Explosions of Grace

ESPN, documentary, The Four Falls of Buffalo traces the amazing run the Buffalo Bill's football team had back between 1990 and 1993 when they set an NFL record by appearing in four straight super bowls. The only problem was they lost all four of them and have never been back since but it was a great run nonetheless. Probably the hardest loss of all was the first one. In 1990 the game was really tight all the way through the game. The game with the New York Giants toward the end of the game it looked like the Giants would certainly win and then Buffalo got the ball back and their great quarterback Jim Kelly had a minute and a half to go down the field. They made it to about the 30 yard line setting up a 47 yard field goal by their kicker Scott Norwood who'd been great all season long. 47 yard kick no brainer he'll make it for sure. If you watch the documentary or remember that game you may remember the iconic scene of all the New York Giants players on their knees praying holding hands praying that he would miss the field goal and sure enough the field goal went wide right. Those two words uttered by sportscaster Al Michaels became synonymous with Buffalo's frustration in the Super Bowl wide right just barely missing and they lost that game twenty to nineteen with eight seconds left because of that missed field goal. Obviously no one felt the crushing blow of that loss more than Scott Norwood the kicker. The team went back to Buffalo as he tells the story he drove around the city where the Super Bowl was all night long couldn't sleep his wife trying to comfort him trying to encourage him trying to say words that would lift him out of his shock and depression but it just wouldn't lift he was devastated so they go back to Buffalo and he doesn't even want to show his face in Buffalo certainly doesn't want to show up at a gathering in the city a few days later we're thirty thousand fans we're gonna welcome their team home so he tried to kind of hide behind all the bigger taller players and just move into the background and all of a sudden a chance started going up from thirty thousand people we want Scott we want Scott and it shocked him but he couldn't deny what was happening and so he made his way to the microphone fighting back tears obviously having nothing prepared to say he said this I know that I have never felt more loved than I do right now expecting that a whole city and a football organization would condemn him he was the amazing recipient of a taste of grace one sports caster would go on to call it the finest moment in Buffalo sports history for the city to show that kind of grace well that's the kind of grace God shows us it's the kind of grace that Jesus showed on his way to the cross God reaches out to people who have no reason to expect anything from him and shows amazing grace people of us who do not deserve anything from God and God shows us a grace nowhere is that more visibly demonstrated than on the way to the cross and in the first few hours of Jesus suffering on the cross describe for us in Luke 23 so if you would find your place please in your Bible this morning in Luke chapter 23 where we find an amazing series of demonstrations of grace in the road to the cross and in the first three hours on the cross now crucifixion was common in that day Roman soldiers did this daily there were hundreds even thousands of Jewish people that were hung on Roman crosses for their crimes as a demonstration of Roman power so they're just going about this with business as usual attitudes and yet this crucifixion will be unlike any they have ever seen there will be some amazing surprises along the way found in Jesus interaction with everyone that he comes in contact with on the way to the cross and as he hangs on the cross every interaction of Jesus will be an amazing surprise for those around him one commentator calls these interactions with people explosions of grace dazzling explosions of grace and that's what I want us to look at this morning if there is one word that sums up the way Jesus interacted with others as he went to the cross and then as he hung on the cross if there's one word that demonstrates what happened in those hours it is the word grace and it is amazing grace as much as he has already suffered in the road leading up to the cross as much as he suffers on the cross he is still thinking of others on the way to the cross everyone Jesus comes in contact with receives an explosion of grace I want to still look quickly at five of them this morning five contacts that Jesus makes with people on the way to the crucifixion and during those first three hours all of them are explosions of grace totally unexpected by those who received them the first in Luke 23 and verse 26 is grace to a bystander look at verse 26 as the soldiers led him away have get this seat in your mind with those words here's what we're thinking of here's what we're looking at Jesus being led in a company of four Roman soldiers positioned around him like four corners of a square Jesus in the middle carrying on his shoulders and across his back a long wooden beam that would weigh anywhere from 30 to a hundred pounds depending on how it was made struggling to carry that weight with those four Roman soldiers goading him along one soldier out in front of all of them with a sign that tells the crime for which this criminal is being executed so they led him away but notice as the soldiers led him away verse 26 says they seized Simon from Syreen who was on his way in from the country and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus now Jesus was a carpenter in his prime from the time he was a teenager up until he was 30 he worked in a carpenter shop during his ministry traveled by foot up and down the the miles and