Ron Houben - Class 2: The Way To the Tree of Life

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   Hello, good morning brothers and sisters and young people. Firstly, I need to just recap over some of our talk yesterday. I did get approached by a few people and I need to sort of clarify something. I was perhaps a little bit misunderstood when I mentioned that Jesus saying, forgive them for they know not what they do, was directed at the Roman soldiers and not the Jews.

2. 0:34

   I was meaning not specifically the leaders of the Jews, those that were, as I sort of mentioned, deemed to be without a cloak or without a covering. And the basis of that idea was really from an Old Testament prophecy where Jeremiah, because of the sins of the people, was asked three times through the prophecy of Jeremiah not to pray for the people.

3. 0:58

   I must admit though, it did cause me to go away and have a look at things and I have to confess in being somewhat wrong in this matter. And I just want to run over again where... This is not good.

4. 1:19

   Hey. Right. Back into it. Just to recap over where perhaps the direction of Christ's words were in terms of this statement. So, um... Oops. We went over this man's statement.

5. 1:42

   In John, Jesus said to them, If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. And his crucifixion was going to be that point in time, which was actually going to be the point which would unify all men under the current umbrella of the sacrifice of Christ. And, um... Hence the reason, of course, that that, uh...

6. 2:05

   Superscription that was written above the cross was written in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. All nations represented there could see and understand that this is Jesus, the King of the Jews. And this, uh... Statement, therefore, becomes somewhat universal. Um... But... In looking at the Acts of the Apostles, um... Peter said, Now, brethren, I want that you...

7. 2:41

   That through ignorance ye did it, and also your rulers. So, it seems as though that Peter's statement concerning the crucifixion was, in fact, that, um... Even the rulers were largely ignorant when it came to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Um... And again, later on in Acts chapter 13, Paul, for they that dwell at Jerusalem and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.

8. 3:14

   So, there's a certain aspect in which both Peter and Paul identify the fact that the rulers were ignorant. So, Jesus' words, Forgive them, for they know not what they do, is endorsed, really, by, um... Both Peter and Paul. Um... Also, Jesus himself. In John chapter 8, Jesus said to the rulers, or the leaders of that day, when you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he.

9. 3:46

   And it seems as though Jesus himself is indicating that the crucifixion is going to be that point where, um... They would become responsible. But before then, there was a certain amount that was done in ignorance. So, I have to confess that Jesus' words, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, was directed not just at the Roman soldiers.

10. 4:08

    In fact, probably, primarily, it was directed at the Jewish leaders and the Jewish people. But it was a universal statement. So, I just sort of thought I would run through that and make that clear as we move on. Um... It's interesting that this sin of ignorance, um... comes up, really, again, in terms of when Christ returns.

11. 4:28

    In Zechariah chapter 12, I'll pour upon the house of David and the spirit of grace and supplication, and they shall look on me whom they have pierced. And they say, you know, where is this? How did you get these wounds? And Jesus will say, they with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

12. 4:46

    So, the enormity of their transgression is not seen until Christ returns. And it seems as though the crucifixion marked out a time when God went, blindness and part, it happened to Israel. And then, from the time of the crucifixion, God marked off 40 years. That was the time that the nation was given before judgment came.

13. 5:08

    Um... The sin of ignorance is quite interesting when we consider, just briefly, the cities of refuge. The story in the Old Testament about the cities of refuge specifically says that these six cities shall be cities of refuge for both the children of Israel and for the stranger. So, the cities of refuge in Israel were both for Jew and Gentile.

14. 5:33

    Quite interesting. That... Or for the sojourner among them. That anyone that kills a person unawares may flee there. So, the city of refuge were there in Israel, six cities of refuge, as this means to, I guess, find some house arrest, or city arrest, where a person could be guilty, I suppose, of manslaughter as opposed to murder, and then could flee into that city and could remain there, um...

15. 6:02

    away from the avenger of blood. Um... Interesting that, uh... when he was finally released from this, uh... certain restriction that God would put on and sending him a city was with the, um... death of the high priest. The congregation shall judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments, and the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of refuge whether he was fled, and he shall abide in the city until the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil.

16. 6:44

    So it's interesting, isn't it, that the city of refuge and a man's protection when he killed somebody unawares, he was there until the death of the high priest. And what we're seeing in terms of the, uh... crucifixion of Christ and Father forgive them for they know not what they do, and there was the death of their high priest right there.

