Easter has come and almost gone with all its beautiful sunshine, hot cross buns, chocolate and good times. I have heard a few Easter church messages over the weekend, but one stood out to me for a few reasons. It was the story of the two other criminals being crucified on either side of Jesus. Maybe it stood out to me as I haven't considered the full significance of it too much before. Maybe it stood out to me because it represents a choice that each of us have to make. To follow the ways of the world, or to look to Jesus.
The cross itself in many ways represents a tortuous death. It represents the hopes and dreams of many people being absolutely crushed. Life under Roman rule in Jersuselum back in the day, I imagine wasn't a bed of roses. Caesar Augustus was ruling from Rome and Israel was one of the conquered territories. Taxes were high and it was very much a world of the 'haves' (ie the Romans) and the 'have nots' (the local population). Life was oppressive, the Roman military force was very ever present and the peace and freedom that Rome was espousing was apparently not for everyone. The Romans were worshipping Caesar Augustus as if he was the son of God. So the local, ordinary people were looking for a real saviour, the long awaited and promised Messiah.... God had been very quiet in the midst of the Jewish people for 400 years prior. It was into this setting, that we saw Jesus enter (and John the Baptist) - stage left. He brought a hope for many of a better way of life. Even as he had walked into Jerusalem a week earlier, riding on a donkey, the crowds had waved at him joyfully with palm leaves. Hosanna! Our God Saves!
And here he was on that fateful day, dying on a Cross - thoroughly mocked and scorned, wearing a crown of thorns and sarcastically labeled 'King of the Jews'. Any thoughts of the coming Kingdom of God, or Jesus 'saving the world' were ebbing very quickly away as his blood flowed down. The sky was growing dark and it seemed the last 3 years of his ministry were nothing more than empty words. Sadness and confusion reigned in the hearts of his followers. What was that all about? The son of God? What about the healings and the miracles? All they had now was a saviour on a cross seemingly devoid of all power!
Matthew 27: 38-44
Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their head and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
Luke 23: 32 -43
Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? 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, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
There was seemingly a lot of contempt and sneering going on at the time - from all angles. All seemed lost. Who calls themselves the Son of God or King of the Jews, anyway? One (or maybe both) of the criminals joined in with the crowd, the soldiers and the Jewish leaders of the day in mocking Jesus.
But then one of them received a revelation. Something didn't seem right. This was no ordinary crucifixion..... There were the stories he had possibly heard about Jesus healing people and even calming a storm. The God of Israel is to be feared, isn't He? And here was Jesus, on the cross, despite having committed absolutely no crime, and he was somehow resolute about his destiny. Not to mention the sky slowly turning dark, even though it was barely midday. What was going on?
Maybe more than that, though, this common criminal knew that his very own hour had also come. His life was literally over and the pain and fear he was feeling was starting to fog up his mind. He ultimately had no other option but to believe that something was going on beyond the craziness of that day, even if it made no real sense whatsoever. What did he have to lose? Where else could he turn? The crowd wasn't going to save him. Maybe he had heard the story of Jesus raising his friend, Lazarus from the grave and bringing resurrection life. Was it possible for him? Maybe he had heard some of the other stories, about walking on water and the tax collectors and prostitutes following him. He must have had just an ounce of hope. And so came the rebuke aimed at the criminal on the other side of Jesus, and then the desperate plea, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
Jesus was without sin. He was the spotless lamb, without blemish or fault, sacrificed (as was Jewish tradition) to receive pardon from sin. He literally took the sin of the world upon his body that day at the cross - past, present and future. Like the criminals, we too have a choice.
We can follow the way of the first criminal, which is the way of the world, which mocks and jeers at what appears to be a powerless religion at times. Why bother with all that stuff? The world would tell us to do what feels good, seems right and is fun in the moment. To look out for number one, to go with the flow and to freely judge others by our own personal standards. The world doesn't understand the ways of the Kingdom of God. Like the first criminal in the story, we can buy into the noise around us and agree with it. All too easy.
But we have a second choice today. To consider that, like the second criminal, every single one of us, one day, is going to die. It's inevitable. To recognise that the one true God of Israel deserves some respect and honour in our lives - a healthy fear if you like. We, too, can choose to hope in the 'something more' even if we can't comprehend what is going on in our lives, or where God is at work. And we too can lay down our right to judge the shortcomings of others and to ask Jesus to offer us His peace. A peace that comes from being in right relationship with God. Regardless of what is going on around us, we can know the love, peace and guidance of a loving God.
I had the opportunity to pray with 2 people this last Easter weekend. One was a friend who is battling cancer. She knows God personally. Outwardly it might look like her God is powerless. Her hands are numb, I think from the treatment she has received, which is frustrating her, and I noticed a red scar running down the back of her neck that she was trying to cover with the funnel neck jumper she was wearing. When we prayed and I blessed her, she felt something in her heart.
The other person I prayed with was a gentleman who came to church on Easter Sunday. He finds himself divorced, living alone and full of loneliness, anxiety and depression. I am not sure that he knows God, although he was at church. I think he is looking for something. I pray that he finds it. When I prayed for him on Sunday, he felt nothing and then walked away. I sincerely pray that the peace of God might find him and the love of God might hunt him down. He needs a new way of life.
Our God is not powerless, even though it might appear that way at times. Jesus on the cross knew that he needed to pay the price for all of mankind. At the moment of his death, the curtain in the temple that kept ordinary people away from the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, was torn in two. It was finished on that day. God is available to us all, despite our sin, our doubts and our worldliness. Even if outwardly, we don't see the answers we expect in life from God, like the second criminal, we can choose to believe - if for no other reason, where else can we turn?
And I don't need to tell you that the cross was by no means the end of the story. It was in some ways just the beginning. A new beginning of hope, resurrection life, power and purpose. Death no longer has the last say. Our humanity, sickness, bad decisions, broken relationships, and separation from God does not need to define our lives. Crazy but true. It is the Easter story.
Comments