Last Words
“Today”
March 4, 2018
Pastor Ed Young
The first phrase uttered by Jesus on the cross was a prayer to a holy God. “Father, forgive them.” The second, though, was a promise to a repentant sinner. “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” In this simple yet powerful promise, we find hope beyond helplessness and a future beyond futility. As Ed Young continues this study of Jesus’ last words, we realize that no matter how far away we may feel from God, we are all just one small step away from experiencing forever with Him … today.
Transcript
The cross. The cross. It's the foundation of Christianity, we see crosses everywhere. Have you ever just stopped and thought, Today I'm going to make a note of how many crosses I see”? We have crosses all over our building. Some people have crosses tattooed on their bodies. We have crosses on books, and crosses are everywhere, I mean, wherever you look it seems like, “Oh, there's a cross.”
We decorate with crosses, and of course the cross is where Jesus did His redemptive work for our salvation. The cross, the cross, the cross. Then, during this time of year we talk about the crucifixion especially, we lean in and talk about the details, the nails, and just the sacrifice, and what Jesus was going through.
I'm in a series called The Last Words. It's very interesting when you talk to people, especially those who know their time is running out; it's very interesting when you think about their last words, is it not? Those words are powerful. So often they summarize their lives, so often they pretty much are a capsule of a person's existence. Other times, when people are taken out suddenly, their last words don't really mean that much.
But Jesus, I mean, you're talking about His last words, they were something else. And in fact, they were so powerful, so amazing we're spending several weeks talking about them.
But I want you to think about the cross. Let's think about the cross for a second, think about what Jesus said on the cross. Last time, here's what He said. The first words from the cross, and this is heavy, man. Jesus said, while He was dying, while they were hammering His hands and nails, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they have no idea what they're doing.”
Can you imagine that? These Roman soldiers, the death squad, they were doing just what they do. They were doing and being involved in the unforgivable. Yet, Jesus forgave them. Now that is, that's mind-blowing. “Forgive them,” Jesus said. Who is “them”? Well, Pilate, them; the disciples who bolted, them; the crowd, them; you and me. Because in reality, our sins nailed Jesus to the cross. So we learned last time that we need to forgive the unforgivable, because Jesus has forgiven you and me, and forgiveness is more so often for ourselves than it is for those who have hurt us.
Well, today. I want you to go back to the cross, we're talking about the crucifixion. You know, we always talk about Jesus, we always talk about Him on the cross and we think, “Okay, there's one cross, Jesus. There's one crucifixion.” But what about the other guys? I mean, I don't know if you've thought about this very much, but there wasn't just one cross; there were three. Jesus was not the only one being crucified that day, there were two others.
What about these cats? What about these guys? They don't get very much love, do they? No one really talks about the criminals, the gangbangers. And when I say criminal, I'm not talking about somebody that just is involved in cyber crime, or someone who just robs a convenience store. No, no, no. These guys were hardened, tough criminals. They were people who would kill, just to take something from someone. And obviously they knew each other. And as you read the tenor and the tone of the synoptic gospels, you see these guys, you know, kind of were partners in crime. They deserved the death penalty.
