So I So I know we’re not even at Palm Sunday yet. Uh but we’ve been going through the Gospel of John for well, really the past year and to arrive at the resurrection on 2 weeks from today, uh we need to stand at the foot of the cross together this morning. And it’s not where we want to be, it’s not where we like to be, but we know that we can never properly celebrate Easter without it. So last week we looked at the interaction of Jesus um with his Jewish accusers, with the Roman governor who determined that he’d be executed. And John then relates with brutal brevity what happened next. He says, “The soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. Golgotha. Here they crucified him and with two others, one on each side, Jesus in the middle.” So Jesus carried the cross piece uh to the place of execution. He stumbled along the way. We know that Simon of Cyrene was forcibly conscripted to carry it the rest of the way and at the site of the execution, the nails were driven into his hands and he was fastened to the cross and despite his his uh the agony and the suffering, Jesus remained fully lucid and fully aware of his surroundings. So that was slow, conscious suffering. That makes a Roman crucifixion far more cruel than any kind of modern form of capital punishment. Historian Tom Holland writes, “No death was more excruciating, more contemptible than crucifixion. To be hung naked, long in agony, swelling with ugly wheals on shoulders and chest, helpless to beat away the clamorous birds.” Such a fate, Roman intellectuals agreed, was the worst imaginable. And those crucified, they might survive for days, prolong the agony. A small seat or platform was attached to the cross for the victim to rest some of their weight on, prolonging the agony. But while he was on the cross, Jesus remained fully aware of the people around him. His elevated position allowed him to recognize at least five different kinds of people who were near the cross that day. Five kinds of people with different attitudes, different reactions to what was happening. As we look at all five, I think we’ll recognize that their reactions to Jesus on Good Friday 2,000 years ago, it mirrors the same reactions that modern people have toward Jesus today. The view from the cross and the current view of Jesus who sits at the right hand of the Father can see the same attitude sown into the fabric of human hearts and human nature. First group we notice, we could call these the indignant. John tells us that Pilate had this notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many were reading that sign. Apparently, Golgotha was was a busy intersection. People were traveling to and from the city and the sign was written in Aramaic and Latin and Greek. And the chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate. Said, “No, no, don’t write he’s King of the Jews. Say that he claimed to be King of the Jews.” And Pilate answered, “Well, what I’ve written, I’ve written.” It was customary for the victim of crucifixion to have the crime he was convicted of just on a placard or a sign often hung around his neck as he was making his way to the place of execution. And once there, the placard would be fastened to the cross and the sign attached to the cross of Jesus written in three languages, Latin so the Romans could read it and Aramaic so the bulk of the Jewish population and Greek which was the lingua franca, the common language used throughout the Roman Empire. So, all all the major languages of the Mediterranean were represented. Everyone could read this royal title bestowed upon Jesus. And whatever Pilate’s motives were for writing what he did and then refusing to change it when the leaders complained, the hand of God was clearly overriding the circumstances as Jesus, the suffering savior, was identified as King of the Jews. Even before Jesus was born, the angel Gabriel declared to Mary that the Lord would give her son the throne of his father David. He’d reign over the house of David forever. His kingdom would never end. And shortly after his birth, remember the Magi, those those interesting mysterious astrologers came from the east and they perceived the sign in the heavens and they came looking for the one who was king of the Jews. Earlier that same week, when Jesus had triumphantly entered Jerusalem, the crowds had cried out, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel.” But the religious leaders at the foot of the cross, they weren’t happy with that sign displayed over Jesus. It seemed to make a mockery of their race, mockery of their religion. They had determined that Jesus was a nothing. He was a pawn that could be sacrificed so they could maintain societal equilibrium. His sacrifice allowed them to maintain their influence and their position in a society ruled by occupying Romans. So, that sign declaring Jesus as their king really irritated them. They indignantly asked that it be changed, but Pilate had already washed his hands as a way of showing, “I’m not going to have any part in this man’s innocent blood.” He was in no mood to accommodate them. And those indignant religious leaders, despite all Jesus’ teachings and his healings and his casting out of demons, even raising people from the dead, they never wanted to submit to him as a king. Never wanted to acknowledge that he might be someone important or even essential to their lives or to their nation. Someone who might actually be a king. The sign on the cross reminded them of something they didn’t ever want to admit. Now, those religious leaders, they represent a certain segment of people today whose attitudes aren’t merely neutral