Good Friday 2025

Luke 23v32-49

18^th April 2025

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ changed the course of history, and it changes the lives of everybody who understands its significance. This is part of Luke’s account of it.

Luke 23v32-49
Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals — one on his right, the other on his left.
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One."
The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."
There was a written notice above him, which read: "This is the king of the Jews".
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!"
But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don’t you fear God," he said, "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."
Jesus answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise."
It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.
The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man."
When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

The Roman soldiers crucified Jesus at the place called "the skull", which in Latin is "Calvary". He suffered more physical and spiritual pain than any person before or since. He was, more than any of us, a "man of sorrows, acquainted with grief", fulfilling Isaiah 53v2. He was crucified along with two criminals, fulfilling Isaiah 53v12, "He was reckoned with the transgressors".

When the Roman soldiers crucified Him, He prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they're doing." The soldiers knew they were killing a man. They didn’t know they were killing the Son of God. The Jewish authorities, and the crowd that called for Jesus to be crucified, and Pontius Pilate who agreed to condemn Jesus just to try to keep the peace, must have known they were doing wrong. They didn’t realise they were committing the greatest crime in the history of the world.

Jesus was enduring unimaginable agony, but He found it in His heart to pray for His persecutors. Jesus went to the cross, and endured the pain, so that sinners like us could be forgiven, so even the soldiers who nailed Him to the cross could be forgiven. The grace of God is beyond our understanding.

Jesus had taught us to pray "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us" (Matthew 6v12). Now, on the cross, He shows us the true meaning of that prayer.

The soldiers divided up his clothes by casting lots, to fulfil Psalm 22v18.

The people stood watching. What were they thinking? What were they feeling? How did they feel when they heard Jesus praying for God to forgive His executioners? Did they begin to realize that Jesus was a good man, unjustly sentenced? Did they see something of the divine in His attitude?

The rulers even sneered at him. They must have truly hated Jesus. Most people, I hope, wouldn’t sneer at anybody enduring such pain. They showed they had no right to be religious and civil leaders. They called out, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One", fulfilling Psalm 22v7-8. They must have known that Jesus had healed the sick, set the demonised free, and raised the dead. Even now, while they approved of His torture and execution, they didn’t deny the good He’d done, the miracles he’d performed. They used their knowledge of these things to taunt Jesus. How hatred can corrupt our hearts! Jesus had done no wrong. The Jewish rulers refused to forgive Him for doing good!

They thought Jesus couldn’t escape. They thought they had Him. They didn’t know that Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified. They didn’t know that, as Jesus said in Matthew 26v53, if He’d asked God the Father, He would have sent legions of angels to protect Him. They didn’t know that Jesus voluntarily offered Himself as a sacrifice to pay for our sins so we could be forgiven. The leaders of God’s people had no idea what was really happening, or why.

The soldiers also came up and mocked him. Roman legionaries were a hardened bunch of fighters. Earlier, as we read in Mark 15v16-20, they’d put a crown of thorns on His head, and pretended to worship Him. They’d struck Him repeatedly on the head, and spat on Him. Now, as he was dying, they joined the Jewish leaders in mocking Him, even thought they’d heard Him pray to the Father to forgive them. They offered him wine vinegar. It seems they were mocking him by offering to share their wine ration with Him. They said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." Jesus was perfectly able to save Himself, but He chose to stay on the cross, enduring the mockery and the incredible pain, to pay the penalty for our sin.

Pontius Pilate had had a written notice fastened to the cross above Jesus, which read: "This is the king of the Jews". The Jewish leaders had tried to persuade him not to write it but he’d insisted.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at [Jesus]: "Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" Like so many people today, this criminal blamed God for not intervening to save him from the pain he was suffering. He didn’t blame himself for committing the crimes for which he was being punished. He hurled insults at Jesus.

We’ve all had painful experiences in life. Some of us are going through severe difficulties right now. We can be tempted to blame God for things that other people have done, or even for the consequences of things we ourselves have done. Remarkably, some people who don’t really believe in God, blame God. Some people say they "lost their faith" when something bad happened, as if God somehow let them down. But God is perfect, and God is not answerable to us. He’s not at our beck and call. He has far greater understanding than us about what is the right thing to so. How arrogant it is for a human to try to judge God, when really it’s God who judges us.

