The
Ultimate Second Chance
Luke 23: 33 – 43
I grew up in
-they ensured I received the finest religious
training possible
-every morning and every evening my father
would tell me the stories of our
ancestors...about their
400 years of slavery in
miraculously freed
them
--then each week we went to the synagogue
in Japhia
---there we worshipped and received
instruction in the Jewish faith
My parents, of course,
expected those experiences to form and strengthen
my beliefs, but instead
they actually fueled a seething anger
-how
could Yahweh save my people back then…but now allow these
Romans to oppress of my
people?
-how could my people sit idly by and watch their
nation fall apart?
My life fell apart the night a group of drunken Roman soldiers beat my
father
mercilessly and left
him for dead
-he managed to hang on for two agonizing
days as we watched helplessly
-the
day he died marked the beginning of the end for me because I swore
in the presence
of my family that I would not only avenge my father's
murder, but
that I would do what none of them had the courage to do: I
would do
whatever I could to free my people from this tyranny
I left for
with some people who
knew some people who saw eye-to-eye with my
political point of
view
-pretty soon I found myself in a gang of
terrorists
--we'd live in caves or in secret rooms of our
friends' houses...but the key
was that we were
always on go—we never stayed in same place two
days in a
row
-sometimes
we'd sneak into camps of the Roman soldiers at night
--we’d steal their horses, set fires, and
destroy their weapons
-escape
was never a problem because we knew the backcountry better
than anyone...and
it wasn’t long until we’d gained quite a reputation
--the Romans secretly feared us, and
most Jews secretly admired us
-we were convinced
we were ready for the big time—
As fate would have it,
we could not have had better timing
-we planned to try to enter the city
unnoticed one Sunday morning…but
there was a
perfect diversion: Jesus, that teacher
from
making His
entrance into the city that same day—this would be perfect!
--we couldn’t have planned it better
ourselves
-with every eye—Jewish and Roman—on
Him, it was a piece of cake
--we just pretended to be part of the
crowd
--hey, we can say, "Hosanna"
with the best of them
-our plot to assassinate the Roman governor
Pontius Pilate was underway
The week went pretty
smoothly as we scoped everything out
-with this Jesus in town, nobody had time to
pay attention to us
--we simply pretended we were in town to
celebrate the Jewish Passover
-it was all to go down on Thursday, but
things went terribly wrong
--we underestimated Pontius Pilate's
security detail...Pilate may have
been a
stooge, his bodyguards certainly were not!
-when the dust settled, we didn’t fare too
well
--only two of our gang managed to
escape
--one, Joachim,
was killed
--Barabbas killed one of the Roman guards,
but he was captured
--another one, Jonas, was also
arrested…along with me
We soon discovered the
Roman system of justice wastes no time
-Barabbas was convicted of murder...and all
three of us were found guilty of
insurrection
--we were condemned to die by
crucifixion
--our
time on death row would be short—our execution date was set for
the
following morning
--we spent our last night in a cold, dark
prison cell, chained to a wall
At dawn, two guards came
into the cell and unchained Barabbas
-they didn't say much, but you could tell
they were pretty angry
--they
mumbled something about Barabbas being set free and that that
teacher, Jesus, was going to take his place
-I couldn't believe it!
--why Barabbas? He was the one who murdered the guard!
---it
wasn't fair
-but
then I began to think—why Jesus?
--I didn't know much, but I couldn't imagine
Him doing anything worthy of
death,
especially death on a cross...nothing about this made any sense
I didn’t have much time
to think because soon after that they came for us...for
Jonas
and me
-they beat us senseless with whip that had
pieces of bone/metal in it
--they lashed the crossbeam across each of
our backs and ordered us to
walk, carrying
our own execution stake, to the hill called “The Skull”
We were completely
exhausted by the time we made it outside the city gate
to the place of
crucifixion
-Jesus was so bad off—because he had been
beaten far worse than we
had been—the
Roman soldiers had to pull a guy from the crowd to carry
His cross
-they
laid us down, strapped us to our cross, and nailed our feet and hands
--when they hoisted us up into the air, the
crowd cheered
---why couldn’t they understand that Jonas
and I were dying for them?
