The Crucifixion

The soldiers also mocked Him. They said, if you're really the King of the Jews, save yourself. We have two words in the English language that are separated by one letter. There's the word could, and there's a word would. Ladies and gentlemen, the reason why Jesus didn't save Himself was not because He couldn't do it. He didn't save Himself because He wouldn't do it.

I can remember hearing R.C. Sproul state that the question shouldn't be, why doesn't God save everybody? Instead, we should be asking, why does He save anyone? And I found thinking about questions like that reminds me of the wonder of the Gospel. Like, why didn't Jesus save Himself when He was mocked while on the cross?

The answer to that question is significant, and that's what we'll be considering on today's edition of Renewing Your Mind. Continuing His sermon series in Luke's Gospel and further walking through the account of Jesus' crucifixion, today R.C. Sproul considers a covenant that was settled in eternity, and a thief who received mercy in his final hour.

Here's Dr. Sproul. This morning we're going to continue our study of the Gospel according to Saint Luke, and I'm still in chapter 23. And today I'm going to begin at verse 32, and I'll read through verse 43.

We'll try that, try to take that much in. So that's the congregation pleased to stand for the reading of the Word of God. Two others who were criminals were led away to be put to death with Him. And when they came to the place that is called the Skull, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on His right and one on His left.

And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they cast lots to divide His garments, and the people stood by watching. But the rulers scoffed at Him, saying, He saved others, let Him save Himself, if He is the Christ of God, His chosen one. And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming up and offering Him sire wine, and saying, If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself. For there was also an inscription over Him, This is the King of the Jews. One of the criminals who were hanged railed at Him, saying, Are you not the Christ?

Save yourself and us. But the other rebuked Him, saying, Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our sins.

But this man has done nothing wrong. And He said, Jesus, remember Me when you come into your kingdom. And He said to him, Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise. Again, we have been favored to have this record that is superintended by God the Holy Spirit, inspired by Him, the Word that is true, the Word of God Himself.

Please hear this Word and be seated. Let us pray. Again, our Father and our God, our minds are incapable of understanding the depth of what transpired in that hour. And so we beg that you would condescend to minister to us by the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit that we may grasp something of the weight of those things that happened on Calvary, for we ask it in Jesus' name.

Amen. All four gospels give us a narrative in part of the crucifixion of Jesus. No one communicates all of the particular details that are to be found in that record. We know from reading the gospels that there were at least seven occasions when Jesus spoke aloud from the cross. He may have spoken more, but only seven such utterances are recorded. We don't know the exact order in which those statements were made, but tradition has it that the first of the seven words that were spoken from the cross were the words that are recorded here in Luke's gospel, where we read as follows. Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. The first utterance that came from the lips of our Savior as He was in the process of brutally being executed were the tender words of a personal plea that He made to the Father, not for Himself, not for His safety, not for His well-being, but for those who were murdering Him.

Even before He entered into the heavenly holy of holies, even before He rose to the position as being our High Priest forever, He even now was acting in intercession as a priest for His tormentors, pleading for their forgiveness. Father, forgive them. He held out mitigating circumstances as such because He said they just don't know what they're doing.

They're acting out of ignorance. Now the Scriptures realize that when we sin against God, there are sometimes mitigating circumstances measured in part by levels of knowledge and the lack of it. In the Old Testament system of penitence, there were provisions made for those sins that were committed in ignorance.

At Vatican Council Number 1 in 1870, where the pope was officially de Fide proclaimed to be infallible, the presiding pope at the time was Pius IX. And during that time, he wrote the allocutio in which he defined two different kinds of ignorance. He distinguished between what he called vincible ignorance and invincible ignorance. In that council in the 19th century, Protestants were referred to as schismatics and heretics. Though no significant doctrine was changed in Vatican Council II, at least the rhetoric was softened, where there we were called separated brethren. But in 1870, schismatics and heretics.

But these harsh words were softened, a little bit at least, by Pius' distinction between vincible and invincible ignorance, because here's what he was dealing with. The Reformation took place in the 16th century, and for people over a period of some 300 years, generation after generation of generations were brought up in Protestant homes. All they knew was Protestant theology. They weren't exposed to Roman Catholic thinking.

Roman Catholic thinking was considered by Protestants to be anathema. And so, in a very real sense, according to the pope, they suffered from a serious form of ignorance, which Ignorance, Pius IX, called invincible ignorance. Now, vincible ignorance is ignorance that could be and should be overcome. That is, when we say that somebody should know better to do what they were doing. But invincible ignorance, ignorance cannot be conquered, is so described as an ignorance that a person in normal circumstances wouldn't be able to overcome.

It was too powerful. These poor Protestants were being brainwashed for hundreds of years. How could they possibly expect to know the truth of the Roman Catholic communion?

And so, this concept of invincible ignorance was articulated in the Alakut seal. Well, what about here, where Jesus brings the matter of ignorance into play with respect to His murderers? Well, He says, Father, forgive them, because they're ignorant.

