Today is Palm Sunday, the day in the Scriptures when Jesus entered the gates of Jerusalem to the shouts of praise from the people. This praise was short-lived as many of the same people were quick to reject Jesus just a few days later. When Jesus was taken into custody, he declared it was the “hour that darkness reigned.” And in the midst of those darkest moments, Jesus brought the greatest victory. And it’s often in our darkest times of sorrow, grief, loneliness, or broken relationships that God speaks to us of His love and grace – and invites us into that victory. That’s the Jesus we celebrate today!

Where:

26As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women. 28But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ 30People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’ 31For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?

32Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him. 33When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.

34Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.

35The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. 37They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38A sign was fastened above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”

39One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”

40But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

43And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

44By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 45The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. 46Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.

Getting There:

Each Gospel writer invests a lot of time focused on the week of Jesus’ Passion – the triumphal entry through the gates of Jerusalem, the final teachings, the initiation of Communion, the betrayal, arrest, abandonment, denial, the mock trials and marches through the night to the High Priest and the Temple, then to Pilate, to Herod, and back to Pilate before carrying his own machine of execution, the Cross, to the place of crucifixion.

Our passage begins as Jesus, following a third brutal beating, is weighted down with the beam of his cross to begins the march of toward what was named “the place of the Skull.” He was complete exhaustion from the all-night marches and the punishing treatment and Jesus falls under the weight of the wooden cross beam.

And in the crowds among the onlookers from all over the Mediterranean and mixed in with the women of Jerusalem, the Roman centurion conscripts someone to carry this wooden cross behind Jesus as he progressed toward the place of crucifixion. Two things to know here before we move forward:

1. The man conscripted is named Simon and he’s from the Libyan city of Cyrene. But we do know his name and his two sons, Rufus and Alexander, from John’s account. And that means he is known by the churches who would read this Gospel – likely a Christian and perhaps even one of the early Christians who show up helping in mission work in the Mediterranean and help found the church in Antioch in Acts.
2. Jesus was fully deity, but also fully human. And his human body was on the brink of exhaustion.

And today I want to teach on what Jesus had said early on in his own teaching :

• John writes that Jesus explained about this plan to reconcile us to the Father, John 10:18 “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. This command I received from my Father.”

Jesus fully took the mission to completion of going to the Cross for the redemption of a world spinning out of control and restoration of a people who are called by His name.

• After they finally voiced that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 16:21 that, “he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

And today, we focus on the Cross and what it represents to people all over the globe. When Jesus endured the punishment and death of the Cross, he fulfilled the mission of redemption and restoration. And in Luke’s account His words and actions declare what He secures for us from the Cross.

There:

1. Even in the deepest of hurts, Jesus gives forgiveness.

After being nailed onto the Cross and dropped upright into the ground, the four soldiers who formed the security detail for this execution site threw dice for the seamless robe Jesus wore under his outer clothing. The centurion in charge had watched his squad of four divide up Jesus’s sandals, belt, outer robe and head cover. Now they callously wager for the inner robe, not even aware that what they did was prophesied 1000 years before. This was exactly what the Psalmist would prophesy “They divided my clothes and cast lots for my garment.” Psalm 22.

And with the pain of the nails driven into the wood through his hands and feet by the very guards who gambled before him, Jesus called out to the Father and he gave forgiveness.

The immediate forgiveness was for the centurions before him. And we see this fulfilled when the lead centurion later confesses the Jesus must be the son of God.

But that gift of forgiveness extends through the centuries to all who acknowledge that it was our rebellion, our sin, that led Jesus to the Cross. While we didn’t toss dice for His clothes, we risked our eternity by ignoring God’s offer of forgiveness.

That was the very forgiveness I was offered as a young teen – this free gift of forgiveness for being satisfied separated from the Father who created and loved me, this gift of mercy that wipe my guilt and sin away so I could know God and discover what He created me for.

2. Even from the scandal of the Cross, Jesus reigns.

Illustration: When our kids were growing up, I would take some time with each one and read with them (it made for some long nights.) One of the series of books was from a British author named C.S. Lewis.  If you’ve read his Chronicles of Narnia, you know that the first book is about four young children who travel by way of a magic wardrobe to the land of Narnia, and they become Kings and Queens of this mystical land with the help of the powerful lion, Aslan. More than once, Lewis asserts that Narnia is never quite right unless a human was in charge. As a Christian, Lewis is pointing to two essential truths from Scripture:

• God has made you and me stewards over His very own creation. We have been given a position of enjoying, taking care of, and stewarding or managing the resources of our world.
  • Genesis reminds us of this in the Creation story. When he first created humankind, he put them in charge of the land and all that lived on it.
  • And in those first few chapters we see examples of how well we manage what God has given us when we are in relationship with Him; and how badly it goes when we go our own way and ignore the call to be His own. Illustration: During those years as our three kids were beginning to own their choices, I would tell them: if you choose wisely and make good choices in line with our values, it will go well with you, and you will have more control in your life.

