Will you please turn to the Gospel according to Luke? Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 23. We begin at verse 33 through verse 49.
And when they came unto the place which is called The skull, there they crucified Him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left.
And Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And parting His garments among them, they cast lots.
And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them scoffed at Him, saying, He saved others; let Him save Himself, if this is the Christ of God, His chosen.
And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him, offering Him vinegar, and saying, If Thou art the King of the Jews, save Thyself.
And there was also a superscription over Him, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
And one of the malefactors that were hanged railed on Him, saying, Art not Thou the Christ? Save Thyself and us.
But the other answered, and rebuking him said, Dost thou not even fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this Man hath done nothing amiss.
And he said, Jesus, remember me when Thou comest in Thy kingdom.
And He said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.
And it was now about the sixth hour, and a darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, the sun’s light failing: and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
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.
And when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous Man.
And all the multitudes that came together to this sight, when they beheld the things that were done, returned smiting their breasts.
And all His acquaintance, and the women that followed with Him from Galilee, stood afar off, seeing these things.
The Gospel according to John, Chapter 19. We begin with verse 25 through verse 30.
There stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple standing by whom He loved, He saith unto His mother, Woman, behold, thy son!
Then saith He to the disciple, Behold, thy mother! And from that hour the disciple took her unto his own home.
After this Jesus, knowing that all things are now finished, that the Scripture might be accomplished, saith, I thirst.
There was set there a vessel full of vinegar: so they put a sponge full of the vinegar upon hyssop, and brought it to His mouth.
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit.
And then Matthew, the Gospel according to Matthew, Chapter 27. We begin with verse 45 through verse 54.
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
And some of them that stood there, when they heard it, said, This Man calleth Elijah.
And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave Him to drink.
And the rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to save Him.
And Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake; and the rocks were rent;
and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep were raised;
and coming forth out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered into the holy city and appeared unto many.
Now the centurion, and they that were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
Shall we pray?
Father, we do want to thank Thee for the privilege of being gathered together into the name of Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We do thank Thee that we know we are in Thy presence. This is holy ground, and we do want to remove our shoes and bow before Thee.
Lord, what hast Thou to say to us? Speak, Thy servants hear. In the name of our Lord Jesus, amen.
Last time we spoke on the Garden of Gethsemane. In the Garden of Gethsemane, our Lord Jesus drank the cup that the Father gave to Him. He yielded His pure will to the perfect will of God.
He was willing to be defiled, to be made sin for us. He was willing to be separated from His Father, with Whom He had uninterrupted communion from eternity.
He drank that bitter cup that we may have the cup of blessing. His hour had come. He had accepted the cross, so He rose up and went forward to meet the people who came to arrest Him.
He was bound. He was judged unrighteously. He was condemned to death by the Jews because He is the Son of God. He was condemned by the Gentiles because He is the King of the Jews, the King of truth. And there they led Him to Golgotha, the place of a skull, to be crucified.
Crucifixion happened two thousand years ago, but the concept of the cross was conceived in eternity past, in the counsel of the Godhead. It was part of the eternal plan of God.
We know that God has a purpose—an eternal purpose. He purposed that purpose even before the foundation of the world. And His purpose is none other than to make His Son, His beloved only begotten Son, the Heir of all things.
And He also purposed to give to His Son a helpmeet, His wife, the church. That is the eternal purpose of God.
But God, in His wisdom, being omniscient, knows what will happen in this universe. And because of this, He laid the plan—and in that plan, yes, the cross.
Now, the cross of our Lord Jesus is not in the eternal purpose of God; it is in the eternal plan of God. There is a great difference here.
Because in the eternal purpose of God, God has not purposed that there should be rebellion among the angels or the fall of man. God has not purposed such things, because if God had purposed these things, then He would be liable. He has not.
But because He is omniscient, He knows the end from the very beginning. He knows that there will be rebellion in creation, both celestial and terrestrial. And in order to fulfil His eternal purpose, He laid an eternal plan.