17. 7:07

    This was the point, really, when their responsibility, when they, when they would later discover the full enormity of what they had done, then they would have a choice as to how they would respond and how they would react. And of course, many came into the truth. There was thousands that came into the truth after the Acts of the Apostles, and many of the priests converted and came into the truth, and many of those that had crucified Jesus saw the will of God and saw what had happened.

18. 7:35

    And that prayer of Jesus, Father forgive them for they know not what they do, became, became a reality for many people, and they came into the truth. Okay. Right. We need to get on to our next saying from the cross. We need to move forward to what is a very well-known saying, particularly amongst Christodophians, because it's been the means of trying to combat those that believe in the paradise of God being the reward in heaven that one would receive instantly at the point of death.

19. 8:11

    And so, we've looked at this statement of Jesus in terms of combating wrong doctrine. What we're going to look at tonight, this morning, I think you might find quite surprising. And we're going to approach Jesus saying from quite a different perspective. And I hope you'll see the power behind what Jesus is saying to this thief on the cross.

20. 8:39

    Well, let's first of all look at this thief on the cross in terms of his statement of faith. As we said in our first study, this statement is a statement of hope. This is a declaration of hope that Jesus hands out at the cross. So here is Jesus in intense suffering, and lots of things have taken place just prior to this.

21. 9:06

    You know, he's witnessed, of course, the fact that they've stripped him of his clothes and they've parted his garments and they've cast off and they've gambled over that cloak that probably his mother had made. And he's watched that all from the cross. And then they've derided him and cursed him. And all of this he's seen from the cross.

22. 9:31

    And in the midst of this, when one of the thieves on the left hand derides him, this other one turns around and says to him in verse 40, he says, don't you fear God seeing we're in the same condemnation? And it's an incredible thing that happened at that cross that Jesus would have heard that on the right hand side of him, this thief suddenly turns around and says, they're talking across Jesus to the other guy on the other side and talking straight through him.

23. 10:02

    Jesus is in the midst of them. Don't you fear God? And then he makes this incredible statement of faith. And I want you, we've probably seen this before, but it's clear that this thief knew Jesus. And it's almost certain that this man was a former disciple. Because his statement of faith is quite astounding when you break it small.

24. 10:29

    So let's just think about it. First of all, his declaration to the other thief is he says, this man hath done nothing amiss. The statement is that Jesus is sinless. Now it's a powerful statement. It's the basis of our statement of faith. That Jesus Christ hath done nothing amiss. He then says, but in contrast, we indeed receive our due rewards.

25. 11:07

    In other words, he's saying he's a worthless sinner and that God is righteous. He deserves everything that's happening. I'm a worthless sinner and God is right. We deserve to die. In fact, not only deserve to die, no, we deserve the due rewards of our deeds. In other words, I don't only just deserve to die, we deserve this death.

26. 11:38

    This is the death we deserve. that gives an insight into perhaps the transgression of this man. He saw himself as a worthless sinner. Then he says, Lord, this is acknowledgement of his rulership, his kingship, the messiahship of the man beside him. Lord, he's a king, he's a ruler, and here he is dying right beside him.

27. 12:09

    He's been crucified. And in the midst of this, he's still acknowledging Jesus as Lord. Remember me. What's he saying? Jesus has been crucified, he's been killed, he's been executed right beside him, with him. And he's saying, Lord, remember me. In other words, Jesus must die, but he must rise. In being able to remember him, death is not going to be the end of this man.

28. 12:42

    There is something that's going to happen which is going to cause him to rise again. He says, when you come again, when you come again into your kingdom. So this man's now declaring that Jesus is going somewhere and going to come back again. In other words, he must understand the principle of the resurrection.

29. 13:00

    He must understand that this man is going to ascend to heaven and that he's coming again to give a kingdom. So this man has quite an incredible statement of fame. And obviously his statement concerning the kingdom of God was that this man believed in the restoration of the kingdom to Israel. He hoped in the restoration of the kingdom to Israel and he believed the man beside him that was being executed was the one that could have achieved this.

30. 13:31

    Now who amongst the disciples were at this point? Amongst the disciples who ran away and fled who were confused at what was going on? Peter who denied Jesus three times? This man sees it very clear and he's looking at a man that's been executed. Remember me when you come into your kingdom. In other words, Jesus Christ is going to come and act as judge.