But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don’t you fear God," he said, "since you’re under the same sentence? We’re punished justly, for we’re getting what our deeds deserve. But this man’s done nothing wrong." This second criminal had a completely different attitude. He knew he was getting what he deserved. He didn’t blame God; he blamed himself. He realised that Jesus had done nothing wrong. God never, ever does anything wrong.

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Even while being crucified, this man prayed. He cried out to Jesus for mercy. He knew he deserved to be condemned but he hoped Jesus would have mercy on him. No matter how bad things get, it’s never too late to pray. With Jesus, things are never hopeless.

Jesus answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." What a wonderful response! Such grace! Such forgiveness for a man who’d committed a crime worthy of the death penalty! Such assurance of salvation! You and I would be far too wrapped up in our own pain to respond to anybody but, somehow, Jesus had the love to meet this criminal’s need, to answer his prayer.

Anybody, no matter what we’ve done, no matter what a mess we’ve got into, can come to Jesus, ask for God’s forgiveness, and obtain His mercy. As Jesus had said some time before, "whoever comes to me I will never drive away" (John 6v37). God loves people. God loves people who’ve done terrible things. God offers us a fresh start, a clean slate, and eternal life.

We can’t undo all the damage we’ve done on earth. This criminal would die that very day. But on that very day, he would enter paradise alongside Jesus. Whatever you’ve done, you can come to Jesus today, and be forgiven. Your sins can be washed away. And on the day of your death, you can enter glory.

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. The death of Jesus had profound consequences, and God chose to mark the event with significant signs in the sky and in the temple.

Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last. To the last, Jesus trusted in God our heavenly Father. Then the perfect, innocent Son of God died. Such is His love for us that He made the greatest sacrifice anybody’s ever made, to pay for our sin, so we can live in paradise with Him.

The centurion who led the party of soldiers that had executed Jesus saw what had happened. He praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." Matthew and Mark tell us he also said, "Surely this is the Son of God". He’d seen how Jesus had conducted Himself on the cross, refusing to revile His tormentors, showing compassion to his fellow-sufferer, trusting in God. He’d seen the sky darken in the middle of the afternoon. Matthew tells us he also witnessed an earthquake when Jesus died. He realised what he’d done. He realised Jesus was divine. He’d committed the crime of deicide – killing God. His response to was to praise God. I hope he cried out for mercy, as the second criminal did. Surely he had enough reason to do to. But some people don’t. They’d rather die in their sins than confess their sins to God and be saved.

The people, who had been standing idly by, then beat their breasts and went away. Perhaps some of them had been among the crowd that called out to Pilate to crucify Jesus. Now they understood. Now they knew Jesus was more than a righteous man. Pilate had been right; Jesus was the King of the Jews. He’s the King of the Universe. And he died for you and me.

But all those who knew him, including the women who’d followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. Jesus’s followers, both men and women, were bewildered and heartbroken. But this was not the end. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. He conquered death for us.

So: Pilate knew Jesus was a good man, but was prepared to have him killed for the sake of peace and quiet. The Jewish authorities knew He was a miracle worker but they wanted Him dead because they thought He was a threat to their power. The Roman soldiers did the killing because they were paid to do it. They beat and mocked Him because they were cruel men who didn’t care about the suffering of other people. The people stood watching but did nothing to help. One of the prisoners hurled insults at Him, blaming Him for not saving them from pain and death.

Of all the people in this story, only two behaved honourably and wisely. The second prisoner acknowledged Jesus as good, and as truly the King of the Jews, he confessed his own guilt, and he pled for mercy to Jesus. The centurion realised what an awful thing he’d done, crucifying a righteous man, and praised God.

What about us? Do we understand that Jesus is King, that He’s perfectly righteous and perfectly loving? Do we know that we’re not good people? Do we understand that Jesus died so we could live in Paradise with Him? Will we cry out to Him for mercy?

The truth is that we’re all one or other of these two criminals. We’ve all done things that hurt our fellow humans. We’ve all disrespected God. We’ve all broken His laws. We’ve all failed to live up to even our own ethical standards. We all deserve God’s judgement. Either, like the first criminal, we’ll complain to God because of what happened to us, or to someone we love, blaming God for not preventing a tragedy, or not giving us a more comfortable life or, like the second criminal, we will admit our moral failures to God, recognise His goodness, ask for His forgiveness, and ask Him to accept us into His kingdom.

Which are you?