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The Three Crosses
By Jim Sparks
In Luke 23:32-43, the Bible says:
32 And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death.
33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the
right hand, and the other on the left.34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted
his raiment, and cast lots. 35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided [him], saying, He saved
others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. 36 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and
offering him vinegar, 37 And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. 38 And a superscription also was written
over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 And one of the malefactors which were
hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost
not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our
deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
You know, many times
we refer to Jesus dying on the cross, but we must not forget that there were three crosses that dark morning when Jesus was
crucified. He was being crucified with two vile criminals that were sentenced to death for their crimes. Can you imagine that?
The pure, perfect Son of God, who was the only man that ever walked on the face of the earth who never sinned, and here he
is being executed between two common criminals. This morning, I want us to take a look at one of the two criminals that was
executed with Jesus. We know that one of the criminals got saved and the other one didn't. One criminal went to paradise
and the other one went to Hell. I want to speak to you now about the man on the cross that Jesus took with him to paradise.
At nine o'clock that morning, they had nailed this thief, cursing, fighting, and screaming to his cross. Crucifixion
was indeed the most dreadful death of that day. This type of slow death was meant to torment the victom. Oh, it was such a
painful death. Not only was it a painful death, but it was a shameful death. Each of the three men were stripped of all their
clothing, with nothing to hide their shame but the blood that flowed from their bodies. It would be just a matter of time
before each would die. It was even more shameful this day, because it was the time of the passover holiday, so many, many
people from the surrounding areas would be coming to Jerusalem to observe the passover. As, people approached the city, they
would walk by and see the three men bleeding and dying on their crosses. Above each of the three crosses, everyone could read
why each man was being put to death. Above two of the crosses, it said that the men were dying because they were thieves,
but, above the cross in the middle, it mockingly said, This is Jesus of Nazerus, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
But, let's
get back to that thief that was crucified that day. Other than being a thief, what else do we know about him? We don't
know much about his life other than what happened on the morning of his death. We know that he was nailed to a cross. Then
afterwards, the soldiers broke his legs and the thief was hurled into eternity. But, where did he go? I'll tell you where
the thief went after he was crucified. The bible says that this thief went straight to paradise. Yes, Jesus said to him, "To
day shalt thou be with me in paradise." But, what did this man do in order to go to paradise with Jesus?
Well,
before I show you what this theif did in order to go to Paradise, let me first show you some things that he did not do. First
of all he was not baptised, confirmed, or enrolled in any church. So, they didn't have anything to do with his going to
paradise. Futhermore, he did not confess his sins to any priest although there were several standing nearby. He did no penance
which means certain acts to show sorrow or repentance for his sins. He had no claim to moral character. He did not ask the
virgin Mary to pray for him, even though she was present. He did not call on any of the saints, even though John was below
him. No, he did none of these. But, what did he do then. Well, he was a lost soul on his way to an imminent hell when suddenly
he flung his soul at the feet of Jesus. He had heard the gospel from the enemies of Christ when they said, " He saved
others; let him save himself, " and he turned in wondrous faith to Jesus. And he was saved, instantly, then and there,
on the same grounds and in the same way anyone is saved. And he received immediate assurance of his salvation.
Let's
take a look now at what kind of man this thief was. First of all, He Was a Dying Man, yes this thief realized that he was
a dying man. He knew that his time was about to run out. There will be no rescues here, no second chances. His time is up
and it is time for him to die. Most people act like they believe they will live forever, but the Bible says in Heb. 9:27,
that it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. There were two things that this thief realized as
he was dying. First, he recognized the legality of his sentence. He admitted that he was guilty. He knew that he was getting
what he deserved. In verses 40 and 41 of the text, he said concerning himself and the other thief, seeing thou art in the
same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds... Yes, he is saying here that he admits
that he was justly condemned for his crimes, and that the punishment was also just. He is confessing that what he had done
in the past was wrong and that he deserve the punishment. Friend, we as sinners were in the same boat. The Bible says that
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Everyone of us has sinned and we deserve God's punishment for it,
which is eternal hell. You say well, I haven't sinned too much. My good, will outweigh my sins and God will let me in.
But, you know that thief only had to steal once and get caught to be justly condemned as a thief. Futhermore, I don't
know how long the angels in heaven were perfect, but I do know that for just one sin they were cast out of heaven. Satan only
committed one sin and he was cast out of heaven. Just for one sin. God abides in heaven and sin will not abide there. So,
you see it only takes one sin to be sentenced to hell. Just one. But, if you are honest, you know that you have committed
many sins in your life. And if you are honest, you will also admit that you deserve to pay for those sins. The thief did and
this was the first step toward his being saved from his sins. He admitted that the law was right, and he was wrong. He admitted
that his sentence was right and his punishment was just. If you are saved, then there was a time in your life that you too,
confessed or agreed with God that you were a sinner and deserved to be punishment. And, also like to thief on the cross, you
realized that there was nothing that you could do to save yourself, so you turned to God for grace.
