Themes of the Bible: Thief (Luke 23)

 

Themes of the Bible: Thief (Luke 23)

Okay, so, if you did the reading for this past week, then you know that we left Jesus was crucified and buried. We don't want to leave him there, so next week, we'll bring him back. That's 1 Corinthians 15 for next week.

Just this past week I was planning a backpacking trip with Christiana’s brother, and I’m telling her about it, and more importantly why we couldn’t go. And she asks, “oh, because of the rain?” To which I reply, “Kind of. See, it’s not the rain. It’s the rain in a burn area that has lost its vegetation. The vegetation is what gives the top soil structure and helps it hold together, especially in heavy rain. So without the vegetation, and with the heavy rain, they’re worried about mud slides.” She hears this and reply’s, “oh, so you don’t get hurt in a mudslide?” To which I reply, “well, kind of. See the area we’re talking about isn’t a really steep area that is going to have dangerous mudslides, but they’re still concerned about trail erosion and getting a bunch of junk washed into the creek and clogging up drainages, suffocating the fish, etc.” Christiana replies, “Oh, so you’re not going hiking?” Now this was my way of saying what would have otherwise been a very simple thing to say, “No, we can’t hike there this week.”

But the truth is that we do this a lot in Christianity, we take something that's really simple, and we make it a lot more complicated than it needs to be, or a lot more complicated than necessary. We have our own language, we talk about being washed in the blood, we talk about being born again, and someone on the outside of the faith looking at that, they're not going to fully understand it. And the dangerous part is, that we take these ideas and these terms, and we come to believe that knowing what those terms are and speaking that language, that it's the same thing as being a Christian or that it's part of our faith. Well, there's a lot of big terms in Christianity, like propitiation and eschatology and sanctification, hermeneutics, ecclesiology, atonement, exegesis, and many of you may know those terms and many of you may not, but here's the point that I'm making: It's not wrong to know these ideas, but there are a lot of people who know these ideas, know what they are, and they are not saved. They have no relationship with Christ whatsoever. And there are a large number of people who don't have any idea what they mean, you put them on the spot and ask them to explain what eschatology is, and they have no idea, but they are still saved and they're going to heaven. Now, I'm not trying to downplay the importance of theology. The study of theology is wonderful, it’s great, I like it so much that I got a master’s degree in the subject. But being a theologian is not confined to people who go to seminary and learn all the big words. The truth is that every single one of us is a theologian, because every single one of us has a theology. So, what is your theology? Your theology is what you believe about God. Now the point of what we're doing here in this church, and I really hope that this is what's happening, is I want a body of believers that has a biblically based theology in what we believe about God is completely and utterly 100% built upon what God has revealed about Himself in His Word. But there are a lot of churches and there are a lot of people who take new age ideas that are everywhere, and they blend in sprinkle in some Christian language, and they believe that they have a Christian theology, but they don't, they have a worldly theology. The truth is that even atheists are theologians, because they believe something about God. They don't believe that he exists. So, in essence, we're all theologians. And in Luke 23, I don't know if you noticed it, but you met a profound theologian on those pages. And he only speaks four sentences. He's got three verses and in those three verses and four sentences, this theologian he displays a more clearly articulated and rich theology than hundreds of those really intelligent theologians have been able to explain in hundreds of volumes of seminary textbooks.