In that eternal plan, the cross has a central place. And the cross is not the end; the cross is a means to the end. The cross is not the purpose. The cross is the plan, and with that plan God’s purpose is fulfilled.
Our Lord Jesus is called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now, brothers and sisters, our Lord is the Lamb, not before the foundation of the world, but from the foundation of the world.
Because if He was slain before the foundation of the world, then the cross would be in the eternal purpose of God. But our Lord Jesus is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. After the foundation of the world was set, then, in fact, He could be the Lamb slain.
From the first animal slain in the Garden of Eden, after man sinned and God clothed man with skins—and these skins were obtained from a slain animal—from the first lamb slain in the Garden of Eden to the last lamb offered in the temple in Jerusalem, these countless, numberless lambs are types of the Lamb of God.
So that when John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world,” our Lord Jesus was born to die. He came to be crucified. This is the plan of God.
Throughout His life, He was conscious of the cross. When He stepped into the water of Jordan to be baptized, He offered Himself as a substitute for mankind. He had, of course, no need to be baptized.
And no wonder the heavens opened and the Father said, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.” And the Holy Spirit came down upon Him as a dove and dwelt in Him, because by the eternal Spirit He was to offer Himself spotless to God.
During His life, again and again He said, “My hour.” There is an hour coming to Me. “My hour has not yet come.” But He came for that hour.
That hour is not the hour of His ascension, returning to His Father. That hour especially points to His crucifixion, because He always takes crucifixion as the hour of His glorification.
Even though He never shared with His disciples about the cross—not until Peter’s confession of Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God—then our Lord Jesus began to tell His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, that He would be rejected, that He would be killed, but on the third day He would rise from the dead.
Three times at least He shared with His disciples about His death. In Matthew 16, after Peter’s confession, the Lord said, “I will go to Jerusalem, and there I will die, but I will rise on the third day.”
In Galilee, in Matthew 17, again He told His disciples what would happen. And in Matthew 20, as they were approaching Jerusalem, again He shared with His disciples that He was to die. He knew exactly what was going to happen to Him.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, He yielded His will to His Father. He accepted willingly the cross.
I believe we are all familiar with the story of crucifixion, so I will not go into it in detail. If you want to know His suffering on the cross, there is a prophetic psalm, Psalm 22, which tells us beforehand the suffering on the cross of our Lord Jesus. Read this psalm.
If you want to know the meaning of the cross, read Isaiah 53, because there in Isaiah 53 the meaning of His crucifixion is prophesied.
Crucifixion is mentioned in all four Gospels. But for our consideration this morning, we would like to enter into the inner meaning of the cross. And I think there is no better way to get a glimpse of the inner meaning of the cross than the seven words that our Lord Jesus spoke on the cross.
These seven words are like seven windows that open the inner reality of the cross. So, by the grace of God, this morning that is what we want to meditate upon together.
They took our Lord Jesus to Golgotha. There they crucified Him, together with two malefactors, robbers—one on His right and one on His left.
After He was lifted up, the first word He said was, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
Our Lord Jesus was on the cross for six hours. He was crucified at the third hour, that is, nine o’clock in the morning, and He expired at the ninth hour, that is, three o’clock in the afternoon.
The first three hours, from nine o’clock to twelve o’clock, He uttered three words. From twelve o’clock till three o’clock, He uttered four words.
The three words that He uttered during the first three hours were words with men in view. Why? Because during those three hours, physically He was nailed to the cross. He suffered terribly, physically.
Not only physical suffering, but during those three hours you can see those who passed by. The place where He was crucified was near the city, so many people passed by. And when they passed by, they laughed at Him, scorned Him, and sneered at Him.
The rulers, the Pharisees, mixed themselves with the multitude, and they scorned Him, saying, “You who saved others, save Yourself. If You come down from the cross, we will believe You are the Christ. You are trusting God; now let God save You.”
The soldiers made fun of Him. They gave Him vinegar to drink. And even one of the robbers hanging with Him ridiculed Him and said, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
In other words, here on the cross, during those three hours, He was rejected, ridiculed, and sneered at by the world—the world that He loved so much.