But their focus
was on Jesus...and man, they really let Him have it
-they yelled at Him, insulted Him, made fun
of Him, called Him the worst
names you can imagine
--maybe it was just to get my mind off my own
pain, but I joined them
--it’s
sad to say, but it made me feel better to ridicule someone else,
especially somebody who seemed so
helpless
That's when it
happened...with the screaming and the pounding of the
nails still ringing in our ears...Jesus said,
"Father, forgive them. They don't
understand what they are doing."
Forgive them? Them? These
Romans? The ones with the big hammers?
-is this guy totally nuts?
--that's the last thing I'll ever do!
-but as the hours pass, I could not shake
those words
--they
continued to ring in my mind even louder than the pounding of the
nails—forgive them...forgive them...forgive
them
I watched, silently now,
as Jesus asked a friend to care for His mother
-His mother?
How can He think about anybody else at a time like this?
--then
I remembered my mother…I didn't even know if she were alive
---if
she knew what was happening…it'd break her heart
-and although part of me wanted to turn away
from Him, my heart was
drawn to this teacher, this miracle
worker, this prophet...or was there more
to Him than that? could He be who He claimed to be?
I couldn't believe I
even allowed the thought to come into my mind
-I mean, how could this thirty-something
homeless man be the Messiah?
--how
in the world would He be able to save
--is
He a King?...and is His throne a cross?
---how ridiculous is that?
-still, this man was just a few feet from
me...and I heard and saw the most
incredible love and forgiveness flow from
Him as freely the blood running
down is face
--and I knew I had to make a choice
about this Jesus
And that’s when I asked
the question that would define my life and ultimately
would determine my eternity
-“Aren’t You the Christ? Save Yourself and us!”
--I’ll admit it sounds rather harsh,
looking back on it, but I had to know
---after all, I was dying...this
wasn’t a gee-whiz, hypothetical,
theological question...my life depended on
whether or not this
“King” had the power to rescue
me from this Roman cross...I
mean, if he couldn’t do that...then how in the world could He
expect me to believe that He’s
the Savior of the world?
I waited...I hoped...and
I was this close to believing that
the spikes were
about to come out of the wood...and I would
be free...and alive
-but it never happened
That’s when my last-chance
hopes were interrupted by Jonas asking me,
"Don’t
you fear God since you are under the same sentence? We are
punished justly, for we are getting what our
deeds deserve. But this man
has done nothing wrong.”
-well, I hope that made ol’ Jonas feel better
--I mean, if he wants to stick up for
this guy who has the worst Messiah
complex in history...this guy who
is just-as-good-as-dead as we are
---well, good luck with that,
Jonas
But it’s what I heard
next that really shocked me
-Jonas turned to this imposter hanging on the
cross between us and asked
him, "Jesus…remember me…when You
come…into…Your kingdom"
That's it, Jonas? No sacrifice, no offering, no good deeds?
-just
throw yourself at the mercy of Jesus…the Christ on a cross?
--ha...hope that works out well for you,
Jonas ol’ buddy...
I was intrigued,
however, to see what would happen next
-I honestly expected Jesus to confess...to
admit his true identity...that he’s
really just a carpenter’s son from the
backwater town of
parents weren’t married when he was
born...and that his whole life has
been an act, a sham...that he had
successfully pulled off the biggest con
job in history...until Judas had finally
wised up and exposed him for what
he really is: a fake, a fraud, a shyster of epic
proportions
--I waited...c’mon Jesus...’fess up...the
show’s over...the gig is up
--I mean, if anybody needed a deathbed
confession, it was Jesus—right?
---but Jesus wasn’t even man enough to
admit the truth
Instead, what I heard
Jesus say made me angry, made me laugh, and made
me shake my head in utter disbelief..."I
tell you the truth, today you will be
with Me in paradise."
-“Uh, pardon me, Jesus, on what authority
do you have to go around
promising paradise to a dying man?”
-“Excuse me, your Messiah-ship...but before
you go forgiving Jonas’ sins
(and there are a few I suspect you
don’t know about), don’t you want to
think things through, to mull over his
plea...to weigh his good against his
bad to see if he qualifies for your
so-called ‘paradise’?”
