"Meditation on the Passion According to St. Luke" Holy Wednesday April 20, 2011 Luke 23:26-46
On the way a bystander was seized. He was singled out to help out the Roman guards, not Jesus. Jesus very well couldn’t be crucified if He couldn’t even make His way there. But we ought to see that in the same way Simon was seized we are seized by God’s Law. More than the cross is laid on us, the condemnation of God. But this is why Jesus was going to Calvary. Some were following Him who were heartsick about His being in this position. There’s no doubt. They saw the injustice of it all and the incredible sadness that it had come to this. But He was there for them. Do not weep for Me. The suffering He would endure He would endure alone. We are the recipients of a great gift. Eternal salvation from the one who walked the lonely road to the cross and endured it. But we should never go through life thinking it’s a rose garden. There will be suffering. Do not weep for Jesus. Weep for yourself. Look to the one who suffered in your place for your hope. Luke says that two others were led away to be put to death with Him. He points out that they were criminals. This is in distinction to Jesus, who was not a criminal. And yet, Jesus was suffering there as one who was guilty of breaking God’s perfect Law. He hadn’t, but He was taking the place of those who have. Jesus walked this path so that we wouldn’t have to. Luke tells us in a similar way of Mark, that they came to the place called the Skull and they crucified Him. It is so matter-of-fact that we might miss the significance of this. But there is no mistaking the significance of it. He is not there to endure a miscarriage of justice. His words to His Heavenly Father speak volumes of His reason for being there and enduring what He did: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” This was all about forgiveness. That’s because God is all about love. We have destroyed our relationship with Him, He has restored it. He has forgiven us. His mercy abounds. How else do we explain the remarkable commentary of Jesus? They know not what they do. We don’t fully realize the import of our sin. But the more we meditate on Christ and the cross the more we will. And the more we will marvel. With Matthew and Mark Luke tells us of the scoffers. “He saved others; let Him save Himself, if He is the Christ of God, His Chosen One!” If He is the Messiah, the Savior. If He is the Chosen One of God. How that was more true than they ever imagined. Yes, He was the Chosen One of God—God the Father’s only-begotten Son. God loved the world in this way, He gave His only-begotten Son to die so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. The soldiers go into the act. Their job could be fun. Might as well have some fun at the expense of the poor saps who were spending the last moments of their life in intense pain. We Romans have power. But if You say You are the King of the Jews then save Yourself. Perhaps we have less in common with Roman soldiers than we share with them. But one thing we ought to ponder is that we mock our Lord when we do not consider that it is not in power but in humility and weakness and suffering that our Lord comes to us as our Lord and Savior. And so the inscription over Him, “This is the King of the Jews,” ought to give us pause. God could have come in a powerful way. There have been great civilizations throughout history. Jesus came as a Jew. The Gentiles had no regard for them. We vaguely relate to them, knowing that they share some of our history of the Old Testament. That He is the King of the Jews shows us why He was there. He was not there to show us His power as God but rather His love and compassion. One of the criminals saw that the guy next to him seemed to be something other than your run-of-the-mill criminal. If you are some kind of Messiah, then save Yourself. And while You’re at it, us to. Again, we are met with the reality that God comes to us in the way He chooses to come to us. As Savior, to be sure, but not in might and power and glory. Rather, humility and weakness and suffering. He certainly didn’t look or act like a Messiah, but He most certainly was, and in that very act of being on the cross. The other criminal was brought to his senses. In humility he rebuked the first guy, realizing they both deserved what they were getting. But not Christ. He didn’t deserve to be there. He realized that they should fear God and not go against the way God was going about His work of saving those who are deserving of condemnation. What that man saw was another man dying beside him. But he saw something else. What he saw could only be seen by faith. He said to Jesus, “Remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.” It’s things like these where you either see that it is all utterly ridiculous or that it is solely and magnificently by grace. This man saw the opposite of what everything seemed. But by the grace of God he saw God. The Savior. The only one who could bring him into the eternal Kingdom. The promise is made. “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” For a few hours a criminal is hanging on to his last moments of life in agony with Jesus, for eternity He is with Jesus in Paradise. This is the promise given us in our Baptism. We are crucified with Christ and raised with Christ, raised to eternity in His eternal Kingdom. Matthew and Mark spoke of darkness covering the land. Luke speaks specifically of the sun’s light failing. Things must have seemed even bleaker for the last three hours of Christ on the cross. As if it wasn’t bad enough He had been brought to this awful condition, now the sun’s light was relinquished. But the light of the sun that rules daytime is a pale reflection of the light of Christ. We can see in the daytime, even when it is overcast, from the sun. What we need to see is Christ on the cross. That is what can be seen clearly, though the sun’s light failed on that day. Two thousand years removed from it we can still see it clearly. Darkness covered the land but the light of Christ shines brightly and clearly, salvation beaming forth from the cross. The curtain of the temple was torn in two. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The sacrifice has been delivered up. The condemnation was pronounced, but upon the Lamb of God. The barrier between God and man has been rent asunder. God welcomes us into the Holy of Holies, we stand before Him in purity and righteousness. The one who had brought Judgment down on Him was now being petitioned. “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit!” This was the prayer of Christ as He breathed His last. May it be our prayer also, on account of Christ. Amen. SDG -- Pastor Paul L. Willweber Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS] 6801 Easton Ct., San Diego, California 92120 619.583.1436 princeofpeacesd.net three-taverns.net It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything except where the marks of the Church are concerned. [Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian] ___________________________________________________________________ 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author (as long as no charge is made for the work and it is not made part of a compilation), as well as for quoting or use in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_. Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list. Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster. Subscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected] Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected] Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/> For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at: Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <MoM [at] lists (dot) cat41 <dot> org>