concerning Jesus or the Christian church, but people who adamantly, vigorously dislike any idea of a kingship or a divine claim on their lives. Maybe they can safely think of Jesus as a as a good man or a moral guide, someone like Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr., but the memory of Gandhi doesn’t make any demands on anyone’s beliefs or behaviors today. None of us feel accountable in any way to Gandhi. Yet if Jesus must be regarded as our king, we’re boxed in, we’re reined in, we’re compelled to do what the king desires, what the king demands. Tim Keller tells of meeting a man once who confided to him about something that was going on in his life. The man said that his wife went to visit her mother uh on weekends and that he would have his mistress into the home during those days. And one thing he always had to do because his mistress and he both wanted it that way, he had to first go around the house and put all the pictures of his wife face down. Because all the pictures had his wife beaming in love toward him. Her face was full of delight and adoration. She really loved him. He said that was the only way he could do what he did, bring his mistress in, was to imagine his wife as something other than what she really was. He had to kind of construct in his mind an image of her as a thoughtless, mean person. He had to focus on the times that maybe she’d said something uh unfair to him. To bring his mistress into the home, he had to imagine his wife as something other than she was. But the picture showed the reality and he had to remove them from his sight. He had to let his imagination create a false construct. To indignant people who don’t want the sovereignty of God to interfere with their lives, they have to take that sign down from the cross and turn it face down. They have to make it a claim. It can’t be a binding reality because the reality is too convicting. So today when we run into people who are very angry, seem mad at the God they don’t believe in, it’s likely that they feel threatened by the idea about Jesus telling them anything to do in explaining reality and morality and repentance and forgiveness, beliefs and behaviors that he demands from them as their king. And even though his face might be bursting with love for them as he says it, they have to place his picture face down. They have to alter the sign on the cross. It’s a constant irritation, a reminder of something they don’t want to consider true. Those in any age who become indignant at the thought of Jesus being their king are really mirroring the religious leaders that Jesus could view from the cross on the day he was crucified. Second group at the cross that day, these guys are just the indifferent ones, and it’s not hard to spot this group. John describes them for us. These are the soldiers. They’re crucifying Jesus. They take his clothes. They divide them into four shares, one for each of them. There’s an undergarment remaining. It’s seamless. It’s woven in one piece. So, they say, “Well, let’s not tear it. Let’s decide by lot who’ll get it instead.” And this happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled, which said, “They divided my garments among them, cast lots for my clothing.” So, this is what the soldiers did. Now, when the Romans would crucify a prisoner, a man or a woman, they’d strip them naked. That was That’s part of the torture. That was part of the suffering. Naked person would be completely exposed, completely vulnerable, completely exposed to shame. They’ve no defense against the weather or the insects or the birds or the stares of anyone who’s looking at them. No way to control what people can see of them anymore. And the only two people in the Bible who were ever naked without shame were Adam and Eve before the fall. Immediately afterward, they had to cover up because of their shame, their nakedness. They were the only people on Earth who could for a time be completely transparent, and they had no need to control of what God saw of them or what they saw of one another. A naked Roman crucifixion, ingenious and elaborate way of exposing people. Custom was for the executioners, apparently, to divvy up the victim’s clothes, and someone might get the robe, someone might get the belt, someone might be trying on the sandals to see if they fit. And the four soldiers at the foot of the cross, they made a four-way share of Jesus’ clothing except for the one article that remained. Seemed like a shame to rip this off. It was seamless. They didn’t want to cut it apart. And this likely wasn’t their first rodeo. These guys may have witnessed dozens or even hundreds of prior crucifixions. What was happening uh on the cross above them wasn’t nearly as interesting as rummaging through the Value Village aisles. So, Luke tells us that as those soldiers were nailing him in place, Jesus cried out, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.” They may not have heard. They may not have understood those words. The greatest cosmic drama in all of eternity was occurring just a few feet above their heads, and their noses were buried in a bundle of clothing. Excitedly, they had the gambling apps open on their phone, and they wanted to see who got this seamless undershirt. And they represent, I think, those soldiers, most of the people in our city when it comes to Jesus. There There are few who are indignant, who are actively opposed to the knowledge and the influence of Christ, but most people are indifferent. They just never think of him. Their attention’s largely given to other things, much smaller things than this cosmic transaction on an ancient