Commentary on Calvary, Part 2

Luke chapter 23 is where we're at. Luke chapter 23, Luke's commentary on Calvary. We find ourselves at the foot of Calvary's cross. We find ourselves looking at the Messiah as he hangs there on Mount Moriah, a place foreseen by God according to Genesis chapter 22. We know exactly where the place is. We know who the person they hung on the cross is. And so we have been studying the commentary that Luke gives us on Calvary. And we began by looking at the crucifixion on the cross. And today we're going to move to look at the cursing from the crowd.

And then we're going to look at the... Wow, I forgot. Oh, wow. Oh, the compassion for the Christ. That's right, the compassion for the Christ. I'm hoping to get to those two points this morning. Let me read to you verses 33 down through verse number 39.

And when they came to the place called the skull, there they crucified him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And they cast lots, dividing up his garments among themselves. And the people stood by looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at him, saying, He saved others, let him save himself. If this is the Christ of God, his chosen one. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming up to him, offering him sour wine and saying, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.

Now, there was also an inscription above him. This is the king of the Jews. And one of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at him and saying, Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. Luke's commentary on Calvary and what took place at the cross is of utmost importance for us to understand. We've told you that this is the apex of redemptive history. This is the high point of humanity. This is the time that Christ came to redeem us from our sin. And so we looked at the crucifixion on the cross.

Helping you understand that the crucifixion of Christ, his physical suffering was not unique to him. Because thousands were crucified before him and thousands would be crucified after him. And he hung between two men who experienced the same physical abuse and suffering that he experienced. But what his suffering accomplished was and is specifically unique to him. We talked to you about that last week. And today we're going to move to point number two.

And that is the cursing from the crowd. The cursing from the crowd. You're going to see it in the spectators. You're going to see it in the Sanhedrin. You're going to see it in the soldiers. And you're going to see it in the Steelers. That's not the Pittsburgh Steelers. That's the Steelers one on either side. And so we're going to understand how it is this cursing came. And the remarkable thing about all this is that this is the divine son of God. This is the king of the universe. And there they will stand and they will mock him.

And they will sneer at him. And they will deride him. And they will look at him with derision. And they will make fun of him. And they will say such blasphemous things against him. And yet he does absolutely nothing to retaliate. That's amazing. Because the Bible tells us this in the book of Leviticus. It says, Leviticus 24 verse number 16. The one who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. And you would think that the son of God who is being blasphemed at this time.

Being scorned, mocked, derided. Would certainly bring death upon all those who abused him. But he didn't. Instead he prays for them. It's quite remarkable. But you need to understand that this is the way God is. This is the way God is. You see we forget that way back in the book of Genesis. In Genesis chapter 6. That every man's evil heart was only evil continually. Every thought of a man was only evil continually. And so God was going to destroy man. He graced Noah. He graced his family. And for 120 years God said, you preach righteousness.

And Hebrews 11 tells us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. And so for 120 years as he built that ark. He would tell people about the righteousness of God. And they would mock him and they would scorn him. He told them the judgment was coming. He warned them of the impending danger of their lives. And yet they did not repent. And God was merciful. Even after he said, I'm going to destroy them. He still waited another 120 years before he actually did that. But that's the heart of God. Turn with me in your Bible to the book of Isaiah.

Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1. God says these words in verse 2. Listen, O heavens and hear, O earth. For the Lord speaks, sons, I have reared and brought up. But they have revolted against me. An ox knows its owner and a donkey its master's manager. But Israel does not know. My people do not understand. God says, I have reared up this nation.

I have brought this nation up. I have taken care of this nation. Yet they have no idea who I am. A donkey knows its owner. But my people have no idea who I am. What an indictment against Israel. He says, alas, sinful nation, verse 4. People weighed down with iniquity, offspring of evildoers. Sons who act corruptly. They have abandoned the Lord. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They have turned away from him. It goes on to say that they continue in their rebellion. This is what the nation has done.