If I asked you to give me the greatest example of faith that you find in Scripture, who is the individual that you’d say? You can come up with a bunch, if I go to the Old Testament, who is the greatest example of faith in the Old Testament? I guess maybe I'd roll the dice and say, Abraham, I mean, this is the guy that left everything that he knew just to wander out into the wilderness and follow God. This is the same guy that God told him to sacrifice his son, the one thing that meant everything to him, to take him up on the hill and sacrifice him. I can't think of anybody that I would rank higher than Abraham, which is probably why Abraham is known as ‘the father of the faithful’ in the book of Hebrews. But what if we skipped over to the New Testament? And I asked, who is the most faithful person, the most profound faith in the New Testament? You might come up with Paul, you might come up with Peter or one of the disciples, Stephan would be a good choice that I could get behind, but I would suggest that you can make a very strong case for the guy you met in Luke 23, and that is the thief on the cross. Now, I understand that there's a lot of people that’ll say, ‘Well, come on, he's dying, so he doesn't have anything to lose, right?’ He's about ready to die. So, you might as well roll the dice and go with Jesus. I understand that argument. But the truth is, the timing for where this man encounters Jesus could not have been worse to bring about faith. Think about all the things that Jesus did that would have made you believe in Him, and none of that is happening when the thief encounters him. Christ’s disciples, the ones that had seen everything, the ones that have been taught by Jesus that had watched him walk on water had all the reasons to believe, but where were they? They had abandoned Jesus. Only John is recorded to have made it to the foot of the cross. They had the greatest reason to believe, yet had walked away. Now on the cross, Jesus is not performing a miracle. If I see somebody raise Lazarus from the dead, like we talked about last week, you remember that was the whole point of the thing. He kept saying over and over. I'm doing this so that you may believe. I'm performing this miracle so that you may believe everything about me. If I'd have seen Lazarus wrapped in those linens be carried forward to the front of that tomb, I would have put my faith in Jesus. This thief isn't seeing anything like that. He's seeing Jesus get tortured to death. Jesus isn't freeing himself. He's not coming down from the cross. If this is the Son of God, with all universal power at his fingertips, I don't expect to see him suffering in agony on a cross. There's no John the Baptist standing there at the foot of the cross shouting, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” There's nobody announcing his divinity there, but that's what the thief is encountering, and yet, that's the moment that the thief puts his faith in Jesus. Take a look at this exchange. Luke 23, verse 39. [Read Luke 23:39-42]. That’s a powerful exchange.

But why does God preserve it for us? I believe that God has preserved this passage in the Gospel of Luke to teach us the simplicity of faith and the simplicity of the gospel of Jesus that we complicate in so many ways all the time. I want you to start here with this line. What does the thief say? He looks at the other criminal that's hurling insults and he says, “Do you not even fear God?” Why is that significant? Why is that question so significant? Notice the stark contrast between this thief and everybody else. Back up just a few verses and you’ll see it. Verse 35, [Read Luke 23:35-37]. You've got the rulers mocking Jesus, you've got the soldiers mocking Jesus. You've got this other criminal who was mocking Jesus, demonstrating no fear of God whatsoever. Did you not notice that? They were saying, ‘If you're really God, come down from that cross. If you're really God, then save yourself. If you're really God, then save us too.’ That should be a familiar tone for us readers. If you go earlier in this book of Luke, you remember a line like this from chapter 4. Verse 3, “And the devil said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’” Do you remember this line? ‘If you're really the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. If you're really the Son of God, then you'll do this. If you're really the Son of God, then you'll do that. . .” Those are the words of Satan. He did that's when he tempted Jesus, and the behavior of everyone around Christ on the cross sounds exactly like Satan. They're flaunting their unbelief in him. They're mocking him. The only God that they are willing to serve is the one who meets the evidence that they demand. They decide. ‘You do this then we will all believe.’ And, by the way, they wouldn't have believed. That's why Jesus said, ‘even if you see a man raised from the dead, you're not going to believe. . .’ in Luke 16. And by the way, that is an all-too-common attitude today. We do the exact same thing. We'll all believe in God if he does this thing to prove Himself to me. We do the same thing, and it’s the voice of Satan flouting our unbelief.

