Written by Bev Delgatty
Luke 23:32-43
32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him,“This is the King of the Jews.” 39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
In this passage, Luke describes how our Lord and Savior willingly sacrificed His own life in a most painful and humiliating way in order to fulfill God's plan for salvation so that we could receive God’s grace (forgiveness) if we only acknowledge our sin and believe in His Son.
There were two criminals also hanging on crosses on either side of Him, but they were not being ridiculed like He was. One of them 'acknowledged' that he was a sinner, and that Jesus had done no wrong. He asked the Lord to remember him, and Jesus replied, "today you will be with me in paradise.”
The cross removed the barrier of sin that separated people from God, and invites all people into a personal relationship with God. Grace gives us the power to live a new, holy life that we could not achieve on our own.
At the cross, grace is described as the "great exchange" - Isaiah 53:5 says "he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed" (NIV). Other passages in the Bible, such as 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24; and Colossians 2:14 also show Jesus as the substitute for our sin.
I am incredibly grateful that Jesus acted as our substitute, and bore the penalty of judgment for our sins on the cross to offer forgiveness and righteousness to all who acknowledge their sins, and believe in the Lord.
There is an old hymn that was written in 1910 called 'Grace That is Greater Than All Our Sin', and the lyrics to the first two verses are:
"Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
Threaten the soul with infinite loss,
Grace that is greater, yes, grace unfold,
Points to the refuge, the mighty cross!”
We have many things to be grateful for, but the greatest is our salvation at the cross, which granted us forgiveness, eternal life, and adoption into the family of God.
Prayer Prompts:
Pray and tell the Lord how thankful we are for his sacrifice, and the grace of God, that we are now his heirs, and can call him our Lord and Savior.
Pray that many people who aren't believers will come to Morgan Hill Bible Church this Easter and discover that Jesus died for them on the cross, and that they will acknowledge their sins and believe in the Lord.
