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, 16 00:00:51,918 --> 00:00:53,403 are you not the Christ? 17 00:00:53,403 --> 00:00:55,405 Save yourself and us. 18 00:00:55,405 --> 00:00:59,042 But the other rebuked him, saying, do you not fear God, 19 00:00:59,392 --> 00:01:02,095 since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 20 00:01:02,095 --> 00:01:06,349 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds. 21 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:08,968 But this man has done nothing wrong. 22 00:01:08,968 --> 00:01:12,589 And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. 23 00:01:13,039 --> 00:01:18,228 And he said to him, truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise. 24 00:01:22,682 --> 00:01:25,435 Everybody, good morning and welcome. 25 00:01:25,435 --> 00:01:28,888 I am, I'm really, really glad that you're here. 26 00:01:29,906 --> 00:01:33,460 We have been in a series we're calling Jesus the Redeemer. 27 00:01:33,476 --> 00:01:38,331 We've been moving through the Gospel of Luke the last couple times. 28 00:01:38,448 --> 00:01:39,299 I've preached. 29 00:01:39,299 --> 00:01:43,620 I've mentioned that even with some of the most spectacular stories 30 00:01:43,970 --> 00:01:50,243 about Jesus, Luke is surprisingly brief with two times ago 31 00:01:50,243 --> 00:01:54,147 I preached on Jesus raising the widow's son from the dead. 32 00:01:54,948 --> 00:01:56,332 He raised somebody from the dead. 33 00:01:56,332 --> 00:01:57,534 Amazing, incredible. 34 00:01:57,534 --> 00:01:59,302 Everybody in that town 35 00:01:59,302 --> 00:02:02,755 will be telling that story at every party for the rest of their lives. 36 00:02:03,356 --> 00:02:05,008 Right. 37 00:02:05,008 --> 00:02:08,011 Luke tells that story in six verses. 38 00:02:08,161 --> 00:02:09,929 Six verses. 39 00:02:09,929 --> 00:02:13,967 The last time I preached, I preached on Jesus calming the storm. 40 00:02:14,751 --> 00:02:17,971 The disciples are caught in a storm that is so fierce. 41 00:02:17,971 --> 00:02:20,390 They think they're going to die and they wake Jesus up. 42 00:02:21,591 --> 00:02:24,811 And Jesus shushes the storm 43 00:02:25,829 --> 00:02:28,348 and the disciples freak out, 44 00:02:28,348 --> 00:02:31,217 and they end up saying, what kind of man is this? 45 00:02:31,217 --> 00:02:34,487 That even the wind and the waves obey him 46 00:02:35,572 --> 00:02:38,041 for verses and so on. 47 00:02:38,041 --> 00:02:40,560 Luke took to tell that story four verses. 48 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:45,982 Now we get to the last week of Jesus life from Palm Sunday 49 00:02:46,616 --> 00:02:49,619 to Easter, and everything slows up. 50 00:02:50,637 --> 00:02:52,822 And to tell this story, 51 00:02:52,822 --> 00:02:56,009 Luke takes a whopping 312 verses. 52 00:02:56,910 --> 00:02:57,961 How about this? 53 00:02:57,961 --> 00:03:01,848 The last 12 hours of Jesus life, from the time he's arrested 54 00:03:02,098 --> 00:03:06,419 in the Garden of Gethsemane, to the time he breathed his last breath on the cross, 55 00:03:07,587 --> 00:03:09,806 79 verse. 56 00:03:09,806 --> 00:03:12,809 And I tell you that because it's it's one of the 57 00:03:13,009 --> 00:03:15,662 the more remarkable things about the way 58 00:03:15,662 --> 00:03:18,932 the gospel writers cover Jesus life. 59 00:03:19,682 --> 00:03:22,652 And it's one of the things that makes Jesus stand out from all other 60 00:03:22,652 --> 00:03:25,638 religious leaders, every other religious leaders, a teacher 61 00:03:26,272 --> 00:03:29,275 like Confucius and Buddha Muhammad. 62 00:03:29,809 --> 00:03:32,245 So when somebody covers their life, they cover their teaching. 63 00:03:32,245 --> 00:03:35,148 They don't cover their death. 