miles of dusty roads in Galilee and Samaria and Judea Jesus was in excellent prime physical condition at this age in his like 33 years old but the agony in the garden a night with no sleep the beatings he had endured early that morning the horrific scourging with the cat of nine tails which would rip into his flesh and tear his flesh from his bones and open his back back in sides and ribcage wide open all of that has created in him a horrible loss of strength and blood and tissue he's faint no doubt he's having trouble keeping his balance with that heavy beam on his back the soldiers must have felt that he might not even make it to the site of the crucifixion and so what are they going to do their answer comes in the form of a very surprised North African man from Syrien which is present they Libya in North Africa he's just coming into town and probably feels like oh man I made the wrong turn on the wrong street and he comes on this procession of Roman soldiers coming out with some somewhat three criminals actually who are coming out and crosses and all of a sudden he is seized by Roman soldiers and forced to carry the beam that Jesus can no longer support but there is much more to his story than what happened that day in Mark's gospel as he describes this scene Mark says it this way in Mark chapter 15 in verse 21 a certain man from Syrien Simon oh by the way the father of Alexander and Rufus was passing by on his way in from the country they forced him to carry the cross Mark adds two sons of Simon by name indicating that the people to whom Mark is writing would know who he's talking about Mark's gospel is written to Rome to Roman believers to the church in Rome on behalf of the apostle Peter and so obviously the people that should know Alexander and Rufus are people in Rome in the Roman church which makes it more interesting to look at the end of the book of Romans when Paul writes to the Romans he greets someone in Rome look at it in Romans 16 verse 13 Greek Rufus chosen in the Lord and his mother who has been a mother to me too is it the same Rufus that Mark mentions as being the son of Simon the Syrien quite possibly most commentators fielder is a connection there so in all likelihood the scenario goes something like this Simon is walking into town with these two boys and they happen upon this scene procession to the cross Simon is grabbed by the Roman soldiers forced to carry the cross being all the way to the site of crucifixion evidently they stay there and watch could be that the well-known song watch the lamb really is kind of what happened here but as they watch Simon becomes convinced that this is the lamb of God the lamb sent by God the son of the son of God to save the sins of the world could it be it seems that he and his family would come to faith end up in Rome where his two sons would be well known in the Roman church if that is the case and it certainly seems to be very likely there is an explosion of grace on the part of our Lord to this man who ended up carrying the beam of the cross for the savior the first explosion of grace the first person Jesus comes in contact with through a series of unlikely circumstances evidently comes to know him as the true lamb of God and leads his family also to know him and they become faithful members of the church later in Rome what a story grace to a bystander but then Jesus interacts with some others as he is still on his way to the site of the crucifixion verses 27 to 31 describe his grace to the mourners the verse 27 a large number of people followed him including women who mourned and wailed for him now these were not women disciples necessarily they were not the women who followed Jesus in his ministry and ministered to him and the disciples providing for some of their needs and so forth it wasn't that group of women evidently because there were a group of women in Jerusalem who did this daily they would position themselves along the route where Jewish criminals were being led to execution they would offer them whatever comfort they could they would offer them prayers they would weep for them they would if possible give them a drink of water they were kind and compassionate souls who gathered on the route toward crucifixion regularly to try to provide some kind of comfort for people they saw as fellow Jews being unjustly executed by the Roman Empire well on this day Jesus turns to them and says something to them look at verse 28 Jesus turned and said to them daughters of Jerusalem do not weep for me weep for yourselves and your children for the time will come when you will say blessed are the childless women the wounds that never bore in the breast that never nursed then they will say to the mountains fall on us and to the hills cover us Jesus looks at these women as weak as he is as excruciating as the pain is for these women who greet him along the way with wailing and tears and words of comfort he turns to them with words of warning gracious warning words that warned them of judgment to come and the judgment to come is on the whole nation of Israel if they do not receive their Messiah and they are in the process of rejecting him right now if they don't receive him as their Messiah and Savior then the wrath of God and the judgment of Rome will fall on them and that would happen years later when Rome would attack the city and literally destroy the city of Jerusalem and scatter Jews all over the world Jesus is prophesying that destruction that time that would come a judgment on them for rejecting their Messiah and then he utters this proverb in verse 31 for if people do these things when the tree is green what will happen when it is dry that proverbial statement means when people will reject their Messiah when there should be right fruit on the tree when there