This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on April 15th 2022  by Shoma Manesh, Andrew D'Cruz and Navaz D'Cruz via zoom. For the audio & video please click here.  To listen to the worship please click here.

GOOD FRIDAY REFLECTIONS

"Father, forgive them"

Luke 23:34 - Father forgive them for they know not what they do.

Many years back when I was in grade 7, I asked my father why Good Friday is called a Good Friday. My dad explained how Jesus took all our sins on the cross and because of His sacrifice we go to heaven. It didn't make any sense to me at all then.

Few years later when I was in college I was going through a rough phase. I had lot of bitterness and anger towards my friends and family. However, I used to read the Bible a lot. So, I had this attitude that Jesus is with me, and I don't need anyone else.

But one day Jesus took me through some scriptures which says all those who have bitterness and anger will go to hell.  Fear gripped me. Not only because I will go to hell, but also because Jesus is not with me anymore. I started crying and told Jesus 'I am all alone and I don't want to live without You. Please don't leave me.' Immediately I felt His deep love for me and heard His voice for the first time in my life. He said all your sins are forgiven Shoma. I will never ask about your past and you will be there with me in Heaven. What a joy it was to experience His love and His forgiveness! That is when I understood why Good Friday is good.

Jesus took the punishment for all our sins on the cross and we have been forgiven of our sins once and for all. Amen!

In this verse Jesus was interceding for the Roman soldiers and the Jews who persecuted Him. He was not just interceding for people who rejected Him as savior but He was interceding for those who nailed Him on the cross brutally. He created them; He came on earth to sacrifice himself so that the world can be saved from the bondage of sin. But they rejected Him.

What we see in the movie ‘Passion of Christ’ is not even close to what Jesus had to suffer.

Isaiah 53:2 says His face was so disfigured that no one would want to look at His face.

But He forgave them all because He loved them. He showed the perfect love on the cross.

There are two things that we learn from this one verse

1. You are forgiven - We are forgiven because of what Jesus did on the cross. All our sins - past, present, and future sins are forgiven. Now we are right with God forever. We may sin sometimes as our mind is not fully renewed but that doesn't make us a sinner. Our identity always remains the same. We are children of God, and we are the righteous ones.

2. Forgive - He forgave everyone who tortured Him. Let us also forgive and not hold grudges against anyone. Forgive and forget.

Colossians 3:13 NIV

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Always remember...

It was His crucifixion and our salvation.

It was His stripes and our healing.

It was His chastisement and our peace

It was His punishment and our freedom 

We are forgiven so let's forgive

My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?

 
 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Those terrifying words occur in two Gospels — Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 — as Jesus is hanging on the cross near death.
“Jesus seems to have known that the whole of Psalm 22, in some way or other, was about him.”
It says, “About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice,”
“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” — the Aramaic form — “that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Matthew 27:46).
Now, one very important fact to remember is that these words are the exact first words of Psalm 22. And that is important because Jesus seems to have known that the whole psalm, in some way or other, was about him.
This is what the psalm says:
 “Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1-2)
So the words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” are part of this psalm that contains, as it were, a script for Jesus’s last hours. Now, why did he say it? And here is a three-part answer.

1.    Truly Abandoned
First, this was a real forsakenness. That is why. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” means he really did. He really did. He is bearing our sin. He bore our judgment.
The judgment was to have God the Father pour out his wrath on Jesus, instead of pouring it out on us. That required total abandonment. God’s righteous anger was poured out on Jesus instead of us. God the Father gave Jesus up to suffer the weight of all the sins of all of his people and the judgment for those sins.
We cannot begin to fathom all that this would mean between the Father and the Son. To be forsaken by God is the cry of the damned, and he was damned for us. So he used these words because there was a real forsakenness. That is the first reason.

