Today we’re going to look at the next phrase Jesus spoke, “Today you will be in paradise with Me!”
(Luke 23:42-43)
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."
So, let’s look at the crucifixion scene. Jesus is ordered to be crucified by the Roman
soldiers. He is taken to Golgotha along with two criminals, and is crucified
one on the left and one on the right.
(Mark 15:27-28)
With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "AND HE WAS NUMBERED WITH THE TRANSGRESSORS."
This is a prophecy from the book of Isaiah:
(Isaiah 53:12)
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
Let’s take a moment and examine this prophecy. We can break it down to find the importance
of what Jesus is saying through this phrase on the cross.
1. “Therefore
I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with
the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death.”
Look at this scripture by way of explanation:
(Colossians 2:14)
having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
The “handwriting of requirements that was against us” is a
reference to the law. The law was a list
of violations against God and we were under the law. In other words, Heaven was only accessible to
those who committed no sin.
(James 2:10)
For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
If we sin, in one area we have violated the law and are
guilty. If we’re guilty then we must
face the consequences of that guilt.
What are the wages of sin?
But it also says that God will divide Him a portion and
divide the spoil with the strong. This is a reference to Jesus’ victory over
sin. He has destroyed “principalities
and powers”
(Colossians 2:15)
Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
He is a conqueror, which allows Him to divide the spoil with
the mighty, and according to this prophecy of Isaiah, he has done that through
His death. “Because He poured out His soul unto death.
2.
Here is what is pertaining to what we’re talking
about today, the second part of Isaiah 53:12:
(Isaiah 53:12)
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
He was “numbered with the transgressors.” We know that Jesus didn’t sin. In fact, He’s the only person who ever lived
that didn’t sin. But in His crucifixion,
He was treated as just another criminal.
In those times crucifixion was reserved for the worst
criminals. Murderers, and others who
committed horrible crimes. Jesus was, of
course, innocent of that kind of crime.
Remember, Pilate said I find nothing worthy of death.
(Luke 23:15-16)
no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him. I will therefore chastise Him and release Him"
But, here He is being crucified with those who had committed
those crimes. This is what it means to “be numbered with the transgressors.”
3.
Here’s the final part of the prophecy. “And He bore the sins of many, and made
intercession for the transgressors.”
As Christians we understand that Jesus took our sin upon
Himself and died on the cross. After all
that’s a major part of Christian doctrine.
(Hebrews 9:28)
so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
We’ll talk about this later, but today we are looking at
this part: “and made intersession for the transgressors.” Many times, in the church world we define
intersession as pertaining to prayer. We
intercede during church service when we pray for needs in the church; when we
pray for each other. But, I want you to see the dictionary definition of the
word intercession.
the act of using your influence to make someone in authority forgive someone else or save them from punishment -Cambridge Dictionary
In other words, it is when we go before someone in power and
ask for them to forgive someone. In the
US there is a law that says the president of the United States can pardon a
prisoner of their crimes. So, often
someone will go before the president and ask him to pardon someone. That is an intercession. Jesus, through His death on the cross is
interceding with God on our behalf. We
ARE the transgressors.
This what Issaiah was saying in his prophecy in Isaiah
53:12.
So now understanding
that let’s go back to the subject of this study.
(Luke 23:42-43)
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."
This scripture is a snapshot of that prophecy. Jesus is being counted as one who is a
transgressor. One who has broken the
law. One who is being punished for that
crime. He is being crucified, enduring
the punishment of the worst of the worst.
He is being hung between two criminals who deserve this punishment. Jesus is innocent of the crimes (sin), the
others are guilty.
Let’s look at the scene more closely:
(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 we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; 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."
So those that were being crucified with Him began to mock
Him. Luke says that one criminal blasphemed and said “If you are the Christ
save yourself and us!” According to
Matthew they both mocked and blasphemed. Whatever the case at one point one of
the criminals rebuked the other. Maybe
Isaiah’s prophecy came to his mind. At
some point, though, he realized the Jesus was innocent and not deserving of
death.
(Luke 23:40-41)
But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong."
This is a declaration of faith. We’re sinners. We deserve death, we are receiving the
punishment we deserve. “The wages of sin
is death.” But this man is
innocent. He’s committed no sin. Then he
turns to Jesus and says, “Remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
He’s saying I believe You are whom You say You are. A
powerful declaration of faith.
When I lead someone through a Sinner’s Prayer. I always lead them through this. I start with Dear God, I know I’m a
sinner. I ask you right now to forgive
me of my sin. That what the criminal on
the cross was saying. I know I’m a
sinner. He’s asking Jesus for
forgiveness, “Remember me.“ Jesus says
to him, “This day you will be in Paradise with me.” This is how simple salvation is to
receive. It’s not about Bible knowledge.
It’s not abut being a good person. It’s
about faith and repentance.
Let me finish off by explaining this:
(John 3:16-18)
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
So according to this, salvation is received by believing the
only begotten Son of God. Believing that Jesus is who He said He was. We see that in this Man on the cross. He didn’t have good works. He was a criminal. He didn’t read and understand the scriptures.
He just believed Jesus.
Secondly there is this:
(Romans 10:9-10)
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Confess with your mouth.
That is don’t be afraid to speak that Jesus is God. That He died for our sins. That He is the
“way, the truth and the life.” Do not be ashamed to say it!.
(Matthew 10:32-33)
"Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
When the one criminal rebuked the other he was confessing
whom Jesus was. He confessed with his
mouth.
Finally, there is one other component – Repentance:
(Acts 17:30-31)
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."
God is looking for repentance from us. That word repent literally means to turn
around. As if you are going one way –
away from God (into worldliness and sin), and you turn around and begin to move
toward God (away from worldliness and sin).
Repentance is more than just saying, “I’m sorry, forgive me.” It is a change of heart and a change of
lifestyle. I’m not going to live for my
own selfish desires. I want to live for
Jesus.
The lesson in this is that salvation is a gift. There are three things to receive that gift.
Believe, Confess and Repent. It is that
simple. All three things were seen in
the criminal that was crucified with Christ and Jesus said to him: “This day
you will be in paradise with me.”
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