AFulfilled!@
Luke 23:27-43
11-20-2022
In the name of Him who is the fulfillment of all God's promises, dear friends in Christ. For many people, our Gospel Reading today comes as an unexpected shock. In just a few days we’ll celebrate Thanksgiving with all the great food and time to relax with family and friends. But most important, it’s a time to pause and thank God for all His bounty which He has showered upon us this past year. There’s kind of a warm glow in the air as we think of Thanksgiving. And the icing on the cake for our good mood is that Christmas is right around the corner. The advertisements won’t allow you to forget that fast-approaching holiday. So here we are feeling comfy on the Sunday before Thanksgiving and the start of Advent and what do we hear? A heaping helping of the crucifixion story!
According to our logic, something isn’t right with that. Or, as the kids say nowadays, ADude, that=s just wrong on so many levels.” We don=t want to think about the horrible suffering and death of Jesus right now. We’ll do that later on during Lent or Holy Week. But is the crucifixion out of place as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem? Well, not only is it not out of place, but it’s necessary. It’s necessary because the whole purpose of the Christ Child being born was to fulfill the promises of God. And the apex of that fulfillment was when He suffered and died for our sins. That’s why this Last Sunday of the Church Year is commonly called "The Sunday of the Fulfillment." As we work through our Gospel Lesson, you’ll see how God's many promises were indeed fulfilled in Jesus.
The first thing we encounter in the text is the women from Jerusalem who are mourning and lamenting for Jesus. Let’s give them credit. Compared to the rest of the cast of characters in this narrative, these ladies at least showed compassion. But Christ’s response to them shows that compassion is not what’s needed. You see, all too many people look at the crucifixion as a story of terrible suffering by an innocent man. That is certainly true. But if that’s all there is, then it won’t save you. Likewise with the birth of Christ. It’s easy to get caught up in the sweet story of a little baby born into humble conditions. People get sentimental about it. But if we fail to see that it was the eternal Son of God who was born there, then we miss the point. That divine, holy child grew up to be the dying Savior on the cross. That was His mission from the get-go. His death was the fulfillment of God's purpose for sending Him into our world.
Jesus is led out and crucified as a criminal who had transgressed the law. And in one sense that was true. Not because He Himself had broken any laws of God or man. Rather, He took all our sinful transgressions upon Himself and He became the criminals and lawbreakers that we are. St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." That sinless Babe of Bethlehem suffered for our sins. 600 years before Christ Isaiah prophesied, A[H]e was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.@ Jesus dying on the cross for our transgressions was a direct fulfillment of that promise made through Isaiah.
From the cross Jesus prayed for His persecutors saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." That in itself is pretty amazing. In the midst of His unjust suffering, Jesus didn’t think of Himself. Instead, He had the eternal welfare of sinners on His mind. But I’ve got a question for you: Who was He praying for? The soldiers who had crucified Him? The people who were mocking Him? Yes, yes and yes some more. He was praying for ALL sinners, including you and me. Blinded by sin, we don't know what we are doing in our rebellion against God. We blindly reject God's Son and mock Him. Ignorance is no excuse though, and that’s why Jesus prayed for us. This too, Isaiah had foretold about Christ. In chapter 53 he says, "For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." His praying for our forgiveness was the fulfillment of another promise of God.
And what about the mocking by the religious rulers who stood below the cross? They said, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!" I seriously wonder if they realized that they were speaking words that were nearly identical to Psalm 22. Listen to what David says there: "All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; AHe trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!" The irony of what those mocking rulers said is that unknowingly they were speaking the truth! By choosing to not save Himself from this miserable death Christ was indeed saving others, the whole world in fact. Even though they didn’t believe their own words, Jesus truly was the "Christ of God, his Chosen One!"