31. 13:56

    He's going to judge and he's going to be able to remember him. So who do we think the thief on the cross was? If this was a former disciple, not that we know, obviously we don't know exactly who he was, but who might he have been? What might his background have been? What was he there for?

32. 14:19

    Any ideas? Why was he being crucified next to Jesus? It says he was, one record says he's a thief or a malefactor. The word malefactor simply means an evil doer. It's used in Timothy. So he was a man that did wrong things. And he's often called the thief on the cross. But the Romans, despite the fact that they could be rather brutal, had quite a just legal system.

33. 14:51

    And they had to account for everything in terms of if they were going to have an execution, it had to be deemed to be a just execution. There had to be a legal trial. It had to be proven that a person was guilty and was guilty of the punishment that was exacted to him.

34. 15:08

    Part of the reason Pilate wrote that superscription above Jesus, this is Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. It's not just it was Pilate's last word against those Jewish leaders who had so frustrated Pilate and he had just had enough and he had written this saying and saying, well there you go, there's a statement, that'll rile them up.

35. 15:30

    It wasn't so much just about riling the rulers, it was justification before Caesar. This man, Pilate, had found no fault in Jesus. He had gone through a trial and found no fault in him and somehow he had to justify his execution. He had been backed into a corner by the Jews and now he had condemned Jesus to death and this execution would come to Caesar's desk.

36. 15:56

    And if it was found that there was no fault worthy of him to die, and so Pilate had written, this is Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews, and by doing so it justified his judgment because this man of course was an insurrectionist. He was against the Roman Empire. He was a challenge to Caesar.

37. 16:12

    He claimed himself to be king and the Jews were meant not to have their own sovereignty. They were under Roman rule. So as a king, he was an insurrectionist and that justified Pilate's thing. But what do you think this man might have done? Obviously to receive capital punishment, surely he couldn't have been a thief.

38. 16:35

    What did they do with thieves in those days? Normally they had their hands chopped off, didn't they? They got caught, they had their hands chopped off. But Roman crucifixion was not normally exacted to a thief unless of course he was perhaps stealing from Caesar. So this man, was receiving capital punishment. And not just capital punishment, it was the worst form of capital punishment to be crucified.

39. 17:02

    So, insurrection. Yeah. He's actually up on the same thing that Jesus is. How do we know that? Sorry? We justly deserve it, yeah. There's something else that we know, we've got a real insight into who this man is.

40. 17:24

    We're under the same condemnation, yep, exactly. So Jesus is there under the condemnation of insurrection and he says we're under the same condemnation, that's really good, I hadn't looked at that one, that wasn't the one I was thinking of, but I'll take notes of that.

41. 17:40

    Not just the same condemnation, there's something else there. Anybody know what it is? A real insight into who this man is. very good, you see, it takes mother-in-law, she's right onto it there, exactly. Barabbas was there and look what it says about Barabbas and Mark chapter 15 and there was one named Barabbas which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him and who committed murder in the insurrection.

42. 18:28

    Now this is a very powerful insight that when Jesus was being tried, the leader of a group of thugs, a group of thugs that were zealots, lay there with the insurrection. These were people that wanted to overthrow the Roman rule. They wanted to set up the kingdom of God. They wanted to restore the kingdom to Israel.

43. 18:51

    Barabbas is a Hebrew name. These were Jews that were being bound with Jesus but they were under the same judgment of insurrection. Jews guilty of their plots against Rome. And Barabbas the ringleader gets let off. But this man and his friend get crucified. Now the Bible's telling us that because that's who they are.

44. 19:15

    These are Barabbas' men. They're guilty of insurrection but not just insurrection. Look at what the Bible's telling us there. They're guilty of murder. This man could say we receive justly. You know we deserve this. Look at what we've done. This man had got caught up in the moment of Barabbas and his men.

45. 19:41

    He'd been caught up in this feeling we can set up the kingdom of God Israel. What are these filthy Romans doing here? Why do we have to pay taxes to Caesar? And they had been there to overthrow the Romans. And somewhere along the track these men had done some atrocious things. And they had committed murder.

46. 20:01

    And the guilt that this man bore was quite phenomenal. So I'm now going to make a bit of a supposition. So if he's there and if he was a Jew and if he was a zealot and if he knew all about Jesus and if he understood what Jesus' work was and who Jesus was at this point, maybe there's something in the past that will give us an indication of who he was.

