Emotionaly Healthy Christianity

The Story of Jesus on the Cross

The Story of Jesus on the Cross

(Luke 23:43) And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise”

Here was Christ fulfilling His ultimate mission, to lay down His innocent life for all of humanity to be redeemed to the Father, to fix a broken creation, to crush the head of the serpent.  Here the sorrowful wanderer is in sight of his ultimate goal.  That for all the rejection He had suffered, for all the wounds that mankind put on the body of the gentle healer, we was almost finished, almost done.

But such was the character of Christ, that even as he was laying down His life, He paused to pick up a thief who had lost his way, and wanted to come home.  That even rejected and despised of men, beaten and marred, even in agony, He would stoop to pick up one more thief, one more murderer, one more prostitute, one more gossip, one more Pharisee, one more homosexual, one more cheater, one more adulterer, or one more lost soul then he would.  This is the God that came to seek and save those who are lost.  He would leave the church waiting while He fed a homeless man.

When every word hurt, when every syllable burned, His words were still those of His Father.

When was the last time your words hurt? When was the last time they burned like bile in your mouth? Was it when they said “I don’t love you anymore, and I never did”? Did they say “I hate you, I’m leaving”?  Did they say “Our Company doesn’t need you anymore, we’re letting you go”? Did they say “Mabey you’d be more comfortable at a different church”?  Did they say “I hate you, I wish you weren’t my mom, I wish you weren’t my dad”?  Maybe they didn’t know you were there, and they were just talking about you like you were a burden, like you were worthless, like you didn’t matter.

Can you bring life to death, can you bring love to hate, can you forgive the ones that wounded you?  Will you revile them, will you bring at them all the Hell you possess, or do you have Heaven to offer?

What words will you choose, when every word hurts, when every syllable burns?

(Luke 23:43) And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise”

The Story of the Second Thief

The Story of the Second Thief

(Luke 23:40-41) But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong”.

And I’m not sure how theologically convinced the second man was.  That he understood the implications of the man hanging next to him, that he might be the Messiah, the Son of God.  He had heard of him, he knew that he claimed to be a King, but why then was he hanging next to him on a cross? Perhaps it was the juxtaposition of having unbridled hate hanging there beside unbridled love, and figuring if a cross was his only choice, to choose to hang by this one.  Marred more than any man was marred.  The Physician who would not heal himself.  Was there still some kindness flowing behind that broken visage?  Could he make out the gentle brow of a healer hidden under a crown of thorns?

Was there just that part of him that still hoped? The faintest glimmer of saving faith.  The smallest candle of repentance. He couldn’t make it right. He couldn’t climb down off the cross and payback all that he had stolen, or give life back to any whose he had taken. He couldn’t go to the families and ask forgiveness. All he had left was his heart, and his words.

And when you think of the “thief on the cross”, this is the one you think of, not the one who railed, but the one who repented.  One goes to paradise, and one remains lost, all because of the words they chose.

What words did he chose when every word hurts, when every syllable burns?

(Luke 23:42) And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

The Story of the First Thief

The Story of the First Thief

(Luke 23:39) One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

This first thief, even in this moment, still used his words to wound, still stabbing at an unfair world until the very end.  He had grown so accustomed to using the power of his words to wound that even in this moment, possibly his last moments, he could only use them to wound others. Words to him were not the honest expression of the soul, but a weapon to be wielded against those who might wound him.

Like Invictus the first thief’s head was bloody but unbowed. Though eternity was fast approaching him, he would not accept the help of any man, nor bow to any God other than his own pride.  Thinking “I may be low, but if there is even one person lower than me, one more neck on which I can place my boot, I will give them hell.”

Maybe at one point he had thought to change his ways, that someday when the opportunity arose he would straighten up and settle down, become a better person.  But that day never came.  The only thing that did come was the cross, was being caught, being judged and now being executed. So he sought to give Hell to the only one now offering him Heaven. He had not the means to escape his punishment.  He had no one else that cared what he said.  All he had left were a few words, and he used those words to rail at the Christ.

What words did he chose when every word hurt, when every syllable burned?

What do you say when every word hurts, when every syllable burns?

What do you say when every word hurts, when every syllable burns?

As a preacher, my words are my craft.  They are what I seek from the Lord to serve to His people. There is a reason that there is no “sermon from the cross”, no treaty, no thesis. It’s only seven words.  Because the means of execution that was crucifixion was designed to make everything hurt, to put the weight of your body on your lungs.  It was death by asphyxiation in the slowest way possible.  Every word required pain, and was bought in agony.  Even more so for Christ, whose back whipped and beaten, to push up against the wounds.  So every word spoken here was bought at a great price, and each word hurt, and any of them could be their last. 

So I will tell you the part of the story that is mine to tell, the story about three men, and the words they spoke, while they hung dying…