And not only that. Behind these people were all the powers of evil. Like the bulls, like the buffaloes, they were surrounding Him, as you find in Psalm 22, surrounding Him, attacking Him with all the forces of hell. He suffered tremendously.
But even so, His Father was with Him. So His first word was this: man may reject Him, but He was not alone. His Father was with Him on the cross. So He said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
How can man be just before God? This is an age-long question. You will find that in the writings of Job, the first book in the Bible written. There in Job 9 you find this question: “How can man be just before God?”
Knowing man as we are—unjust, sinful, rebellious, enemies of God—how can we be just before God? How can a just God justify sinners? How can He be just and, at the same time, justify?
Humanly speaking, there is no way. But thank God, God has made the provision: Jesus.
So when our Lord Jesus was on the cross, the first word He said was, “Father, forgive.” He could pray to the Father to forgive us because there He was crucified in our stead, the Lamb slain.
There is no greater sin than the sin of rejecting the beloved Son of God. There is no greater sin of man than to crucify the Son of God. Can you think of anything greater than this sin?
There you find men committing the greatest sin in the whole universe throughout the ages. And yet, there God manifested the greatest love.
In the greatest sin of man, God shows us the secret of redemption. Christ died for us. And because He died for us, in our stead, all our sins He bore in His whole body.
And on the basis of this, our Lord cried to the Father, “Father, forgive.” They do not know what they are doing. Love always tries to explain; love always covers.
And it is because of this prayer of our Lord Jesus that we are all forgiven.
Brothers and sisters, forgiveness is the spirit of the cross. And that is the reason why you find throughout the centuries, from the first martyr, Stephen, to the last one that will be coming during this age of grace, when a martyr is about to expire, the prayer upon his lips is always, “God, forgive.”
They never ask for vengeance, but ask for forgiveness. That is the spirit.
So, brothers and sisters, we who have received forgiveness need to forgive one another. We need to forgive even our enemies. This is the spirit of the cross.
The second word concerns one robber who turned to the Lord and said, “If You are the Christ, as You say, save Yourself and save us.”
And the other robber turned to him and said, “We deserve our judgment. We know what we have done, and we should be crucified. But this Man, He has done nothing amiss.”
Evidently, this robber must have heard of the Lord before. When our Lord was travelling and teaching, probably this robber must have heard Him.
And especially on the cross, when he noticed how the Lord was crucified, and when he heard the Lord say, “Father, forgive them,” his eyes were opened. He saw that this is the Saviour of the world.
So he turned to the Lord and said, “Remember me in Thy kingdom.” The Jews did not believe that He is a King, but here was a robber going to die, and God gave him such revelation, seeing that Jesus is indeed the King.
Yes, the One who was on the cross was the King. What a revelation. And so the robber said, “Remember me in Thy kingdom.”
And the Lord said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Today thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.”
This robber was only thinking of the future: “When Thy kingdom comes, remember me.” But the Lord said, “Today, even right now, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.”
Paradise is a place where the blessed dead go and rest until they are all called back to resurrection life. So here the Lord assured him that he would be with Him in Paradise.
Brothers and sisters, the prayer of our Lord Jesus, “Father, forgive them,” is answered right there on the cross. That brother was saved. His sins were forgiven. He had assurance of salvation: “Today thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.”
What a blessing. Dear brothers and sisters, can we ever doubt our salvation? Do we need to wait until we die and, as people say, go to heaven’s gate, and there it is decided whether we can go in or not?
Thank God, the prayer of our Lord Jesus to the Father has been answered even right there on Calvary’s cross. The first one forgiven was a robber.
And throughout the ages, brothers and sisters, those who believe in the Lord Jesus—if we die, we will be in Paradise. The assurance of salvation: that is the cross. The cross gives us assurance.
Maybe toward the end of the first three hours, there were some women standing at the foot of the cross. There was His mother, Mary. There was Mary’s sister, Salome. There was Mary the wife of Clopas. And there was Mary Magdalene.
