This is Part II of a series on Holy Week. Consider reading Part I: The Man On A Donkey
Good Friday.
Outside the city gate there were three men hanging on a Roman cross. It was a common tool in its day used to stomp out unruly uprisings, punish law breakers, and impose the will of the state against its enemies. Crucifixion was intentionally inefficient and was meant to send a message – and it did, alright.
To everyone watching, the message was clear: religious revolution would not be tolerated. Jesus of Nazareth was brought to Roman officials by the Jewish leaders of the day on charges of blasphemy, and even though he wasn’t breaking Roman law, Pontius Pilate couldn’t afford to have this revolution go on any longer, so he sentenced Jesus to death on a cross.
But to the man on the cross, and to his followers a few days later, the message was very different: the revolution was just beginning.
While hanging on the cross, Jesus used some of his final words and moments to teach us one last time what his movement was about,
“And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’” (Luke 23:34)
Forgiveness & Simplicity
The kingdom that Jesus was ushering in would be full of people with one thing in common: they were fully forgiven. One of the men next to Jesus, also on a cross, experienced this forgiveness as well.
The title of this post, “The Man On The Middle Cross”, is a reference to an all-time classic sermon that Alistair Begg gave some years ago. It always seems to circulate online around the Easter season, and it never, ever gets old.
Begg retells the story of the Thief on the Cross, albeit in a very humorous way, but the humor only comes from the simple fact that his salvation, the forgiveness of his sins, was given to him so freely that he couldn’t even hardly explain it. You really need to listen to it yourself to get the full effect, but I’ll do my best to give you the gist.
Basically, the re-telling is told from the perspective of the Thief already in Heaven. The angel that is welcoming him in asks, “on what basis are you here?” Confused a little at first, the Thief doesn’t really know how to answer the angel. The angel becomes quite concerned with his lack of answer, so he starts to quiz him on various topics like the doctrine of justification by faith alone, Sola Scriptura, and asking him about his church membership.
After being very confused by all these new terms, ones he clearly hasn’t ever heard before, the Thief answers simply,
“The man on the middle cross said I could come.”
What Begg understood well was the simplicity of our salvation. It’s not by works; the thief was godless before then and had done nothing good for God up to that point. It’s not by having correct doctrine or even understanding it well; the thief probably wasn’t pondering deeply the mind of God before then. It’s not by having a good track record of church membership; I’ll go out on a limb and say he never stepped foot in a temple.
On this Good Friday, I would like us to stop and ponder the simplicity of our salvation.
How often do we doubt our own salvation or standing before God when we see other Christians who seem to have “graduated” or “leveled up” from the stage we’re at? We see them and start to doubt if our faith is even real because, well, in comparison, look at how theologically sound they are! They can recount Scripture right from their heart! They quote some old, dead theologians occasionally! They lead a ministry at church!
Friends, those are good and honorable things to pursue, but please do not let their absence in your life cloud your assurance. Your faith is real and is being sustained by our Savior. The forgiveness we have obtained is based on Christ’s merit and not our own.
The simplicity of our faith was put perfectly by Paul in Romans,
“because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
Is Jesus your Lord? Do you believe that he was raised from the dead? Then, that’s all there is to it. There’s no adding to it, and no subtracting from it. You can have a total misunderstanding of the mechanisms of atonement and still be saved. You can never have a long-standing church membership and still be saved. You can be awful at memorizing Scripture and still be saved.
I really cannot overstate it enough: the thief on the cross did nothing, knew nothing and had nothing to offer Jesus, and, yet he was still accepted by God. All he did was place faith and pled with God to save him.
This should cause our understanding of our faith to err on the side of simplicity rather than complexity. We cannot let debates and gray areas cloud our understanding of our salvation. It is simple, despite its depth and complexity.
Thankfulness
As I am writing this piece, I can think of no other way I would like to conclude than with an expression of thankfulness and gratitude towards my savior.
One of my favorite songs that grounds me in the reality of God’s love for me is How Deep the Father’s Love For Us by Stuart Townsend. Every verse of this song perfectly encapsulates The Gospel and I’d like to highlight one for you.
The second verse sings,
Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life –
I know that it is finished.
Admittedly, good or bad, I can be someone who is heavily motivated by guilt, as you may have been able to determine by reading this today. The guilt I knew that I once carried, and now carried and expelled by Christ, can bring upon great shame, but it should always be turned into praise. The line, “It was my sin that held Him there Until it was accomplish,” can bring a lump to my throat, but it’s turned into praise with the next line, “His dying breath has brought me life.”
The Gospel of God is this: eternal life for those who are in Christ. This Good Friday, I am so thankful for the cross. God became man, marched to the cross, and died in my place so that I could have life with God forever.
Amen.
The revolution that Jesus started was built upon the rock of forgiveness, and it was all earned on Calvary. Our salvation is quite simple, but that does not mean it was shallow. The depth of what the man on the middle cross experienced can never be fully understood or felt. On this Good Friday, reflect deeply on the complexity, but rest in the simplicity.
Read Part III of this series on Holy Week: The Man On The Throne
Thank you for reading In The Trees. If you were encouraged by this post, please give it a “Like” and consider sharing with a friend. Be blessed.
One of my favorites from Alistair Begg!