Revisiting the Thief on the Cross

Introduction

Thank you, Brother Sean, for doing a wonderful job leading us in those songs. Thank you, Brother Dave, for your wonderful words over the Lord’s table. And thank you to all of you who are here this morning and to all of our men who served us so well in worshiping God. It’s so good to see you this morning. I want to invite you to please get out your Bible and go into your New Testament to the Gospel of Luke this morning. Will you please go in your Bible to Luke chapter 23? Luke chapter 23 in your New Testament. I’m going to be reading several verses out of Luke 23 in just a moment. As you turn Luke chapter 23, allow me just a moment or two to just say a few things to you.

First, let me just say that I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We certainly did. We were able to go and be with family in Texas for a few days. And I appreciate the elders for allowing us to do that. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I hope you did with your family as well. Also, I want you to know about another opportunity for a Bible study that is coming up this week. Brother J.R. has been doing a wonderful job leading and putting together Bible studies across Orlando at different coffee shops. Brother Steve is leading a study at one. And I’m going to begin leading a study at another in Winter Garden beginning this Tuesday. This Tuesday, there will be a study on the Gospel of Mark.

We’re going to be studying the Gospel of Mark. The location for that is in your bulletin. But if you want to join us for that, please feel free to. It’s going to be at 6 30 on Tuesdays. And if you ever want to study Mark more closely and dig in it, dig into it a little deeper. We’re going to be doing that for the next several weeks, Lord willing. So I certainly look forward to that. Also, I want you to know that today we’re going to come back together at 3 o’clock to sing praises to God. And we did this last quarter, and it was a wonderful thing. We had a lot of visitors. And we have wonderful song leaders here. And I want to encourage all of us, especially all of our members, to be back at 3 o’clock for that singing.

It’s going to be a wonderful, wonderful thing. Get you some lunch, come back and sing praises to God. It’s always a blessing when God’s people can come together to sing praises to his name. And it’s also a blessing when God’s people can come together to study the Bible. And that’s what we’re going to do right now. And we’re in Luke chapter 23. In Luke 23, and in verse number 4. In verse number 4, it says, Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, I find no guilt in this man. There he’s talking about Jesus. And after sending Jesus to Herod, look down at verse 11. It says, and Herod, with his soldiers, after treating him with contempt and mocking him, dressed him in a gorgeous robe and sent him back to Pilate.

Go down to verse number 22 of the chapter. In verse number 22, even though the crowd is insisting that that Jesus be crucified, it says that Pilate said to them, he said to them, the crowd, the third time, Why? What evil has this man done? I have found in him no guilt, demanding death. Therefore I will punish him and release him.

As Jesus is dying on the cross. In verse number 39, it says, one of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at him, saying, Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the other answered and rebuking him said, Do you not even fear God since you were under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. And then drop down to verse 47. After he notices and is amazed by all the miracles attached to the death of Jesus. In verse number 47, it says, Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, Certainly, this man was innocent. Do you see the common thread that weaves his way throughout all those verses?

Do you see it? Do you see the main thing that Luke wants us to understand? And all those verses, Luke is trying to get us to understand that Jesus is innocent. Jesus has done nothing wrong. Jesus is a guiltless man that is being put to death in the worst possible way. That is the main thing that Luke is emphasizing to us over and over and over again. And this morning, we need to see that. We need to see that. We need to see the same thing Pilate saw. And the same thing Herod saw and a Roman centurion saw, and even what a thief who was dying with Jesus saw.

Who acknowledges the innocence of Jesus, I submit to you that he’s probably the most famous thief in the history of religion. He’s certainly the most famous thief in the history of the Christian religion. He’s a thief that we don’t know a whole lot about. We don’t know his name, we don’t know his age, we don’t know if he was married or had kids, but we still talk about him a lot. We still discuss him and debate about him a lot. In fact, you and I both know that as Christians or members of the Lord’s church, usually the only time we give any kind of serious consideration to this man is to talk about one thing and one thing alone, and that is baptism. That is to debate people about the issue of baptism.

