1. How would you describe the love of God in a story or a picture?
2. So when you feel the weight of your sin, do you turn to Jesus or run?
3. If Jesus made time for people whom others ignored or rejected, what might that challenge you to do differently in the way you treat people?
4. When Jesus says, “Today you will be with me in paradise,” he’s offering presence, not just a place. What do you think it means that salvation is about being with Jesus, not just going to heaven someday?
5. Luke wanted to show that Jesus isn’t a distant God, but one who came close to the broken. What does that mean for the way we think about God’s character – and the way we approach him?
6. When you picture the cross, what does it mean to you personally? How does it remind you of both your need for grace and God’s love for you?
7. When you mess up or drift from God, do you tend to hide from him or turn back to him?

THE MAIN POINT

Jesus offers salvation to everyone through his work on the cross; no one is too far gone or too unknowable to be saved by His grace. He came to save YOU.

THE BIBLE

Luke 19:10; 23:32-49; 24:1-12; Isaiah 53

THE CONTEXT

Throughout the Gospel, Luke is painting Jesus in a very specific light: He is the compassionate saviour who is seeking out those lost in the dark (Luke 19:10). While it can seem that God is a cosmic powerhouse who is too far away to be relational, Luke’s gospel counters this idea. For Luke, Jesus is the divine who came down to seek and to save.

Luke (as a gentile writer, see week 1 context) makes sure to clearly paint Jesus as the saviour for ALL. No one was too far out of His reach, and no one could run from His saving grace. This leads us to Luke’s account of the crucifixion. Gentile readers would be quite familiar with the idea of crucifixion, as it was often seen throughout the Roman Empire. A cross would go up, and the worst of the worst criminals would hang on it. The punishment of crucifixion was usually only given to criminals who had done unspeakable things against Rome: revolutionists, murderers, zealots, irredeemable people. And there is Jesus, hanging up on a cross, next to these criminals. This is the fulfilment of prophecies seen throughout the Old Testament, and specifically in Isaiah 53:9 &12. While the Gentile readers would likely not notice the echo to Isaiah 53, Luke wants to make it abundantly clear that Jesus was not just a Holy Man, but the Jewish Messiah who had fulfilled prophecies from hundreds of years prior.

Luke’s depiction of the crucifixion is unique. He focuses on the mockery and humiliation of Jesus, driving home the point that Jesus came lowly and humbly to save the lost. Primarily shown by hanging next to two terrible criminals.

In all other gospel accounts, both men mock Jesus; they tell him to save himself if he really is the saviour. Luke, however, shares a different side of the story. In Luke’s account, the second criminal hung on the cross beside Jesus was not someone who mocked the innocent man. Instead, he rebukes the first man for his blasphemy and goes on to acknowledge that they deserved to be hanged on the cross. Their punishment was just, but Jesus was sinless. This man has done nothing wrong. This criminal is confessing his sins, acknowledging the fact that he deserves to be punished. His rebuke shows both that his repentance is genuine and reveals that he acknowledges Jesus as Lord. It is a radical moment within this story for such a despised and unclean person to ask even to be remembered by the man next to him. This would have been unheard of.

Yet, the criminal on the cross believed that Jesus was who he said he was. He had faith in Jesus to be the promised one and confessed his sins. Jesus does not stop to ask him whether he knows all the correct theology, if he had been baptized… Jesus simply hears his cry and promises him salvation.

This story reveals the true nature of Luke’s gospel account: Jesus came so that through him, the first would become last and the last would be first. The one who should be seen as last, the criminal on the cross, is in a better place eternally than the high priests and officials who mocked the crucified Messiah.

THE CORE

As you prepare the core of the message using personal story and questions, keep in mind these points:

• Luke’s Gospel makes a clear point that Jesus came to seek and save the Lost. His purpose was always to turn the world’s standard of “worthy” upside-down by calling. This is seen throughout the Gospel and this series. He came for the least of these, and He came for us, for YOU. His salvation is not limited to our mistakes; instead, the cross bridges the gap. It makes space for us to approach the throne of God boldly because we’ve been covered by the blood of the Lamb. When we look at the story of the repentant criminal, Luke is reminding his readers that the kingdom is for the poor, the hungry, the unseen, the sorrowful, the rejected, and the despised.
• No one is too far gone from him. The criminal on the cross believed that his plea would be rejected. How could this man, claiming to be God, look at him with forgiveness as he hung to his death as a criminal. The worst of the worst, yet his cry to Jesus was heard. In an instant, he was forgiven and promised eternal life. He did not have to beg or work for it; he simply called on the forgiving nature of Christ and believed in what was too good to be true.
  • All he asked was to be remembered, that’s all he thought he was worth… Jesus gave him something better: The promise to be in paradise with him.
  • No life of sin is so great that it prevents us from being able to throw ourselves upon the grace of Christ, who delights in showering the most unworthy, unseen people with his forgiveness.
  • The forgiveness Jesus offers on the cross reveals the glorious grace of God. This is seen in the prayers he offers to the Father while he suffers on the cross. During his humiliation and mockery, Jesus cries out to God to “forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” This radical forgiveness is what the Gospel is all about: The promise that God’s grace is enough – it is enough to cover the cost.

THE APPLICATION

As you prepare the application, challenge and/or encouragement, keep in mind these points:

• Our call, as followers of Jesus, is to take up our cross and follow Jesus. This is seen literally in Luke’s gospel as Simon the Cyrene (a gentile), who was given the cross of Christ and told to follow Jesus up the hill to Calvary. While Jesus promises us salvation, the walk of a follower is not necessarily easy. The call of a disciple, in fact, is fulfilling, yet it is weighty. The call of a disciple is a weighty freedom.
• The criminal called on Jesus, thinking he would be rejected. He was not, even as he was dying the death he knew he deserved. Sometimes we believe we have walked too far from God to return to him. Sometimes, we might think we have messed up one too many times. If this is you, this story changes the game for us. It allows us to view our lives differently. You’ve been called by God home into salvation. Do you know this? Do you know that you aren’t too far gone for God?
• So now what? If you know that Jesus loves you despite all, if you know the Gospel, what are you doing about it? Does your life reflect that of the Gospel you believe in? However, Jesus’ sacrifice shows that he wants more out of his relationship with us. To spend time with him because he is our saviour, not because it is a get out of jail free card.
• Acts literally comes after Luke. He wrote both. We see Jesus’ call to his disciples after his resurrection to go and spread the Gospel. That it cannot be something we keep to ourselves.