64 00:03:35,148 --> 00:03:37,317 But Jesus claimed to be the Redeemer, 65 00:03:38,668 --> 00:03:41,237 the one with the power 66 00:03:41,237 --> 00:03:45,658 to rescue, to save, to set us free. 67 00:03:46,910 --> 00:03:49,078 And that meant 68 00:03:49,078 --> 00:03:52,081 we needed a cross, an empty tomb, 69 00:03:52,732 --> 00:03:54,717 and a resurrection. 70 00:03:54,717 --> 00:03:59,239 That's why every gospel writer will blow through miracle after miracle. 71 00:03:59,239 --> 00:04:01,908 Four verses, five verses, six verses. 72 00:04:01,908 --> 00:04:04,978 And then they all slow up for this week 73 00:04:04,978 --> 00:04:07,981 that we call the Passion Week, 74 00:04:08,748 --> 00:04:13,353 because Jesus death and resurrection is his purpose for coming. 75 00:04:13,353 --> 00:04:16,339 Everything else is Prolog. 76 00:04:16,556 --> 00:04:19,709 Make no mistake, Jesus Christ didn't come to be a teacher. 77 00:04:21,110 --> 00:04:24,047 He came to be a sacrifice. 78 00:04:24,047 --> 00:04:26,783 He came to die. 79 00:04:26,783 --> 00:04:29,185 And this is our ninth week of our series. 80 00:04:29,185 --> 00:04:33,206 And we are finally to the place where Jesus redeems absolutely, 81 00:04:33,206 --> 00:04:37,577 completely, eternally, where Luke chapter 23. 82 00:04:37,593 --> 00:04:42,031 So if you have your Bibles, go ahead and turn there, Luke chapter 23 and, 83 00:04:42,532 --> 00:04:45,118 pull it up on your phone or on a tablet, or if you want to use 84 00:04:45,118 --> 00:04:48,955 one of our Bibles, it's on page 830, page 830. 85 00:04:50,006 --> 00:04:52,075 In the passage we just had read to us, 86 00:04:52,075 --> 00:04:55,078 there are three men who are dying, 87 00:04:56,129 --> 00:04:57,780 and each of them speaks, 88 00:04:57,780 --> 00:05:00,833 and we have something to learn from each of them. 89 00:05:01,217 --> 00:05:03,603 And so here are my three points. 90 00:05:03,603 --> 00:05:06,689 The first dying man misses the Redeemer 91 00:05:08,057 --> 00:05:10,043 the first time and misses the Redeemer. 92 00:05:10,043 --> 00:05:13,046 The second dying man finds the Redeemer, 93 00:05:14,097 --> 00:05:17,100 and the third dying man is the Redeemer. 94 00:05:17,450 --> 00:05:18,451 All right. 95 00:05:18,451 --> 00:05:18,835 First. 96 00:05:18,835 --> 00:05:21,838 The first dying man misses the Redeemer. 97 00:05:21,954 --> 00:05:24,624 This is really easy to do. 98 00:05:24,624 --> 00:05:27,260 He he makes two mistakes. 99 00:05:27,260 --> 00:05:29,762 He listens to the wrong crowd, 100 00:05:29,762 --> 00:05:32,248 and he looks for the wrong evidence. 101 00:05:32,248 --> 00:05:34,233 When I say he listens to the wrong crowd, 102 00:05:34,233 --> 00:05:37,236 this is what he says in verse 39. 103 00:05:37,587 --> 00:05:39,989 Says one of the criminals who were hanged 104 00:05:39,989 --> 00:05:43,159 railed at him, saying, are you not the Christ? 105 00:05:43,192 --> 00:05:45,411 Save yourself and us. 106 00:05:45,411 --> 00:05:48,047 This version says that he railed at Jesus. 107 00:05:48,047 --> 00:05:52,018 Another version says that he, hurled insults at Jesus. 108 00:05:52,652 --> 00:05:55,838 Now, he wasn't hurling insults around all willy nilly. 109 00:05:55,855 --> 00:05:59,642 He wasn't insulting the soldiers who were crucify him or the crowd 110 00:05:59,642 --> 00:06:01,277 that was watching. 111 00:06:01,277 --> 00:06:03,446 He wasn't hurling insults at the other criminal. 112 00:06:03,446 --> 00:06:05,732 It was all focused on Jesus. 113 00:06:06,749 --> 00:06:07,650 And the reason is because 114 00:06:07,650 --> 00:06:11,621 everybody was talking about Jesus and this is what they were saying. 115 00:06:11,637 --> 00:06:14,640 This is verses 35 through 37, 116 00:06:14,907 --> 00:06:17,627 it says, and the people stood by watching, 117 00:06:17,627 --> 00:06:20,963 but the rulers scoffed at him, saying he saved others. 118 00:06:20,963 --> 00:06:22,532 Let him save himself. 