Instead of all that, notice how this thief rejects everything that the world believes, everything that the world clings to, and instead clings to scriptural truth that tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. He is convicted by the Holy Spirit, and you see it in his confession. Remember, there's three crosses up there on Calvary, there's one in the middle, and there's two on the sides. Who did Pilate think was going to be on that middle cross? He thought Barabbas was going to be on that middle cross. That's who it was originally intended for. We know what Barabbas was. He was a murderer, he was a zealot. He would have been our equivalent of a terrorist. Well, these two guys being crucified with him, they are on par with Barabbas. So, this thief is a bad dude. We don't know all that he did. Maybe he was like one of the highwaymen robbers in the parable of the Good Samaritan, and robbed and beat someone, and left them to die alone in the road. We don’t know, but we know he did bad stuff, otherwise he would not have been there. And yet this thief notes that the torment he's receiving for his earthly deeds is just, ‘I'm getting what I deserve.’ That's a very biblical view of man. Not a typical view of man. It's a biblical view of man, ‘I'm getting what I deserve, but it is nothing compared to what I actually deserve from God.’ What is he focusing on and what does he fear? He’s fearing God.

Jesus earlier told His followers, “Now I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do” (Luke 12:4). Don't fear the person who is crucifying you right now. Don't fear those Roman soldiers that are there mocking us. I'll show you whom you should fear, fear eternal judge Almighty God. And that's exactly what this thief is doing.

Remember when Jesus told the account of the tax collector and the Pharisee praying and the Pharisee went out with all of his big words. You remember what the tax collector did? The tax collector ‘stood at a distance he couldn't even bear to look towards heaven, but he beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”’ Is that not exactly what this thief is doing? God have mercy on me. I'm getting what my deeds deserve, but have mercy on me, a sinner and then notice the implications. There are numerous, simple implications of what this guy says in this one sentence. “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” There's so much in that one sentence that exhibits profound faith.

First of all, notice what his mind is focused on and what matters to him. What he's asking Jesus to do. It’s the most important question a person will ever ask themselves; what happens next when all of this is over. Nothing else is guaranteed but dying, and yet think about how much time we spend preparing for things that may never happen. I told you a few weeks ago that I've got this little retirement account set up, and I'm probably never going to see a dime of it. I know I'm never going to see it, but I continue to pay into it just in case. So, I'm preparing for something that may never happen for me, right? And yet, for a lot of us, the one thing in life that we are guaranteed is going to happen, we put to the back of our mind and pretend like, ‘Well, that's years off. That's not going to happen for a long time. I'm not even going to think about it. I'm not going to prepare for it. I don't want to think about it. It makes me uncomfortable.’ Believers though, recognize that this topic was the focus of Jesus's earthly ministry. He was trying to get us to focus on what happens next. Your earthly life is temporal, it's here one second and it's gone the next.

The thief on the cross is suffering this excruciating death. But the dread that is filling him is not his current predicament. It's not what's happening to him right now. What is consuming his thoughts and his focus is on his eternal condition, and also the eternal condition of the other thief. ‘Don't you fear God?’ He declares the righteousness of God. Then, ‘this man has done nothing wrong.’ He's completely innocent. And notice he appeals to Jesus exclusively. He says, ‘Jesus, when You come into Your kingdom,’ this is your kingdom that I'm asking you to grant me entrance to. He never pleads for mercy from all of those powers that are gathered around him. You have all these soldiers, the representatives of Rome's political power, no stronger power on earth than Rome and he never look to them and requests a legal pardon. ‘Please, guys, if you take me down, I won't do it anymore. I'll be good.’ You have all of these members of Israel's religious hierarchy gathered at his feet and never once does he look at them and say, ‘would you grant me spiritual pardon, please?’ Never once is he appealing to the powers below him. He is focused on one place. He's looking right at Jesus and appealing to him. He appeals to a crucified savior. That is a central tenant of our faith. Christ alone. No other power can do this. No other faith system, no other belief system, no other prophets. Christ alone is the answer. Jesus did not say, ‘I know a way to the Father.’ He said, “I am the way.” The way, the truth, and the life, no other way to heaven except through Jesus. And this thief understood that to be true.

