Luke 23:27–43

Last Sunday in Church Year

²⁷And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him.

²⁸But turning to them Jesus said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

²⁹For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!'

³⁰Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us,' and to the hills, 'Cover us.'

³¹For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

³²Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him.

³³And 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.

³⁴And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And they cast lots to divide his garments.

³⁵And 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!"

³⁶The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine

³⁷and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"

³⁸There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews."

³⁹One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

⁴⁰But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

⁴¹And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong."

⁴²And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

⁴³And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

On September 11, 2001, the Word Trade Center was reduced to a pile of incinerated rubble beyond recognition. Nevertheless, two days later rescue workers found a perfectly shaped cross standing nearly upright formed by the fusion of two metal girders. To Frank Silecchia who found the cross, it was “an act of God.” It was then put on top a 40 foot tall foundation in the middle of the rubble and served both victims and rescuers as “a symbol of hope, a symbol of faith, a symbol of healing.”

Where is Christ in the midst of human suffering and death? He is on the cross. He is at Ground Zero; whether Ground Zero be on Calvary, New York City, the operating room, or the funeral home, God is in Christ on the cross, at every Ground Zero of human suffering, sin and death, reconciling the world to himself.

From his cross on Calvary, Jesus said, “Today you shall be with me in paradise.” It is a profound statement. It seems paradoxical. Speaking from a cross, in the midst of suffering and death, Jesus promises life; eternal life; life in God’s kingdom—Paradise.

Where is paradise? Paradise is the kingdom of God. It is not the kingdom of man. Paradise is not found on earth; it is life with Christ in his kingdom. This sets up a tension between the world and heaven. The life that Christ proclaims is life in God’s kingdom, not life on earth. The kingdom that the church preaches is God’s kingdom, not kingdoms of men on this earth. When the church gathers in worship it gathers as citizens of God’s kingdom, not citizens of any human nation on earth. Jesus tells us, “We are in the world, but not of the world.” We are pilgrims in this world but citizens of heaven.

All terrorism, whether it be religious or secular, is based on the kingdoms of this world. Terrorism is looking for a utopian society, a perfect society. Terrorists are convinced they will build a kingdom of heaven on earth with their own hands. They are convinced that all their killing and terrorizing of unbelievers in their cause is a great and noble work. Religious terrorists have no doubt that they are serving their god and that he will glorify them. They are lauded as martyrs for their self-sacrifice in eliminating the enemies of god. Communists and fascists do not see themselves as serving god, but as part of a great social movement that gives their lives and actions meaning. Though they themselves die in their cause they are ushering in the utopias and future generations will praise their names. The end of all such attempts to make kingdoms of this world out to be heaven is self deification.

But, there shall never be an end of war, or suffering, or sin, or death in this world. There is no utopia; no heaven on earth. The church of Christ is the kingdom of God; our citizenship is in heaven, not on earth….

Today you shall be with me in Paradise. These words were spoken from the cross in the midst of death. However, they assume life. In order to be with Jesus, we must be alive. How can Jesus talk about life from his own cross?

Because in order to live eternally, we must first die. Another paradox. There is no better place to speak about life than from the cross of Jesus, because it is in his cross that we are made alive. Only by Christ’s death do we find life. God must die for us to live.

Whenever tragedy strikes, the question is always; “Where is God?” The answer is, “He is on his cross at Ground Zero.” His cross is Ground Zero; it is the ground zero of God sacrificing himself for us. Terrorists sacrifice themselves for their gods. But our God, sacrifices himself for us.

Where is God in sin and death? He is hidden in unexpected places. He is hidden in a homeless babe lying in a manger. He is hidden in a despised carpenter who was executed as a criminal. He is hidden in his word preached in an unassuming church service. He is hidden in the water of baptism. He is hidden in bread and wine at the Lord’s Supper.

The cross means the humbling of self. But it is not human beings humbling themselves for God; it is God humbling himself for us. It is not man who ascends to God; but God who descends to us. It is God present in the human condition.

The cross means God taking our place in suffering and death. It is Jesus Christ standing in the way of God’s anger and wrath at sin; the cross is God hurtling his most vicious attack at sin, and Jesus Christ standing in the way and blocking it from destroying us.