119 00:06:22,532 --> 00:06:25,518 If he's the Christ of God, the Chosen one. 120 00:06:25,618 --> 00:06:30,239 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, 121 00:06:30,506 --> 00:06:33,926 if you're the King of the Jews, save yourself now 122 00:06:35,428 --> 00:06:39,148 this is interesting because everyone was mocking Jesus. 123 00:06:39,866 --> 00:06:42,869 The religious leaders were mocking him 124 00:06:43,352 --> 00:06:48,891 and the the secular irreligious soldiers were also mocking him. 125 00:06:48,891 --> 00:06:49,559 Everybody. 126 00:06:49,559 --> 00:06:53,996 This is like finding an issue that Republicans and Democrats all agree on. 127 00:06:54,697 --> 00:06:54,947 All right. 128 00:06:54,947 --> 00:06:59,152 If you find a policy that all the Republicans and all the Democrats agree 129 00:06:59,152 --> 00:07:02,989 on, it'd be very easy to agree with that policy. 130 00:07:03,806 --> 00:07:07,527 Now, in that time, the religious leaders were mocking 131 00:07:07,527 --> 00:07:10,763 Jesus because they were saying, if you're the Christ, if you're 132 00:07:10,763 --> 00:07:14,967 the Messiah, the one who is sent to redeem, you wouldn't be hanging up. 133 00:07:15,001 --> 00:07:19,188 You can't even save yourself, let alone save anyone else. 134 00:07:19,188 --> 00:07:22,158 The cross didn't make sense to them. 135 00:07:23,159 --> 00:07:25,728 And for the soldiers, they're looking at Jesus and saying, you. 136 00:07:25,728 --> 00:07:28,915 You call yourself a king with power and authority. 137 00:07:28,915 --> 00:07:30,183 If you were a king with power 138 00:07:30,183 --> 00:07:33,986 and authority, you wouldn't be where you are right now. 139 00:07:34,253 --> 00:07:37,256 It just didn't make sense to them. 140 00:07:37,323 --> 00:07:39,175 Nowadays, a 141 00:07:39,175 --> 00:07:42,478 secular person, irreligious person 142 00:07:42,478 --> 00:07:46,799 will look at Jesus and the resurrection won't make sense to them. 143 00:07:46,799 --> 00:07:47,850 They'll say, we are. 144 00:07:47,850 --> 00:07:50,002 We are more, scientific. 145 00:07:50,002 --> 00:07:52,788 We're not. We're not as gullible as they were back then. 146 00:07:52,788 --> 00:07:53,189 We don't. 147 00:07:53,189 --> 00:07:56,008 We know people don't rise from the dead. 148 00:07:56,008 --> 00:08:00,480 And it doesn't make any sense that Jesus claims to be the only way to God. 149 00:08:01,380 --> 00:08:03,950 It just doesn't make sense 150 00:08:03,950 --> 00:08:05,117 for religious person. 151 00:08:05,117 --> 00:08:07,353 They believe that being good is the way to get to God. 152 00:08:07,353 --> 00:08:10,339 I've talked to people before and they say, let me get this straight. 153 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:14,760 You're saying that 70 can live a terrible life, do whatever they want, 154 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:18,481 and at the end of their lives, if they put their faith in Jesus, 155 00:08:18,681 --> 00:08:21,317 then everything is forgiven. 156 00:08:21,317 --> 00:08:23,002 Is that what you're telling me? It just didn't. 157 00:08:23,002 --> 00:08:25,671 Doesn't make sense. Grace doesn't make sense to them. 158 00:08:27,507 --> 00:08:30,510 For this guy, he was listening to the crowd, 159 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:33,980 and so he joined in and insulting and mocking Jesus. 160 00:08:33,980 --> 00:08:37,967 In some ways, becoming a real Christian means 161 00:08:37,967 --> 00:08:40,970 you have to be an independent thinker. 162 00:08:41,037 --> 00:08:43,239 You gotta look at it yourself, 163 00:08:43,239 --> 00:08:45,841 not listen to what everybody else 164 00:08:45,841 --> 00:08:46,459 is saying. 165 00:08:46,459 --> 00:08:49,278 That's the first mistake he makes. 166 00:08:49,278 --> 00:08:52,281 The second mistake he makes is he looks for the wrong evidence. 