5. What You Hear from the Cross

LONNIE: Welcome to Exploring the Word. Thanks for joining us. This is your opportunity to dig deeper into the richness of the Word. We begin with a question from our Bible students.

JEANNIE: This one comes to us from a young man named Aldo who got into trouble with the law.

“I am not happy about my past because I know I had plenty of opportunity to do things right. All I can do now is hope for a better future. . . “

You know Lonnie a lot of times people write us about their lives, and I won’t go into details here, but so many are struggling because of a mistake in their past they just can’t get over.

LONNIE: So this is a question of guilt, unresolved guilt.

JEANNIE: Yes, and that’s something we all have to come to terms with, of course.

LONNIE: Many people have such a hard time finding their way to forgiveness, I mean really feeling forgiven.

LONNIE: It’s not like flipping a switch for most people; one day you feel terribly guilty and the next you feel forgiven and accepted.

JEANNIE: So how do we help people get beyond those terrible mistakes that haunt them?

LONNIE: Let’s try to answer that, with today’s Bible study.

Today I’d like to take you to the one place in the whole world where the worst of mistakes, the most persistent guilt, meets its match. It’s the place where every kind of human failing is turned upside down.

Recently, Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion,” made the physical ordeal of Jesus more vivid for a lot of people than ever before. He dramatized the act of the cross. Today we’re going to focus on the words of the cross. And we’re going to see that these words, uttered in the most trying circumstances, take us surely from guilt to grace. They take us from anxiety to peace. They take us safely across the gap between our sinfulness and a holy God.

So get your Bible handy. Get ready. Be prepared to take in the greatest last words ever spoken. Because they are spoken to you.

The seven last sayings of Jesus. Words spoken at Calvary. This is going to be a wonderful study that will help you grasp forgiveness in a way you never have before.

Let’s begin.

First we’ll look at what might be called the dark sayings of Jesus, the words of a man speaking in anguish. Look at John 19:28. Here you’ll see a very ordinary human cry. Look at the end of the verse:

“I am thirsty.”

Simple statement, painful statement, made by a man who’d been wounded and traumatized. I am THIRSTY.

These three words speak volumes about Jesus Christ in that place. They tell us loud and clear that He really did take on our humanity—our FLESH & blood. He felt what we feel. He got tired and hungry and thirsty. He knew loneliness and disappointment.

Listen to how the writer of Hebrews put it. He was writing about Jesus’ later role as our High Priest in heaven, our mediator, and he said:
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15

Tempted as we are. Tried as we are. That was Jesus.

Listen, if forgiveness is going to be meaningful, it has to come from someone who understands us. It can’t come from a remote distance. It can’t just be some official form that floats down from heaven with our name stamped on it: pardoned. To matter, forgiveness has to come from someone who really understands why you made the mistakes that haunt you. Jesus UNDERSTANDS.

“I am thirsty.” Those are the first words you need to hear from the cross.

Now let’s turn to the gospel of Mark. Mark chapter 15 gives us an even darker saying. We’ll look at Mark 15:34.

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Why FORSAKEN ME?

At the ninth hour, three in the afternoon our time, Jesus hurled a question up at the dark sky. He sounds lost, utterly lost. He can’t find the Father’s face in the dark. He feels abandoned. He feels rejected, rejected by the One who means everything to Him.

Why? Paul explains why in 2 Corinthians 5:21:

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

God the Father made Jesus “to be sin for us.” Jesus took on our mistakes.
Jesus took on our failings. Jesus took on the worst that we’ve ever done.

Making forgiveness possible didn’t come cheap. It wasn’t an easy task. It required everything Jesus had to give. He had to take on sin itself, evil itself.

And it tore Him apart. “Why have You forsaken Me?”

But He experienced that for a reason. He was CRUSHED by sin so you wouldn’t have to be.

Do you feel unworthy? Christ felt that. Do you feel alienated? Christ felt that. Do you feel abandoned? Christ felt that. Your worst feelings of guilt right now, at this moment, are telling you something. They are telling you that Jesus Christ absorbed that guilt and those emotions. Jesus is OUR SUBSTITUTE.

Now we can move to what we might call the bright sayings of Jesus on the cross, the words of hope. They appear in the beautiful gospel of Luke. And they begin, amazingly enough, right when the Roman soldiers pound spikes into Jesus’ limbs.

Let’s read Luke 23:34:

“Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots.”

FORGIVE THEM. Picture the scene. Roman soldiers have nailed Jesus to a cross and are lifting Him up to hang in agony. So what’s on their minds? “Hey look at these blood-stained outer garments. This is good cloth. Could be worth something.”