And also His beloved disciple John was there. So there our Lord turned to His mother and said, “Woman, behold thy son.” Then He turned to John and said, “Behold thy mother.”
And from that hour, John took Mary to his own home.
Now, brothers and sisters, when our Lord Jesus was in such tremendous suffering, He was not thinking of Himself. He was thinking of the world, of those who were crucifying Him. He was thinking of a robber, saving him at the last minute. He was thinking of His mother.
To the very last of His life, He faithfully fulfilled His duty as a son. Brothers and sisters, the Bible says, “Honour thy father and mother.”
Even to the last minute, the Lord took care of His mother. That ought to be a lesson to us. We who are children, who are the Lord’s, need to honour our father and mother. We need to look after them.
And there our Lord Jesus committed His mother to His beloved disciple, John.
He turned to His mother and said, “Woman, behold thy son.” He did not call her “mother”; He called her “woman.”
I believe you have heard that before. At the beginning of His ministry, when He was in Cana of Galilee during that marriage feast, and there was no more wine, His mother came to Him and said, “Son, they are short of wine. Do something for them. You can save the situation.”
And you remember our Lord turned to her and said, “Woman, My hour has not yet come.”
This word, “woman,” is not a harsh word. If we want to put it into English, we might say, “little woman.” It is a very beloved, affectionate expression.
But our Lord does not call His mother “mother”; He calls her “woman.” Why? Because the relationship on the fleshly basis had come to an end. From now on, all relationships would be on a spiritual, higher level.
In the marriage at Cana, the Lord said, “Woman, My hour has not yet come.” Why? Because His mother was putting her hand into the Lord’s work. And the Lord said, in the Lord’s work no fleshly relationship can be involved.
And now the Lord was finishing the work of redemption. From then on, His relationships would all be on a spiritual basis, even His relationship with His earthly mother.
So He said, “Woman, little woman, behold thy son.” The son did not refer to Himself; it referred to John. “Now you look at your son. This is your son.” And then to John, “Behold thy mother.”
Brothers and sisters, on the ground of redemption, a new family is established—a new family relationship. From now on, we believers belong to one family: some are like mothers, some are like sons, brothers and sisters. It is a new relationship, a family of God.
And this is the result of the cross. From that hour, John took Mary to his own home.
Now, we believe our Lord Jesus did not want His earthly mother to see His agony during the last three hours. He wanted to spare His mother because His mother’s heart was already pierced.
So John took His mother home, that Mary would not see Christ crying out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” What tender love is our Lord Jesus.
Then, from the sixth hour, suddenly it was dark. The sun hid its face. There was darkness all around.
For three hours the Lord was there alone. This is another time. This is not the time that men crucified Him. This is not the time that the powers of darkness attacked Him. He overcame all these.
But this is the point at which His Father crushed Him.
“My God, My God.” He did not say, “My Father, My Father.” No. He was now the sin offering. He was now made sin for the world.
The Father cut off His relationship with Him. The Father is God, the righteous God, the God that judges—judges the sin of the world.
And during that period, our Lord Jesus could not say, “Father, My Father.” No, it was no longer true. He said, “My God, My God.”
As the representative of creation, of creaturehood, He addressed God as His God: “My God, My God, You made me. You created me. Why dost Thou forsake Me? Why?”
Brothers and sisters, what is death? This physical death is but the shadow. Real death is the second death, the lake of fire. That is death.
Real death is separation from the living God. That is death.
Our Lord Jesus was with the Father from eternity. There was such unity, such harmony, such love. There was never a moment of shadow or shade.
Even when He was in this world as a man for thirty-three years, He pleased His Father in all things. He was never alone. His Father was always with Him.
Even during the first three hours on the cross, His Father was there, supporting Him, standing by Him.
But then, during the last three hours, there He was made sin for us.
And Isaiah 53 tells us that God bruised Him, made Him an offering for sin. God crushed Him.