2.    According to Plan
All of it was the fulfilment of Scripture — even the worst of it was the fulfilment of Scripture. That moment was probably the worst moment in the history of the world, and it was Scripture-fulfilled.
So he said these words expressing:
1.    There was a real forsakenness for our sake.
2.    He was expressing desolation, not asking for an answer.
3.    He was amazingly fulfilling Scripture in the horror of it all and witnessing to the perfection of the plan of salvation.

IT IS FINISHED

Luke 22

Just before Jesus was arrested, Jesus along with His disciples celebrated the feast of unleavened bread, also called the Passover. Jerusalem was crowded with people who had come to celebrate this feast.

PREPARATION FOR THE PASSOVER

During the Passover, a lamb was sacrificed by each family at the temple. This lamb had to be inspected by the High priest and if He found it without blemish it was an acceptable sacrifice. 

The Passover was a commemoration of God delivering them out of Egypt and freeing them as a nation. On that night in Egypt everyone marked their doorpost with the blood of the lamb as a sign for the angle of death to pass them by. The lamb was then eaten at the meal.

Jesus is the fulfillment of what was done symbolically, and which was a prophetic act – but the world did not understand just as John 1 says. Jesus was creating a New Redemption story with the cross being at the center of the story.

Few things for us to take note of.

1. The High Priest and his counsel condemned and crucified just before the Sabbath when the Passover was celebrated.

Jesus gave up His spirit at the 9^th hour. John and the women were in a hurry to get his body down from the cross and burry it because the sabbath was about to start, which is why they had no time to embalm his body with the spices.

What is significant about the hour of Jesus death? Why is it recorded? It was the same hour with the High Priest enters the temple to sacrifice the spotless lamb he has chosen, an offering for the sins of man not realizing that outside the city naked bruised hanging on a cross is Jesus the true lamb of god shedding his blood going down every part of his body mutilated by the whipping and pain and agony and he gives up his life at 3 p.m. or the 9th hour on that day.

Now darkness covered the earth and there was thunder and an earthquake where the rocks split open, and graves gave up their dead!

While this was happening outside, in the Temple, the thick curtain was split from top to bottom – bring down all barriers between man and God. Jesus’ blood made a way for us to boldly enter the throne room (once hidden behind a thick veil) of grace. We enter now by a new and living way – the blood shed by the Lamb of God and not a physical lamb.

So, when Jesus cried out in a loud voice IT IS FINISHED – he was not saying He is finished. He was declared the work that HE came to do has been completed. (John 4:34 Jesus said he came to finish the work the Father gave him)

The term “It is finished” was a common term used in everyday language which in ancient Greek is “tetelestai”^[1]

It is a term you use when you have finished all your work. It is also a legal term that a Judge would use to announce when somebody had paid their sentence in full. It would be stamped on your Prison sentence – Finished or paid in full.

It is also used as an accounting term – when you paid your taxes – your papers would be stamped “tetelestai”.

What did Jesus Finish?

There are 53 messianic prophesies that were finally fulfilled. There are in total 380 prophecies. Jesus came to fulfill the law and he did is teteletai.  The devil is finished and defeated. It was a triumphant cry. He won the battle over sin, sickness, death and every kind of oppression.

While the high priest and the religious people left Jesus to die in obscurity like a common criminal, God the Father made sure everyone knew about the earthshattering event – He put on a show that no one could deny.

Now going back to the Passover meal. This meal was eaten at Sabbath after the lamb was sacrificed and then it was quickly roasted and was a part of the sabbath meal. 

Notice there is no mention of a lamb at the meal Jesus had with His disciples. Because scholar says and if you observe the chronology of events, they ate it a day before the sabbath when it was not yet time for the lamb to be sacrificed. Also, because Jesus was going to be the sacrificially lamb the next day. That whole meal was symbolic and prophetic – a display of what was to come.

He was creating a new covenant with His blood of grace. He was creating a new community through His blood.

He was restoring communion between us and God the Father as now we can enter God’s presence by a new and a living way made possible because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross.