The cross is Christ bearing our sins. Christ came into the world and was incarnate and drained the cup of human suffering by bearing all sin and dying on the cross. The cross is God shedding his own blood in payment for our iniquity in order to satisfy his justice. Here, in the death of God, man finds eternal life. God is reconciled to man and counts man as righteous. Here, on the cross of Christ, the sins of all were washed away. We are forgiven and are reconciled to God….

Today you shall be with me in paradise. Today! Jesus told the man being crucified at his side that today he would be with him in Paradise. But today he would die. He was being executed. Still, today he would be alive; eternal life is found only by dying first. We must die in order to live.

Another paradox. A dying God speaking to a dying man about eternal life. It is only by death that we have life. It is in dying that we shall be made alive. It is only by dying to ourselves in baptism that a new man can be raised up in the image of God. It is only by dying with Christ in baptism that we are joined to him in his resurrection. It is only by taking up our cross that we find eternal life in Christ.

How do we die in order to have life? First we must die physically in order to leave this world and enter into the kingdom of heaven. The only way into eternal life is to die first. Death is the only door into life. For a seed must first be planted and die in order for it to spring forth with new life and bear fruit.

But we also must die in spirit through the preaching of the law. The law of God slays us by its accusations and curses. For by the law of God we know that we are sinners and deserve death. It is only by God’s law that we know about adultery, covetousness, greed, and selfishness. The law shows us who we are and what we deserve. It shows us our sin and depravity. It shows us the twisted, corrupt human heart. It crushes our soul and drives us to repentance. It shows us that by our good works we shall not be saved, but deserve eternal death in hell. The law is a mirror that reflects back into our eyes what we truly are; sinners who deserve to die. The law kills us.

We also die on the crosses we bear; our human suffering and sorrow. Luther reminds us: “it is certain that the righteous will suffer many things. It cannot be otherwise. If you will be righteous, you will take up your cross and suffer. This is how it must be.” Christ is found on the cross at Ground Zero of human suffering and death. When we lie on a hospital bed in ICU, Christ is there on his cross. When we sit in a nursing home day after day wondering when it will end, Christ is there on his cross. When we grieve for a son or daughter, Christ is there on his cross. When we lie on our death bed waiting for the end to come, Christ is there on his cross. When we are persecuted and reviled for our faith in Christ, Christ is there on his cross.

“One thing is certain. The Lord will help us out of all these afflictions that none of the least of your bones will be taken away or missing. Yes, even the hairs of your head are numbered…for a time our bones may be broken, but they will return and not remain eternally broken. For a time they may be broken but afterward they will again be more whole and healthy than they formerly were.” That is eternal life. That is the life Jesus promised on his cross to all who trust in him.

Where is God in our suffering and pain? Where was God on 911? As one survivor said afterward, “When I was running down the stairs and the firefighters were coming up from below, I looked into their faces and I saw the face of God.” God is hidden in the vocations of men and women in this life. God is hidden in the nurse that attends us at our bedside. God is hidden in the mother who changes a diaper. God is hidden in the father who is disciplining his son. When a man comes home from work, tired and discouraged, God reaches out and comforts him with his own hand when his wife gently messages his back. The hand of God itself is hidden in the wife’s hand.

Likewise, when the rescue workers looked into the dusty and terrified faces of the survivors and the dead, they saw the face of God. God is hidden in the tired, the suffering, the sick, and the dying, for he says, “Whatsoever you do to one of the least of these, you have done it unto me.”

In our vocation in this life God is hidden in us to love and supply the daily bread of one another. When we bear the crosses of our vocation, humbly sacrificing ourselves for our neighbor, God is hidden in us to give life to the poor and brokenhearted, to the sick and afflicted, and to the dying.

Thus he gives life. In the midst of our crosses he gives us life. Hanging on his own cross, he gave us life. And in our death our soul leaves this world and lives with Christ, and on the Last Day, our body is raised and joins us in heaven with Christ where we live in joy and glory forever.

Surely today you will be with me in Paradise. That is eternal life. As we confess in the words of the Apostle’s Creed: I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.

What does this mean? It means; I believe that the Holy Ghost will at the Last Day raise up me and all the dead, and give unto me and all believers in Christ eternal life. This is most certainly true”

Amen.