They don't know what they're doing. You couldn't possibly call it invincible ignorance with respect to the scribes and the Pharisees and Sadducees. These were the experts on the Bible. These were the ones who searched the Scriptures, who knew all of the teaching that the Word of God had set forth about the character of the Messiah. If any group of people in the history of the world should have known better, it were these people who conspired together to put Jesus to death, and yet He speaks of their ignorance. Forgive them.

They really don't have a clue. Later, Paul would write to the Corinthians, and he made this statement, a striking statement. Had they known it, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory. You know, there's dozens of titles that are used both in the Old Testament and the New Testament to describe the Messiah and which are applied to Jesus.

One of my very favorite titles is the one the Apostle used in this context when he refers to Jesus as the Lord of glory, not just the Lord of the Jews or the Gentiles, not just the Lord of the pagans, all human beings, not just the Lord of the earth, but the Lord of glory, the King of glory who resides in the heavenly places. And Paul said, if they knew they were killing, if they knew that this was the Lord of glory hanging in front of them, they wouldn't think for a moment to crucify Him. But they didn't get it. They didn't see it. They should have gotten it.

They should have seen it, but they didn't. And so Jesus says, please, Father, forgive them. And at the very moment that He was pleading for their souls, praying by way of intercession for their forgiveness, their voices in terms of mockery were only beginning to reach a crescendo. The words that He had spoken about forgiveness went in one ear and out the other as those who were standing there watching continued to mock Him, particularly the three different persons or groups that were described here as making a mockery of Jesus. First we read that the rulers, the members of the Sanhedrin, the very ones who had gotten their heads together and said, we've got to kill this man. They weren't just killing Him. They were scoffing at Him.

And listen to the mockery that they said. He saved others. Let Him save Himself. At least there was a thinly veiled acknowledgement that Jesus had saved others. Probably there were witnesses in that group who were tormenting Him, who had seen Him give sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and even life to the dead. They saw His works of salvation, and they grudgingly acknowledged it.

He saved all these other people, but let's see you save yourself, Jesus. And to add insult to injury, after the soldiers cast lots and divided His garments fulfilling the Scriptures, the soldiers also mocked Him. And they said, if you are the King of the Jews, we see the sign that Pilate had posted over their cross that says, Jesus is the King of the Jews.

If you're really the King of the Jews, save yourself. And then one of the criminals railed at Him. Railed at Him. One of the men who was being crucified right next to Him began to torment Him and scream at Him and yell at Him and railed at Him saying, are you not the Christ?

Then save yourself and us. So the point of the mockery was very simple, that Jesus had been able to save other people, but He wasn't able to save Himself. He simply couldn't do it. He was in such a weakened condition from the scourging and from the beginning of the crucifixion that He was virtually powerless. And so the charge was, you can't do it, can you, Jesus?

Well, let's explore that for a second. Could He have saved Himself? Well, on the one hand, we know that there was a huge crowd in attendance, probably tens of thousands of people, people who had been there for the feast. And later on when Jesus was asked on the road to Emmaus, are you the only one in Jerusalem who didn't know what happened?

So were these thousands and thousands of spectators gathered around gaping at this criminal who was being killed. Jesus saw these thousands of people. But what the people didn't see were the ten times ten thousand angels that were hovering over Him in which the Father had said that He would give His angels charge over Him lest He dash His foot against the stone. But their eyes were blinded to this celestial army, this heavenly host. And if just one angel would have come down from heaven, if Jesus didn't even have to say a word, He would just blink His eye or nod His head, and one angel came down. That was more than enough to take care of all of the Roman garrison that was there. Imagine if the whole heavenly host descended at that moment to rescue Jesus. The Romans, in all of their power, the Romans would not have been able to resist them.

Or forget the angels for a second. Who was it that was being crucified? This Jesus was not just a man, He was the God-man. And though in His human nature He was utterly impotent to save Himself, He had no strength left to do it, He was still perfectly united to His divine nature, and that divine nature in His deity was absolutely omnipotent. All the divine nature had to do was say one word. He speaks, and the earth melts. Every one of the executioners would have fallen dead, had the divine nature taken charge.

We have two words in the English language that are separated by one letter. There's the word could, which begins with a C, and there's a word would that begins with a W. Ladies and gentlemen, the reason why Jesus didn't save Himself was not because He couldn't do it. He didn't save Himself because He wouldn't do it.

Why not? Recently I received a book fresh for publication, a study of the Trinity and of the covenant of redemption written by a theology professor at Westminster Seminary, California, John Fesco. One of the best treatments of the covenant of redemption I've ever heard or read. And it's because of the covenant of redemption that Jesus stayed on the cross, because it wasn't a week before that the Father had a conversation with the Son and with the Holy Ghost and said, here's our plan. If they come and capture you, and if they seek to put you to death, we want you to stay where you are because it is our plan of redemption.