cross. They have jobs to worry about and families and Oilers games and March Madness and uh repairs and romance and recreation and holidays and Netflix and there’s a stanza by a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. It says, “Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush a fire with God, but only he who sees takes off his shoes. The rest sit around and pluck blackberries.” Now, for most of us, any evangelism we do, it’s we don’t often wrestle with those who are already very angry and indignant concerning Jesus. Most of us Most of the people we talk to, they’re just indifferent. And we need to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to show them that Earth is really crammed with heaven, and that a pile of clothes is nothing compared to the sign above their heads that Jesus is king. Jesus would have his father forgive them. They just don’t know what they’re doing. And if our job in evangelism is just to get them to look up. So, from his elevated position on the cross, Jesus sees the indifferent, uh the indignant. Surely wasn’t aware wasn’t unaware of a third group, the scorners. John in his gospel doesn’t mention these folks, but the other three gospel writers do. As expected, the Jewish leaders, the priests, the teachers of law, they’re mocking Jesus saying, “He saved others. He can’t save himself. He’s the king of Israel. Let him come down now from the cross. We’ll believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him if he wants him. For he said, “I’m the son of God.” We have to expect the indignant people to shower scorn on Jesus. Less expected are the ones that are described as just passing by, just pedestrians moving from one place to another. They’re moving past that intersection of Golgotha, and they see someone suffering, and they can’t resist piling on. We read, “Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in 3 days, save yourself. Come down from the cross if you’re the son of God.'” These seem to be like those those of us who, you know, we slow down to a crawl when we see an accident on the highway, or we see if someone’s stopped on the side of the road, maybe getting picked up by the police, or or if someone’s brought down by by the media, we like to maybe read comments, perhaps even add one of our own. Something about the human heart that takes perverse pleasure in seeing someone who was riding high brought low. Delights to see scandal. Delights to see a Hollywood star or a politician or a church leader suddenly exposed and made vulnerable. Something inside us tends to want to cheer. The scorners passing by Golgotha see someone who was riding so high at the beginning of the week. Now he’s pinned to the cross like a butterfly is pinned to a little spreading board. They take pleasure in the fact that this naked Nazarene obviously isn’t who he said he was. He was putting on an act the whole time. And although they they might have averted their eye the eyes of their children from the sight of the naked man on the cross, the adults don’t want to look away. It was kind of fun seeing Jesus get what he deserved, how the mighty had fallen. You know, hundreds of years before Calvary in Isaiah 53 prophetically describes Jesus as despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows familiar with suffering like one from whom men hide their faces. And despite all the scornful mocking that Jesus could hear from his vantage point on the cross, he stayed in place so he could offer love even to those who most despised him. So, we have the indignant, the indifferent, the scorners. Fourth category of people are the mourners. And these were people who were very dear to Jesus, their lives being torn apart by his suffering. Dangerous time to be a follower of Jesus, but the gospel writers tells us there were many women watching from a distance who had followed Jesus from Galilee to take care of his needs. Some of them are named specifically. There’s Mary, Jesus’ mother, Mary Magdalene, about out of whom Jesus had cast seven demons. Another Mary is named Jesus’ aunt. And also on the scene is one identified as the disciple whom Jesus loved, usually taken to mean the gospel writer himself, John. And at some point that group must have edged a little closer to the cross, close enough to hear Jesus say to them, As near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here’s your son.” And to his disciple, “Here’s your mother.” And from that time on, this disciple took her into his home. Very short, very tender scene. Carries some astonishing consequences really for us. It’s astonishing that as Jesus is being torn apart, he’s disintegrating, body, soul, infinite agony, and he’s thinking about his mom. In that society, she’d likely have been considered an older widow at the time, and her eldest son, Jesus, would have been the one expected to take care of her. He had some half-brothers. They’re named in scripture, but there’s no indication that they were around at this point, and we know that they didn’t believe in Jesus until after the resurrection. So, as the entire weight of humanity’s sin and unbelief rests on Jesus, he seeks to take any weight and worry off his mom. Spoke something that happens to each one of us whenever we receive Jesus as our savior, he puts us in a new family. Says to John, “Here’s your mother.” To Mary, “Here’s your son.” And our siblings are not always necessarily the kind of people we’d choose to be our friends. They might even be the kind that really rub us the wrong way, but because we share the same parents, there’s a bit of an obligation there. But, in Christ, Jesus introduced introduces