Eternal separation from the Father. Our Lord could bear all the sufferings of the world, all the sufferings from the evil forces, but He could not stand that suffering. He cried out, “Why?”
The answer is you. We are the answer.
Think of this love—amazing love. Brothers and sisters, can we ever doubt the love of God? When He gave His only begotten Son to us, His love was manifested.
Then He knew that all things were about to be finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. He cried, “I thirst.”
Physically speaking, when you lose blood, you get thirsty. There our Lord was at the end of His suffering. He had lost almost all His blood.
For the first time, He said, “I thirst.” That shows His sufferings were real. He suffered to the very end.
It is to fulfil Psalm 69:21: “In My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink.”
But, brothers and sisters, to me, I feel there must be a deeper meaning than that. I believe when the Lord said, “I thirst,” He was addressing God.
It reminds me of Psalm 42:
As the hart panteth after the water brooks,
So panteth my soul after Thee, O God.
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.
In other words, even though He was crushed by God, He was still thirsty for God.
“Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” That is our Lord.
And after He received the vinegar, He shouted with a loud voice, saying, “It is finished.”
Brothers and sisters, it is as though He gathered all His remaining strength and made a great shout: “Finished!”
And that sound vibrates from that time throughout the whole universe, to eternity to come: “Finished!”
What a shout of victory. The work of redemption is done. It is all finished. Nothing is to be added; nothing is to be taken away.
It is a sound of victory over sin, over death, over the whole creation, over flesh, over the enemy, over everything. It is a triumphant shout.
Thank God, the work is done. And we today are in the good of it.
And finally, the last word. Our Lord said, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.”
Oh, brothers and sisters, that relationship with God the Father is resumed.
At the end of the last three hours—that three hours was the hour of atonement—there He died a vicarious death. His death atoned for us, and it was all finished within the three hours.
And His relationship with God, His Father, was renewed. He could say, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” And He dismissed His spirit into the Father’s hands.
Oh, brothers and sisters, we know salvation is sure. There is no doubt about it, because our Lord’s relationship with His Father was renewed. It is done.
And if you read very carefully, you will find that throughout the whole time of His crucifixion, even with such suffering, our Lord’s head was always erect. He never bowed His head.
But at that time, He bowed His head and dismissed His spirit. No one took His life away. He gave His life away voluntarily.
That is crucifixion. That is the cross.
Brothers and sisters, on that cross we see the ugliness, the sinfulness of sin. There is no place that displays the ugliness and the sinfulness of the sin of man more fully than the cross.
But on that same cross, we see the glorious love of God, the amazing grace of God.
Can we, seeing the cross of our Lord Jesus, glory in anything else but the cross of our Lord Jesus?
The cross of our Lord Jesus is our salvation. It is our glory. It is by the cross of our Lord Jesus that our sins were forgiven.
It is because of the cross of our Lord Jesus that our old man was crucified. No longer do we live; now it is Christ Who lives in us. The former things have passed away. It is all new. It is all because of the cross.
The world is behind us. The cross separates us from the world. It is by the cross we have victory over Satan and all his evil forces.
Brothers and sisters, the cross of our Lord Jesus is our glory. So may we be like that apostle, that we know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Shall we pray?
Father, we thank Thee for giving Thy beloved Son to us, and in such a way. What it must have cost Thee—not only to give Thy Son to the world, but to crush Him by Thy own hand.
Lord, we cannot imagine what love is there, that Thou wast willing to die for us—sinners, rebels, unworthy as we are.
Thou wast willing to be made sin for us and to suffer even separation from the Father for our sake.
O Lord, may Thy love so be implanted in us that we will never leave that love, that we will always abide in Thy love, and Thy love abide in us.
O, we pray that Thou wilt keep us in first love, always with Thee, because Thy love to us is always personal.
Lord, we pray that Christ crucified will always be livingly portrayed before our eyes, that we will not be guided by anything else or by anybody, but that we will follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.
Lord, keep us. Keep us to remember Calvary. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.