He introduced 2 new sentences into the ritual every Jew knew by heart.  

He reinterpreted the elements of the bread of affliction and the cup of suffering in Himself, and the focus was no longer on the suffering of Israel in Egypt, but on the sin bearing suffering of Jesus on their behalf.^[2]

The words:” This is my body” is not there in the original ritual. Jesus adds this and about “This is my blood”. I am sure the disciples were puzzled but only later understand the significance of it. Their attention quickly got diverted to who would betray Jesus. Their attention quickly got diverted to who would betray Jesus.

Luke 22:17-20¹⁷ After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. ¹⁸ For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

¹⁹            And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

²⁰            In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.^[a]  

 

So let us never take the communion table for granted. Why communion – it is a place of communion with God ( a New Covenant)and with one another. 

  Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.  

The Battle In The Garden Of Gethsemane

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on April 10th 2022  by Manesh Peter via zoom. For the audio & video please click here.  To listen to the worship please click here.

The Battle In The Garden Of Gethsemane

We have been in a series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Paul after writing about the gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12, took a pause in 1 Corinthians 13 to turn the attention of the Corinthians to the importance of love. Last week Colin like Paul took a pause and so wonderfully turned our attention to the importance of love. Today being the Palm Sunday, let's turn our attention to the source of this love – Jesus Christ.

In the garden of Eden, the first Adam lost a battle. God had asked Adam to obey one small thing – Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But he was deceived by the enemy, and he disobeyed God. He lost the battle that day. The consequence of this loss was deadly. Sin and death entered into the world. The whole creation groans as a result of this fall.

Now let’s look at what happened in the garden of Gethsemane. 

Mark 14:32-34 - 32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”

In the garden of Gethsemane, the second Adam, Our Lord Jesus Christ, was deeply distressed and troubled. His soul was overwhelmed with sorrow. Notice here that it was not fear. But sorrow. Not any normal sorrow. Sorrow to the point of death. A moment when you feel death is better than handling the sorrow.

Now, why was Jesus in such great sorrow?

For sure Jesus had to face the physical pain of being whipped and nails piercing His hands and legs. For sure Jesus had to face the emotional pain of being mocked, rejected and shamed by the people who were created through Him. The people whom He loved. I am not counting all this pain as less. However, I believe the reason for this great sorrow was far greater. So great that we cannot fully understand it. It was the sorrow of becoming sin even though He did not know sin (2 Cor 5:21). Sorrow of drinking the cup of God’s wrath for our sins. Mark 14:36 says Jesus prayed ‘Take this cup from me’. In the bible, Cup represents God’s wrath (Jeremiah 25:15). Jesus was deeply troubled with the thoughts of being forsaken by God the Father because of our sins.

Remember Jesus was one with the Father since the beginning. (John 1:1)

But God had to forsake His only begotten Son (Matthew 27:46) on the cross so that He will not have to forsake us.

Now how did Jesus handle this sorrow? How did He handle this battle of mind? He prayed. Not once, not twice. But three times. Through prayer, He won this battle of the mind, and He was strengthened to obey the difficult task of taking God's wrath for our sins upon Himself and thereby save us.

 The portion of scripture for today's message is - Mark 14:27-52.

 Following are the main things that happened in this portion of scripture: -

1. Jesus tells His disciples that they will all fall away.

2. Peter says He will never fall even if all fall away.

3. Jesus predicts Peter's denial.

4. Jesus prays three times in Gethsemane that, if possible, the hour might pass from Him.

5. Jesus is arrested.

6. All His disciples flee.

Following are the three things I would like to highlight based on this portion of scripture: -

1. Our salvation was only possible through the sacrifice of Jesus.

2. Prayer strengthened Jesus.

3. We are preserved in Jesus. 

1. Our salvation was only possible through the sacrifice of Jesus.

Mark 14:35 - Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible, the hour might pass from him.