I have raised them. I have reared them. I have taken care of them. Yet they have no idea who I am. They continually rebel against me. He goes on to say these words. From the sole of the foot, verse 6. Even to the head, there is nothing sound in it. Only bruises, welts, and raw wounds. Not pressed out of bandage, not softened with oil. Your land is desolate. He describes them as people who have been beat up and are wretched. And yet they do not know their God. And so he says these words in verse number 16.

In fact, he goes on to say, look at what it says, verse 10. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. Give ear to the instruction of God, you people of Gomorrah. He says, I'm going to liken you to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. That's how immoral you are. He says, what are your multiplied sacrifices to me, says the Lord? I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. When you come to appear before me, who requires of you this trampling of my courts?

Bring your worthless offerings no longer. Incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies. I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts. They have become a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them. So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen.

Your hands are covered with blood. He says, you come to me. You go through the motions. You do everything externally. It's like the people in the modern day church today. They come to church, they do all the external trappings. They come with proper dress. They come and sing proper songs. They come and write a proper check, whatever that means. And they come and they do whatever they have to do to appease God. And God says, enough.

I'm tired of that. I'm tired of the way you dress. I'm tired of the way you act. I'm tired of what you give. I'm tired of how you're living your life because there's sin in your heart. You have not dealt with the sin that's there. I don't want all the externals. I want what's going on in the heart. I want that dealt with. He says, Israel, you come and you play at religion. You come and play games with me. And yet you are wretched. You don't even know who I am. So why doesn't God just zap? That's what we would do.

He says, wash yourselves, verse 16. Make yourselves clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from my sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Reprove the ruthless. Defend the orphan. Plead with the widow. Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool, if you consent and obey. If you bow before me, come, let us reason together, God says.

And all throughout the prophet Isaiah, he speaks to them, telling them that there's hope in the coming Messiah. You can go through and you can read, you can read Isaiah chapter 40, 41, 42, 43, 52, 53. All of them speak of the fact that God is begging them to come to worship before him. And then in Isaiah 52, these words are spoken. I'm sorry, Isaiah 55. These words are spoken. Oh, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

Why do you spend money for what is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is good and delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to me. Listen that you may live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you according to the faithful mercy shown to David. Behold, I have made him a witness of the peoples, a leader and a commander of the peoples. Behold, you will call a nation you do not know and a nation which knows you not will run to you because the Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.

Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts. And let him return to the Lord and he will have compassion on him. And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. God continues to call people to himself in spite of their rebellion, in spite of their iniquity, in spite of their immorality. He keeps calling them to come, to come, to come. And then he says these words, for my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. In other words, the reason I do this is because you don't get me. I'm not like you. I'm not like anybody else. My ways are so far beyond your ways and my thoughts beyond your thoughts. You're infinite. I mean, you're finite. I'm infinite. I'm the divine God of the universe. And I want you to come to me. His patience, his compassion, his grace, and his mercy is so beyond anything we can ever conjure up in our minds.

So as he hangs on the cross and being blasphemed by the soldiers, by the spectators, by the Sanhedrin, and by those who are stealers, he continues to show compassion and mercy because his patience is so long. He's already warned them on the way to the cross. Don't weep for me. Weep for yourselves because the day is coming where you will be blessed if you have no children, where they will say blessed are those whose breasts have not fed any children because you are childless and you can run and you can hide.

You'll be blessed because the days are coming where you will be trampled. You will be killed because they do this to the fruitful tree, the green tree. What do you think they're going to do to the dry, barren tree? That's you. And so he's already warned them of impending judgment, but the compassion that God shows is overwhelming. And they, the leaders, have already accused Jesus of blasphemy. That's the irony of Calvary. They accuse him of blasphemy. Remember back in Matthew 9 there was a paralyzed man and Christ walks into the house and says, hey, your sins are forgiven.

