What is the most painful memory you have? And how has that painful experience motivated, conditioned or shaped the things you think, say or do.
Look at Luke 23:32 – 38…
32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
What’s Happening In This Passage?
In this passage Jesus experiences six categories of pain. And as we walk through them, my prayer is that you would experience the love of Jesus on display in the midst of excruciating pain.
#1: Jesus Endured The Pain Of Being Sentenced To Death… (32)
Jesus has been publicly marked as a criminal and he’s been given the death sentence. He’s an innocent man but he’s been treated like the scum of the earth. Before Jesus even made his way up that hill with the cross over his shoulder he was beaten so badly with sticks and whips that you’d barely recognize him. His flesh would have been ripped to shreds by the little lead balls, the shards of steel and the slivers of glass that were fastened to the ends of the lashes on the whip that he’d been beaten with. His internal organs were most likely showing because the muscles and the skin that held his body together had been ripped and torn during his public beating. He’s barely alive. And Simon is carrying Jesus’ cross for him because he’s too weak to carry it himself. He’s almost dead. And he’s being led up the hill of death as a man who’s been sentenced to death by public execution among the common criminals of that day. Can you see Jesus enduring the pain of being sentenced to death?
#2: Jesus Endured The Pain Of Being Abused & Tortured… (33)
The extent of the public abuse and torture that Jesus endured is almost unexplainable. There would have been four Roman guards assigned to Jesus to ensure that his public abuse and torture would be done right. They would have thrown him on the ground. They would have rolled him over on top of the cross-beam. Two of the guards would have pinned him down so he couldn’t squirm away from the pain. One of the other two guards would have held one of Jesus’ arms over the wooden cross member. And then the fourth guard would have taken a long steel spike and a heavy hammer and he would have driven the spike through the wrist of Jesus into the wooden crossbeam. Can you see the blood splattering all over the guards as they publicly abuse and torture Jesus? Can you hear Jesus’ screams as he endures this pain? Next, the guards would have used ropes to hoist Jesus’ body up into the air, dangling from the cross member and up onto the upright post of the cross. Once the cross member was in place the guards would have most likely bound Jesus’ legs in place on the upright so that he couldn’t swing them out of the way and they would have taken a single steel spike and the hammer again and driven it through both of Jesus’ ankles, fastening him to the cross with blood and gore and feces and urine splattering all over everyone on the ground. Can you see Jesus enduring the pain of being abused and tortured?
#3: Jesus Endured The Pain Of Being Shamefully Exposed… (34)
After the Roman guards publicly abused and tortured Jesus, they played gambling games for Jesus’ clothing. Jesus isn’t hanging there with a little loincloth covering his private areas. He’s hanging there completely naked and shamefully exposed in front of everyone while the men who abused him and tortured him cast lots for his final possessions. Every ounce of dignity is being painfully torn away from Jesus. Can you see Jesus enduring the pain of being shamefully exposed while his abusers play games at the foot of the cross?
#4: Jesus Endured The Pain Of Being Publicly Humiliated… (35)
As Jesus hangs there naked and shamefully exposed, imagine all of the people standing there watching. Staring at him. Seeing every part of his bruised and torn and bloody and naked body while the religious leaders make fun of him. Imagine them staring up at him hanging there helplessly enduring the pain and the suffering of the cross. Imagine them making fun of him. Imagine them mocking him and scoffing at him and scolding him. Imagine them saying “Hey Jesus… you saved other people… why can’t you save yourself? Why can’t you get yourself out of this painful predicament? Didn’t you say that you are the Savior? How can you really save people if you can’t save yourself from this pain? You really think you’re chosen by God to save people when you can’t even save yourself?” What a humiliating experience it is to be publicly made fun of and verbally abused. Can you see Jesus enduring the pain of public humiliation here?
#5: Jesus Endured The Pain Of Being Mocked & Belittled… (36-37)
As soon as the religious leaders begin to poke fun at Jesus and humiliate him, the Roman guards have to add their two-cents in as well. And the Roman guards, as if they haven’t been cruel enough already, go even further and offer Jesus some alcohol to numb the pain and prolong his death for their own amusement as they mock him and belittle him in front of everyone. Their mocking tone is obvious. They can’t believe this man claimed to be a king. No king worth his salt would end up in this kind of painful predicament and if he did he couldn’t really be a king. In their eyes he deserved this painful treatment. He deserved to be mocked and belittled in front of everyone. Can you see Jesus enduring the pain of being mocked and belittled by these Roman guards who are covered in his blood?
#6: Jesus Endured The Pain Of Being Wrongfully Punished… (38)
Right over the top of Jesus there was a billboard that stated his supposed crime. But Jesus wasn’t guilty. The billboard over Jesus’ head said, “This is the King of the Jews.” This is what Jesus was being executed for. This is why he was sentenced to death among the criminals. This is why he was abused and tortured and shamefully exposed and publicly humiliated and mocked and belittled. Jesus is the King and this was why he was wrongfully punished. Can you see Jesus enduring the pain of being wrongfully punished?
How Is This Passage Going To Be Of Any Help To Us?