That is to debate those who come to us saying, Well, I don’t believe you got to be baptized in order to be saved because a thief on the cross wasn’t baptized in order to be saved. The thief on the cross wasn’t baptized on this occasion, and Jesus said to him, Today you will be with me in paradise. You and I both know that for so many people who are affiliated with denominationalism, that’s exactly the kind of stuff they say. That’s exactly the kind of debates they drag us into all the time. And I believe that’s unfortunate for a couple of different reasons. First, I believe that is unfortunate because it really makes us not like this guy. It really makes us kind of embarrassed of this guy and ashamed of this guy.

It may even make us think to ourselves, why does this guy’s story even have to be in the Bible? Well, why does Luke and the other gospel writers have to tell us about this man? I mean, maybe we would have a whole lot more success convincing people about the need for baptism if he was not even mentioned in the Bible. You see, unfortunately, because this guy constantly comes up and debates about the necessity of baptism. As Christians, if we’re not careful, we can resent this guy, and we can resent the fact that he’s even mentioned in the Bible, but I submit to you, submit to you that that’s not why he’s mentioned in the Bible. That’s not why the Holy Spirit felt the need to include him in the Bible.

You see, when the Holy Spirit inspired Luke and the other gospel writers to include this man in the Bible, he didn’t do that to cause God’s people 2,000 years later to be frustrated. He didn’t do that to make us work a little bit harder and try to convince people by the necessity of baptism. He didn’t do that to negate the countless passages in the New Testament that talk about the need for baptism. Passages like Romans 6 and verse 3, and Mark 16 and verse 16, and Acts 2 and verse 38, and Acts 22 and verse 16, and 1 Peter 3 and verse 21, and Galatians 3 and verse 27. The Holy Spirit did not put this man in the Bible to override all of those verses and what they teach about the necessity of baptism.

Instead, he put this story in the Bible to teach us lessons about Jesus.

They’re designed to encourage us and comfort us and give us hope as we live each day in a dark and sinful world. That is why this man’s story is found in the Bible. And this morning, I want to focus on that. This morning I want to talk about that. This morning, I want to revisit this information the Bible gives us about a thief die on a cross next to Jesus from that particular lens. And I want to present a lesson to you about him that may be somewhat different than what you’re accustomed to. Instead of spending all of our time this morning debating and debunking all the false ideas that people have about the necessity of baptism when they read this story, what I want to do this morning is I want to preach this man’s story in the way that God originally wanted it to be preached.

1. We See His Unselfishness

This morning I want to focus on what the Bible says instead of what the Bible doesn’t say. I want to challenge us this morning to get out of debate mode for just a few minutes. And notice so many wonderful things that this man’s story teaches us about Jesus. And let’s begin with this right here. Let’s get out of debate mode for just a few moments and just appreciate how from this man’s story, one of the things we see in Jesus is we see his unselfishness. We see his unselfishness. You know, one of the main things that has always touched me about the events surrounding Jesus’ death is the concern that he shows for so many people in that moment. I mean, haven’t you ever noticed that before?

You ever noticed that before? You ever notice just how much concern Jesus has and shows to so many people during the final minutes of his life? I mean, think about it. Think about how even as he’s making his way to Jerusalem one final time, and he knows he’s gonna die for the sins of the world, he still makes time to go into the home of an outcast chief tax collector named Zacchaeus. He makes time for Zacchaeus, and he makes time to heal two blind men on the road that goes to Jericho, and he makes time to counsel a rich young ruler, and he makes time for lepers and to spend time in the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and he makes time even to comfort and pray for and wash his disciples’ feet.

He does all of these things as he makes his way to the cross, and when he is on the cross, the gospels make it very clear that while he is hanging there, he’s concerned about everybody but himself.

He’s concerned about some women disciples who have been following him for quite some time. He’s concerned about his mother and the apostle John taking care of her. He’s even concerned about his enemies and this thief. Look at what the Bible says, going back to Luke 23. In Luke 23, look at verse number 34. As Jesus is suffering on the cross and his enemies are mocking him, they’re taking pleasure in seeing him suffer to his last breath. And in Luke 23, in verse 34, in verse 34, it says, But Jesus was saying, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they’re doing. He is praying for his enemies. He’s showing concern for his enemies. Why he’s dying on the cross. Who does that? Jesus does that.

