Text: Luke 23:33-43
Focus: Mercy
Function: to help people be happy about undeserved grace.
33When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing. 35And the people stood by watching, but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” 36The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
39One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.” 43He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
One of the hot political topics of the day is the idea of forgiving people of massive college debt.
I promise that I am not getting political. As a Christian, I find the discourse fascinating.
Those who have known me a while know that one of my life verses in scripture is Micah 6:8. He has shown you, mortal man, what the Lord requires of you. Three things: the first is an action verb of doing. Do justice. Be active participants in joining Jesus and standing against the systems that perpetuate poverty and oppression. The second is not so much an action verb as it is a passion. Love Mercy. Be happy about mercy, in other words. Seek mercy for yourself and for others as part of your religious expression. And the third command is a principle to walk by, walk in humility before God. In other words. Acknowledge that God exists and will lovingly judge God’s children fairly. So, lovingly care for your neighbor and put aside the pride that keeps us from loving each other.
We see a lot of pride in this passage when we look at the people who were mocking Jesus.
Today, my objective is to help us celebrate the mercy shown to this condemned man.
I suppose that I would be remiss if I didn’t pause for the first paragraph of our text. You could title the whole passage, “Jesus on the cross” but it is actually two stories.
The first, again, the pride of those who murdered Jesus and the way that they were insulting a man who was enduring probably the worse kind of torture that humanity has ever fomented against people.
The Romans had a terrible way of enforcing their justice. If you didn’t follow, not only did you lose your life, but you lost it in an incredibly painful way.
The other two men who were crucified with Jesus were not particularly evil men. They were thieves, not murderers or terrorists or something profoundly evil in the way it treated others.
As a matter of fact, thievery, to provide for a starving family, is the only forgivable transgression of the OT law.
But not according to the Romans. Their rule was an iron fist and they tolerated no division.
And the Jewish rulers sold their souls when they allowed the transcription, “The King of the Jews” to be placed upon His cross. It was proof of their domination over the people.
Jesus was judiciously murdered to silence His message of universal love, sharing and brotherhood. The idea of the rich giving up their wealth in order to live this new Kingdom flew in the face of the established system. And they killed Jesus because of that message.
They set Him up, had Him murdered by the Romans. It was evil. He was innocent of any wrongdoing. He brought hope to thousands and healed them.
And Jesus forgives these killers with unconditional love.
Jesus calls us to the same level of forgiveness. It isn’t easy. It takes faith. Jesus had faith, being God and all, He knew He would reappear, risen with victory over death. So, He died in faith, forgiving those who treated Him so badly.
I find that to be an incredible example of love.
And that kind of love is extended to the thief on the cross.
Initially, they were both mocking Jesus.
And we do not know what happened. I imagine it this way. Jesus, praying out loud forgives His oppressors and the thief sees it and realizes that this is certainly someone special.
I can picture Jesus, right after the prayer, right after forgiving the people who are mocking Him looking over at the other thief with that look of love and invitation in His eyes that conveys to him, the thief, who is dying on the cross, that he too, has value and his soul is worth saving. Jesus’ forgiveness, without anyone asking for it, because Jesus’ love and forgiveness are unconditional, is given freely to this thief and he, by pausing for a moment and looking at Jesus for who Jesus is, realizes that his soul too has found its worth, if I may beg a line from the Christmas hymn, O Holy Night.
Jesus gives several parables about loving mercy and being happy about mercy extended to others.
We looked a few weeks ago at the salvation of Zacchaeus, who by virtue of Jesus’ request to dine with him, man to man, human to human, person of worth to the God who redeems, is saved by the mercy and kindness of Jesus.
And yet, people complained about it.
I want to be careful to be a person who, regardless of the hardship that I have experienced, am happy about the mercy given to others.
There is the parable of the prodigal son. It really was given to help people understand the mercy given to us by God. The story is about how the elder brother resents the forgiveness given to his younger brother who didn’t deserve it and had proven so by the way he squandered his inheritance.
Then there is Matthew 20 and the story of the 11th hour. It is a parable about workers hired the first hour of the day were paid the same as workers who were hired the 11th hour of the day. They resented the master’s generosity because they didn’t get it for themselves.
It doesn’t seem fair. For the workers who bore the brunt of the days sun, heat and exhaustion to be paid the same as those who barely contributed seems out of balance to us.
And that is one of the “problems” with mercy.
And yet, the command from God is for us to love mercy.
The command from God is for us to be happy, not envious when others get undeserved favors.
Matthew 20 tells us that they were jealous of the generosity given to others.
He reminds them that they were paid a fair day’s wage and it wasn’t that they were cheated, it just so happens that the master was generous.
But we get jealous because it doesn’t seem fair.
And that is why God asks us to live by faith and rest in God’s provision for us. And don;t compare ourselves with others.
I suppose that is part of what is meant for us to be humble in our relationship with God and others.
Is it pride that makes us think that we deserve more than others? Can we be happy about their success? What if they get their success by less than honorable means?
Living by faith is an attitude that gets hard at times because it calls us to be content in God and with what God has provided for us.
And, let us be part of God’s kingdom by loving the mercy that God freely gives.
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