47. 20:29

    Yeah, well, it probably started that way because this man joined in the cursing. But as he sat there and watched Jesus, I believe his whole demeanour and everything changed about this man. I think he was certainly a zealot that believed everything was true and he was like his other man. But as he went through, this man searches deep into his heart.

48. 20:58

    This is actually a true repentance. I mean, we can't prove that but you're right. This man's statement is not the statement of a zealot. This man's statement is a statement of a man who is making true sincere confession as a sinner. This man is acknowledging his deeds. But it doesn't mean to say he wasn't a zealot.

49. 21:22

    It doesn't mean to say he wasn't a zealot when the crucifixion began. It means to say this is what happened to him in the process of being crucified with Christ. In John chapter 6, Jesus, of course, fed the 5,000. And there were a group of people that were there with Jesus. Jesus' popularity had risen to the heights at this time.

50. 21:47

    Many Jews were following Jesus from all sorts of backgrounds. They were following Jesus. people and there was a group that saw that Jesus could well be the one, the deliverer, the one they could choose to be king, the one that they could overthrow the Romans with. And so there was a group there that had this idea, let's take him by force and make him our king.

51. 22:18

    Interesting, isn't it? That was his charge that he was somebody who wanted to be the king of the Jews, the king of Israel. And Jesus deliberately avoided that. These people had wanted to take him by force and do it and Jesus now sets about to avoid that glory and that pomp at this time.

52. 22:41

    So it says verse 16, when Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. So he moved away from them. And then the very next thing that happens, he comes back the next day and he tells this discourse which to the Jew was just utterly horrific.

53. 23:02

    They couldn't comprehend what Jesus was saying. You know the discourse? When he started, what did he say to the Jews? That was just so horrifying.

54. 23:14

    You've got to eat my flesh and you've got to drink my blood. Here were the Jews that because of their health laws in terms of their dietary laws which God set in place, this was cannibalism that Jesus was talking about. You've got to eat my flesh and you've got to drink my blood.

55. 23:29

    Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you. And of course, what was he talking about in that? We come every Sunday, but what's the real meaning behind eating his flesh and drinking his blood? Sharing. It's participating in his sacrifice. What did the priests do when they ate the flesh of the sacrifices?

56. 23:54

    They were participating in the sacrifices. Jesus was saying, you have to participate in my sacrifice. You have to eat my flesh and drink my blood like a priest would do under the law. You have to fully participate in my sacrifice if you're going to have any life in you. And the record says, from that time, many of his disciples went back, and I want you to notice this point, because we're going to look in a minute at the words that Jesus says to the thief on the cross.

57. 24:29

    From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. John chooses his words, so well. Noah was a man of God because he walked with God. Enoch was a man of God because he walked with God. From that time forth, they turned back, and they went back, and they walked no more with him.

58. 24:56

    Now, obviously, the group that's been mentioned are those that wanted to take him by force and make him king, amongst others. But there were a group of zealots that were following Jesus, so much so that they wanted to make him king. But Jesus' discourse on sharing his sacrifice and being involved in this, it disgusted them.

59. 25:16

    It turned them away from Jesus and they wanted to walk no more with him. So, just in summary of where we're going with this, and this is somewhat supposition, but there is reasonably good evidence for this, as this was a Jewish zealot, a former Jewish zealot, who yearned for the kingdom of Israel to be restored.

60. 25:39

    And you can see that in his statement to Jesus. He had initially seen Jesus as the one who could lead a revolution against Rome. He could be the king to overthrow the Romans. But he had become disillusioned with Christ during his ministry and decided it's not him. It's not him. We've got to find another way to do this.

61. 26:01

    We've got to find another way to overthrow the Romans because this man is not going to do it for us. He does not want to be king. And besides, you don't want to know about his teaching. His teaching is a little bit bizarre. And he might be able to feed 5,000 people, but we really don't want to have this man to be king over us because he's into cannibalism.

62. 26:22

    That was their problem. They couldn't comprehend what he was saying. And behind Jesus' words was the fact that they needed to share graphically in his sacrifice. And so in trying to preempt the kingdom, he found himself now at this moment face to face with death right alongside that man, Jesus Christ. God, the man that he began to follow and turned away from, the man that he couldn't comprehend, the man that had said, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, and you know what?