should be a response to the offer of the kingdom the kingdom is in your midst and the king is in your midst and when they will reject him when that's obvious and can be seen then what will happen when there is no free bearing fruit with green leaves when there is no kingdom present when there is no king present when all that's gone and everything is dried up if you think judgment is bad now it will be much worse than that's what the proverb means so Jesus is graciously warning them of the judgment to come warning them by grace that they can avoid that judgment if they will but turn to him as their Savior and so here's another explosion of grace grace being offered to avert the judgment of God on the part of these women mourners but the procession procession finally makes its way to the sight of the crucifixion and Jesus next will interact with the soldiers who are putting him on the cross and yes there is another explosion of grace this time grace to the soldiers the reverse 32 two other men both criminals were also let out with him to be executed by the way this is purposeful on the part of Rome Rome will place Jesus between two criminals as though to tell a watching multitude as far as we're concerned you say some of you at least say he's your king that's the charge against him as far as we're concerned he is a criminal among criminals there are three criminals being crucified here today and so two other men are let out to be executed as well look at verse 33 when they came to the place called the skull they crucified him there along with the other criminals one on his right the other on his left we read over those words they crucified him and we just have images of Christ on the cross and he's not moving he's just there in a picture crucifixion did not need to be explained to anybody in the first century every Jew every Roman every Greek had seen hundreds maybe thousands of instances of people hanging on across they knew what that was all about they didn't they didn't need to have it explained for them for us it's just a passing reference maybe a picture we've seen and that's it we don't really understand what was happening once they got to the site of crucifixion the beam that would have been carried by the criminal to be executed would be thrown down on the ground the criminal in this case Jesus would be thrown backwards against it and his arms outstretched possibly tied at the arm or the hand to the cross and then a nail driven right through the carpal tunnel area to hold his wrists securely in place nailed to the cross in that fashion every nerve screening out in pain that crossbar would then be hoisted up with ropes and he would be fastened to a beam that was already protruding upward from the ground there would be a small little platform near the bottom of that upright beam on which the executed person's legs feet would be placed usually overlapping at a nail be driven through them to hold them in place that little piece that little platform piece of wood was so that the person on the cross could hoist themselves up you see the very position they were in caused the lungs to be distended and as they continued to suffer they would have trouble breathing and they would have to push themselves up to catch a breath of air every time Jesus would do that his openly flayed back would rub against the splinters of that wooden beam unimaginable suffering horrible pain every muscle aching in pain and yet in the midst of all of that verse 34 Jesus said Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing who is the them who is the they in this passage obviously the soldiers the soldiers are crucifying him they are the ones at the end of the verse dividing up his clothes by casting lots I think Jesus requests for the Father to forgive them is an explosion of grace to these soldiers and I believe it is to the soldiers alone the Jewish religious leaders knew exactly what they were doing they'd been trying to kill Jesus for over three years the soldiers they're just acting on orders they have no idea who this is they don't know what they're doing they don't understand their part in this divine drama and so Jesus asks for the specific act of nailing him to the cross that God will forgive them because they are truly ignorant of what they're doing but really this is a picture of what the cross is all about because all of us are sinners and there is a sense in which because our sin is what Jesus died for all of us were a part of putting him on that cross and therefore the same statement is made in our behalf because the cross is all about God showing his grace to us by forgiving of our sin because our sin is punished in the person of Christ so Jesus dies for my sin he dies for your sin and that's how we can be forgiven if we place our faith our confidence our trust in Jesus as our savior the one who died to pay for our sins then God offers us salvation freely by his grace not based on anything we do but based on what Jesus did for us on the cross evidently that amazing demonstration of grace where most every other criminal who had any bit of sense left about him would curse the Roman soldiers who had put him on the cross Jesus amazingly demonstrates grace and asks for forgiveness for those who put him on the cross an amazing explosion of grace it evidently found its way into the heart of at least one soldier the centurion who would be responsible for managing what was happening at the cross who was the head of that little band of Roman soldiers carrying out the crucifixion carrying out that execution that centurion will watch and listen for six hours he will hear these words come from Jesus lifts unlike anything he's ever heard from anyone else he has put on a cross and when he dies when Jesus dies Matthew and Mark both tell us