What? You can't forgive sins. Only God can forgive sins. And they said in Matthew 9, verse number 3, this fellow blasphemes. And then in John 10, 33, they want to take up stones to kill him. He says, do you take up stones to kill me? Yes, they said, because you blaspheme the holy God of Israel. They accused him of blasphemy. And then when he stood before Caiaphas, Caiaphas would tear his robes. He said, are you the Christ? Are you the Son of God? He said, I am. And he tore his robes because he believed that Christ had blasphemed the Lord God of Israel.

But they were the ones who were truly living a life of blasphemy. And yet, even though the book of Leviticus teaches the one who blasphemes the name of God shall surely be put to death, he continued to extend compassion and mercy to demonstrate his patience as the Son of God. And so as we look at the cursing of the crowd, look first at the spectators.

It says this, verse 35, and the people stood by looking on. Now Luke doesn't give us all the details because Matthew tells us that they were doing more than just standing and looking and gawking at Jesus. Because if you go back to Matthew's gospel, Matthew tells us what they said. In Matthew chapter 27, Matthew chapter 27, in verse, let me see, Matthew 27, it says, in verse number 39, and those passing by were hurling abuse at him, wagging their heads, and saying, you who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself.

If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. So although Luke doesn't tell us of their cursing, Matthew does, and so, by the way, does Mark. And these are the people who, for the most part, who had been healed. They were blind and now could see. They were lame and now could walk. Some of them were among the 25,000 at one time that had been fed in a miraculous way. Or a part of the other 20,000 when he fed the 4,000 on the other side of the sea. So I'm sure that of the 40,000 people that were fed in a miraculous way, some of them were there as well.

And all these people had been partakers of his benefits, his mercy, his kindness, his miracles, his love, his compassion. It turned so quickly. From Monday when they praised him, from Monday when they hailed him as their king, to Friday now they want to curse him? If you're the Son of God, come down! And they mocked him. They mocked the Son of God. But not just the spectators. Also the Sanhedrin. It tells us in Luke's gospel, these words, and even the rulers were sneering at him saying, he saved others, let him save himself.

This is the Christ of God. If this is the Christ of God, his chosen one, if this is the Messiah, if this is the anointed one of Israel, if this is God's Son, if he saved others, he can save himself. But all this was part of their mockery. If you read the text correctly in Matthew and Mark and Luke, the Sanhedrin never turn to mock Christ. They turn to the crowd to instigate the crowd in their mocking. And so all of them were involved to some degree in mocking and cursing the Christ. Exactly what was prophesied back in Psalm 22, Psalm 22, when it says in verse 6, But I am a worm and not a man, a reproach of men and despised by the people.

All who see me sneer at me. They separate with the lip, they wag the head saying, commit yourself to the Lord, let him deliver him, let him rescue him, because he delights in him. Oh, the prophecy was accurate. For that's exactly what they were doing. They mocked his claims as Messiah. And that's why 1 Corinthians 1, 23 says to the Jews, the cross is a stumbling block, to the Gentiles is foolishness, because cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. And they mocked him. The book of Deuteronomy says, 21, 23, cursed is everyone who hangs on the tree, but he could not come down.

They taunted him to come down, but if he came down, he would prove he wasn't the Messiah. Not that he was the Messiah. And these leaders, these religious leaders should have known that he was the Messiah. But over in John chapter 5, it was the Christ who said these words about the nation of Israel, the leaders specifically. He says, you search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is these that bear witness of me. You read the Scriptures, but you miss me. Listen, that's why it's so imperative that when you read the word of God, the most primary thing that you're doing is looking to see the Christ and who he is.

And these men read the Old Testament, but they missed the Christ. Verse 46, for if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. Did you not read the book of Moses, the book of the law, the first five books of the Old Testament?

Did you not read what Moses said? Moses wrote about me. And you say you're a follower of Moses. How can you say you're a follower of Moses and read what he has written when what he wrote was about me, the Messiah? But if you do not believe his writings, verse 47, how will you believe my words? But they did not. They would not. Instead, they mocked him. They cursed him. They sneered at him. That's what they did. So you have what? You have the spectators who mocked him and abused him and scorned him.