And drop down now to verse number 42. Because in verse number 42, after this man we’re talking about this morning, this thief, after he announces that he knows Jesus is innocent. In verse number 42, it says that he was saying, Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom. And he Jesus said something. He said something to him. Truly I say to you, today, you will be with me in paradise. I want you to notice the attention that Jesus gives this man during a time when he is suffering unjustly. Notice how during this time when he is suffering, he is dying. He is going through something that he doesn’t deserve. During that time, he actually talks to this man. He actually comforts this man.

Even though, frankly, this man didn’t deserve any compassion. He didn’t deserve any grace. He didn’t deserve any sympathy. He especially didn’t deserve Jesus comforting him because just a few moments earlier, this man was insulting Jesus. Did you catch that in the scripture reading? Go back to Matthew chapter 27 again. Remember what we read in Matthew 27, Brother Jonah read this in Matthew 27, verse 44. The Matthew in his account says this to us in Matthew 27 and verse 44. It says, the robbers, the robbers who have been crucified with him, were also insulting him. The robbers were also insulting him with the same words. Notice how, in addition to the one criminal, that Luke emphasizes was mocking Jesus and insulting him while he died on the cross.

Matthew, in his account, tells us that it actually both of them were doing that for a time. Both of them for a time were insulting and mocking Jesus. Both of them were angry with Jesus. Both of them were saying harsh words towards him and displaying absolutely no faith in him. Both of these men were being very ugly to Jesus. Well, he died on the cross, but Luke wants us to know in his account that at some point, one of them had a change of heart. One of them was converted. One of them had a transformation take place in his thinking, and he began defending Jesus. He began taking up for Jesus, standing and standing up for Jesus. He even rebuked the other thief and told him that they deserve to suffer on a cross.

But Jesus did not because he was innocent. This man defended Jesus.

He says, Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom. I want you to notice two powerful things from that request. First, I want you to notice how this request here, this verse shows us that by the time this man says these words, he’s a believer. Do you see that? He’s a believer in Jesus. He believes Jesus is the Messiah. He believes he’s the Christ. He believes that he’s going to establish a kingdom, and he wants to be part of it. He believes in the Lord’s kingdom. He wants to be part of His kingdom. He says, Lord, when you establish your kingdom, don’t forget about me. Lord, don’t forgive me. Lord, please let me one day be under your rule and your reign. This man is begging Jesus to save him in this moment.

And notice what Jesus doesn’t say. Notice how Jesus doesn’t say to him, Are you kidding me right now? Remember you? Wouldn’t you the guy just insulted me a few minutes ago? You want me, you want me to remember you? You want to be part of my kingdom? Man, I don’t have time to think about you. I’m suffering right now. I’m going through something that I don’t deserve to go through right now. I’m the innocent son of God who is suffering on a cross. Jesus doesn’t say anything about himself in that moment. He doesn’t seek revenge and retaliation against this man. He doesn’t bring up to him, well, you know what? I can’t believe you’re asking for this because just a couple hours ago you were insulting me and mocking me.

No, Jesus offers him compassion. He offers him grace, he offers him forgiveness, he offers him hope during a time when he is suffering. That’s what Jesus does in this moment. And brothers and sisters, I know about you, but that challenges me. That challenges all of us as Christians or disciples of Jesus Christ. That challenges us to understand that if we’re really going to be like Jesus, if we’re really going to model his life and imitate his life, if we’re really going to walk in his footsteps, then we got to be unselfish and concerned about others, even while we’re going through extremely difficult periods of suffering. Even when we’re going through trials, even when we’re going through storms, even when we hit rock bottom and we feel like everything and everyone is against us, instead of solely focusing on our situation and how bad things are for us and how we feel like we’re being treated unfairly like Jesus, we got to focus on helping other people.

2. We See His Grace Extended to Everyone

We got to focus on blessing on other people even while going through trials and storms. We gotta still focus on having compassion and on reaching out to others and listening to others and praying for others and forgiving others and encouraging others and showing hospitality and providing friendship. We got to do all these things for other people, even when life is not going our way because Jesus did that. Jesus shows unselfishness throughout this entire dialogue with this man that he dies with on a cross. But not only do we see the Lord’s unselfishness when we get our debate mode and just focus on what the Bible says. Another thing we see from this story with the thief is we also see in Jesus his grace. We see his unselfishness and we see his grace.