that this centurion will cry out surely this man was the son of God somehow he and his part had come to believe that the things that were Jesus was being accused of were literally true and this man was the son of God so Jesus offer a forgiveness this explosion of grace finds its way into the heart of at least that one Roman soldier and I'm convinced that he recognizing who Jesus was was also saved grace to the soldiers but then Jesus interacts with some other people and this is amazing in itself this is grace to the mockers to those who would mock Jesus versus 35 to 39 Matthew's gospel describes what the bystanders the passerby's were saying to Jesus about claiming to be the son of God and the Messiah coming down from the cross and saving himself first 35 here says the people stood watching and the rulers even sneered at him so the rulers chime in their mockery as well notice what they say at middle of verse 35 he saved others let him save himself if he is God's Messiah the chosen one so the rulers first join in with the people seeing the evidence of their hatred toward Jesus the dripping goal of this scene on the cross that is still not enough for them their thirst for revenge against him is still not satisfied and so they sneer they mock they hurl insults at him they admit that he saved others they have to admit that that's unavoidable but now they mock him for his seeming inability to save himself if you really are the son of God if you really are the Messiah don't you have the power to save yourself you say others come on let's see you save yourself and they continue to mock him and here's the amazing explosion of grace Jesus stays silent never says a word back here the Bible says that there were 72,000 angels waiting for the voice of Jesus to call them and deliver him he had said that the Peter in the garden when Peter thought he had to fend off the 600 Roman soldiers that were coming to arrest Jesus Jesus says Peter puts your sword away there are 12 legions of angels I could call 72,000 angels waiting perched on the precipice of heaven just waiting for the call of the son of God and they would immediately come to his rescue but Jesus doesn't call them because the only way you and I can be saved is for him to stay on that cross that's the only way we can be saved so there's no word in retaliation to those who mock him unjustly no retaliation and then the soldiers they think let's get on the fun look at verse 36 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 so they see that notice and they start entering into the mockery as well sign up there says you're the king of the Jews if you are save yourself Jesus had refused a narcotic when they first put him on the cross Matthew's gospel tells us that they offered him wine mixed with gall which was a narcotic designed to deaden some of the pain the Romans offered Roman soldiers offered it not for the convenience of the person being executed but for their convenience so there wouldn't be as much fighting back as they were putting the person on the cross Jesus refused that drink Matthew's gospel tells us so now they mock him by saying well you wouldn't take the drink we offered you before the narcotic we offered you you want to try some of our stuff we got the good stuff here the the vinegar wine vinegar we bought out to drink while we're waiting for you guys to die come on we'll give you some of our stuff how does Jesus respond not a word absolute silence so the crowd is mocking him the religious leaders are mocking him the soldiers are now mocking him and now the thieves join in look at verse 38 39 one of the criminals who hung their hurled insults at him or to the Messiah save yourself and us the other gospels tell us that both of the criminals started this line of mockery and then one of them falls silent while the other continues how does Jesus respond to now mockery coming from both sides of him and all around him absolute silence I would say to you this may be the most amazing explosion of grace of all that Jesus in the midst of such inhumane unjust treatment unfrue mockery never says a word in his defense what an explosion of grace when at any moment he could have called angels to flatten everybody there and deliver him from the cross amazing grace but that leads me to one last person that Jesus will interact with on those first three hours on the cross he shows grace to a thief to the one thief who had grown silent and had stopped mocking verse 39 has told us that one of the criminals was mocking him verse 40 says 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 you see that confession he knows he's done wrong he knows he's a sinner but then notice what he says next but this man has done nothing wrong now how can he come to that conclusion he probably never met maybe never even heard of Jesus before this day he too has listened to the accusations that he is the King of the Jews that he is the son of God that he saved others he's heard all of that and he's seen that Jesus does not respond the only thing he has said is to ask forgiveness for those who put him on the cross and evidently this thief has come under such conviction that he realizes first of all he deserves what he's getting he deserves death he is a sinner but he also recognizes the one who's dying beside him does not deserve it because he indeed is the son of God he indeed is the Messiah he indeed is the Savior he indeed is the Holy One who does not deserve what's happened to him so this man has come to the conclusion that all of us must come to if we will be saved and that is that we are lost and dying sinners who cannot get the heaven on our own and that the one who died on that center cross for us was not dying for his own sins but was dying for hours he is the Savior we are sinners he is the