You have the Sanhedrin who likewise did the same. And then you have the soldiers. They joined in. Very important. Now let me ask you two questions.

If I was to ask you how many times was Christ offered a drink, what would you say? Don't say it out loud. Some would say one. Some would say two. Others would say three. And if you say three, you're right. Most people don't even know that. Most people think he was offered just one time because he said, I thirst. And they offered him vinegar and gall. But they forget that he was offered sedative when they laid him down on the ground to crucify him. But he refused it. But there was another offering.

And that offering was by the soldiers while he was already on the tree. Before he cried at the end of those six hours, I thirst. It's right here in Luke's Gospel. It says, And the soldiers also mocked him, coming up to him, offering him sour wine. Now they didn't do this because they had compassion on Jesus. They didn't do this because they felt sorry for Jesus. They did this in a way to mock him. Ask yourself this question. Why was Jesus crucified in the middle of two thieves? Why wasn't Jesus crucified on one end and the other two thieves together?

Or why weren't the two thieves crucified over here and Jesus over there? Why was it specifically that Jesus was crucified in the middle of two thieves? Very important. Because it was all a part of the mockery. Because there was an inscription above his head, Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews. And remember that in the Antonia fortress they had played the king's game. They put a crown of thorns upon his head and covered him in an old purple robe. But part of the king's game still carried on to Mount Calvary.

Remember what the mother of James and John asked Jesus? They said, Lord, when you come into your kingdom, would it be possible for my sons, one to sit on your right and the other on your left, the place of prominence in the kingdom? Because if you're a king, the one to your right and the one to your left are the two most prominent individuals in your kingdom. It was all part of the mockery. You're a king? Let's put a thief on your right and a thief on your left because you're the king. And these are your highest subjects.

The ones who will carry out your deeds for you. It was part of the mockery. And so when they offered him sour wine, it was almost as if they were offering the king a royal cup. And they would say, if you're the king of the Jews, they would offer him a drink as if he was a king. All a part of the mockery. And they would say to him very simply these words, if you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. Because there was that inscription, that placard that was above him. And some would say that because of how it was written, it was a reminder that Jesus was listen, the branch.

Because it would say Yeshua, which is Jesus, of Nazareth. And Nazareth is where they get the word Netzir, which means the branch. And Jeremiah 23 speaks of the Lord of Righteousness, who is the branch. Isaiah chapter 11 speaks of Christ as the branch. That's a name, a title, given to the Messiah. And so when they looked upon the cross, it would say that Yeshua is the Netzir, the branch. And they would say, no, no, no. He's not our Messiah. And that's why the rulers were so upset in John 19. And they said to Pilate, tell them right he said he was the king of the Jews.

They were upset. But Pilate said, what I have written, I have written. Because he was going to mock them for mocking him. Pilate. So he mocked them in return. All the while he was speaking the truth that Yeshua is the branch. He is from Nazareth. And the Messiah is the king of the Jews. And what was hanging there, who was hanging there, was their king. They just didn't see it. They didn't understand it. They didn't recognize it. They were blinded to the obvious truth that stood before them. Or literally that hung before them.

So you had these soldiers who were involved in the mockery. An interesting note that you might not know. I'm sure most of you didn't know about why he was hung in the middle between two thieves. And I'm sure most of you didn't know that he was offered a drink three times. But he was. Listen to what John 19 says. Verse 23. Now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. The scripture might be fulfilled. Now, history tells us in the crucifixion, there were four Roman soldiers. A quartet of men. Every Jewish person had four outer garments.

They had the outer cloak. Which they would use to keep warm with or use as a pillow. They would have sandals. They would have a sash or a belt. They would have a headpiece. As a reward, each soldier obtained one of those pieces of garments. And yet, there was the inner garment, the tunic, that every Jewish person wore. And they would cast lots for that piece of article. In order that the scriptures might be fulfilled in Psalm 22 exactly as it was written. They would cast lots for that particular piece of article.