Now, that's offensive to a lot of people. It's offensive to our entire culture that believes ‘well, who are we to say that we've got the one way to heaven? There's many ways of being in the world.’ It's really offensive to them, but as a believer you recognize that salvation is found in no one else, because there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). It's not that we're being offensive, it’s that we are being loving. If someone’s about to jump from an airplane with a non-functioning parachute, don’t you think they’d like to be warned? This approach says, ‘I love you that's why I'm pointing you in that direction, toward life.’ And I understand that to be true and it's exactly what the thief understood to be true. And notice here what he requests. He's not saying, ‘Jesus, please take this pain away from me. This is unbearable.’ He's not saying ‘Jesus, please, in this moment provide me peace and comfort.’ That's not what he's concerned about. He is requesting his ultimate need, which is undeserved forgiveness. I don't deserve this. But I'm begging for mercy. I'm begging for your grace provided for me.

That's the real scandal of our faith that people really get worked up about. The world finds the exclusivity of Christ, that Jesus alone is the way to heaven, they find that to be offensive. Because they say, ‘oh wait a minute, what about my grandma? My grandpa walked out on my grandma and she raised four kids on her own. She went to work two different low-income jobs, kept food on the table. She took care of them, got them dressed, made sure they had a good life. She made sure they could all go to college. She never went to church and she never knew Jesus. But this woman never cussed. She never did anything bad. She was a wonderful woman and you're telling me she's condemned for eternity? That is offensive to me. That is outrageous to me.’ Right? I know. But hang on. I'm going to be even more offensive than that. The kind and gentle woman who lived a life of service faces eternal hell. How outrageous is that? Yeah, that's radical, but it's more than that. That sweet moral person without Christ is lost forever. But we also believe that the most violent and despicable offender who turns to Jesus can be and is saved. It's not just that a good person without Christ is lost. No, no, it's worse than that. Take the worst person you've ever known, and if they turn to Christ, they're saved. That's amazing. How radical is that? Stop and think about how radical that really is. To use an example, Jeffrey Dahmer was one of the worst serial killers that we have ever known in the United States. There were people who had killed more than Jeffrey Dahmer did, but I don't know that anybody was as depraved as Dahmer in their killing. Dahmer would lure young men in through homosexual requests. He murdered 17 of them, he sexually abused minor boys before he would kill them. He mutilated their bodies after they were dead, engaged in necrophilia with them, and even worse stuff that I don’t want to speak about. This is about as bad as human behavior gets, yet Jeffrey Dahmer did an interview with NBC News shortly before he was murdered in prison, and said this:

“I've come to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the true Creator of the heavens and the earth. It just didn't ‘just happen.’ And I have accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. And I believe that I, as well as everyone else, will be accountable to him. If you don't, if a person doesn't think that there is a God to be accountable to, then what's the point of trying to modify your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges? That's how I thought anyway. And I've since come to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is truly God. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, they're the only true God.”

Only God knows Jeffrey Dahmer’s heart. I don't know if that was a true confession or if Jeffrey Dahmer was doing that for sympathy, or if he’s a master manipulator, I have no idea. But here's what I do know, if that was true confession and he came to Christ and was obedient to the gospel as defined in scriptures, that the blood of Jesus shed on the cross at Calvary covers even him. That's what I know. And how awesome of God who would have thought that Jeffrey Dahmer would be used to preach the gospel to millions of people watching the nightly news on their televisions. What I've been saying through this whole series is that Satan thinks he's got all this figured out and he's going to win, and as always, we see that God is so many moves ahead to save His people, keep His promises, and give the Father glory. And here, God uses Jeffrey Dahmer of all people to preach the gospel on national television. It’s amazing to me. He was as bad as it gets, and yet the blood of Jesus can even atone for his sins. That's the great scandal of our faith. That's what you and I believe as Christian.