Specifically from this story, we clearly see that the Lord’s grace has been extended to everybody. It’s been extended to everyone. It’s been extended to me and to you, and even to this guy. This guy who’s dying on a cross next to Jesus. Let me ask you something. Why is this guy dying like this? I mean, a lot of people died at this time, like a lot of people died today, but why is he dying like this? Why is he dying on a cross? I mean, is this guy dying on a cross because he’s a good guy? Is he dying on a cross because he’s a nice fella and he’s a good model citizen? Is that why he’s dying on a cross? Absolutely not. This man is not dying on a cross.

He’s not being crucified next to Jesus because he’s a good guy who’s a model citizen who likes to read his Bible and pray all day. No, this guy is being crucified on a cross because he is a bad man. He is an evil man. He is the worst of the worst of the worst. That is exactly why Luke calls him in his account a criminal. Do you see that back in Luke 22, verse 39? Luke used the word criminal in that verse. He’s doing that for a reason. You see, that word criminal that Luke used in verse number 39 is a Greek word that refers, comes from a Greek word that refers to a bad person. It refers to a person who is a worker of evil.

It refers to someone who’s been convicted of some serious crimes. In fact, during this time, and the time of the Roman Empire, the most serious crime you could commit, the worst crime, the crime that will definitely get you put on a cross and made a public example was not being a thief. It was not being a robber or someone who stole someone’s goods. No, the main thing that will get you on a cross in the time of Jesus was being an enemy of the state. It was being a revolutionist. It was being someone who rebelled against the Roman Empire, and you murdered Roman soldiers and you murdered other officials in an effort to overthrow the government. That’s the crime 2,000 years ago that would have got you put on a cross.

That’s the kind of stuff that would have made you an example to everybody through the process of crucifixion. And that’s the kind of stuff Luke in his account wants us to know that this man did. By using the word criminal in his account, Luke wants us to know that this is a bad man. This is a bad man who’s dying next to Jesus. But notice how, despite that, despite the fact that he’s a bad man.

The Lord forgave him. The Lord extended to him something that he did not deserve, and that is kindness and grace. This is something that is found all throughout the gospel, this message. Brother Dave made reference of this in one of the verses he he quoted in his Lord’s Supper talk, John 3 16, the most well-known verse in all the Bible. Where Jesus says, For God so loved the world. The world would also include this guy, right? For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that who believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Peter echoes that in 2 Peter 3 and verse 9. When he says, it is not the Lord’s desire, it’s not the Lord’s will that any should perish, but for all.

All would also include this guy, all to come to repentance. And then in 1 John 2 and verse 2, a verse that we’re going through with our teenagers in the other building right now. John says that Jesus is the propitiation. He is the one who appeased the wrath of God through his sacrifice, not just for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world. All these verses tell us that the Lord’s grace has been extended to everybody. Jesus died for everybody. And Paul really wants us to get that in 1 Timothy chapter 1. Go in your Bible, please to 1 Timothy chapter 1. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 1 and in verse number 12. And 1 Timothy chapter 1 and in verse number 12. So Paul writes to his friend Timothy, says these words.

Even though I was formerly, he’s talking about his life before he became a Christian. Even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a vile aggressor, yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was more than abundant. Notice that. With the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus, it is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners among whom I am foremost of all. What is Paul emphasizing in those verses? Well, what he’s emphasizing is verse 14. The grace of the Lord.

Somebody who literally tried to destroy the church, I seriously doubt there’s anybody in this room right now who tried to do that before. This man tried to destroy the church. This man went into the homes of Christians, drugged them out of their homes, locked them up in jail. He voted against Christians. He consented to their death.

Paul says that the Lord would save somebody like me, he’ll save anybody.

He’ll be in fellowship with anybody.

Or if you cheated on your spouse, or if you practice homosexuality or transgenderism, it doesn’t even matter if you murder somebody. This man likely murdered people. This man was an insurrectionist. He was an enemy of the state, a notorious criminal, and yet when he humbled himself and submitted to Jesus, the Lord used his authority and power to save him. He extended grace and forgiveness to him. He allowed him to experience the wonderful gift of salvation, and he’ll do the same. He’ll do the same for you.