I think it’s helpful to note that in verse 34 Jesus prays in response to the pain that he’s suffered at the hands of his enemies and he prays, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” In the midst of the pain that Jesus endured he went to his Father in prayer, he asked for forgiveness for his enemies and he acknowledged their blindness. And the reason he does this, the reason he endures the pain and prays for his enemies is so that we who have lived in open rebellion against him as his enemies could have the opportunity to experience lasting faith in his painful work at the cross.
Some Practical Pastoral Exhortations From This Text…
Let me say it again… I think that Luke’s main message in this passage could be summarized this way: “Jesus endured the pain of the cross and he prayed for his enemies so that we could all have the opportunity to experience lasting faith.” So with that summary in mind let me explain some simple practical pastoral exhortations for us.
#1: We endure personal pain by clinging to the cross of Christ…
We usually experience pain at the hands of someone else. Someone says something hurtful about us or does something hurtful to us. A spouse unexpectedly has an affair and leaves. A child throws a fit and says they hate their parents. A parent doesn’t nurture their child through the crucial stages of development. Someone experiences the daily disappointment of loneliness. A child gets neglected. Someone dies even though you’ve prayed like crazy for him or her to get healed. The friend crowd at school turns their back on you and starts talking crap about you. Your boss gets angry and explodes on you. Someone makes fun of you in front of other people because you are found lacking in some way. Maybe you’re hearing this and you’ve experienced really horrific pain through verbal, physical, psychological, mental or even sexual abuse from someone. The list could go on and on and on. But here’s the truth… we endure that personal pain and receive healing and wholeness by clinging to the cross of Christ. We cling to the cross of Christ by regularly confessing our pain and our sin, studying the gospel and praying together within the context of the church family. In your most horrific moments of pain… please remember the pain that Jesus endured at the cross and then cling to him for healing and wholeness.
#2: We endure personal pain by praying for our enemies…
When we pray for our enemies, the cross of Christ should be in our view because it is from that cross where Jesus was crucified that we take our lesson on praying for our enemies. It is at the cross of Christ where we have our clearest picture of what it looks like to love our enemies through prayer in the midst of our pain. We endure personal pain by praying for our enemies.
#3: We endure personal pain by approaching God as our Father…
When Jesus experienced pain at the hands of others he went to his Father in prayer asking God to forgive his enemies. You and I can do the same thing if we’ve trusted in Christ’s work at the cross. God is our Father and we are his sons and daughters. He will hear and answer our prayers especially when we pray like Jesus did for his enemies. We must come to him in prayer in the midst of our pain and confess our hurt to him instead of returning evil for evil. We endure personal pain by approaching God as our Father.
#4: We endure personal pain by asking God to forgive our enemies…
Oftentimes we plead with God for the destruction of our enemies but the reality is that we need to plead with him to forgive them. How much do we need God to forgive us when we’ve acted abusively towards him and other people? Our enemies need to sense God’s forgiveness just as much as we do. And when we ask God to forgive our enemies it helps us to forgive them too. This process of asking God to forgive our enemies begins with acknowledging the actual hurt and pain they’ve caused and then asking God to wipe the slate clean instead of keeping lists of wrongdoing and seeking revenge. We endure personal pain by asking God to forgive our enemies.
#5: We endure personal pain by acknowledging our enemies’ blindness…
Jesus acknowledged that his enemies didn’t know what they were doing. They had no clue that they were painfully crucifying the Savior of sinners and the King of the Universe. So Jesus acknowledges their blindness. He doesn’t say that they haven’t sinned he just expresses his compassion and understanding of his enemies’ blindspots. We all have blindspots and we need to remember that when someone hurts us, they did it with some level of ignorance. They were ignorant of the pain they were causing us. One of the most common temptations is the temptation to think that someone knew exactly what they were doing when they hurt me. But when I do something hurtful to someone I often want to explain how I didn’t realize how much pain my behavior had caused. So when we remember in prayer that our enemies have blindspots we release ourselves from their control and our own desire for vengeance. We endure personal pain by acknowledging our enemies’ blindness.
6: We endure personal pain by experiencing lasting faith…
Pain is a powerful motivator. The pain of betrayal can cause someone to lash out verbally at someone else. The pain of physical, emotional, verbal or sexual abuse can cause someone to clam up and hide out in self-protect mode. The pain of loneliness can cause someone to run around in the shadows nursing relational or sexual addictions. The pain of being bullied and made fun of can cause you to lash out in anger or develop habits of self-harm. The list could go and on because pain is a powerful motivator that drives us, conditions us, shapes us or motivates us to seek something or someone who will make us feel whole, healed and right again. The personal pain you’ve been enduring will only be healed as you experience lasting faith at the cross of Christ. The only place you’ll find wholeness from your pain is at the cross of Christ. The only place you’ll be made right again is at the cross of Christ. We endure personal pain by experiencing lasting faith at the cross of Christ.
Concluding Thoughts…
Let me ask again again… What is the most painful memory you have? And how has that painful experience motivated the way you live? The truth is, we’ve all experienced pain at one level or another in our lives and we’ve all been motivated or conditioned or shaped by that pain to live in a certain way. So think about how your painful experiences have motivated, conditioned or shaped the things you think, the things you say and the things you do.
And now be encouraged with this truth… “Jesus endured the pain of the cross and he prayed for his enemies so that we could all have the opportunity to experience lasting faith.”