167 00:08:52,999 --> 00:08:54,834 And this is really easy to do. 168 00:08:54,834 --> 00:08:56,152 What what he does. 169 00:08:56,152 --> 00:08:58,554 He's in a desperate situation, right? 170 00:08:58,554 --> 00:09:01,157 He says to Jesus, you want me to believe in you then? 171 00:09:01,157 --> 00:09:03,409 Then get me down off the cross. 172 00:09:03,409 --> 00:09:05,244 Then save me from this. 173 00:09:05,244 --> 00:09:10,383 Answer, this request for me, and then I will follow you. 174 00:09:11,484 --> 00:09:12,985 It's so easy to do that. 175 00:09:12,985 --> 00:09:16,222 There are a lot of people that I've talked to that either 176 00:09:16,322 --> 00:09:20,660 don't believe in Jesus or who have stopped believing in Jesus 177 00:09:20,660 --> 00:09:24,530 because they're in a desperate situation, and they prayed a prayer 178 00:09:25,398 --> 00:09:29,118 and Jesus did not answer that prayer, and that was the evidence 179 00:09:29,118 --> 00:09:29,852 they were looking at. 180 00:09:29,852 --> 00:09:32,788 And now they say they don't believe in Jesus. 181 00:09:33,956 --> 00:09:34,257 But in 182 00:09:34,257 --> 00:09:37,677 the Gospel of Matthew, there's a really interesting thing that happens. 183 00:09:38,060 --> 00:09:42,715 Jesus has been healing people and teaching and doing all a bunch of Jesus stuff 184 00:09:43,316 --> 00:09:47,486 and some religious leaders come up to Jesus and they say, Jesus, give us a sign. 185 00:09:48,588 --> 00:09:51,591 What they're saying is, listen, we're going to give you a litmus test. 186 00:09:51,741 --> 00:09:55,194 You do what we ask you to do, then we all 187 00:09:55,227 --> 00:09:58,230 believe you are who you say you are. 188 00:09:59,098 --> 00:10:01,284 And Jesus responds like this. 189 00:10:01,284 --> 00:10:05,788 He says, only an evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign. 190 00:10:06,322 --> 00:10:09,475 No sign will be given to you except this 191 00:10:10,876 --> 00:10:12,862 the sign of Jonah. 192 00:10:12,862 --> 00:10:15,898 Just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days. 193 00:10:15,898 --> 00:10:19,585 So the Son of Man will be in the depths of the earth for three days. 194 00:10:19,585 --> 00:10:20,603 You and Jesus say, 195 00:10:21,737 --> 00:10:22,938 he said, I will give you everything. 196 00:10:22,938 --> 00:10:27,360 I will give everyone the same evidence that I am the Redeemer. 197 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:29,879 And that's the resurrection. 198 00:10:29,879 --> 00:10:31,580 Look for that. 199 00:10:31,580 --> 00:10:33,899 Look for that. 200 00:10:33,899 --> 00:10:35,551 Listen, 201 00:10:35,551 --> 00:10:38,270 if you're here 202 00:10:38,270 --> 00:10:41,273 and you have struggled with Jesus 203 00:10:41,641 --> 00:10:43,342 because you prayed a prayer one 204 00:10:43,342 --> 00:10:46,345 time of desperation 205 00:10:46,912 --> 00:10:48,331 and you say, I pray. 206 00:10:48,331 --> 00:10:53,219 I don't believe in Jesus because I prayed for my mom and she still died, 207 00:10:54,170 --> 00:10:57,173 or I prayed for my child, or I prayed for my friend. 208 00:10:58,374 --> 00:11:00,626 So I want to be very compassionate. 209 00:11:00,626 --> 00:11:03,029 My heart breaks for you 210 00:11:03,029 --> 00:11:06,932 and I don't know why Jesus didn't answer that prayer, 211 00:11:07,733 --> 00:11:10,286 but I don't want to leave you there. 212 00:11:10,286 --> 00:11:11,904 I want to tell you you. 213 00:11:11,904 --> 00:11:13,639 You're looking at the wrong evidence. 214 00:11:13,639 --> 00:11:14,657 Don't make that mistake. 215 00:11:14,657 --> 00:11:18,327 Jesus has said, I will give you evidence to show 216 00:11:18,477 --> 00:11:22,465 that I love you, to show that I am the Redeemer, 217 00:11:23,449 --> 00:11:24,266 and that evidence 218 00:11:24,266 --> 00:11:27,269 is the cross and the resurrection. 