Luke 23 (4)

Pray Psalm 31.1-5.
In You, O LORD, I put my trust;
Let me never be ashamed;
Deliver me in Your righteousness.
Bow down Your ear to me,
Deliver me speedily;
Be my rock of refuge,
A fortress of defense to save me.
For You are my rock and my fortress;
Therefore, for Your name’s sake,
Lead me and guide me.
Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength.
Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

Sing Psalm 31.1-5.
(Brother James’ Air: The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll not Want)
In You, O Lord, I refuge take; let me not come to shame!
In righteousness deliver me, according to Your Name.
Incline Your ear, my prayer to hear, my Fortress strong to save!

For You my Rock and Fortress are; in Your Name lead and guide.
You rescue me from ev’ry net which wicked men might hide.
My Refuge strong, my spirit long in Your hand shall abide.

Read Luke 23.1-43; meditate on verses 26-43.

Preparation
1. What did they do to Jesus?

2. What did Jesus promise the criminal who was being crucified?

Meditation
Here is a portrait of the Jesus into Whose image God is shaping us. Mocked, beaten, spat upon, berated, humiliated, and condemned, Jesus was too weak and beat down even to bear the instrument of His own crucifixion (v. 26). While a few women mourned and lamented, we can be sure the rest of the “great multitude” continued to heap scorn on Jesus all the way to Calvary (v. 27).

And yet, for all that He was suffering, Jesus kept His mission and salvation clearly in view. He warned the women of the coming day of wrath, urging them to pray for themselves and their children (and, by implication, their children’s children), that they might escape the judgment to come (vv. 28-31).

Having nailed Him to the cross, they hoisted the gibbet and dropped it into place with a jarring thud (vv. 32, 33). “Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do’” (v. 34). Thus He announced the dawn of the age of forgiveness, at the cost of His own suffering and death.

As the thieves at the foot of the cross stole His only earthly possessions, and the criminal next to Him on a cross of his own railed away at Him, Jesus lent a sympathetic ear to the dying criminal who bore witness to Jesus’ innocence (vv. 39-43). Truly, this was indeed “the King of the Jews” (v. 38), Who had come to earth, lived, and died, and would shortly rise from the dead and ascend to heaven, that the Kingdom He had embodied and taught would come in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit to fill the world with Himself (Rom. 14.17, 8; Eph. 4.7-10).

The more we become like Jesus, the more the fruit of His suffering will bring grace to our world.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“And the people stood looking on.
But even the rulers with them sneered, saying,
‘He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ,
the chosen of God’” (Lk. 23.35). 

Some people, to their own detriment, keep missing the point.
If He had saved Himself, He would be the only person ever saved.
Heaven would be empty of redeemed humanity.
Eternity would indeed contain the Triune God.
And the other heavenly creatures.
But the rest of mankind would be in hell. Permanently.

The-LORD-Will-Provide, so named by Abraham, promised to provide a lamb for the necessary sacrifice. When queried by his son Isaac, he replied, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering” (Gen. 22.8, 14).

As God Himself said to Moses, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Lev. 17.11).
“And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Heb. 9.22).
“…He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Is. 53.12).

He did it for us. And it had to be done. 

Jesus was the Lamb, the One God promised to provide, to take away the sin of the world (Jn. 1.29).
“Having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Rom. 5.9).
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace…” (Eph. 1.7).

He took the cup of suffering and death. And now He says to us, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood,
which is shed for you” (Lk. 22.20). Crucified for us. So that we will live for Him (Jn. 14.15; 15.14).

“The more we become like Jesus, the more the fruit of His suffering will bring grace to our world.” 

And that’s the point. Don’t miss it.

For reflection
1. What do we learn about following Jesus from His suffering?

2. Why did Jesus have to die? What did He accomplish by dying?

3. Should we expect to suffer for following Jesus? In what ways? How does a Christian’s suffering bring grace to the world?

As soon as Christ was fastened to the cross, he prayed for those who crucified him. The great thing he died to purchase and procure for us, is the forgiveness of sin. This he prays for. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Luke

Pray Psalm 31.17-24.
Jesus died for our sin so that we could live in His righteousness. Pray that God will empower you this day to serve Him well by spreading His grace to the people in your Personal Mission Field.

Sing Psalm 31.17-24.
(Brother James’ Air: The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll not Want)
Let me not come to shame, O Lord, for on Your Name I call.
Let wicked men to hell be cast, let shame upon them fall.
Their lies and plots shall come to naught; to silence send them all!

How great the goodness You reserve for those who fear You, Lord,
who rest in You and boldly stand before men in Your Word.
You cover them from plots of men; You shelter them, O Lord!

Blessed be the Lord, for He has shown His steadfast love to me!
In my alarm I cried to Him; He heard my fervent plea!
In fear and dread with You I pled; You heard and rescued me!

O love the Lord, all you, His saints! He keeps us faithfully.
But all who act in sinful pride His wrath shall surely see.
Be strong and let your heart not fret; wait on Him constantly!

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.