And so when they did, listen carefully to what I'm going to tell you now. This is crucial. To understand the crucifixion. Jesus would hang naked on the cross. Why is that important? Let me read to you something you need to understand.

In Genesis chapter 3, when Adam and Eve sinned, their eyes were opened, Genesis 3 verse number 7, and they knew they were naked. They knew they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. They knew they were naked. Before that, there was no understanding of that. Why? Because there was no sin. But once sinned into the world, nakedness now becomes the symbol, listen carefully, of moral guilt and shame. So it says in verse number 21, the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and God clothed them.

So now you come to Calvary. And by the way, Mount Moriah is the Garden of Eden in Genesis chapter 2 and 3. The understanding of all that takes place on Mount Moriah is just the opposite of what took place in the Garden of Eden. And when the thief says, remember me when you come into your kingdom, Christ says, today, you will be with me in the Garden of God.

Because the word paradise is translated garden. And so what you have is Jesus now on Mount Moriah, the original Garden of Eden, hanging naked. Why? Because what Christ was doing was so crucial. Adam and Eve, once they had sinned, realized they were naked. At Calvary, Jesus was made naked in place of sinful man, manifesting the symbol of moral guilt and shame before God. And, listen carefully, God the Father did not clothe him, but instead judged him as guilty. Because he would bear the curse so that Jesus then could clothe you with new robes.

Folks, this is so important to understand. Calvary goes way beyond what we listen to at Easter, at Good Friday services and Resurrection Sundays. The details of all that takes place is so valuable. Remember what Jesus said in the book of Revelation, third chapter to the church of Laodicea?

He says, I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot, so because you are lukewarm and neither hot or cold, I will spit you out of my mouth, because you say, I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing. I'm okay. I don't need anything. And you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. The symbol of moral guilt and shame. You don't even know you're naked. You don't even know you're blind. You don't even know you're poor.

So he says, I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich and white garments, that you may clothe yourself and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed. God now takes the church of Laodicea and says, you think that you're okay, but know you're filled with guilt, moral guilt and shame, because you are naked before me. I want to clothe you. What's he clothe us with? The garments of God. Isaiah chapter 61 verse 10. I will rejoice greatly in the Lord. My soul will exult in my God, for he has clothed me with garments of salvation.

He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness. A robe of righteousness. So when you come to the end of the book of Revelation, Revelation 22 verse number 14, he says, all those who enter in to the kingdom of God are those who have their robes washed in the blood of Calvary's stain. In the blood of Calvary's shed blood through Christ himself. Folks, this is crucial. Absolutely crucial. Listen to what Paul says in Galatians chapter three. Oh wow, man, I got a lot to go here. Hang on with me. Galatians 3, he says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree in order that Christ, in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Christ became a curse for us. He hung there naked on a tree because now he was going to clothe us with the garments of righteousness, the robes of God that we might experience the joy of his glorious kingdom. So important. And the irony of Calvary is that everyone around was cursing him. All the while, he was being cursed by God. So that he could save those who curse him. That's the irony of Calvary. Here they all stand cursing him. Soldiers, the Sanhedrin, the spectators, the stealers, it says in verse number 39, and one of the criminals who hanged there was hurling abuse at him saying, Are you not the Christ?

Save yourself and us. If you read Matthew's account and Mark's account, both of the stealers, both of the thieves, both of the criminals were engaged in the abuse. Not just one, but both of them were. One would see the difference. One would be saved. We'll talk about it next week. But both hung there and both were involved in it. And so everybody was cursing him. Everybody was. And even his father cursed him. He became a curse for us. So that those who cursed him could be saved. The miracle, the irony, the beauty of Calvary.

So let me give you quickly the compassion of the Christ. I've got to get through this today or I'm never going to finish Luke before Thanksgiving. The compassion from the Christ. Remember, the Lord speaks seven times from the cross. This is the first one.