63. 26:55

    He could smell the blood beside him. He got the closest view of the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, perhaps of any man. He was right next to him. And just the stench, the smell, the look, as he turned to see Jesus and he could see the blood on his face, and as Jesus was speaking, he was almost sharing in the blood and the flesh of Jesus right beside him.

64. 27:25

    It was very real. And so he asked that question, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And I'll just go back a little bit. In terms of reading Jesus' response, it's an unusual response, isn't it? Because he says, remember me when you come into the kingdom and Jesus said unto them, I say unto thee today thou shalt be with me in paradise.

65. 27:49

    And the word he uses for paradise is literally the word for a garden. It's the same word used in Revelation 2 verse 7. In fact, it's only used in two other places in the New Testament. Revelation 2 verse 7, to him that overcometh I will give to Edah the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

66. 28:07

    Which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Revelation 2 verse 7 takes us right into the midst of the garden. So Jesus' response to this thief was, or this malefactor, this murderer, was very different to what the thief was asking. Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. what do we emphasise in terms of Jesus' response?

67. 28:31

    What's the word we emphasise? Today. We always focus on the word today and trying to give an exposition of this and where we put the comma that Jesus is saying, look, truly I say unto thee, today you'll be with me in paradise. We say, no, no, no, no, that's not right. If you change the comma and you move it over here and say unto, truly I say unto thee today, you'll be with me in paradise.

68. 28:57

    So that's the way we focus upon it and that's our focus upon the verse. And the other word we look at is paradise and what Jesus was saying was quite different. Do you know, I think there's an active verb in this verse which is far more powerful and I believe it's the emphasis of what Jesus is saying and I'm sure when we're finished with this you'll see that this is Jesus' emphasis.

69. 29:21

    What do you think the active verbs are in this verse? Shall be with me. With me. With me. Now I want you to realise how much this changes this verse. If you change the entire emphasis on Jesus' words as to be with me, Jesus is not giving this man guaranteed access into the kingdom.

70. 29:52

    You know, I've heard it said that I'd love to be like the thief on the cross. He's the only man that had a guaranteed passage to the kingdom of God. Jesus had promised him a guarantee that he'd be in the kingdom of God. Now Jesus never did that with anybody. What would happen if Jesus died and the thief on the cross thought, oh, I suddenly had all my hope in this man and now he's died.

71. 30:12

    I thought he was going to get off the cross and suddenly turned. You know, our life of opportunity exists right up to the point we died. This man still had opportunity to change. But Jesus' emphasis, if you suddenly make the emphasis on the with me, it's not about a statement of a promise of guarantee, it's a conditional statement.

72. 30:37

    He's turning around and latching on to the words of this man and he says, look, and this is Rotherham's translation, I think this is a beautiful translation. And I think it's the key to Jesus' words. And Jesus said unto him, verily I say unto thee today, with me you will be in paradise.

73. 30:57

    In other words, without me you won't be in paradise. And then it doesn't matter where the today is. And it doesn't matter how you say it. I say unto thee today, or I say unto thee today, with me you'll be in paradise. Because the point is true, right there and then, that day, if that man stayed with Jesus, he would be in paradise.

74. 31:21

    Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life. Through me you can enter and I am the door. With me you will receive the promise of God. Without me you won't. And this man in his dying moments turned to Jesus and he said, Lord, and that's the moment, that's the very moment when Jesus turned around and said, aha, he's turned away from himself, from coming to his own solution to his problems and saying, I'm going to bring about the kingdom of God, I'm going to preempt the kingdom of God and overthrow the Romans.

75. 31:56

    He's now turned around and said, Lord. And he just attached himself to Jesus. What did the apostle Paul say? I am crucified with Christ. Christ. And it's the same for all of us. With Christ, if we are crucified with Christ, the promise of the paradise of God is true for us. That's the power behind Jesus saying, with him, we must be with him in his sacrifice because if we're not, we won't receive the promise.

76. 32:30

    Now, so Paul says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, but Christ liveth in me and the life I now live in the flesh. I live by faith unto the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I am crucified with Christ and this man was being crucified with Christ.

