Final Days: Jesus' Death

Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." Luke 9:23,24

The 7 sayings of Jesus on the Cross:

Jesus is here meditating on Psalm 22 from the beginning, which contains information particularly relevant to his circumstances. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?" By doing this he is identifying with the scriptures directing the Jews to considered its application as it reveals Him as the Messiah.

As we die to ourselves, we must put God's word - the Bible - above our own. We must identify with it and direct others to it. We must take care that the Christ we preach is the Christ of the Bible. Practically speaking, we should memorize and meditate on the Bible. If Jesus can do it on the cross, we can surely do it at our own convenience.

This again is in reference to Psalm 22 verse 15, which is the middle of the Psalm, pointing to himself as the fulfillment of the prophecy. "My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death." Here Jesus took action applying the Bible to his situation. We should not only identify with the Bible and meditate on it, but apply it to our lives.

And finally this may be a reference to the end of Psalm 22 verse 31 "They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn-- for he has done it." In the midst of what others see as Jesus' greatest failure, by faith Jesus views as God's greatest accomplishment. We must walk by faith, not by sight, believing confidently to the end. While others view us as failures, we will by faith reckon God to accomplish a great work through us. It's not over until its over.

Here Christ points to the purpose behind his death - the forgiveness of sins. And we need also to mimic his intercessory role in praying on behalf of the world. God loves his enemies and desires all to be saved.

Within the Christian community we forgive those who admit their wrongdoing and ask for forgiveness. But this cannot be expected from unbelievers. Paul writes, "What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?" 1Cor 5:12, and Jesus. "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Mt 5:44. Those outside are often blind to an extent to the sins they are committing. And it is on the basis of their blindness that he asks for their forgiveness. Yet it is interesting also that though they are blind, they are in need of forgiveness. Thus they are not completely blind, but rather suppress the truth in themselves, for Jesus also said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin" John 9:41 But they were guilty of sin and thus not totally blind, but rather walking in darkness.

In practice this means that we should have compassion on those who are so corrupted by their own sinfulness as to not recognize the truth of what they are doing. And this is particularly challenging when we are subjected to their persecution.

There were two crucified with Jesus by his sides. Some say there were more, but Luke brings out the sayings of these two.

One said, "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

This is a prayer of unbelief. The man had a sort of experimental faith found frequently in the Christian community, but which is not acceptable to God for salvation. For it is not a statement of conviction. Today many evangelicals will propose that those who doubt should simply pray a prayer to receive Christ and see what happens. That is not the gospel. It does not accurately represent the quality of faith that saves. For seekers I would suggest that they indeed pray in an experimental fashion and ask God to reveal Himself. But such a person is not saved until they have come to believe, which may take some time and convincing.

Futhermore, this man was not thinking spiritually. For he seemed to be looking simply for physical salvation, but was not concerned with the matter of God's justice and his sinfulness. As such he was not prepared to receive the gospel.

The other one responded, "Don't you fear God since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

Notice the convictions of this man. He acknowleged God's justice and his sinfulness demonstrating him to be a man of truth and humility. He acknowledged Jesus' innocence, indicating that he had been observing him. They probably had spent time in jail together before the crucifixion and may have also been familiar with his years of ministry.

As for his final request, there is no set prayer for salvation. Obtaining eternal life is not a matter of ritual or technique. There is no prayer that you can pray that will guarantee your salvation. Nor does getting wet in baptism save you. This man hadn't gotten wet. Faith alone is acceptable to God for salvation. But then again, faith which is not expressed is no faith. Paul writes, "I believed; therefore I have spoken."2Cor 4:13 and "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Rom 10:13 This man called on the Lord in faith simply by requesting that he be remembered. He also acknowledged Jesus as Lord in mentioned his kingdom. To be saved we have to by faith not simply accept Jesus as Savior only, but also as Lord.

Another aspect of this is that it is an application of Joh 12:24 "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." Jesus' crucifixion immediately brought forth fruit even while he was on the cross.

Application: When you are going through experiences of death - whether physical, or death of the ministry or death to certain things - realize that how you respond to these communicates conviction, which can influence others. Having hope in a hopeless situation makes people take notice. But remember to use the Word of God - the Bible - in such circumstances. For it's not about you. It's about Christ.

Jesus is not only concerned for people's spiritual needs as the forgiveness of sins, but also for their practical needs. Christian love involves providing for the practical needs of others such as widows and orphans in their distress, and even on the cross Jesus practices this. If you were do die, are your loved ones taken care of?

Furthermore, delegating responsibilities is a part of passing on leadership to the next generation. Parents must do this with their children and Christian need to do this when their ministry is finished. Are you preparing people to pass your responsibilities on to?

It was not the crucifixion itself that killed Jesus. Jesus says of his life:

"No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again." John 10:18

Jesus gave up his spirit only after being crucified for about 6 hours, which was unusually short for a crucifixion. Mark 15:44 records Pilate being surpised that he was already dead. And the those crucified with him had to have their legs broken to speed up their death, but Jesus was already dead. Having satisfied God's demand for a sacrifice of atonement, Jesus himself gave up his life. Jesus was not simply an innocent victim, but a willing sacrifice.

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will." Rom 12:1,2

When we go through experiences of death in our lives, we need to come to the point of saying to God, "I commit this area of my life into your hands."