{"id":879,"date":"2019-04-16T20:43:10","date_gmt":"2019-04-16T19:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/?page_id=879"},"modified":"2019-04-16T20:43:10","modified_gmt":"2019-04-16T19:43:10","slug":"luke-2343-the-word-of-salvation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/?page_id=879","title":{"rendered":"Luke 23:43 The word of salvation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I was there\u2019. T.V \/Radio\ncommentators like to make a big thing about certain historic occasions\nemphasising that they were there to witness what happened. The Scots have a\nproverbial dislike of certain English football commentators that refer to a\nparticular match in 1966, but many people can recall a small number of special\noccasions that will always stand out in their experience. In cricket when Sir\nGarfield Sobers in 1968 hit the first ever 6 consecutive sixes in a first class\ngame representing Nottinghamshire versus Glamorgan \u2013probably Malcolm Nash the\nbowler has a less happy memory of the occasion! Or maybe more impressive to you\nmight be David Duval\u2019s round of 59 at the Bob Hope Classic at La Quenta Golf\nClub, California. He was the first man to gain such a score in the final round\nof a professional tournament and it was the score he needed to win that event. A\nmuch more important claim of \u2018I was there\u2019 was stated by Anne van der Bijl who\ncan honestly say: \u2018I was there\u2019 at some of the least likely places on earth.\nThis extraordinary man of God has a simple philosophy: \u2018Jesus told us to go\ninto all the world. He didn\u2019t say, \u2018Go when you get an invitation\u2019. \u2018Tell me a\nplace where Christians can\u2019t go and I\u2019ll go there\u2019, he says. In the past that\nhas included knocking at the door of Palestinian terrorist group Hamas\u2019\nheadquarters, presumably in Gaza. He has also turned up at an Islamic terrorist\ntraining camp in Pakistan just across from the Afghan border. \u2018I just turn up\non the doorstep and say I want to speak to the boss. I say that I have a\nmessage from God\u2019. \u2018I have never had a \u201cno\u201d.\u2019 His visit around a decade ago to\nthe Taliban\u2019s training headquarters led to several days of preaching. He\nstated: \u2018I pulled out my New Testament and preached about salvation. And to my\namazement, the leader of the place said that he wanted us to speak with their\ngraduate class, a huge group of people with beards who will go straight into\nthe Taliban and al-Qaeda.\u2019 This was the place they make terrorists, Anne\nexplained. \u2018And no-one had confronted them with the claims of Christ. I\npreached and they asked for Bibles and Christian books. The Taliban leader\nasked his followers to \u2018treat me like a brother\u2019 and \u2018to consider the camp my \u2018second\nhome\u2019 and gave me an invitation to return whenever I wished to preach again.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      He continued his reflection on his visit\nto the camps: \u2018I see Muslims as God-seekers who are more serious about seeking\nGod than many professing Christians. They are waiting for the God of Abraham to\nprovide a sacrifice that they can believe in. No-one told them that Jesus is\nthat sacrifice so they think they have to be the sacrifice that is why some of\nthem become suicide bombers\u2026the key to the future is to preach Jesus as the\nanswer to the question Muslims are asking whether they realise it or not. Jesus\nis the sacrifice that has been made. They just need to know who Jesus is.\u2019 Anne\nvan der Bijl, better known as \u2018Brother Andrew\u2019 is looking for an army of\ncompassion that will pray for and love Muslims so that they will turn to\nChrist. \u2018You cannot win them by fighting only by showing the love of Jesus.\u2019 [Interview Idea<\/em>\nmagazine Jan \/ Feb 2008, pp. 18-19] <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u2018I was there\u2019 supremely relates to the\ncross and the man to whom Jesus spoke the famous words recorded in Luke 23:43. I tell you\nthe truth, today you will be with me in paradise.<\/em> The people present\nwould not forget that day as long as they lived after an event more memorable\nthan a man walking on the moon. The events of that day and the words of Jesus\ninvite, even require a response from every person born on this planet. Here\nJesus was preaching what He had practised throughout His three year ministry.\nLet us consider these powerful words He proclaimed:   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. The Bold\nDeclaration<\/strong> (Luke 23:38)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a written notice above Him,\nwhich read: this is the king of the Jews. <\/em>Nailed to the cross was a\nclear statement of the identity of the occupant of that cross and as it was\nwritten in three languages almost everyone who passed by would be able to read\nit. It did not state \u2018he claimed to be king of the Jews\u2019, or \u2018he hoped to be\nking of the Jews and failed\u2019, instead it recorded what its author deemed to be\na fact of history. The enormity of what had taken place could not be plainer\nthe guilt of those responsible could not be hidden. No pleas of diminished\nresponsibility from participants would be acceptable. The irony of the occasion\nwas that those who nailed that inscription possibly above His head, depending\non the type of cross used, did not really believe it in the sense in which\neither Jesus or Herod would have understood that title. The charge brought\nagainst Jesus was of a claim to kingship. In Matthew 27:11 Pilate asked Jesus: Are you the king of the Jews?