There's the word of pardon. This is this one. Then there's the word of provision. That's number two. When he talks to his mother, he talks to John and entrusts his mother now into John's care. From there, there's the word of promise. Today you'll be with me in Paradise, the Garden of God. He says to the thief, we'll talk about that next week. And then there's three hours of darkness. All that happens in the first three hours, those first words spoken by Christ.

Then there's three hours of darkness. Not a word is spoken. And then there comes a word of pain. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Then a word of petition. I thirst. I thirst. Then a word of perfection. It is finished. Then a word of peace. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. Seven times Christ speaks from the cross. All of them extremely important in the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Old Testament. Some would say that there are over 30 prophecies in the Old Testament fulfilled in those six hours on Mount Calvary.

This is the word of pardon. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. That's the compassion from the Christ. You have the crucifixion on the cross. You have the cursing from the crowd. You have the compassion from the Christ. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. This is so important. Remember back in Luke 9, when they said, only God has the power to forgive sins? And Christ demonstrated that he had the power by taking the paralyzed man, get him up, and let him walk out of the house.

So he showed them he had the power of God, that he was God in the flesh. But Jesus said that he had the power to forgive sins. But notice, notice, because he was hanging in the place of sinful man, because he was being cursed by God, he would appeal to his Father to have compassion and to forgive those who sinned against him.

Because he was in the place of being cursed as he bore their sin in his body. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. What do you mean? They didn't know they were crucifying him? They didn't know they were killing Jesus? No, they knew that. They just did not know the atrocity of their sin. They did not know the magnitude of their sin. They did not know what they were doing in terms of the fact that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel. That's why it says in 1 Corinthians 1.28 if they understood, if they understood this, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

They were spiritually blinded to the absolute obvious truth that Jesus is the Messiah. And they were blinded because God himself blinded them. Because Jesus would fulfill all prophecy. And the compassion would come. And the scope of that prayer, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, is offered to all. But the specifics of that prayer, listen, the specifics are crucial. Because among those who cursed him were among those some fifty days later, on the day of Pentecost, who repented and were saved.

And among the five thousand a few weeks later who were added to the church. The prayer was answered. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. And there were many who had no idea what was happening and what was going on. But yet God extended compassion to them. And they had repented of their sins. And they received the forgiveness of sins. So you see, some of the spectators were saved on the day of Pentecost. Some of the Sanhedrin, Acts 6-7, were saved. And although they hurled abuse at him and mocking at him, he prayed for them, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

You read Acts 6-7, it says, and some of the chief priests were giving their lives to the Lord and living a life of faith. So the spectators were saved. The Sanhedrin were saved. But the soldiers, they were saved. Listen to what Matthew says. Matthew chapter 27. It says, Now the centurion and those who were with him, the four soldiers, keeping guard over Jesus when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, Truly this was the Son of God. In other words, they affirmed the deity of the one who hung on the tree.

And the soldiers were saved. And then one of the stealers, hanging to his left or to his right, we don't know which one it was, said, Lord, would you remember me when you come into your kingdom? And Christ said, Today. Today you're going to be in my kingdom with me. Today you will be with me in the garden of God. And the prayer was answered that day. You see the compassion of Christ? Remarkable. That note tells us there is no sin, no matter the quality, the quantity, nor the enormity of that sin that cannot be forgiven by God.

God forgives. If you come to Him by faith, through grace, by grace through faith, and repent of your sins, God will always forgive. Because He is a compassionate, loving God who longs to forgive sinners of their sin. That's why He hung there naked. That's why He died for the sins of the world that you might come to Him by faith and be forgiven. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today. So much to cover, so little time to cover it. But the cross of Christ speaks volumes to all of us. And may we learn from you today.

May we learn those things that will help us understand how to live a life of compassion and mercy. And to be thankful for how it is you have taken our place on Calvary's tree, that we might receive the forgiveness of sins. You died as our substitute. You died in our place. You took God's curse upon yourself that we would be set free from that curse. And we are thankful. In Jesus' name, Amen.