Jesus prayed that, if possible, the hour might pass from Him. But the hour did not pass from Him. This shows that our salvation was only possible through His sacrifice.

John 14:6 - Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Application -   If you have not given your life to Jesus yet if you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, consider receiving the gift of salvation today. Jesus suffered on the cross so that you can be with Him in heaven forever. You just need to believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and was resurrected on the third day. You just need to accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.

-        If you are already a believer, take a moment to thank Jesus for taking so much pain to bring us home.

2. Prayer strengthened Jesus

When Jesus was deeply distressed and troubled, when His soul was overwhelmed with sorrow, He prayed.

Mark 14:35-36 - Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

He prayed that if possible, the hour might pass from Him. However, He sought Father’s will and not His will in prayer.

Jesus prayed this prayer three times.

Matthew 26:44 - So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

Luke 22:44 - And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Jesus prayed so earnestly that His sweat became like great drops of blood.

It seems at the first glance that His earnest prayers did not give any result. It may seem like a waste of time and effort. However, His earnest prayer strengthened Him and made Him ready to face the sufferings.

Luke 22:43-44 - 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

As an answer to His first prayer, an angel appeared to Him and strengthened Him. But still being in anguish He prayed more earnestly.

But after praying three times, He was ready to go to the cross. He said to His disciples in Mark 14:42 'Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!'.

John 18:11 - Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

Now Jesus was now ready to drink the cup His Father was giving Him.

In the list of Armor of God in Ephesians 6, prayer is mentioned as the seventh Armor (Ephesians 6:18).

Before we win our battles in the physical realm, we will have to win our battles in the spiritual realm through fervent prayers.

Prayer is not a formula. We don’t pray to twist God’s hand to make Him do something He doesn’t want to do. Sometimes when we pray, we are the ones who are changed. Our will aligns with God’s will. Prayer strengthens us to do His will. Sometimes we pray to bring to pass in the physical realm the things that God has already given to us in the spiritual realm. Some other times we pray to strike the enemy and destroy his plans. In short, through prayers, we partner with God in bringing His kingdom on earth.

Romans 12:12b NLT - Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.

When troubles come our way, we should be patient and we should keep on praying.

When Jesus went for prayer in Gethsemane, Jesus asked His three close disciples Peter, James, and John to watch and pray (Mark 14:38). But they slept instead of watching and praying (Mark 14:40).

Do you find praying difficult? Praying is not easy. To keep on praying is not at all easy.

We need the help of Holy Spirit to pray earnestly. He helps us in our weaknesses. (Romans 8:26). 

Application - We should pray earnestly. We should seek the help of the Holy Spirit to pray earnestly.

3. We are preserved in Jesus

Jesus told His disciples that they will all fall away.

Mark 14:27-28 - “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written: “ ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

But Peter said He will never fall even if all fall away.

Mark 14:29-31 - Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.” But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the others said the same.

Peter was confident on his strength and his will to follow Jesus. However, he not only deserted Jesus, but he also denied Jesus three times.

Exactly as Jesus said all His disciples deserted Him when He was arrested.

We need the grace of God to follow Jesus, especially during persecution. By our own strength, we cannot follow Jesus. But thank God we are preserved in Jesus.

Jude 1:1 NKJV - Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:

We should not think that we by our own strength can prevent ourselves from stumbling. We should trust in God’s ability to keep us from stumbling.

Jude 1:24 - To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—

We should put our trust in Jesus' words so that no one can snatch us out of His hand.

John 10:28 - I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.

We should not trust in our love for Jesus. We should trust in His love for us. We should not think that our righteous acts and our zeal for Jesus will keep us from stumbling. Instead, we should trust in the truth that we are already righteous because of what Jesus did on the cross.

Romans 5:19 - For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

It is the obedience of Christ on the cross, that made us righteous. It was not our obedience that made us righteous. So, neither can our disobedience, make us unrighteous.  

