Part 22 (1/2)
The Gospel narratives spare us the distressing details of the crucifixion; this was the most cruel and agonizing form of death; but the facts are written with surprising delicacy and reserve. As Jesus was being led from the city a certain Simon of Cyrene was pressed into the service of bearing his cross. The cause of this action is purely a matter of conjecture. Its result was to give Simon immortal fame and apparently to secure for him eternal salvation; for it seems that this experience, and the knowledge of Christ gained at Calvary, resulted in the conversion of Simon and his household, Mark 15:21; Rom. 16:13. In a figure, he was the first of that long line of men and women who have taken up the cross and followed Christ. Of course this is a mere symbol, and the actual contrasts are vital. In reality no one can share the burden of the cross which our Saviour bore. His sufferings, and his alone, made atonement for sin. Then again no one can be compelled to take up the cross. There are burdens in life which cannot be evaded but one can refuse the cross. It is a type of the voluntary suffering endured for the sake of Christ; it is a symbol of the complete sacrifice of self and the complete submission to his will which is necessary for all who share in the redeeming benefits of his death.
Luke alone records the incident of the women who, wailing and lamenting, followed Jesus out of the city. It is quite fitting that in this Gospel, in which womanhood is so exalted, a place should be found for this picture. It is not to be supposed that these were the loyal friends who had followed Jesus on his journeys and helped to supply his needs; these were rather residents of Jerusalem whose hearts were bleeding with sorrow for the loving Prophet who was being led forth to an agonizing death. Our Lord turned to these women with a message of sympathy and told them that they were not to weep for him but for themselves and their children. He was not rebuking them for their compa.s.sion; he rather meant to indicate that while his sufferings were pitiful, their own were more worthy of tears, for they were to be even more intense. He had in mind the destruction of the city due to its impenitence and made certain by its rejection of the Redeemer. Jesus declared that the days would come when childlessness would be a ground for congratulation because of the universal distress. He predicted that the horror would be so great that men would call upon the mountains to fall on them and the hills to cover them, preferring such forms of death to the torments which threatened from the armies of Rome. Jesus added a proverb, the force of which is evident even though its exact application may not be clear: ”For if they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” In other words, if the sufferings of Christ were so great, what would be the sufferings of the Jews! If the Romans were putting to death him whom they regarded as innocent, what would they do to the inhabitants of the rebellious and hated city? It is quite in accordance with the character of Luke to note how Jesus, in this very hour of his anguish, thought rather of others than of himself and p.r.o.nounced this prophesy, not in resentment, but in infinite tenderness and pity.
While the actual sufferings of the crucifixion are not described, Luke tells us of the cruel mockery to which Jesus was subjected. He states that two malefactors were crucified with Jesus, ”one on the right hand and the other on the left.” This was evidently designed to add to the disgrace and humiliation of his cruel death. The place of the crucifixion was called ”The skull,” probably because it was a bare, rounded hill located outside the city gates.
Of the seven words spoken by Jesus on the cross, Luke records three, all of them characterized by love and trust. The first is found in no other Gospel. As Jesus tasted the first bitterness of his anguish he was heard to pray, ”Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.” He did not have in mind simply the soldiers who were involuntary instruments of his death, but rather the Jews who had not fully recognized the enormity of their crime. For them Jesus felt no hatred in his heart. He yearned for their repentance and their salvation. This prayer was a revelation of the matchless grace and mercy of this ideal Man. Luke adds the details of the mockery to which the other evangelists likewise refer. The crowds stood gazing upon the Sufferer but the rulers and the soldiers cruelly mocked him; the former scoffed at him saying, ”He saved others; let him save himself.” In reality, had he saved himself, he never could have saved others. He died for the very men who were deriding him, to make possible their salvation. The soldiers made sport of him by casting lots for his garments and by offering him drink and hailing him as ”King of the Jews.”
This last t.i.tle had been placed on the cross above the head of Jesus. It was put there by Pilate in bitter irony. It was his way of taking revenge upon the rulers who, contrary to his conscience, had compelled him to put to death an innocent Man. In place of this superscription the eye of faith sees another, ”Behold, the Lamb of G.o.d, that taketh away the sin of the world!”
I. The Penitent Thief. Ch. 23:39-43
39 And one of the malefactors that were hanged railed on him, saying, Art not thou the Christ? save thyself and us. 40 But the other answered, and rebuking him said, Dost thou not even fear G.o.d, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said, Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom. 43 And he said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.