Now if that bothers us, if it bothers our sensibilities because Jeffrey Dahmer was an awful person, he deserves hell, and that wonderful grandma, she was a good person, she deserves heaven. There's a reason that it bothers our sensibilities, and you're not going to like it. But the reason is, because you haven't fully embraced how radical the doctrine of grace is. You may not intend to, but you are going back to a salvation by works. That's what you're relying on, that in the end, we truly do earn our way to heaven, that grandma was a good person and so therefore, she deserves heaven and that murderer was a bad person, and therefore, he deserves hell. Then the grace of the Lord comes and erases all of it. Scripture tells us that there is no good person. And why? Because who is good? God is good. It's not just that God is good, but God is goodness. He is the standard of what good is, and he's how we measure what good is. If you want to go to heaven, that's the standard you have to meet, and Romans tells us that we “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). So that grandma and Jeffrey Dahmer, both of them fall short of the glory of God. Both of them aren't going to make it one their own. Scripture tells us that our problem is greater than we could ever imagine. You can never attain that level of perfection. And so, Scripture gives us the answer, that the cross of Jesus Christ covers it all for those who will receive it, that the cross of Christ reaches down to us no matter how far down in sin we are, and lifts us out of that muck and mire.

I am certain that hell will be full of people who believe that they deserved heaven. And heaven is full of people who knew, like this thief on the cross, that they truly deserved hell. That is a scriptural truth. And I'm asking you today, which of the two criminals on either side of Jesus are you? Are you the one who mocks Jesus and is trusting himself? ‘I can do this. I got this figured out. I don't need a book to tell me how to live.’ Or, are you the one that recognizes what he deserves and trusts in Jesus.

All of the disciples, the ones who had seen the miracles of Jesus, who had the biggest reason to believe in Him, they have all fled, except for John. These are the ones that Jesus told them over and over, ‘I have to die and then I’ll be raised from the dead.’ And remember, what Peter says, ‘I'll never let you die’ and what does Jesus say back to him? ‘Get behind me Satan.’ In essence, its, ‘You don't know what you're saying. If I don't die, you don't go to heaven. Only Satan would want to stop me from going through with this.’ So, he has told them he's going to die and he has told them that he's going to raise from the dead, and yet, there's only one guy, only one guy who is demonstrating true belief in it. They all have fled, and only this one guy, the thief on the cross, who's sitting there and saying, ‘I believe it.’ I believe that this is true. And he knows that nobody survives crucifixion. So, if he believes that Jesus is going to enter Paradise, he must believe that Jesus is going to be resurrected. The question is: do you? He believed enough to spend his final moments calling on Christ and Christ alone. Good luck finding somebody in Scripture that exhibits that kind of profound faith.

That's the thing when we think profound faith, we think these big words they this big theology, these big deeds, but the thief is demonstrating a profound simplicity of the Christian faith. This guy had never read a book on theology. Likely this guy couldn't even read even know any of those terms that I showed you earlier. And yet, he goes to heaven.

 

Alistair Begg the theologian I think says it better than anybody.

I think about the thief on the cross, and I can't wait to find that fellow one day to ask him. How did that shake out for you? Because weren't you cussing the guy out with your friend? You've never been in a Bible study and never got baptized, you didn't know a thing about church membership. And yet, you made it. You made it. How did you make it? The angel gatekeeper must have said, ‘what are you doing here?’ ‘I don't know.’ ‘What do you mean you don't know?’ ‘Well, I don't know.’ Excuse me, let me get my supervisor.’ The supervisor says, ‘So just a few questions for you. First of all, are you clear on the doctrine of justification by faith?’ The guy says, ‘never heard of it in my life.’ ‘And what about the doctrine of Scriptural inerrancy? Blank stares from the thief. And eventually, in frustration, he says, ‘On what basis are you here?!’ And he replies, ‘The man on the middle cross said I can come.’

 

I don't know where you've been. And I don't know what you've done. But I know that the man on the middle cross said you could come. Let’s pray.