Illustration: In the same way, as Narnia goes well when humans are in charge, our world goes well when we represent the Father as we manage the creation He has made.

• But a second truth, and even more important is this. While we are in charge, we also are our best when we live and work in relationship to our Creator. When the Father is in charge of our lives, when we are in covenant with Him and live in relationship to Him, we work best.
  • We are empowered
  • We are creative
  • We are liberated – we find freedom to succeed.
• You and I are our best when we place our lives in a relationship of surrender and obedience to the Father. When we do, we manage life well and fulfill what He has created us to pursue.

This is what is restored to you and to me because Jesus chose to go to the Cross. And as the crowd scoffed and ridiculed Jesus as he hung on the Cross, as they derided him and mocked him, he never quit being who He is: “King”.

In fact, the last nails that were driven into the cross were the ones that secured the sign that declared who was from the top of the Cross.

If an onlooker stumbled into this place of crucifixion:

• First, his eyes were riveted to the brutally beaten and wounded body of Jesus.
• But as quickly as possible, his eyes would escape the horror to discover who might deserve such brutality. And they would see this epigraphae or titulus as it was called.
• It was likely drawn in big black letters over a white graphite smeared background so people could see it from the crowd.
• Each Gospel writer gives what the eyewitnesses saw during the traumatizing and horrendous experience.  
• Above the thorn-crowned head of Jesus declared to the crowds and through the ages, This is Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

Even in his most painful moment, when he was on the Cross, he still reigned.

3. Even in the darkest of moments, Jesus calls us.

One of the most frequently used words in the New Testament that relates to our relationship to Jesus is the word “called.” The Apostle Paul says “we are called to one hope when we are called.” Peter writes that we are “called out of darkness into the wonderful new light.”

All four Gospel accounts record that Jesus was crucified between two robbers, the greater humiliation that He was surrounded by sinners and hung on the very cross that Barabbas the leader of the band of thieves would have died on.  But only Luke records that one thief recognized Jesus for who He was – the sinless Savior.

• What kind of faith this man must have had? Jesus was on a Cross and not a throne. He was not in a visible place to give or grant anything.
• “Remember me, King Jesus” he says, “when you come into your Kingdom.” If anyone could be King, it would be you.
• And this repentant thief received the call. “Today you’ll be there.” What you missed out in your life apart from me, you’ll experience.
• And from the Cross, when darkness ruled, Jesus extended a call to this thief who rightly was being punished. And as his strength ebbed in his own body on his own place of execution, this former thief with a destiny for eternity apart from the Father and all things good, stepped into the beauty of the fulness of the Kingdom of Heaven. Because Jesus called him.

Now Where:

Why has the Cross become such a symbol of hope for us? For the Roman soldiers and rulers, it was a scandal to even mention a crucifixion at a gathering it was so low and reserved for the worst of society. For the Jews, to have a religious leader, much less a Savior, die on a cross was a scandal that declared unworthiness. But for you and for me, the Cross represents the historical act of Jesus that changed our lives.

• He forgave. Scripture says that each of us has revolted in our lives. We have taken our lives for ourselves and left Jesus out of our plans. And we return by declaring no more – I belong to Jesus now. And he forgives.
• He took our shame. Jesus’ death on the Cross was the world’s attempt to humiliate the Son of God. But he took the Cross and made it the place of deliverance and restoration. He called us. He saw our need and knew our name. And by saying yes to this gift of forgiveness and wholeness, we say yes to His calling. To fulfill what he created us to be as a people, as a church, and the gifted and called person you are. But it has to begin at the Cross.
• When Jesus surrendered his Spirit and died, the Gospels say that the earth tremble and darkness, physical darkness fell over the city. And the curtain that kept people from God’s presence in the Temple was split from top to bottom In Jesus’ death, we are invited into His presence to experience His wholeness and forgiveness, and step into His call on our lives.
• And it begins at the cross.