Zeal should not come before righteousness. Righteousness should come before zeal.

Our righteousness does not come from our zeal for God. Our zeal for God should come from the truth that we are already righteous through the obedience of Jesus.

Saul had a zeal for God. He thought his zeal for God was making him righteous. He was killing Christians because of this zeal. But when he became Paul, he knew he received the free gift of the righteousness of God through Christ. He still had the zeal for God. But the foundation of his zeal was now God’s righteousness on him through Christ.

We should not be Saul. We should be Paul. This will give us much-needed rest and peace. Some live in the constant fear of losing salvation and losing God’s acceptance. When we are righteous only because of the obedience of Christ on the cross, how can we lose righteousness?

Application - Do not trust in your own strength to follow Jesus. Always trust in God's ability to keep you from falling.

Conclusion - Jesus paid a heavy price to make us whole. We should walk in this wholeness that Jesus gifted us through the cross. Joy, Peace, Righteousness, Rest, Healing, Provisions, and Intimacy with God are our portion in Christ. We should be people who pray earnestly. Not to gain acceptance of God. Rather than as already accepted children of God, we should pray earnestly to bring God’s kingdom on earth.

James 5:16b NLT - The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

As we are righteous, our earnest prayers have great power and will produce wonderful results.

We should not trust in our ability to follow Jesus. We should trust in His ability to keep us in Him. We should not trust in our love and zeal for God. We should trust in His love for us. 

  Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.  

What happened at the cross? | Colin D

This message was preached  by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on April 14th, 2017 at the Good Friday Service.

6 things we have in the cross:

On the cross, a great salvation was purchased, and yet we live at subsistence level.

1.      Expatiation: The removal of guilt- when we sin we feel guilty. Adam and Eve hid from God. The cross removes our guilt. Only the blood of Jesus can do that. John Newton, a slave trader realized what he had done when he came to faith. He realised that only the blood of Jesus can do it. He wrote amazing grace. Heb 9:14- “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”. The guilt is removed so that we can serve a big God.

2.      Propitiation- this is the taking away of the anger of God. Because He is just, he is angry with sin. Those who don’t know Christ will face the anger of God. John 3:36- “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” Rom 5:9- “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”, 1 Thess 1:9-10- “For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”Only in Jesus is the anger of God appeased.

3.      Reconciliation- removal of enmity. God is hostile to us and we to God because of our sin. Isaiah 59:2- “your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” The mind of the flesh is hostile to God.
Col 1:21- “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds”
2 Cor 5:18-19- “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”
Col 1:19-22- “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him ”

4.      Justification- we have been declared righteous not on the basis of your behaviour but on what Christ has done. 2 Cor 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” we became the righteousness of God. you are as righteous as Jesus. Romans 3:21-23-“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” He granted us a righteousness apart from the law. Justification does not make us righteous, but pronounces us righteous. Heb 10:14- “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”

5.      Citizenship- we are now citizens of heaven. Col 1:13- “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” we are called into his marvellous light. Phil 3:20- “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ”

6.      Redemption- Eph 1:7- “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” We were once slaves to sin. When we are purchased bu the blood of Jesus, we are redeemed. We are set free. No longer slaved to sin, but to Christ. So we need to find out what pleases God.

All this happens to us the moment we believe. He dies so that I might live. Will I live for him? There are two more things that happen when we believe in Jesus, but not immediately.

Sanctification- Although we are declared righteous, we are being sanctified on a daily basis.

Glorification- one day we will be with Jesus forever in our glorified bodies. 

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.  

THE LAST WORDS OF A DYING MAN | Colin D Cruz

This message was preached by  Colin D cruz at Word of Grace Church  Pune, on the 18th April 2014 . You can listen/download to the audio by clicking here

Traditionally today, people focus on the 7 last words of Christ. The four gospels phrase them differently. All 7 phrases are not in one gospel but it’s a compilation.