<\/em> \u2018Yes it is as you say\u2019 Jesus replied. <\/em>The\ncross-examination by the Roman Governor led him to declare to the assembled\nJews in John 19:14 Here<\/em> [ide] is\nyour king. <\/em>The strong emphasis on the first word here often translated behold<\/em> \u2013take note, think about the\nsignificance of what you are proposing before it is too late, with reference to\nthe charges against Jesus. Their appalling reply (John 19:15): Take Him\naway! take Him away! Crucify Him <\/em>stunned even the hardened Roman\nGovernor. His response (v15): Shall I crucify your king? <\/em>Pilate was\nunwilling to make the decision that rested with him as Governor devolving it to\nthe mob assembled \u2018in the public gallery\u2019. However, 2000 years later the \u2018ball\nis in your court and mine\u2019 -what is your response to Jesus? Have you accepted\nHim as Saviour and Lord? Have you acknowledged that the sacrifice He offered on\nthe cross was in your place and as a substitute and sin-bearer in your place?\nCan you say in the words of the hymnwriter [CMP 458 Man of Sorrows]: \u2018Bearing\nshame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned He stood, sealed my pardon with\nHis blood. Hallelujah what a Saviour!\u2019  One\nday each of us will stand before the judgement seat of God and account for the\nchoice we make. We will look into the face of King Jesus and observe those\nnail-pierced hands and hear Him ask us what was your response to my claims on\nyour life while you were alive on earth? The evidence is clear: (a) At His Birth<\/strong> (Matthew 2:2) The\nwise men upon their arrival in Jerusalem asked: Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw His star in\nthe east and have come to worship Him. <\/em>(b) At His entry into Jerusalem<\/strong> (Matthew 21:9) on Palm Sunday\nthe crowd of pilgrims from Galilee shouted: Hosanna\nto the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. <\/em>David\nwas Israel\u2019s greatest king who reigned a thousand years earlier and this\ngathering of thousands of people acknowledged Jesus as David\u2019s descendant and\nsuccessor as the king. This was the fulfilment of Zechariah\u2019s prophecy of 500\nyears earlier [Zechariah 9:9]: rejoice\ngreatly; O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See <\/em>[Behold<\/em>] your king comes to you<\/em><\/strong>, righteous and having salvation, gentle and\nriding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.<\/em> Do you know Him? Is He\nyour king? Will you tell other people so that they can know Him as well? (c) At His Second Coming<\/strong> (Revelation\n19:11-16) He has this name written King\nof Kings and Lord of Lords<\/em> (v16). Are you ready for His return? He will\ncome as judge to punish those who have rejected Him? If He came back tonight\nwould you be ready? Have you acknowledged Him as your king \u2013the most important\ndecision you will ever make?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. The Blasphemous\nDemand<\/strong> (Luke 23:35-39)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered\nat him. They said, He saved others; let\nhim save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One<\/strong>.36<\/sup> The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered\nhim wine vinegar 37<\/sup>and said, If\nyou are the king of the Jews, save yourself.38<\/sup>There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the\nJews.39<\/sup> One of the criminals who hung there\nhurled insults at him: Aren’t you the\nChrist? Save yourself and us!<\/strong><\/em> In effect God impress me – be my\nSanta Claus and Superman rolled into one. Show me your great power, overwhelm\nme with your greatness I\u2019m currently under whelmed. People will express such\nsentiments in different ways, some more polite and respectful than others. But\nthe essence of it all of what they are communicating is this: \u2018God I don\u2019t take\nyou seriously\u2019. I don\u2019t believe what the Bible says is going to happen. From\nGod\u2019s perspective a creature made from the dust on one planet in one galaxy in\none small corner of God\u2019s Universe calling out \u2013impress me? To use the famous\nwords of John McEnroe, the infamous tennis player of a former generation: \u2018You\ncannot be serious!\u2019 As Paul told the assembled crowd of Philosophers on Mars\nHill in Athens in Acts 17:30-31: In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He\ncommands all people everywhere to repent. 31<\/sup>For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man\nHe has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the\ndead.<\/em> Their responses are given in Acts 17:32-34: When they\nheard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others\nsaid, We want to hear you again on this subject. 33<\/sup>\nAt that, Paul left the Council.34<\/sup> A few men\nbecame followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of\nthe Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.<\/em>\nThe majority of these pagan intellectuals rejected the message; a minority were\nsufficiently challenged to acknowledge that they needed to consider this matter\nin the future and a handful of them accepted the message and became followers\nof Jesus Christ. Paul expected a response and received one. What is your\nresponse to Jesus?   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. The Amazing\nAssurance<\/strong> (Luke 23:40-43)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the other criminal rebuked him.\nDon’t you fear God, he said, since you are under the same sentence? 41<\/sup>We are punished justly, for we are\ngetting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. 