No, no, no, no. The Trinitarian plan of redemption was settled in eternity before a single person was created, before Adam and Eve were made out of the ground, and then from Adam, but from all eternity. The triune God was of one mind and one will and one eternal purpose to create and to redeem this fallen group of human beings for the eternal purpose and glory of God Himself. And though they were essentially one, having only one essential mind and one essential will, nevertheless touching the persons of the Trinity, the subsistence, if you will, of the divine essence containing three persons among the Godhead, among these persons was a perfect agreement and perfect unity. And it was the Father who sent the Son. It was the Son who accomplished redemption, and it was the Spirit's task to apply that redemption to those who would be saved, including us.

So, the plan was not a recent one. It was an eternal one. The human nature shrunk before it in Gethsemane, but eternity had determined that that cop had to be drunk to its limits, limits to its dregs. And so, if the Son would keep the covenant with the Father and with the Spirit, He would not come down. He could not because He would not. He would never break covenant.

You and I are so different. The basic difference between God and human flesh is that we are covenant breakers. We break our promises all the time. God is a covenant keeper, and Jesus had a covenant to keep. So, He listened to the mockery. He listened to the torments and the taunting. And as the one thief taunted Him, he said, aren't you the Christ, Savior, self, and us? But the other thief now spoke his peace, and he said, Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds, comma, before I go past the comma. The second thief says, Do you not fear God? You know, that's the question if I could ask everybody in this world, individually and privately, I would ask them, Have you no fear of God? We live in a godless nation. We live in a situation where there's no fear of God in the land. Republicans don't fear God. The Democrats don't fear God. The independents don't fear God. Sinners don't fear God, except they flee when even no one pursues them.

And so the second thief said to the first thief, What's the matter with you? Don't you fear God? Don't you realize that we are under the same condemnation, but our condemnation is just?

We are simply receiving what is our due. But this man whom you're mocking has done nothing wrong. He echoes the judgment of Pontius Pilate, I find no fault in him. And even that thief recognized the sinlessness of Christ, the gross injustice, humanly speaking, that was taking place in this hour. And then he spoke to Jesus.

Please listen to what he said. He said to Jesus, Remember me when you come in to your kingdom. I know you are a king. I know you have a kingdom. And I don't know when, but I know sooner or later you're going to come into that kingdom. And however long it takes for you to have that kingdom realized, I just ask one thing, that you will remember the day you died. And you will remember that you died between two thieves, and one of them mocked you and said, If you're the Christ, then save yourself. But remember that I said, You've done nothing wrong. I just ask that somehow you will tuck that away in your mental cells and your memory bank and in that moment of glory.

Please remember me. I don't know what Jesus' face looked like in that moment, but I can't help but think that as painful as an experience that He was having, He managed to smile. And He looked at this thief, and He said to him, I'm not just going to remember you. I'm going to take you into My kingdom, not in 2,000 years, but before the sun sets this afternoon, because I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise. I'm on the cross at the moment, but pretty soon I'm going home. And in fact, when they lay My body in the tomb, My human nature will be there dead and lifeless, but My soul will be in heaven, in My kingdom, in paradise. And guess what?

I'm taking you with Me today. Now those who teach the heresy of soul sleep and who say that when the person dies, they go into a state of suspended animation that can last centuries or so on. And then at the end of time, they awaken as if no time had passed. And they miss this verse, and they read it, and they say, well, there isn't any punctuation in the Greek. And so they put the comma at a different place. And so the way these heretics read the text is this way. They say, I say to you today, comma, you will be with Me in paradise. That is, here Jesus, who's gasping for breath, has hardly any life left in Him, takes the time and the energy to say that which is perfectly obvious that the day in which He's addressing this thief was that particular day. What a travesty of a comma. Oh, Jesus isn't saying, I'm telling you today, someday you're going to be with Me in paradise.

No. He's telling him when He will be with Him. Truly, I say to you, this very day you will be with Me in paradise. We have that to look forward to. We don't have to be crucified to know that the day in which we die, the day in which our souls leave our bodies, will be the very day that we enter into the presence of the Lord of glory.

Thankfully, this is not as good as it gets. For the Christian, we each have that day to look forward to. What you heard today was a sermon from R.C. Sproul as he preached through Luke's gospel at St. Andrew's Chapel in Sanford, Florida. And one of the things I loved about Dr. Sproul's preaching is that he always asked the right questions of the text to make sure he didn't skip over something significant. That same care and diligence can be found in his expositional commentary on Luke. If you'd like an ebook edition of that commentary to help you in your study or even your devotional reading, we'd love to give you access as our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount at renewingyourmind.org. Your support ensures that outreaches like Renewing Your Mind remain freely available, and it also helps extend the reach of our deep library of teaching. So please give generously at renewingyourmind.org. Jesus' death was not like every other crucifixion. It was a cosmic event filled with drama, and that's what R.C. Sproul will consider next Sunday, here on Renewing Your Mind.