77. 32:47

    We're going to have to move on a little quicker. So, Jesus said, with me, you'll be in the paradise of God. And there's no accident that Jesus used this term paradise. And we're going to see why he used it. Why? It's not what the thief asked, of course. He said, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

78. 33:11

    And we kind of imagine, oh, you know, it's the promises to Abraham. It's the kingdom of Israel restored. This is Zion in all its glory. And Jesus said, with me, you'll be in paradise. You'll be in the garden with me. And so when we think about some of Jesus' words, it says, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, and of course we go straight back to Genesis chapter 3 when we see the serpent upon a pole.

79. 33:36

    As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. And here's a picture, of course, of what Jesus was saying in John chapter 3 actually taking place. And Jesus, of course, said, now his judgment on this world, and the prince of this world shall be cast out, and if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.

80. 33:58

    And this is what's taking place. verse 9. In Genesis chapter 2 verse 9, it says, And out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the side and good for food. And the tree of life also in the midst of the garden. Now, of course, there were three species of trees, really.

81. 34:27

    There was the general trees that they could eat everything of, and then there were two special trees. The tree of knowledge of good and evil, which they weren't allowed to touch, symbolizing sin, and then the tree of life in the midst of the garden also. Three species of trees, and the tree of life sat in the midst.

82. 34:51

    Three people were hanging on three crosses, three bits of wood there. And John's record is very clear. It says, And they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side of him. And Jesus was in the midst of them. John is very specific in that. They didn't just crucify one on his left and one on his right.

83. 35:15

    Jesus is right there in the midst. And John is taking you straight back to the tree of life, which is in the midst of the garden. And Jesus is there as that tree of life. In Genesis chapter three, after the transgression, what happened?

84. 35:37

    Adam, of course, became guilty. Sin does this. Sin makes us shameful before God. God. And after Adam transgressed and violated God's covenant and broke the single law that God had given in the garden, Adam became naked. Not just naked, he became ashamed of his nakedness. He wanted to hide from God. He wanted to run into the trees and hide from God from his nakedness.

85. 36:11

    And he said to God, I heard thy voice in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. Do you know, when they crucified Jesus, of course, they stripped him of his garments and he hung on a cross naked. And Hebrew says that looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him, not just endured the cross, he despised the shame.

86. 36:41

    Literally means to laugh at the shame, to think against it. He just totally laughed at the shame. Because this man had nothing to be ashamed of before his father. Because this man had never done anything amiss. And there he was, naked and innocent before his God. Naked and innocent before his God. I want you to think about what Jesus is actually saying to this thief.

87. 37:11

    Because this is so powerful. And it's powerful to you and I. The promise Jesus is giving this man is not about a wonderful inheritance where we could swim with the dolphins and we can play with lions and we can enjoy ourselves under a glorious garden, fruit trees and Eden. promise this man that Jesus is giving this man is freedom from the one thing that is burning the heart of this man.

88. 37:48

    This man is hanging on a cross and he has committed treason and he has committed murder. And he knows it. And he knows that he's worthy of death. He's guilty of death because he's committed murder. And he's saying, Lord, will you remember me when you come to your kingdom? He's pleading for grace, for mercy, for compassion.

89. 38:16

    And Jesus is saying to him, with me, with me, you'll be in the paradise of God. you'll go straight through the cherubim, into the paradise of God, into the time when Adam and Eve had not transgressed, in the time when they were innocent before their God, when they didn't have to bear the guilt of their consciousness of their sins.

90. 38:43

    You'll be free from your sin. That's our real hope. That's the hope that Christ promises us. More than anything else, that's what we should yearn for in our life. Paul said, oh, who can free me from this body of death that he carried about? The things I would, I do not. The things I do not, those are the things I do.

91. 39:04

    Who can free me from this body of death? Our life with Christ is freedom. You know, we should yearn for the judgment seat. We should desire the judgment seat. The time that we can stand before Christ and feel the weight of our, not just our sins forgiven, but our guilt, our conscience being purged and being free in Christ.

92. 39:32

    To be unified with God in pure conscience so that God can look at us and we're not sinners. We're totally holy and beautiful and we can worship in the beauty of holiness. holiness. That's what the promise is of being in Christ. To be purified. The judgment seat shouldn't be something we should fear.

93. 39:56

    Too many pictures are painted of fear and trepidation of the judgment seat. The judgment seat for the believer is going to be the greatest day of his life. The judgment seat for the believer is going to be to go to the one that he knows is the man of compassion. To almost want to run to this man of compassion.

