Pastor
Steve Geiger Christ the King
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Luke 23:35-43
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers
even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is
the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him.
They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews,
save yourself.”
38 There was a written notice above him, which
read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled
insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t
you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are
punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has
done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you
come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth,
today you will be with me in paradise.”
Christ
Is the King Luke
23:35-43
1.
Appearances are deceiving
2.
God’s promise is relieving
They’re
running away.
The
general of the Ai army must have been thrilled. Ai, a city not far from Jericho.
Jericho, where Joshua won the battle and the walls came tumbling
down. The army of Ai, fighting the army
of Israel. The general of the army of
Ai, no doubt thinking that he was going to win. “They can take Jericho, but they can’t take my town.”
Joshua
was leading the Israelite soldiers in retreat, the king of Ai in hot
pursuit. What the king of Ai didn’t
realize was that it was all part of a plan.
Joshua’s force, running away.
But in the night, the night before, Joshua had ordered 25,000 soldiers
to sneak in the dark to the other side of Ai.
When the retreating army of Joshua had drawn the army of Ai far from its
own town, the hidden soldiers to the west came to a now undefended city and
burned it to the ground.
Retreat
looked like defeat. In reality it was
the big step to victory.
God
was the king of Israel. He had ordered
Joshua to set up this secret ambush plan.
God was completely comfortable with the appearance of defeat, as he knew
it would be an important step to victory.
Are
you comfortable when God decides to rule the world in that way? Are you confident, even when things seem to
be going horribly, that God is the King and bringing for you a most glorious,
eternal triumph?
Christ
is the king. He is ruling over
all. He is controlling everything for
the good of his children.
But
understand that appearances will often be deceiving. It may look like Jesus really isn’t the King of kings and Lord of
lords.
Consider
Jesus on the cross. What was he? He was the Messiah. That means “anointed one.” That means that he was the “oil poured on
his head” person. That means that he
was appointed for a special job. He was
appointed for the special job of being THE prophet—he’d tell us all the Father
wanted us to know. He was THE priest—he
would offer the perfect sacrifice which would eliminate, once and for all, the
guilt we have before God. He was THE
king, the ruler of all
Consider
Jesus on the cross. What was he? He was of God. He had come to earth from heaven. He was the Son of God. He
was God himself.
Consider
Jesus on the cross. What was he? He was the Chosen One. Chosen by whom? By the Father. The triune
God was in on this together. Father,
Son and Holy Spirit—they were all behind what Jesus was doing.
Consider
Jesus on the cross. Who was he? He was God himself, on a mission from God,
here to save the world.
But
where was he? On a cross. And he wasn’t coming down.
Regular
humans don’t get that. You’re all-powerful,
and you’re hanging on a cross? You’re
all-powerful, and you’re willingly enduring pain? You’re all-powerful, and you’re hurting like crazy and you don’t
try to escape? If we were all-powerful,
we might do everything we could to avoid pain.
Something doesn’t seem right.
You
can understand the questionings of those who were watching. Leaders, soldiers, one of the criminals
hanging by Jesus’ side. Jesus, you’re
losing. Sinful flesh naturally assumes
that suffering must be evidence that God is losing. When the suffering is on a cross. When the suffering is in our bodies or affecting our bodies or
lives.
Understand,
though, that to conclude that suffering is evidence that God is losing—assuming
the worst about God—overlooks clear evidence pointing to the best.
Think
of the evidence those near Jesus’ cross overlooked. The leaders of the Jews: “He saved others; let him save himself
if he is the Messiah.” What did they
overlook? Words they themselves
spoke. He had saved others. He had used his power to make the blind see,
the lame walk, the dead live. Leaders
of the Jews knew that Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, had come to
life. Four days in the tomb. Yet the next moment, walking and
talking. Sure, Jesus was hanging, but
wasn’t it obvious that if he truly felt it was best to come down from the
cross, he would have?
Think
of the evidence those near Jesus’ cross overlooked. The soldiers. “If you are
the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
For them, perhaps it was some ignorance. They knew little about Jesus.
Did they just see the sign over his head? “Hmm, that’s funny. A
king, and he’s on a cross. He must not
be real, because no self-respecting king would be OK with suffering.” Sure, it didn’t seem right, but does the
appearance of defeat always imply defeat?