Secondly,
as a dying man, this thief realized the load of his sin. Not only did he realize the legality of his sentence, but he also
recongized the load of his sin. He realized that he was sure in a mess and that he couldn't do anything about it. I imagine
that his life passed in front of him while he hung there on the cross. He saw all the wicked things that he had ever done,
and now it brougt him to this very moment. Oh, how he probably wished that he could go back and make things different. But,
it is too late now. How he wished he could get rid of the burden of sin that weighed so heavily on him. Little did he know
that the man that was being crucified next to him once said, "Come unto me , all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find
rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light." How about you friend? Are you carrying a heavy
burden of sin and guilt in your life. If you are then, look to Jesus. He is the burden bearer. All the sins of the world were
laid upon the Lord Jesus when he hung on the cross. He who knew no sin bore our sins. He became a substitute for you and for
me. But, only one of those thieves got saved that morning. While one thief received Jesus into his heart as his Lord and Savior,
the other thief mocked, laughed, and rejected the sacrifice for his sins. So, friend what have you done about your burden
of sin?
We see what the thief did for his burden of sin and guilt. He looked to Jesus. Hanging on his cross of
death, with nowhere to turn, he turned his head and looked at Jesus. Yes, not only was he a Dying Man, but he also was a Discerning
Man. He looked over at Jesus. He looked over at Jesus, and saw the Son of God bleeding and dying his cross. The thief looked
and saw a man who did not deserve to be on that cross, and he probably wandered how he ever came to this terrible death. When
the thief looked at Jesus, he saw a sacrificial lamb that was without spot or blemish being sacrificed for the sins of the
world, which included the thief's sins. Now, I don't know that he discerned all this when he looked at Jesus, but
he surely noticed that Jesus was a righteous man. He no doubt noticed the love that he saw in the face of the Savior. While
the thief had earlier fought, screamed, and cursed while being nailed to the cross, he noticed that Jesus was gentle and quiet,
not opening his mouth, just like a lamb being led to slaughter. He noticed that the sign above Jesus said, THIS IS THE KING
OF THE JEWS, and how he wished that it were true.
Now, not only did this man look to Jesus but he also listened
to Jesus. The thief heard with his own ears many wonderful things that day. While hearing the crowd below scoffing and mocking
the Son of God, the thief heard Jesus say, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." The thief no
doubt was surprised to hear Jesus pray for his enemies as they were executing him. How could anyone do that? The thief also
heard the people below say, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. Yes, the thief
listened and he heard the people say that Jesus saved others. With this statement, he heard the gospel. The thief heard Jesus
say many things as he listened to the Savior. We do the same when we listen to the Word of God, the Bible. Yes, we must not
only look to Jesus, but we must also listen to Him, and then do what He says. I know the thief did this, because he called
Jesus, Lord, in verse 42 of the passage.
Now, not only was the thief a Dying Man and a Discerning Man, but he
was also a Delivered Man. Yes, this thief was delivered from his sins and delivered from his problems. He was taken with Jesus
to paradise. In verse 42 of the passage, it says, "And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy
kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. Did you hear that?
Jesus told him that today he would be with him in Paradise. I can just see the picture. Here, Jesus as soon as he dies on
the cross, comes walking into Paradise to meet all the Old Testament Saints that were already there, and walking in with Jesus
is this thief who just minutes earlier was hanging on a cross. Can you imagine the joy this thief was having as Jesus introduced
him to Moses, David, Elijah, and the others. Yes, this thief was a Delivered Man.
In conclusion I want to take
a closer look at what exactly led this thief to be delivered from his sins as he hung on the cross. 1) First of all, the thief
heard the gospel. He heard those people below say about Jesus in verse 35, "He saved others; let him save himself, if
he be Christ, the chosen of God. Now, maybe they didn't believe Jesus was the Christ, but the thief did. 2) The thief
confessed he was a sinner and deserved his sentence. He said to the other thief in verse 40 and 41, "Dost not thou fear
God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this
man hath done nothing amiss. and 3) Confessed that Jesus is Lord. In verse 42, the thief said, " Lord, remember me when
thou comest into thy kingdom. The thief recognized that Jesus was Lord, even though he was dying on a cross. So, by these
3 things, we see the salvation of the thief. He heard the Gospel, he agreed with it by confessing he was a sinner, and then
he confessed with his tongue that Jesus is Lord. And, he got immediate assurance of his salvation when Jesus said, "Today
shalt thou be with me in paradise."
So, what about you friend? Have you ever in your life realized that you
were a sinner, justly condemned, and that you were on your way to Hell? Have you ever repented of your sins and turned to
Jesus as your only hope? The thief did and Jesus saved him. He didn't do anything but believe, confess, and call out to
Jesus. He wasn't baptised to be saved. He did no good works to be saved. He was saved by grace through faith and nothing
of himself. It was a gift of God, not of works, or else he would be able boast of his good works. But, when Jesus said "It
is finished", he was saying that everything it took to satifiy God concerning our salvation was done on the cross by
Jesus. So, we shouldn't try to add or take anything away from what Jesus did. Jesus did it all on the cross. All you have
to do to be saved is to believe that, confess your sins, and call on Jesus to be your Lord and Savior. Yea, but you also have
to be baptised to be saved. The thief didn't. And, you also have to pray to Mary to be saved. The thief didn't. You
also have to do good works to be saved. The thief didn't. No, if you could do anything to add to what Jesus did, then
you are calling Jesus a lier, because Jesus said, "It is finished." If you are not saved, then do as the thief did
and trust in Jesus and him alone to save you. Believe what the Gospel says about Him concerning his death, burial, and resurrection.
Confess that you are a sinner and deserve condemnation of God. And, lastly, call on Jesus as Lord and ask him to save you.
Romans 10:13 says, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The thief did this. Have you?
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