219 00:11:28,037 --> 00:11:31,407 So if you're here and that's you, don't miss next week. 220 00:11:32,308 --> 00:11:34,193 Don't miss next week. 221 00:11:34,193 --> 00:11:35,611 All right. 222 00:11:35,611 --> 00:11:38,631 So the first dying man, he misses the Redeemer 223 00:11:39,298 --> 00:11:42,051 because he listens to the wrong crowd 224 00:11:42,051 --> 00:11:44,570 and he looks for the wrong evidence. 225 00:11:44,570 --> 00:11:47,339 The second dying man finds the Redeemer. 226 00:11:47,339 --> 00:11:50,192 And just like the first dying man misses the Redeemer for two reasons. 227 00:11:50,192 --> 00:11:53,879 The second dying man finds the Redeemer for two reasons. 228 00:11:54,346 --> 00:11:57,116 And the first is that he he sees Jesus 229 00:11:57,116 --> 00:12:00,119 as an end, not a means to an end. 230 00:12:00,569 --> 00:12:01,370 And this is what I mean. 231 00:12:01,370 --> 00:12:04,540 Sometimes it's easy to look at Jesus as somebody that you 232 00:12:04,573 --> 00:12:10,129 you bring into your life to, to help you get what you want to get out of life. 233 00:12:10,129 --> 00:12:10,796 Yeah. 234 00:12:10,796 --> 00:12:14,934 To be the one that helps you achieve what you want to achieve, help 235 00:12:14,934 --> 00:12:20,039 you have the family you want to have, help you have the life that you want to have. 236 00:12:20,039 --> 00:12:24,960 Some of you can tell if you're using Jesus as a means to an end. 237 00:12:25,428 --> 00:12:27,329 By the way you pray. 238 00:12:27,329 --> 00:12:31,350 Now, I don't mean to say that every time you ask Jesus for something, 239 00:12:31,350 --> 00:12:35,454 you're making him an end and not are, a means to an end. 240 00:12:35,488 --> 00:12:39,108 Not the end itself, but let me just give you a shallow example. 241 00:12:39,742 --> 00:12:41,060 You know, when I was in high school, 242 00:12:41,060 --> 00:12:44,063 being a basketball player was really, really important to me. 243 00:12:44,313 --> 00:12:48,467 I my identity was wrapped up with being a basketball player. 244 00:12:48,467 --> 00:12:51,287 And I remember I never prayed more fervently 245 00:12:51,287 --> 00:12:53,873 than when I was on the free throw line at a critical time. 246 00:12:53,873 --> 00:12:54,356 And again, 247 00:12:55,591 --> 00:12:58,010 I was just going, oh Jesus, please just give me this one. 248 00:12:58,010 --> 00:13:01,013 Just, you know, because what I was saying is, Jesus, 249 00:13:01,981 --> 00:13:06,168 I need you to preserve my identity in basketball. 250 00:13:06,168 --> 00:13:07,470 Will you do that for me? 251 00:13:07,470 --> 00:13:09,655 That was using him 252 00:13:09,655 --> 00:13:11,757 as a means to an end. 253 00:13:11,757 --> 00:13:14,960 Maybe the the better way you can figure out if that's what you're 254 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:19,398 doing with Jesus is how you respond when he doesn't answer your prayer. 255 00:13:20,216 --> 00:13:23,619 Not what you pray for, but how you respond when he does. 256 00:13:23,853 --> 00:13:26,455 Like that first 257 00:13:26,455 --> 00:13:31,310 dying man, he says to Jesus, this is what I want you to do for me. 258 00:13:31,310 --> 00:13:34,313 Get me, get me out of this trouble. 259 00:13:34,530 --> 00:13:36,031 Give me the life that I want. 260 00:13:36,031 --> 00:13:37,049 Then I'll believe in you. 261 00:13:37,049 --> 00:13:39,835 But this second dying man. 262 00:13:39,835 --> 00:13:42,438 He doesn't say that. He didn't even ask to get off the cross. 263 00:13:43,405 --> 00:13:46,408 What he says to Jesus is Jesus. 264 00:13:46,458 --> 00:13:49,311 I can deal with this trouble 265 00:13:49,311 --> 00:13:51,931 as long as I can be with you. 266 00:13:51,931 --> 00:13:54,917 Give me any life you want to give me. 267 00:13:55,251 --> 00:13:57,303 Just stay with me. 268 00:13:57,303 --> 00:13:59,605 Just be with me. 269 00:13:59,605 --> 00:14:01,223 You see? 270 00:14:01,223 --> 00:14:04,226 You see the difference in what he was doing. 