This story which enshrines for us the second saying of our Lord upon the cross has often been regarded as one of the most significant narratives in the Gospels: first, because it gives us such a picture of the unique person of Christ; here was a dying man who at the same time was a forgiving G.o.d. Then, here is a picture of the transforming power of Christ who in an instant of time changed a robber into a saint. Most of all, we have here a message of the conditions of salvation which are ever the same, namely, repentance and faith. The first of these conditions is strikingly ill.u.s.trated from the fact that the repentant thief was thinking of G.o.d and remembering that it was against a divine Being that he had sinned. Of this fact he reminded his companion, intimating that they might properly fear him into whose august presence they were so soon to be ushered. It is the very essence of repentance to regard sin, not as a mistake or a weakness, or as an injury to men, but as rebellion and insult against G.o.d. His penitence was further shown in his recognition that the penalty which he was suffering was just, and in his recognition of the innocent sufferings of Christ.
His faith was as remarkable as his repentance. He saw in the bleeding, dying Sufferer, One who is yet to return as universal King, and to him he addressed his prayer: ”Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom.” We do not know the source of such faith. The robber may have heard part of the trial of Jesus; he did hear him praying for his enemies; but whatever gave rise to his belief and trust, he regarded Jesus as a Saviour and Lord who was yet to reign and who could bring him to eternal glory. This story thus reveals to us the truth that salvation is conditioned upon repentance and faith. However, it contains other important messages also. It declares that salvation is independent of sacraments. The thief had never been baptized, nor had he partaken of the Lord's Supper. It is obvious that had he lived he would have carried out the requirements of his Lord by accepting these sacraments. He did, in fact, boldly confess his faith in the presence of a hostile crowd and amid the taunts and jeers of rulers and soldiers, yet he was saved without any formal rites.
It is further evident that salvation is independent of good works. The thief was pardoned before he had lived a single, righteous, innocent day.
Of course, good works follow faith; they evidence its reality; but faith precedes and results in holiness. A life of goodness is an expression of grat.i.tude for salvation already begun.
It is further evident that there is no ”sleep of the soul.” The body may sleep, but consciousness persists after death. The word of the Master was, ”To-day shalt thou be ... in Paradise.” Again it is evident that there is no ”purgatory.” If any man ever needed discipline and ”purifying fires,”
it was this penitent robber. Out of a life of sin and shame he pa.s.sed immediately into a state of blessedness. This was the promise: ”To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.”
Again it may be remarked that salvation is not universal. There were two robbers; only one was saved. Jesus had heard them both speaking of him. He did not say ”ye,” but ”Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.”
Last of all, it may be noted that the very essence of the joy which lies beyond death consists in personal communion with Christ. The heart of the promise to the dying thief was this: ”Thou shalt be with me.” This is our blessed a.s.surance, that to depart is ”to be with Christ,” which is ”very far better.”
J. The Death And Burial. Ch. 23:44-56
44 And it was now about the sixth hour, and a darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 the sun's light failing: and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. 46 And Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said this, he gave up the ghost. 47 And when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified G.o.d, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man. 48 And all the mult.i.tudes that came together to this sight, when they beheld the things that were done, returned smiting their b.r.e.a.s.t.s. 49 And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed with him from Galilee, stood afar off, seeing these things.
50 And behold, a man named Joseph, who was a councillor, a good and righteous man 51 (he had not consented to their counsel and deed), _a man_ of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews, who was looking for the kingdom of G.o.d: 52 this man went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 And he took it down, and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb that was hewn in stone, where never man had yet lain. 54 And it was the day of the Preparation, and the sabbath drew on. 55 And the women who had come with him out of Galilee, followed after, and beheld the tomb, and how his body was laid. 56 And they returned and prepared spices and ointments.
And on the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
The death of Christ was an event of such supreme importance that it properly was accompanied by supernatural signs of deep significance. Of these Luke mentions two. The first was the darkened skies, a fit symbol of the blackest crime in all the history of man. The second was the rending of the Temple veil, a type of the ”new and living way” opened into the presence of G.o.d for all believers. Thus these two signs correspond to the human and the divine aspects of this atoning death, and indicate the heinousness of sin and the purpose of redeeming grace.
The last word spoken by Jesus on the cross was an expression of perfect trust and peace. He had shown his sympathy for others by his prayer, by his promise to the penitent thief, and by his provision for his mother; by three other words he had revealed his sufferings of mind and body and their result in a completed redemption: ”My G.o.d, my G.o.d ...”; ”I thirst;”
”it is finished.” He now breathed out his soul in a sentence of absolute confidence taken from the psalmist and recorded by Luke alone: ”Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” It was the supreme utterance of faith. The earthly ministry of the Son of G.o.d had ended.