But I never asked those
questions
-I simply turned my head away from those
two...and I never looked back
Not long after that,
Jesus said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”
-and then he said, “It is finished.”...and he
died...no big surprise...that is
what happens when you nail somebody to
stake
Then someone told the
soldiers that they wanted to get the whole thing over
with...in other words, finish off Jonas and
me
-the Romans have this whole crucifixion thing
down to a science
--they figured out a long time ago that
if you break a guy’s legs then he
can’t push up and take a
breath...and that means he can’t clear his
lungs...and essentially he will
drown in his own fluids
---yeah, they pretty much defined
“cruel and inhumane” when it
comes to punishment
-I knew the end was near when the biggest
soldier picked up a large club,
walked slowly to the foot of my cross,
and with two swings set the whole
drown-in-your-own-fluids process into
motion...and did the same to
Jonas...he skipped Jesus because—like I
said—he was already dead
Death was inevitable
now...and irreversible...no one survives this
-the great
--they had to make examples of like
us...those who threatened their power
and those who claimed to be a god like
Caesar
And we were no
exceptions
-between his gasps for breath, Jonas tried to
convince me that this Jesus
could save me...but I still had my wits
about me to see that Jesus hadn’t
saved himself and odds weren’t real good
that a dead Messiah was going
to be able to do much for Jonas
--Jonas
died and discovered that Jesus could and would make good on
His promise...and because of Jesus’ death—how
ironic is that?—and
because of God’s amazing, saving grace...Jonas
was carried into
God’s presence
-strange, isn’t it?
--here was a guy who had nothing...nothing!
---he wasn’t a church member...he was
never baptized...he didn’t even
live a half-way decent life—in
fact, his life was pretty awful when it
comes right down to it
----yet, he trusts Jesus...so
much so that he surrenders that sorry
life of his to Jesus and
he somehow believes that Jesus will
not only forgive his
many sins, but that He will also save him
from hell and instead
give him a place in heaven
--ol’ Jonas was
offered an incredible second chance...and he jumped at it
And I say, good for
him...you know, if that’s what he wants to believe, then
that’s just great...I’m a progressive
guy—he’s entitled to believe whatever
-but for me, personally, I’d rather die and take my chances rather than
hang my hopes and my eternity on a
savior who doesn’t appear to be
very good at saving
And I did
-I died just a few moments after Jonas did
--I died drowning in my own sin...utterly
and eternally alone
-and I was led into what could only be
described as a courtroom
--while waiting for the Judge, I prepared
my defense—no, I wasn’t the
most religious person, but I wasn’t as
bad as some...and my intentions
were good...and...
---but my rehearsal was cut short
when an angel told me to rise and to
face my Judge
As the Judge took His
place on the bench I was speechless—literally
-I was
speechless because my Judge was Jesus!
--I fell to my knees in wonder and
worship, but the angel picked me up
so that I was again face-to-face with
Jesus
-I intuitively knew that my “I’m not such an
awful guy” defense had no merit
--so I quickly shifted to plan “B”
---I would judge the judge! How brilliant is that?
Where were you when I
needed to be rescued?
Where were you when I
needed a savior?
Where were you when I
needed someone not only to point out all my sins...
but also to show me the way to the truth and
the way to life?
If you are so righteous
and holy...then where were you, oh mighty judge,
when I needed
you?
-and
that’s when I heard the irony in my own question...and I realized that
I’d answered myself
--where were you...when I needed you?
I’d actually said it...I
needed Jesus
-I had desperately needed a second-chance...and
I was given the most
incredible second-chance of all
--Jesus...the Messiah...the Savior of
the world...the Son of God Himself
had come to me, even though it
meant He’d have meet me on a cross
...and He suffered, and bled, and
died just a few feet from me
---He did all of that so He could
reach me and offer me that ultimate
second chance...and I said
“no, thanks”
----and it now was too
late for me
Hebrews 9:27 à man is destined to die
once, and after that to face judgment
-that’s not very popular to say—because truth
is rarely popular—but that
means after you die there are no more
second chances
--right now, life is full of second
chances
---2
Peter 3:9 à God is
patient with you, not wanting anyone to
perish, but
everyone to come to repentance
--God in His mercy is giving you second chances all the
time—tonight is
one of them—but there will come a
time when there will be no more
second chances...and your last
chance will be a thing of the past
---and my story is dying proof
that you won’t always recognize that
last second chance...even if
you are taking your last breath and
Jesus himself is right beside
you
The writer of the book
of Hebrews asks a question with
eternal significance
à How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?
-the answer is tragically simple: we shall not