Savior that's what you have to understand and believe and accept and trust in order to be saved and so by this time this man under great conviction this thief is ready to call out to God for salvation and he does so in verse 42 then he said Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom what an amazing statement I think it shows again that with limited time he has come to a firm grasp of who Jesus is and how he's to get the heaven notice he does not say remember my works he doesn't try to paint a good picture of himself he doesn't say to Jesus remember my good intentions I know I was a bad person or I wouldn't be here but I had good intentions I really was not that bad a person in my life he didn't say that he didn't say remember my religious upbringing he just cries out in faith remember me save me it is solely a cry for mercy and grace he is basically saying I have nothing to offer you I have nothing to give you I'm a sinner who deserves what I'm getting save me save me notice Jesus response amazing for 43 this explosion of grace Jesus answered and truly I tell you today you will be with me in paradise where in paradise word only used to other times in the New Testament both times it's clear it's heaven so Jesus is saying today you will be with me in heaven in the presence of God where Jesus is going after he dies his spirit will go into the very presence of God and he says today you'll be with me in paradise today in other words when you die there's no probationary period no waiting period no ultimate judgment and then you get there no today as soon as you die you will be with me in heaven so Jesus confirms that salvation is not by our works salvation is through faith in the Son of God who died for us and the promise is that the moment you trust Jesus as your savior you are a child of God and the moment you die you go into the presence of the Lord God makes this promise to whoever will call on the name of the Lord for salvation just like this man did Romans 10 13 this promise is made to us for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved no uncertainty there no waiting period there no let's wait and see just stick it out okay see how you're gonna do and we'll decide whether or not you get to heaven no everyone who calls on the name of the Lord like this dying thief who says I'm a sinner I'm lost I deserve death I don't have anything to offer you I trust what you're doing for me on the cross to be my forgiveness everyone who calls on the name of the Lord that way will be saved will be saved no question promises made think of this salvation is not by our works salvation is available to the very worst no matter what you've done no matter where you've come from salvation is available if you turn to him in faith it is never too late for you to be saved all of these things the thief on the cross portrays for us and the full blessing of heaven is promised even to those who are saved at the last minute even someone on their deathbed who calls upon the Lord for salvation will immediately upon their death enter into the presence of God that's what the thief on the cross teaches us what an explosion of grace many years ago a group of university professors and other scholars were debating in a religious conference in London England the merits of various religions and they were trying to see what is unique about Christianity as it's compared with other religions what does Christianity offer that no other religion even proposes to offer and they came up with different ideas could it be the incarnation but they said no no there are other religions that describe a god figure or gods becoming man well could it be resurrection no there are other religions that have their their savior their deliverer being resurrected what is it what is it and while they were debating this CS Lewis walked into the room said what's all of us about they told him what they were debating and talking about and CS Lewis and his non shelon somewhat gruff way said oh that's easy it's grace and as they began to think they came to the realization he's right he's right every other religion bases the hope of some kind of eternal life or reward in the future based on what you do Hinduism has its doctrine of karma if you are good enough in this life you can move up a little bit more a little bit more a little bit more till you finally reach paradise the Buddhist has his eightfold path the Jew has observance of the law keeping the law the Muslim has the five pillars all of them something we do you do in order to get to heaven only Christianity only the Bible only Christ offers salvation solely through grace you cannot do anything to earn it or contribute to it in any way it is the gracious free gift of God based on what Jesus did for us on the cross let's remember that this morning as we protect of these elements of communion that remind us that Jesus died on the cross remember these explosions of grace the cross is all about grace it is all about the free gift of salvation through Christ and what he did on the cross and that's what we're remembering today that Jesus died for you and died for me and because he took our sin God in his grace offers the free gift of salvation would you bow with me in prayer father thank you for the cross thank you for grace thank you for the way that Jesus even on the way to the cross and as he hangs on the cross demonstrates grace to every one he comes in contact with and father we know that he wants to demonstrate that same grace to everyone who's here this morning I pray that if there's anyone here this morning you've never trusted Jesus that today they will come to the the awareness that salvation is offered them through what you did on the cross and they will receive your gift of grace today in Jesus name we pray