94. 40:13

    Oh sure, not in our confidence. No flesh will glory in his presence. But the man that we will go to see at judgment seat is the man that we know wants to free us. His life was about trying to free us from sin and guilt. And when we bow before that man, our desire is only for him and for everything he has accomplished in freeing us from our sins.

95. 40:41

    Psalm 31, as I said, which is an incredible psalm of the cross, speaking of Jesus Christ, only man that could say this as he hung there naked upon a cross. In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. Let me never be ashamed. I'm not ashamed before thee because I have done nothing amidst.

96. 41:00

    And though he hung there naked in the midst of those two thieves, he says, deliver me in thy righteousness. Let me not be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon thee. Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent. Let lying lips be put to shame that speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.

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    Of course, that's why it says of those that receive Christ into their life, and take on the saving name of Christ, and have tasted of the good things that come, have almost like tasted of the tree of life, and everything that it offers. those that receive the gift of the Holy Spirit have tasted of a touch, a taste, a cameo of the kingdom of God.

98. 41:44

    And Paul says if they, after tasting of this, turn back to the servitude and bondage of the law, it says they crucify them to themselves, the Son of God, afresh, and put him to an open shame. They publicly display him in shame. because they have rejected the only man that had done nothing amiss.

99. 42:14

    Well, we are going to have to move on very quickly to just, and we'll probably in our next session cover this a little bit more, but to move forward to the next saying of Jesus on the cross. And this is the last saying, of course, before darkness came about. And during that time, during that three hours between 9 a.m.

100. 42:34

     and 12 p.m., sometime during that time, Jesus' mother and John approached the cross and overcame their own shame in being able to approach Jesus there on the cross.

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     Do you know, it's such a powerful thing when you think about this. All the disciples, all the people that were there in front of them, the Romans, the thieves, the Jews, at this point of time, had doubts about who this man really was. You know, Peter had said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God.

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     But now what did Peter think? He's hanging upon a stake, he's dying, he's been crucified, he's been condemned as a criminal, and Peter ran away. And all the disciples took him and fled because they couldn't comprehend that. And even the most faithful with Jesus had times and moments where they said in their mind, is he really the son of God?

103. 43:35

     Could this man be the son of God? Do you know, there's only one person, there's only one mortal person that has ever lived that had never a shadow of doubt. You ever thought about that? She never doubted, she never considered in her mind, this might not be the son of God. The only person that could ever know that that man up there was truly the son of God was his mother, wasn't it?

104. 44:03

     She had no question in her mind who he was as she came to that cross. She might have been confused as to why these things had happened. Early on in Luke chapter 2 it said she pondered these things in her heart, she kept these sayings in her heart, she contemplated these things three times it says in Luke.

105. 44:26

     And they had dwelt with her all her life. And now the words of course of Simeon came home like never before. When Simeon, when Mary had gone in with that child to be dedicated to his father and Simeon had met them in the temple and Simeon had blessed the child and taken that child into his arms and said this man is set for the rise and fall of many in Israel, a light to light in the Gentiles and the glory of his people Israel.

106. 44:58

     And then Simeon blessed them. And he said to his mother, behold, the child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel and for a sign which will be spoken against. Yea, Mary, a sword will pierce through thine own soul also. You and Mary are going to go through one of the most bitter things a mother could ever experience.

107. 45:22

     the anguish ! The anguish of what she experienced as she was going to see her son on the cross. And of course, there was the disciple John, who had said, had he not, earlier with James, when they had come to Jesus, care of their mother Salome, Aunty Salome had come to Jesus to say, you know, we just want to ask one thing of you.

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     you know, do you think it's alright if these boys sit one on thy right hand and one on thy left in thy glory? You know, this was Jesus' glory. Right here and here now was Jesus' glory. And no wonder Jesus turned around and said, can you drink of the cup that I drink of?

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     Can you be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said, we can. We have the power to. How did John feel at that stage when he looked up at who was on the right hand and the left hand of Jesus and what was happening on the right hand and left hand of Jesus?

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     Is he hung there in glory? Did he want to be there now? I don't think so. And then there's this just incredible moment, isn't it, where Jesus turns and as we said, it's like his last will and testament. He looks down at Mary and he says, woman, behold, thy son. Now, obviously, he doesn't say, mum, and he says, woman, and there's really good reasons for that, of course.

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     You know, she had to see herself now as becoming one of his disciples. That family connection was forever going to change. And it's the same term Jesus used, of course, at the wedding. Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour has not yet come. Now his hour was come. And again he calls her woman.