He’ll forgive you. He’ll wash your sins away because he loves you. He is truly the savior of all. That, brothers and sisters, is why this man’s story is in the Bible. This thief’s story is not in the Bible to frustrate us and make us always be in debate mode every time we read it. Instead, it is in the Bible to announce the good news of the gospel. It’s in the Bible to announce the truth about Jesus. It’s in the Bible to announce that Jesus came to save everybody.

3. His Ability to Do More Than What We Ask

When we revisit the cross with the right goggles on, we see the Lord’s unselfishness. And we see his grace, but then thoroughly, you know what else we see? We see his ability to do more than what we ask. Didn’t Paul talk about that in Ephesians 3 verse 20? There the Apostle Paul says, God is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works within us.

Go back to Luke 23 one more time, please.

In Luke 23, and in verse number 42. In Luke 23, verse 42. Please revisit those verses with me where the scripture says, and he was saying, Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom. And he said, Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise. Notice the request that that man made in verse 42. You see that request. Remember me when you come in your kingdom. That’s an interesting request. And it is interesting because it shows us that this man was asking to be blessed by Jesus, not on that day. He’s not saying bless me today.

He’s not saying bless me in this moment. Instead, he’s asking the Lord to bless him with something in the future. He’s asking the Lord to remember him when he comes again in his kingdom. He’s asking Jesus to bless him in the days to come, but notice how Jesus gives him more than what he requested. Jesus actually went ups him. He essentially tells him, Hey man, I can do better than what you’re asking. I can actually bless you right now. I can save you right now. I can bring you into a place of comfort right now. Today, while you were suffering, while you’re dying on the cross, I can promise you you’ll be with me in paradise.

He has the authority to do that because he’s Jesus. He promised to take care of his soul on that day, and you and I both know he certainly kept that promise. He kept that promise. And from that we learn something. We learn from this that Jesus is so amazing. And he’s so powerful, he’s so wonderful that he can do for us far above what we can imagine. He can bless us in ways far above what we can think.

He can save our souls, he can wash our sins away, he can come back and raise us from the dead.

Conclusion

Jesus can do all those things. But we got to trust him. We got to seek him. We got to humble ourselves before him by submitting to the instructions that he’s given us in his word to receive God’s grace. And the reason why I bring that up is because while this thief here is a wonderful story of a man dying and he receives the grace of God.

You see, unlike this man, we’re not dying next to Jesus on the cross. We’re not having a personal conversation with Jesus and hear Jesus promise to bring us into paradise today. We’re not living under the old covenant law like this man was. We’re not living before the great commission was given by Jesus, like he was. We’re not living before Jesus’ death on the cross like this man. Instead, we’re living after it. We’re living after the giving of the Great Commission. We’re living after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We’re living after Jesus spoke these words in Mark 16 and verse 16, where Jesus says, He who believes has been baptized shall be saved. The thief on the cross did not hear these words spoken.

He was already dead. But we’re not. We’re not. The thief was dead before the Lord said these words. But we are live. We are alive and they’re right there before us, right here and right now today. Do you know what that means? That means we got to obey them. That means we got to submit to them. That means that the story of the thief on the cross is not some loophole God has put in the Bible to get around baptism. It’s not a conversion story put in the Bible designed to override verses like Mark 16 and verse 16. Instead, the reason why that story is there is to help us better understand Jesus.

That the Lord is unselfish. And he is extending his grace to any and everyone. And he has the ability to do more than what we ask. That’s why that story is there. And the question is do you need to respond to that? Do you need to respond to Jesus, the Christ, the one who died on the cross for our sins and was raised from the dead? Do you need to become a Christian? If so, then understand. You’re not going to become a Christian by doing what the thief did. You’re going to become a Christian by obeying the words of Jesus. And Mark 16 and verse 16. When after the thief was already dead, Jesus said, Who believes and is baptized will be saved. Acts 2, verse 38, repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins.

If you want to become a Christian today, you must believe the gospel. You must believe in Jesus. You must repent of your sins, turn away from your sins, and be immersed in water for the forgiveness of sins. That’s what you must do. And if you’ve done those things in the past, but you’ve wanted away from the Savior, the Lord has invited you to come back home. Come back to Him. Repent. Ask God to forgive you, and we’ll even pray for you if you want us to do that. But if there’s anyone here who needs to respond to the gospel invitation, this song is for you. We invite you to come. Let’s stand, let’s sing.