us to a new and amazing group of siblings. So many, we can’t possibly be expected to keep all their names straight, but they’re true family. We share with them the deepest core of our lives. And for any of you whose birth families might have let you down, they weren’t all they could have been or all they should have been, Psalm 88 uh 68:6 describes God as a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, one who leads forth the prisoners with singing, and who sets the lonely in families. This brief scene from the cross, when Jesus looked after his mom, giving her a fellow disciple related to her by spirit, not by flesh, to care for her, ensure that she’d be all right, surely shows us how devoted Jesus is to us, and how how devoted he is to bringing us together as his family. He’s called our older brother, the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Another aspect of Jesus that we just want to thank him for and remember him as he’s hanging on the cross. So, we’ve seen Jesus’ view, took in the indignant, the indifferent, the scorners, the mourners. Last ones we want to consider are just the two fellow sufferers, the two criminals who are being crucified beside him, one on the left, one on the right. And Luke provides this poignant exchange for us. 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? Since you’re under the same sentence, we are punished justly, for we’re 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’ll be with me in paradise.” Two criminals, two very different responses to Jesus. And with people who are suffering either mildly or moderately or extremely, one of them might turn to God in the midst of suffering, and the other might not might want nothing to do with God. For some, even moderate suffering is an indication that God can’t be real, and the universe must be a cold and vacant place, or or if there is a God, he’s not a very not a good God of love, or maybe he’s just too weak to stop what’s happening to me. Now, it’s not right to pile on someone who’s suffering, but there’s a kind of naivety to those who deliberately turn away from God during a time of suffering, because we wonder what did they think the world was like? Everyone who’s ever lived is destined to experience loss and sickness and death. Why would they be the exception? And how could shutting out God possibly help? Charlene had a long-time Christian friend. She was married with young children. She received a terminal cancer diagnosis, and she told Charlene that instead of asking the question we might want to ask, “Why me?” She she she simply said, “Why not me?” She understood that her Christianity was not a shield from suffering, but it did provide a way through it. And she is really grateful for the time she had to write her obituary and make videos for her children that they could look at when they were grown, and videos for even the spouses that they would marry. Now, one thief hanging in unbelievable ang- agony, he just wants nothing to do with Jesus. In despair, he’s hurling insults, blinding pain, anger, it’s had a hard life, it’s hardened his soul. But for the other, there’s there’s this softening mysteriously occurring. It seems the Holy Spirit was pulling back a curtain for him, giving him eyes to see what was really going on. Opening the spiritual eyes of a very unlikely man. And he ends up giving us, I think, maybe the most powerful example in all scripture of how a person gets into heaven. Mocking voices are heard by everyone, and and the truth somehow behind that mocking, he’s absorbing. Truth about Jesus being the king and the Messiah, and the one who would destroy the temple, rebuild it in three days. And what was shouted in mockery all around that day was being knit in that heart of that uh thief, and bringing understanding and repentance and faith. God the Father in his mercy, he wasn’t touching his son and saving his son at that time, but he was touching the thief next to him and opening his heart to understand the significance of what was happening. And just notice what that thief believed about Jesus. Look at the content of his faith. I love this because I think this is the most raw, uncluttered, bare minimum gospel message untouched by human hands that there is. Here’s the raw gospel in all of its stark beauty. Here’s seven things the thief knew about Jesus. First, everyone else is mocking, would have been easy for him to join in through the agony of his slow execution, but he had a change in him that caused him to respect the one next to him. And learning or gaining just a basic respect for Jesus always a first step to anyone who’s moving toward faith. Second, remember the other thief was saying, “Aren’t you supposed to be the Christ? If you are, save yourself. While you’re at it, save us, too.” But the thief whose heart’s being changed, he rebuked him saying, “Don’t you fear God?” Something in his spirit was bowing before God in holy fear instead of ranting against God as the other thief was doing. Third, the penitent thief admitted that he’d done wrong. He said, “We’re punished justly. We’re getting what our deeds deserve.” He had no desire to try to save face anymore, no no will to assert himself. He was laid open before God, and he knew better than to try to hide his guilt or justify what he’d done. The penitent thief, he just gave up. Why try to hide anything from an all-knowing God? Fourth, not only did he admit to wrong and guilt, he accepted his punishment as deserved. He says, “We are punished justly. We’re getting what our deeds deserve.” It’s a real That’s the real test of humility before God. He’s not claiming any