42<\/sup>Then he said, Jesus, remember me when\nyou come into your kingdom.43<\/sup>Jesus\nanswered him, I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(a) Facing the Present<\/strong> \n(i) The Context<\/strong> (Luke\n23:32-33) Three men hanging on crosses just outside the walls of the city of\nJerusalem had one certainty \u2013within 48 hours they would be meeting their maker,\nan inevitable fate of a crucified man. There are not too many things in life\nthat concentrate our minds like impending death. It hangs over each one of us\nfrom the moment of our birth; some of us get notice of our impending departure\nother people have absolutely none. As we get older the balance of probability\nbecomes considerably greater! (ii) The\nCall<\/strong> (Luke 23:39) One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at\nHim: \u2018Aren\u2019t you the Christ\/ Save yourself and us!\u2019 <\/em>He was a man who\nhad rightly been convicted of at least armed robbery and violent assaults\npossibly even murder. He was saying if you truly are the Messiah, make yourself\nuseful and get us all off these crosses \u2013 the ultimate in self-gratification.\nIn other words Jesus I will trust in You, follow You \u2013if you will give me\u2026make\nmy life comfortable\u2026 What are your priorities and mine? Even at the end of his\nlife that man staring death in the face was missing the point? Have you\nacknowledged who Jesus truly is and received Him as your Lord and Saviour?\n(iii) The Confession<\/strong> (Luke\n23:40-41) But\nthe other criminal rebuked him. Don’t you fear God, he said, since you are\nunder the same sentence? 41<\/sup> We are punished\njustly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done\nnothing wrong. <\/em>Repentance and confession of sin are the starting\npoint of the Christian faith. Until we are prepared to admit the problem of our\npersonal sin we will not obtain the solution that God has provided for us. This\nman knew what he had done and was honest enough to admit that the punishment\nadministered fitted his crime. For such a person there is always hope, for\npeople like his former comrade in crime there is no hope. Human pride must be\nfaced up to and put in its place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(b) Facing the Future<\/strong> (Luke 23:42-43) (i) The Request<\/strong> (Luke 23:42) Then he said,\nJesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.<\/em> In other words\nthis man was saying Jesus I\u2019ve heard about you before but never had the courage\nto admit that I needed you as Lord of my life. Foolish pride and fear of what\nmy friends would think has kept me back from trusting you. Please forgive me\nand accept me now though I don\u2019t deserve it. I have no right to expect anything\nfrom you but I ask only for your mercy and love to the undeserving. It is\npersonal here remember me. <\/em>It needs\nto be personal. Like the tax-collector in the story Jesus told of the Pharisee\nand the Tax collector in the Temple (Luke 18:9-14) who cried out: God be\nmerciful to me the<\/strong> sinner<\/em>\n<\/p>\n\n\n

[better than a sinner<\/i> NIV]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

. Jesus\ndeclared (Luke 18:14): I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went\nhome justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and\nhe who humbles himself will be exalted. <\/em>Like the tax collector the\npenitent thief felt his need and his utter helplessness before God to do\nanything about his situation apart from appealing to the love and mercy of God.\nOur position outside of Christ is no different to theirs \u2013has there been a time\nwhen you sought the mercy of God to take away your sins? If not will you cry\nout to Him today? (ii) The Response<\/strong>\n(Luke 23:43) Jesus\nanswered him, I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise.<\/em>  Here with the full authority of Jesus is the\nreply this man had sought. The timing \u2013today\n<\/em>not an undefined time in the future; it\u2019s personal \u2013I tell you<\/em>; it is relational \u2013 with\nMe<\/em>; and in paradise<\/em> the place\nwhere Jesus would be. Is this just a promise that encouraged him or is there\nsomething here for us too? John 6:40 confirms that the promise is just as\napplicable to us: For My Father\u2019s will is that everyone<\/strong>\nwho looks to the Son and believes in Him shall\nhave<\/strong> eternal life, and I will raise\nhim up<\/strong> at the last day.<\/em> This man had one final opportunity and\nhe took it- we must never presume future opportunities, instead we must respond\nto the Lord now and acknowledge Him. To those who receive Him the words of John\n14:1-3 are so encouraging: Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God;\ntrust also in me. 2<\/sup>In my Father’s house are\nmany rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to\nprepare a place for you. 3 <\/sup>And if I go and\nprepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you\nalso may be where I am<\/em>.\nHowever they are only an encouragement if you have placed your trust in Jesus.\nTo the person who has taken that step we have the joy of hearing in our own\nears these personal words of Jesus: I tell you the truth, today <\/em>[as certain as\nif it had already happened] you will be with me in paradise <\/em>Amen.\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction \u2018I was there\u2019. T.V \/Radio commentators like to make a big thing about certain historic occasions emphasising that they were there to witness what happened. The Scots have a proverbial dislike of certain English football commentators that refer to a particular match in 1966, but many people can recall a small number of special … Continue reading Luke 23:43 The word of salvation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-879","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=879"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":880,"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/879\/revisions\/880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}