Palmarum Monday 2020 - Devotions in Exile - Holy Week Devotions: Seven Words From the Cross for the Seven Days to the Resurrection

Palmarum Monday - Devotions in Exile

The Second Word of Christ from the Cross 

        Knowledge of Eternal Glory is Ours

Luke 23:39-43  Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him saying, "If you are the Christ, save yourself and us." 

          But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?  And indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deed; but this Man has done nothing wrong."  Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom."

          And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise." (Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)

          One of the criminals crucified on a cross next to Jesus wants Jesus to save Himself and both the criminals hanging there. His words were said mockingly. He is attempting to join in the mocking attention of the crowd gathered to watch the spectacle of three crucifixions, to draw attention away from himself. His words are called blasphemy by Luke, for His words are making mockery of the very Son of God. Did the criminal know that He was blaspheming? Did he know Jesus was God? It does not matter! Blasphemy is blasphemy because it mocks God, makes light of God, denies God – basically, blasphemy uses God’s name in vain.

          This criminal was also terrified. Was he mocking? Yes! But did He secretly harbor some hope that Jesus, the miracle-worker, might possible be able to bring them down from their crosses? Probably! It was mocking blasphemy because he was saying that if you cannot do it, then you are not the Christ of God – it was a denial of the Divinity of Jesus. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. (Ex.20:7)

          How often do we want something similar? We want God to do something with our situation in life. How many of us would like God to end the viral infection labeled the Coronavirus and end the global terror it is bringing? I would! I pray for it! I would love God to heal my brother, and still pray for that! I pray that God would do all sorts of things that would end the suffering of either myself or loved ones in the world. I am sure that you do too! But let us not blaspheme in such prayers.

          We blaspheme when want God on our own terms, and do not like the terms that God Himself has designated in answer to our prayers. It was God’s intention to be there that day, to die upon the cross, to suffer and to give Himself up for us.

          Unlike the first, the other criminal, with faith implanted in his heart, and the Holy Spirit guiding his words, speaks. He proclaims the truth as it has been revealed to him. His rebuke of the other criminal is also his repentant confession. He proclaims that they are sinners and justly deserve the punishment that is being meted out to them on the cross.

          Unlike the other, he is led to trust that Christ on the other hand had done nothing deserving of crucifixion. More to the point, he confesses that in Jesus there is forgiveness. He had heard Jesus’ first words of forgiveness. That Word of Christ wrought a change in him as the Spirit worked a change in him. It was in that Word he had heard which brought about repentance for the forgiveness of sins. It worked faith that believed Jesus was the Christ of God.

          We too are sinful, and the wages of our sin is death. Sinfulness is plainly evident in the world by the amount of pain and suffering there is – it is all a consequence of the first man's fall into sin. The entire creation has been subjected to corruption because of Adam's fall into sin. There is no better evidence of the creation’s subjection to corruption than the situation we find our world in today. Sinfulness’s consequences of death, brought to bear in this viral pandemic, are not just confined to one place, but globally.

          We are all sinners deserving God’s wrath – deserving to be on one of the crosses beside Jesus on Golgotha, yet, we wonder why we suffer?

          Suffering in the world is nothing more than the situation mankind has brought upon itself. It is also more than we can handle on our own, yet we complain instead of looking to our hope. We want escape rather than the strength to endure.

          This second criminal being crucified realized his own helplessness and looked to Jesus in hope. What was his hope? His hope was where our hope should also rest. He was not concerned with his earthly suffering, but was concerned with his eternity. He knew that there was nothing he could do to gain a place in God’s eternal kingdom, but he also trusted that Jesus would remember him.

          Just as this criminal realized his helpless-mess to sin and corruption, he also saw in Jesus the redemption and free gift that was his, through that suffering work of Christ on the cross hanging next to him.

          In our own trials and temptations, as we look at our own helpless-mess to sin and corruption, the Word of Christ will lead us to realize and believe that this is nothing more than we deserve for our sins.

          But even as we look to the cross of the criminals hanged with Christ that day, lets us also hear the words of Him hanging upon that central cross, let us hear the Word of Christ, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

          Those words are also meant for your ears as you humbly look to Christ, and place your eternal hope in Him. All the trials and tribulations of this mortal coil will run their course. How they will impact your life I cannot say. I cannot say what will happen in my days. But there is hope – an eternal, salvific hope.

          In six more days we will celebrate Easter. Satan may gleefully rejoice that we are confined to celebrate in exile. He may think that it will not have the same glorious hope because we are not gathered all together.

          On this coming Sunday, the Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord, we will celebrate the event which assures us that we too will rise to eternal glory.

PRAYER: Merciful Savior, give us the comfort that comes from seeing that our helpless-mess to sin has been left in Your capable hands on the cross.  Help us to look to Your cross and resurrection and see our eternal hope of everlasting glory in You Kingdom. Amen