271 00:14:04,727 --> 00:14:08,631 He was saying to Jesus, I want you to be my life now. 272 00:14:08,631 --> 00:14:11,634 Give me the life that I want to have. 273 00:14:12,618 --> 00:14:14,670 That's the first thing 274 00:14:14,670 --> 00:14:17,673 that the that the second dying man does. 275 00:14:18,257 --> 00:14:22,461 The second thing that he does is he he admits what he deserves. 276 00:14:22,862 --> 00:14:26,882 And this must have been really, really difficult, I think, because, 277 00:14:27,199 --> 00:14:30,352 he was being crucified by Romans and, 278 00:14:31,487 --> 00:14:33,989 he was being he was not a Roman, 279 00:14:33,989 --> 00:14:36,542 I can tell you he was not a Roman citizen 280 00:14:36,542 --> 00:14:40,579 because it was illegal to crucify a Roman citizen. 281 00:14:41,213 --> 00:14:45,200 They considered it to debasing, to cruel, 282 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:48,537 to painful for a Roman citizen to endure. 283 00:14:49,288 --> 00:14:52,892 So this guy was being crucified by a dominant culture. 284 00:14:53,576 --> 00:14:56,845 And I tell you that it must have been difficult for him to just admit and say, 285 00:14:57,212 --> 00:14:58,697 I'm getting what I deserve, 286 00:14:59,815 --> 00:15:02,334 because this is what I know. 287 00:15:02,334 --> 00:15:05,337 There's a victim inside of all of us. 288 00:15:05,387 --> 00:15:08,207 There's a victim inside of me just waiting for something. 289 00:15:08,207 --> 00:15:11,660 Like if I was that guy would be really difficult for me not to say. 290 00:15:11,660 --> 00:15:13,679 Listen. Sure, sure. 291 00:15:13,679 --> 00:15:15,748 I did something wrong. 292 00:15:15,748 --> 00:15:19,285 But if I was a Roman citizen, I wouldn't be getting crucified. 293 00:15:19,285 --> 00:15:21,020 This is crazy. 294 00:15:21,020 --> 00:15:22,788 Why am I the one that's getting. Why? 295 00:15:22,788 --> 00:15:25,007 Why can't I get treated like everybody else? 296 00:15:25,007 --> 00:15:26,241 This is what I give me. 297 00:15:26,241 --> 00:15:27,960 A sliver of injustice. 298 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:30,296 I'll be a little bit victimized. 299 00:15:30,296 --> 00:15:31,680 Give me a lot of injustice. 300 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:34,667 Holy cow, it's on. 301 00:15:34,850 --> 00:15:38,721 I'm also pretty good at rationalizing my own actions. 302 00:15:39,171 --> 00:15:40,773 You might be to. 303 00:15:40,773 --> 00:15:43,525 I'll give you a way that, you know, if you've ever started 304 00:15:43,525 --> 00:15:47,630 a sentence by saying, I may not be perfect, but hey, 305 00:15:48,647 --> 00:15:49,732 what you're saying is I. 306 00:15:49,732 --> 00:15:54,420 I'm holding on to this little sliver to justify myself. 307 00:15:54,887 --> 00:15:57,890 You know, Pastor Zach gave a sermon a few weeks ago. 308 00:15:58,374 --> 00:16:04,013 We use the metaphor of justifying yourself like being a raft in a pool. 309 00:16:04,013 --> 00:16:07,016 And as long as you're hanging on to the raft and all, 310 00:16:07,549 --> 00:16:09,918 you can't have the Savior. 311 00:16:09,918 --> 00:16:14,957 You have to let go of any sliver of just of self-justification and begin 312 00:16:14,957 --> 00:16:18,227 to say, throw up your hand and say, now I need a Savior. 313 00:16:19,912 --> 00:16:22,197 Any kind of justifying yourself, 314 00:16:22,197 --> 00:16:25,200 you'll miss the Redeemer. 315 00:16:25,250 --> 00:16:28,253 This guy says to Jesus. 316 00:16:29,338 --> 00:16:31,907 This is what I deserve. 317 00:16:31,907 --> 00:16:34,910 And what he's saying is, 318 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:38,147 I'm getting what I deserve. 319 00:16:39,498 --> 00:16:42,351 Can I still be with you? 320 00:16:42,351 --> 00:16:44,520 I'm getting what I deserve. 