04/04/2023 – Gospel of John Fellowship – Chapter 19 //”The Man on the Middle Cross” / Do yourself a priceless favor: take 16 minutes from your busy life to listen to this sermon in this Holy Week!
I didn’t plan it this way, but all posts today tie together. Indeed, the cross is the very center of God making Himself known to a lost world. The message of the cross is foolishness to the world. But it establishes the gravity of the human condition, our sinfulness, as Alistair notes.
I’m cheating – This covers John 19 – The Crucifixion but I am pointing to Luke 23: 39 – 43: “One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: ‘Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!’ But the other criminal rebuked him. ‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ‘since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’ “
And the angel asks… “How did you get here? The man on the middle cross said I could come.”
So, Matthew Chapter 27; Mark Chapter 15 nor John Chapter 19, makes note of this dialogue between the unnamed criminal and Jesus. The others just note that two robbers were crucified with Jesus. We believe His Word is infallible. These verses are huge, for they corroborate other Scripture that no one is beyond saving grace, excluding those who have blasphemed the Holy Spirit.
As we have discussed, the Triune God’s agape love for us and His holiness is unfathomable. God cannot live with sin, it is against His essence, so Jesus died for us, taking on the punishment we deserved. And how is it that we have an invitation to join the eternal dance of the Triune God? Have you ever reflected on being able to love perfectly for eternity?
What was the significance of the curtain of the temple being torn in two as Jesus breathed his last?
https://www.gotquestions.org/temple-veil-torn.html
Verses: Luke 23:45 ; Matthew 27:51 / Mark 15: 38
Soli Deo Gloria!