Next, we hear how the soldiers showed contempt for Jesus. Do you recall what they did to Him during His trial? They put a scarlet robe and a crown of thorns on Him. Then they mockingly bowed before Him and said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" The inscription that Pilate ordered to be hung over His head on the cross was meant to add further insult. It said, "This is the King of the Jews." It was a sarcastic swipe at not only Jesus but also the Jewish leaders who had brought the charges against Him. But here again it was a strange irony. Jesus was and is a King. As He told Pilate, His Kingdom is not of this world. So, unknowingly, these insults were proclaiming the truth. This also was a fulfillment of something that was spoken about Jesus long before then. When Christ was born in Bethlehem, wisemen from the east came looking for Him. They first went to Jerusalem and asked where they might find Him. And do you remember what they said? "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." They also brought gifts fit for a king: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Believe it or not, the Magi were unknowingly proclaiming a prophecy about Jesus as the King of Kings.
Last, we come to the two criminals who were crucified with Jesus. The other Gospels tell us that originally, both of them mocked Christ. But then something happened to the one. Perhaps, as he was hanging there dying, he observed what Jesus said and did. How He didn’t curse the people who were cursing Him. And how He prayed for their forgiveness. We’ll never know if he had ever heard the Savior teach. But somehow, he got the correct message about Jesus. First, he confesses that Jesus is totally innocent. And yet, as we saw earlier with the mourning women, that’s not good enough. You can’t equate that with faith. But he also admits that he’s guilty of all his sins and deserves his punishment. Then he turns to Christ and says, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Do you realize what he was confessing in that request? He was professing a sincere faith in Christ. He was acknowledging that Jesus was indeed a heavenly king. This guy knew he and Jesus were about to die, so it’s safe to say he was not thinking of an earthly kingdom. If he was then he would have asked Jesus to save them both from physical death. But with his words he was confessing that Jesus had the power to save his soul from eternal death.
That criminal asked Jesus to remember him. This was not like high schoolers writing sentimental Aforget me not@ notes in each other’s yearbook. Rather, if we look at the Old Testament reading we can see the significance of divine remembering. It says, "The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name." This is referring to God's Book of Life where the names of all true believers are recorded. In his brief request, the criminal on the cross was asking Jesus to write his name in that Book of Life so that when it was opened on Judgment Day he would be included with the rest of the righteous people of God.
The fulfillment of that request was instantaneous. Jesus assures this man that his sins are all forgiven and that he will spend eternity with Him in paradise, which is heaven. This brief exchange between Jesus and that criminal speaks volumes for us. Obviously, Jesus would not have absolved this man of his sins if the guy didn’t have true faith. It may not have been a "mature" faith, but it was a saving faith. He couldn’t do anything to save himself, neither from physical or eternal death. He was desperate for help because his time was quickly running out. So he relied on the mercy of Jesus which was on display right beside him.
The fulfillment of Christ's words to that criminal is also the fulfillment of His promise to us. When we humbly repent of our sins, He forgives us instantly. There’s no need to wait or to work things out on our own. All we need do is, like that criminal, trust in Christ's mercy through His atoning sacrifice for us on the cross. Jesus has given the authority to proclaim that forgiveness to His Church here on earth. He did it so that you could hear from the lips of your Pastor that your sins are indeed forgiven, right now, not later. Having heard those words of forgiveness, then Jesus also says to us, "Truly, I say to you... you will be with me in paradise." Just as Jesus fulfilled that promise to the criminal, He will fulfill it for us. In Baptism, He has written your name in the Book of Life and because it’s written there, He will certainly remember you on the Last Day. Jesus Christ has fulfilled all of God's other promises, and He will fulfill this one for you too.
So you see, the Sunday of the Fulfillment is an ideal way for us to launch into the Advent season. Hopefully our eyes and our ears are now more tuned in to those many promises which were fulfilled in the first coming of our Savior in Bethlehem along with those promises that were also fulfilled as He went to the cross to die for our sins. God is faithful and true to ALL His promises. For that we offer Him our humble thanks and praise. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!