Jesus was in great physical pain, he carried a heavy cross in the scorching sun and finally he was nailed to it. In moments like this, you don’t waste your words.

Luke 3:34 (starting from verse 32) 2 other criminals were with him.

1.     Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. ’The first thing Jesus said was a prayer and gave forgiveness. As the blood flowed from his body, Jesus takes on the role of the high priest. He was in agony- but he did not lash out or curse them or call judgment on them. Jesus did the opposite, he prayed and interceded.

Isaiah 53: 12- numbered with the sinners- what an amazing thing to do! Jesus did not come to condemn them.

Did the people not know what they were doing? Pilate knew, the Sanhedrin knew, the 3 soldiers knew.  What did they not know- that they were crucifying the Messiah- the Lord of Glory.

How was that prayer answered- very quickly! The thief on the cross! Both had insulted Jesus but suddenly after Jesus prayed, one thief got saved.

In Acts 2- a few days later 3000 people were added. Acts 3:6, a large number of priests God saved. That prayer is so powerful that it is effective even today. Even today he intercedes for us.

2.     Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’The most glorious answer to the prayer is in this phrase- Matt 23: 39-42- one thief has a change in heart. Here we see a great response to the gospel. Firstly, he feared God. In verse 41, he acknowledges his sin and that he deserved punishment. He knew Jesus was sinless. He acknowledges that Jesus was a King. And here it come- “ today you will be with me in paradise.”

This thief could do nothing – no church, no service to the poor, no tithing, no baptism- yet he received unconditional salvation. This is a testimony of grace.

2 Corinthians 5:21- God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

3.    When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing near by, he said to her, ‘Woman, here is your son,’ John 19:26 There were many friends of Jesus there and his mother. Can you imagine her agony?

This reflects his tender love for his mother. John 19:26- Jesus did not call her ‘mother’. He always called her ‘woman’. Although she was his earthly mother- the relationship was of a sinner and a savior. She needed saving as much as anyone.

Luke 11:27- Jesus rebuked people who elevated Mary.

Jesus had brothers and sisters- Why did he not entrust his mother to them? Maybe because till then they did not believe.

Acts 1: 14- but later they did. Jesus was showing that even in his agony he provided for his earthly mother how much more in his triumph and resurrection.

4.     About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’Matt 27:46Psalm 21 and Luke 23- Right from the beginning the father and son were one and suddenly it comes to a halt and the Father turns his back on Jesus because he became sin.

Jesus voluntarily took sin upon himself. This reassured that our sin has been paid for. 2 Corinthians 5:21 is a reality for us.

5.    John 19:28- ‘I am thirsty’. That is an under-statement! They put some vinegar and give it to him. He had it to fulfill Psalm 21. We see the true humanity of Jesus. This debunks another myth that it was a spirit. We see his deity and humanity on the cross.  

        

6.   John 19:30- “it is finished”. Luke 23:46 what was his state. He called out in a loud voice after all that. He still had strength. He was showing us that he laid down his life. John 10:18 I lay down my life and I take it up again

In his final minutes he was displaying his power. It was a deliberate act of His sovereign will.

His suffering was finished. The price was paid. You can’t add anything to the Cross. There are only 2 religions in the world. On says ‘do’ and the other says ‘done’!

7.    Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. When he had said this, he breathed his last.Luke 23:46- Displays his submission to the Father. From creation to the cross, he was submitted. Jesus set us an example to follow in his footsteps.

The eternal son became man and died a horrible death to take us to God.

If you don’t know this assurance, put your faith in Jesus and acknowledge your sin, repent and follow. A miracle will happen like to the thief on the cross. And you can live for Him.

For those of us who know- our response should be of immense gratitude for what Jesus did.

We are called to follow him. Without the cross there is no glory and no crown. If the church life is easy, the question is, who are you following? Will we follow no matter what it costs? By the spirit, it is possible.