321 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:46,889 Do you still 322 00:16:46,889 --> 00:16:47,673 want me? 323 00:16:48,924 --> 00:16:51,326 Do you still want me? 324 00:16:51,326 --> 00:16:53,429 And then the the final dying 325 00:16:53,429 --> 00:16:56,432 man finally speaks. 326 00:16:56,732 --> 00:16:59,301 Jesus finally says this 327 00:16:59,301 --> 00:17:02,304 in the last verse of the passage, verse 43. 328 00:17:02,471 --> 00:17:05,474 It says, And he said to him, truly I say to you, 329 00:17:05,958 --> 00:17:08,961 today you will be with me in Paradise. 330 00:17:09,745 --> 00:17:13,348 You know, it's easy to read that and just think, oh, that is wonderful. 331 00:17:13,348 --> 00:17:16,668 What Jesus is telling him is that he's going to go to heaven, right? 332 00:17:16,668 --> 00:17:21,273 Which that's true, but that's not the most wonderful thing that Jesus has said. 333 00:17:22,491 --> 00:17:25,310 What Jesus says to him is the most wonderful thing 334 00:17:25,310 --> 00:17:28,313 is this today you'll be with me. 335 00:17:30,382 --> 00:17:31,800 You're with me. 336 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:35,304 And the reason that is so wonderful is that the night before, 337 00:17:35,304 --> 00:17:36,872 Jesus prayed a prayer. 338 00:17:36,872 --> 00:17:39,858 It's recorded in John chapter 17. 339 00:17:40,442 --> 00:17:45,347 In that prayer, he's saying to God, I'm about to go to be glorified. 340 00:17:45,347 --> 00:17:47,099 I'm about to go to the cross 341 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:49,017 so that 342 00:17:49,017 --> 00:17:52,921 these the ones who follow me, might be with me. 343 00:17:53,756 --> 00:17:57,176 And then you can love them with the same love 344 00:17:57,893 --> 00:18:00,896 that you love me with. 345 00:18:00,963 --> 00:18:03,949 It's incredible what he said, 346 00:18:04,533 --> 00:18:07,352 what Jesus is saying to this 347 00:18:07,352 --> 00:18:09,571 second dying man 348 00:18:09,571 --> 00:18:11,540 is this I'm about to be glorified. 349 00:18:11,540 --> 00:18:12,841 I'm about to be exalted. 350 00:18:12,841 --> 00:18:15,828 I'm about to accomplish salvation, 351 00:18:16,128 --> 00:18:18,480 and I can guarantee you this. 352 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:21,867 You will be with me because I'm doing because of 353 00:18:21,867 --> 00:18:24,870 what I'm doing right here, right now. 354 00:18:24,870 --> 00:18:27,873 The saying said, I want you to know 355 00:18:29,308 --> 00:18:31,643 that you will be where I am. 356 00:18:31,643 --> 00:18:35,447 You will never get what you deserve from God because I'm getting what you 357 00:18:35,447 --> 00:18:39,001 deserve right now so you can get what I deserve, which is Paradise. 358 00:18:40,319 --> 00:18:43,071 And the reason that Jesus can be so certain 359 00:18:44,123 --> 00:18:47,126 of that is his confidence. 360 00:18:47,126 --> 00:18:50,179 This is important not in the mercy of God, 361 00:18:51,630 --> 00:18:54,533 but in the justice of God. 362 00:18:54,533 --> 00:18:57,536 You know, I memorized a verse when I was a little kid, 363 00:18:58,187 --> 00:19:02,391 but I don't think I understood it really until just a couple of years ago. 364 00:19:03,242 --> 00:19:04,977 It's in first, John. 365 00:19:04,977 --> 00:19:05,811 This is what it says. 366 00:19:05,811 --> 00:19:09,231 First John one nine if we confess our sins, 367 00:19:10,132 --> 00:19:14,119 he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 368 00:19:14,119 --> 00:19:17,239 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 369 00:19:18,257 --> 00:19:22,377 He says that he is faithful and just not faithful and merciful. 370 00:19:22,878 --> 00:19:27,533 God wasn't saying to this dying man, you're going to be with me. 371 00:19:27,533 --> 00:19:28,734 And when we get before God, 372 00:19:28,734 --> 00:19:32,938 I will make a plea on your behalf for God to be merciful to you. 373 00:19:32,971 --> 00:19:33,872 That's not what he's saying. 