Morning Message Text: Luke 23: 33-43
33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, 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 Messiah? 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, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Morning Message
Today we celebrate Christ the King. He should be our king every day, but today in the Christian church we remind ourselves of Christ’s place in our lives as well as his place in eternity. Jesus will be the king of this world, this entire universe. Right now, the devil has free reign on this earth to tempt us and cause havoc, but one day very soon that will come to an abrupt halt. Jesus will come back to this earth and make all things right. The Bible tells us that every knee will bend and bow before him. One day every tongue will confess that Jesus is the Messiah, the King of all. Even those who refused to accept him. They will wail and cry because at that moment they will realize that they have rejected the Savior and their fate has been sealed. Today, the church, the Body of Christ, celebrates our expectation of the coming of our king. If you belong to Jesus, you should celebrate.
As we read about his crucifixion, we start to see the character of our king. We see his character by his actions. He is led out to this terrible place called the skull; I can only imagine how disgusting this place must have been. A place where so many before him had been crucified. It probably had the stench of death all around it. He was not led, he was drug. Pulled and pushed, bleeding and exhausted, and knowing the excruciating pain that he was about to endure, for you and for me. How does Jesus respond to those who have tortured and beat him; those who are crucifying him without reason? He says, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” This is an action of a true king. Not an earthly king, an earthly king would have cursed them and ask God to pay them back for their cruelty. Jesus, God incarnate, the true king, says forgive them. Can we learn from the actions of the one that we call king and are supposed to emulate? Jesus, even as he is being tortured and killed forgives. Who has wronged you today? How much do you feel that you have been hurt by someone? Did they torture you, kill you? According to the actions of our king, we must forgive them.
They took his clothes and gambled for his belongings. The rulers sneered at him, made fun of him, mocked him. How embarrassing. He was left to hang on that terrible cross, practically naked, while the crowd gathered around him like it was some kind of side show, a sport, something to be entertained by. Even the soldiers acted unprofessionally, challenging him to save himself and offering terrible bitter wine to someone who had to be dying of thirst and not had a drink for days. Jesus didn’t yell at them, swear at them, or call a legion of angels to destroy them. You know he could have. He took the punishment, the humiliation, for us. Do we follow the actions of our king when we are mistreated, embarrassed, scorned by the world? We need to think about that. If Jesus is our king, we should follow his example. But do we?
They mocked him even hanging a sign over his cross saying, “This is the king of the Jews.” If that wasn’t bad enough, one of the criminals insulted him, even a lowly thief challenged him and made fun of him. What would we do if someone like that insulted us? We would probably think, “What nerve he has, I am better than him, he is a low life, how dare he speak to me that way.” But the true king, the highest of all, did not rebuke him. You know the Bible tells us that the best thing that we can do is be silent and be nice in return. It is like heaping hot coals upon their heads according to scripture. You will never win someone over by returning insults and malice; learn from the actions of the king. The other criminal whose eyes were apparently opened to who Jesus was, defended Jesus. Do we defend our king? I don’t mean with riots or fighting, but do we stick up for the king of glory, the one who saved us, or do we allow the world to criticize our king?
The final action of the king is the guarantee of heaven. Remember what Jesus says to us in scripture, “If you are ashamed of me before men, I will be ashamed of you before my Father.” This criminal openly professes Jesus, and the King promises him paradise. That is the same promise that he makes to us. We have to study the actions of our king and then do as he has done. This is not easy in our world, but orders from the king never are easy.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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