rights, he’s not trying to play any bargaining chips. You know, what could he offer to God as a bargaining chip? Jesus, “If you’ll let me in to heaven, I’ll give you the rest of my life.” Well, big deal. He’s got a couple hours left. “I’ll get baptized. I’ll go to church. I’ll give you my worldly possessions. I’ll turn over a new leaf.” None of those make any sense, do they? The thief had no cards possibly to play. But he was given the grace to confess his wrong, admit that his punishment that he was receiving was deserved. And fifth, the thief acknowledged Jesus’ righteousness. He said to the other thief, “This man has done nothing wrong.” Didn’t make any difference to the first thief if Jesus was right or wrong, he just wanted him to drive the getaway car. But that’s not what makes Jesus worthy to be our savior. It’s his sinless life facing every temptation we face, but without sin. That’s what qualifies Jesus to be our savior. Somehow this penitent thief intuited that. He knew that Jesus beside him was receiving an unjust punishment. Sixth, the thief went a step further and he acknowledged that as the sign said, Jesus really was the king. He said, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And even though Jesus was marred and suffering and bleeding in the opening eyes of the thief, Jesus did bear the marks of a true king. Finally, penitent thief did one last thing. He feared God, he admitted wrong, he accepted justice, he acknowledged the goodness and the power of Jesus. Finally, lastly, he just pleaded for help. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. What he’s doing he’s doing the only thing that gets any of us into heaven. He just trusted the person on the cross next to him with eternal life. He trusted him for the forgiveness of his sins, for eternal life, and how did Jesus respond to him? You know, if Jesus were any other kind of historical religious figure, he might have responded with something like, “Well, it’s too late now. You know, you’ve made your bed, you have to lie in it. What do you expect? You should have come to me sooner. You haven’t tried to serve me or serve my father. You’ve made a big mess of your life. You deserve what you’re getting. So, why would I help you?” Instead, Jesus reflected on the promise that he’d given people in John chapter 6. He said, “All that my father gives me will come to me. Whoever comes to me, I’ll never drive away.” So, in his last hours, Jesus knew that the father was giving him one more person to receive and not drive away. So, Jesus said to the thief, “Tell you the truth, today you’ll be with me in paradise.” So, Jesus took no notice of the taunts and the jeers of the people and the rulers and the soldiers and made no response when they ridiculed him, but this prayer of the penitent thief just caught his attention and drew his response. No sinner who comes to Jesus will ever be turned away. There’s never a time that we can come to the Lord and he’ll say, “This is not not this is in opportune. This day is unacceptable. If we were to know those same basic things about Jesus that the thief on the cross knew, we could die right now and would wake up and would see the beaming face of Jesus staring at us. Now, none of us like that thief. We’re not welded to a cross, but all of us are in essence every bit as helpless as he was. Every bit as incapable of offering God anything that would merit merit salvation. The only way you and I get in heaven is the same way that thief did, knowing exactly the same things about Jesus and responding in that same way to him. It’s important for us to see here that the thief, he was never going to take any steps of discipleship. He wasn’t going to grow an inch in his Christian life. He wasn’t going to get baptized. He’d never go to church. He’d never listen to any sermons. He’d never give away any money. He’d never study the Bible. Never perform any good works. All he had was a plea, but it was a belief that Jesus would save him if he asked. That’s all he had and it was enough. That’s why I love this story. That’s why I think it’s the gospel, the purest gospel. Doesn’t matter how black our sin is or how ingrained our habits are, how young or old we are, how badly we’ve messed up our life. That thief’s hourglass of time just had a few grains of sand left in it. And Jesus’ last companion on earth that day became his first companion in paradise. So, all of us, I think in closing, just this week, we’re going to bump into people and we might bump into some who are very angry and indignant about Jesus and we’ll have to just try to understand what’s the basis of that anger. Why are they carrying that anger against the idea of God as their king? Most of the people we’re probably going to meet or will be indifferent. They just thinking about Jesus just isn’t anything they do. Some might be scornful. Some that we’ll meet like like here in this room, they’re already as friends, they’re already as worshipers. They’ve been brought by him into the family of God. Some might be a little like that thief on the cross. The Holy Spirit is opening their eyes, and Jesus might use us to point them the rest of the way to him. So, let’s just pray about a couple of things this morning. Take just a personal moment of prayer. You might want to thank Jesus that his view from the cross included you, and it offers grace to all. And praise God that no more is needed for salvation than the faith of the thief on the cross. Pray that God would lead you to those whose hearts are prepared by the Spirit to respond to Jesus. Just take a few moments of private personal prayer, and then I’ll close us off.