374 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:37,976 He said, you're going to be with me, which means, don't we? 375 00:19:37,976 --> 00:19:40,612 When we come before God, 376 00:19:40,612 --> 00:19:44,099 I will say to the all holy God, 377 00:19:45,918 --> 00:19:48,654 I know your justice, 378 00:19:48,654 --> 00:19:51,657 and I know that every sin must be paid for. 379 00:19:53,041 --> 00:19:54,860 He's with me, 380 00:19:54,860 --> 00:19:57,863 and I paid for his sin. 381 00:19:58,013 --> 00:20:01,016 And I know because of your justice you would never demand 382 00:20:01,283 --> 00:20:04,286 both of us pay for the same sin. 383 00:20:04,670 --> 00:20:07,673 And I paid for all of his sin, 384 00:20:08,540 --> 00:20:11,543 so he is forgiven. 385 00:20:11,610 --> 00:20:14,580 He is set free. 386 00:20:14,580 --> 00:20:17,583 He is rescued. 387 00:20:17,749 --> 00:20:20,068 He is redeemed. 388 00:20:20,068 --> 00:20:22,337 Do you see? 389 00:20:22,337 --> 00:20:25,340 There are three men who are dying. 390 00:20:26,358 --> 00:20:28,277 One dying man misses 391 00:20:28,277 --> 00:20:31,980 the Redeemer because he he he's listening to the wrong crowd. 392 00:20:31,980 --> 00:20:33,348 He's looking for the wrong evidence. 393 00:20:33,348 --> 00:20:36,351 If that's you. 394 00:20:37,069 --> 00:20:40,072 Do not miss the Redeemer, the second Redeemer. 395 00:20:40,289 --> 00:20:40,939 Fine. 396 00:20:40,939 --> 00:20:43,408 Or the second dying man finds the Redeemer 397 00:20:44,493 --> 00:20:47,095 because he sees Jesus 398 00:20:47,095 --> 00:20:50,365 as an end, not a means to an end, says Jesus. 399 00:20:50,365 --> 00:20:54,152 Give me any kind of life you want to give me, as long as I can be with you. 400 00:20:55,737 --> 00:20:58,040 Do you still want me? 401 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:01,043 And Jesus says, 402 00:21:01,226 --> 00:21:03,061 I want you, 403 00:21:03,061 --> 00:21:06,048 and you will be with me. 404 00:21:07,382 --> 00:21:09,351 So amazing 405 00:21:09,351 --> 00:21:12,437 is Jesus the Redeemer, who redeems absolutely, 406 00:21:12,437 --> 00:21:15,440 completely, eternally, 407 00:21:16,108 --> 00:21:19,111 and because of what he does on the cross 408 00:21:19,761 --> 00:21:22,764 and then three days later, resurrects. 409 00:21:23,065 --> 00:21:25,951 He says to each one of you, 410 00:21:25,951 --> 00:21:28,487 today you can be with me, 411 00:21:28,487 --> 00:21:29,571 be with him. 412 00:21:29,571 --> 00:21:32,574 Would you pray with me? 413 00:21:32,641 --> 00:21:35,060 Father in heaven, I come to you and I am. 414 00:21:35,060 --> 00:21:38,063 I'm so grateful. 415 00:21:38,096 --> 00:21:41,099 I'm grateful that every gospel writer 416 00:21:41,550 --> 00:21:44,102 slows up 417 00:21:44,102 --> 00:21:47,756 and takes the time to tell this story, 418 00:21:48,890 --> 00:21:51,143 because this is the story that changes everything. 419 00:21:53,011 --> 00:21:53,462 I pray for 420 00:21:53,462 --> 00:21:56,748 every person here that those of us 421 00:21:56,748 --> 00:21:59,968 who have put our trust in you will be renewed again 422 00:22:01,620 --> 00:22:04,990 and just wonder at the price that you paid 423 00:22:06,625 --> 00:22:09,628 so that we could be with you. 424 00:22:10,879 --> 00:22:12,030 And I pray for those 425 00:22:12,030 --> 00:22:15,233 who have struggled, who've looked for the wrong evidence. And 426 00:22:16,284 --> 00:22:18,620 I pray that this might be a time 427 00:22:18,620 --> 00:22:20,672 where they trust you 428 00:22:20,672 --> 00:22:23,658 and find Jesus their Redeemer. 429 00:22:24,710 --> 00:22:27,029 Thanks for giving us such a wonderful Savior. 430 00:22:27,029 --> 00:22:29,448 We pray this in his name. Amen.