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     Behold thy son. But there's more than that, you see. And it was the seed of the woman that was right there and then crushing the serpent. He was directly the seed of the woman. And his terms and his use of that term was taking you right back to what he was accomplishing and drawing your mind back to Genesis chapter 3.

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     It shall bruise thy heel. Incidentally, by the way, they found recently in excavations remains of somebody that had been crucified in Roman times. And they discovered that instead of being nailed through the front of the feet, they were actually nailed through the side of the feet, through the arcades tendon, which is the most strongest tendon that could hold the weight of the body.

114. 48:03

     And it is the most strongest tendon in the entire body. Quite poignant if you think about that. They were crucified with their legs together through the side and perhaps it's the fulfilment of course of it shall bruise thy heel. And Jesus was smitten in the heel. That was just a little aside.

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     Jesus is taking Mary back and John back to this incredible statement in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15. And thou shalt crush his head. Not only that, it was an incredible thing which Jesus was doing. and it was a beautiful thing in terms of his love disciple John and he was giving him to the responsibility to the care and nurture of his mother and to look after his mother.

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     You know, John was forever, along with Peter and James, vying for top spot in amongst the disciples. You know, there was always arguments over who is going to be the greatest in the kingdom of God. It was only really between those three because all of them knew that they were the top three because they were the three Jesus took with him all the time.

117. 49:07

     Whether he took them to the Mount of Transfiguration or to the raising of Jarius' daughter or to the Olivet Prophecy. They were the three, including Andrew in the Olivet Prophecy, but they were the three all the time that were the special, close three to Jesus. So no one would have argued that they were the top three disciples.

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     So when there was an argument amongst the disciples, it was always between these cousins, between James and John and Peter as to who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom of God. And even John was right, that compact, competitiveness had existed right up to the time when they ran to the tomb.

119. 49:43

     And one did outrun the other. John, they had to cycle whom the Lord loved, did outrun the other. And when he got there, he stood and stepped aside and allowed Peter to go in first. And I believe that's the first change in John. He has seen everything that Jesus has taught him about love.

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     And, you know, they wanted to be the spearhead of the gospel. And John starts it, doesn't he? Acts chapter 4, Peter and John are there when they go up into the temple, but then he disappears. At the scene, you don't see him. Because he was looking after an old lady. And he spent his time caring and nurturing for an old lady.

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     But that man was able to write the epistles of love. You know, this was the sun of thunder that could bring fire down from heaven and nuke the Samaritans. Same guy that writes the epistles of love. What a transformation this man went through. Because he saw love emanating from the cross. He saw Christ for who he was.

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     And Jesus turned around and said, Son, behold thy mother. It's a beautiful picture of Jesus' love being demonstrated. Do you know, in John chapter 15, Jesus says, you shall no longer be called servants, but you shall be called friends. And so, these disciples had gone from being the servants of the Lord, the disciples, and they had gone into a new relationship of being friends.

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     Do you know, John was just about to enter into a whole new relationship, a transition which would go from disciples, to friends, to now brothers, wasn't he? Because wasn't that James' responsibility as the next oldest to be looking after mum? That would be the responsibility of the next oldest after Jesus was died.

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     James should have taken that role on. But Jesus turned to John and said to him, son, behold thy mother, I want you to be my brother. I want you to be next in charge to look after mum and to care for her. And all of a sudden John now is in a relationship of brother.

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     Of course it says that in Matthew chapter 12, whoever shall do the will of my father in heaven the same as my father my mother and my brethren. And from that moment forth they became brethren. Go and tell my brethren I go before them into Galilee. And this was an incredible relationship that was developed at the cross.

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     Well we're well past our time so we shall leave it there but what an incredible thing brothers and sisters to see Jesus in giving an incredible promise to a man that was a murderer. Think about that a man that was a murderer and he came under this grace of Christ to be free from his guilt.

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     And then the incredible thing that Jesus could turn to his mother and his love disciples and still be showing love and care towards them when all around him was hate. All around him was evil and yet he was still showing love. That's the same Jesus we know that we've come to know and it's the same Jesus we'll face when we go to the judgment seat.

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     He's not a different man. He's not a hard man reaping where he had not sown. He's a man which really wants us to be in the kingdom, who really wants to save us, who really wants us to be free from this body of death. All we have to do is be with him.