Think
of the evidence those near Jesus’ cross overlooked. The criminal. “You are
the Messiah, aren’t you? Save yourself
and us.” What did he overlook? He had some understanding that Jesus
identified himself as the Messiah. But
did he see the Messiah as simply something available to give him relief from
suffering whenever he wanted? Did he
see God as someone who should follow his preferences? Telling the judge what to do when you’re guilty? What arrogance. Do sinners have the right to tell God how to act?
Don’t
similar mistakes haunt people today when they are suffering?
Like
the religious leaders, can’t we forget when suffering comes how God is powerful
to save, whenever he feels it’s best?
He has saved others. We know, in
the case of Job, how God worked the most wonderful miracles after some of the
greatest suffering. We know how God has
the power to rescue at any moment, and when it’s right, he will. Yet in moments of weakness do we question
his love and cry out in anger, “God, why aren’t you rescuing me, and now?”
Like
the soldiers, isn’t there today also ignorance? Many can make fun of God even though they know hardly anything
about him. “How can God be loving if
there is so much war in the world?” They
see the sign above his head, that God is loving and powerful. They then see images of violence, the king
hanging from a cross . . . “God, you can’t be a king.”
Like
the criminal, can’t we overlook our own guilt and make it appear that God is
the problem? Forgetting that I have no
right to accuse God of evil at any moment.
I, assuming the worst about God.
I, blaming God. Sins right
there, yet still I can act as if I have the right to insist on my preference.
When
any pain is felt, shouldn’t we say, “Any judgment would be just?” Isn’t it true that should God treat us
fairly, sufferings unlike any we’ve ever experienced would come raining down?
This
a criminal understood.
A
set of clear eyes among so many so clouded, this criminal saw through the fog
of suffering that which was bright and true.
His
pain must have been excruciating. Every
ounce of energy put into breathing as gravity robbed air from his lungs. Though breath was elusive, what faint gasps
he had he used to say something true in the face of so much suffering.
To
my friend hanging on the other side: this is not the man to be abusing. Jesus is not the one to be mocking. The God of heaven does not deserve our
critique and questioning. He doesn’t
have the problem. I am the problem. We are the problem. Aren’t you afraid of God? Don’t you realize that you will meet
him? Don’t you know that all have
sinned—yes, we are being judged justly—and that there is punishment for doing
what’s wrong?
It’s
we who are wrong, not Jesus. He’s never
done a single thing out of line.
Yet
from Eden on, this implication that somehow God must not be loving, so that we
feel justified in feeling mistreated, so that we disobey and mock and
accuse. What shame.
God
has never wronged us. To suggest he has,
now making me all the more deserving of suffering.
When
that truth hits home and we now we are afraid, know this: just as suffering is
not evidence that God has wronged you, so now don’t assume that suffering is
evidence that God can’t love you.
“Jesus,
remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
That
man deserved suffering. He was a
criminal. Whatever he did was something
of the worst sort. Yet something he
understood. His own suffering was not
enough evidence to conclude that God couldn’t love him. His own sin, though bringing crucifixion and
making him deserving of eternal death, was not so powerful that God couldn’t
love him still.
And
do you know what else? He understood
that Jesus’ suffering was not evidence that he wasn’t a king. Kingdom.
Jesus, you are going to your kingdom.
Jesus, you are winning. Jesus,
you are the Savior of the world.
He
was right. Jesus said, “Today you will
be with me in paradise.” I am dying for
your sins. I am dying for the sins of
the world. I am smashing my
enemies. I am suffering for your
guilt. I am giving the appearance of a
retreat, but the city of Satan will soon be in flames.
Your
sin too, forgiven through the appearance of defeat. This is God’s promise!
This
is God’s promise that brings relief.
Still
that criminal strained for every breath.
What torture shook when his legs were cracked in two. I can’t imagine how that hurt, but when you
know that later that day you’re going to heaven, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter how much you hurt when you
know that hurt can do nothing to conquer the love of God.
Acknowledge
that pain makes it seem that God couldn’t be loving you. Acknowledge that Jesus’ death on the cross
gave every impression that God was a fraud.
But remember that Israelite soldiers at Ai retreated at God’s command,
the appearance of defeat, only to witness victory arriving through the very
illusion of defeat.
When
facing suffering, then, let us not insist that relief come only through being
taken down from the cross. Relief comes
from hearing Jesus promise to the sinner that through saving blood the sinner
may now look forward to certain and eternal joy in the paradise of God.
At
times he may not look like it. Events
for the moment may not appear to support it.
But
Christ is your loving, your forgiving, your all-powerful King. Christ is the King!
Amen.