So they divide it up. But they didn’t want to tear the seamless tunic, John tells us. So they cast lots for it.

Hardened soldiers, just doing their job. They had to shut out the suffering of the condemned.

But Jesus asks the Father to forgive them. After all, they don’t realize they’ve just crucified the Son of God.

Jesus uttered these words at the beginning of His ordeal to let you know clearly—this is about forgiveness. This isn’t a terrible mistake. This is all about extending grace. Jesus extends GRACE.

Paul emphasizes that in Ephesians 1:7 and 8. Speaking of Jesus, he says:

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us . . .” Ephesians 1:7,8

Notice how forgiveness is presented. It’s not something that’s given grudgingly. It’s not ladled out by the spoonful. God isn’t stingy about it. No, it comes in a flood. It comes from the riches of God’s grace. It’s lavished on us. It’s abundant. It abounds toward us.

That’s why we are completely accepted in the Beloved, in Jesus Christ. That’s how Jesus becomes OUR REDEEMER.

What does that mean for each of us who struggle with guilt? It means this. Take forgiveness in the way it’s offered! Accept it in the way it’s given.

Too often we just take in forgiveness a sip at a time. We get over one mistake in the past—and then start fretting about another one. We treat God’s pardon like expensive medicine—apply just enough to get by.

Friends, drink up the whole thing! Feel His forgiveness go deep, all the way down. Know that His pardon covers each and every sin. Thank Him that He has thrown your transgressions into the bottom of the sea. That’s how you honor the great monument that is the cross.


Now let’s move to the next two hopeful saying at Calvary. They amplify this basic idea of God’s lavish forgiveness. Luke 23:43. This is what Jesus said to a dying thief beside him who asked to be remembered:

And Jesus said to Him, “Assuredly, I say to you today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Here’s a man grasping at straws---and he comes up with Paradise. Is that a lavish gift? Is that a flood of pardon? You bet it is. Could this man possibly do anything to earn that forgiveness, hanging there on a cross, about to die? Absolutely not.

Jesus’ words to the dying thief throw a spotlight on hope. And they show us that Jesus is our Acceptance—with the Father, in Paradise.

Hope. It comes to us from the cross. It comes to us by the buckets full. Jesus also gave hope to Mary, his mother, and His disciple John. He said, “Woman, behold your son!” And to John, “Behold your mother!” Jesus bound two people together. They would be able to care for each other. They would treasure the memory of Jesus—and keep hope alive!

And so we come to Christ’s final saying, His last words. He’s saying good-by and He’s sealing the deal. John was there. He records the moment in John 19:30:

“He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”

It is FINISHED. Simple statement. It reminds us of three previous words: “I am thirsty.” Then He was expressing His full humanity. Now He is saying that a divine act has been completed: reconciliation. It’s done. He kept STANDING. And so Jesus established Himself, once and for all, as OUR SAVIOR.

Luke adds these final words of Jesus, “Father, into Thy hands I commit My Spirit.”

Jesus had taken a stand there on Calvary. And at the end, He was still standing. He had taken on human guilt and absorbed the horror of hell.

At the cross, Jesus, Our Savior, kept standing for you and me.
He kept standing as a man of flesh and blood. I am thirsty.
He kept standing as a man forsaken, so we could be accepted.
He kept standing in order to open up a flood of forgiveness.
He kept standing to reconcile us to a holy God as our Savior.

Jesus’ seven last sayings on the cross sum up His whole life. And they assure us, as nothing else in the world can, that complete forgiveness really is possible, that the slate can be wiped clean, that each of us can begin living each day in the world of grace.

JEANNIE: You know Lonnie, one of the greatest gifts in my life is to know that I’m forgiven and accepted by God. It wasn’t an easy concept for me to grasp, because of my background. I was a very shy and insecure little girl. And that insecurity made me feel unworthy -- unworthy of most everything. I couldn't accept compliments -- I'd make excuses for anything nice that people would say about me.

LONNIE: I remember you were a little bit that way when I first met you.

JEANNIE: I think I just didn’t feel worthy of Jesus’ love.

In church I heard about Jesus dying for me a lot. But I remembering saying to myself -- every time -- "Oh, no He would NOT have died just for ME. There's no way! I'm not worth it." At the same time I tried to have a little hope. You know, if He died for EVERY person in the world, maybe I'd be "scooped up" with all the rest of them.

LONNIE: I remember how you struggled with guilt about everything—even as an adult. And I’d say things like, “JEANNIE, you carry the burdens of the world!" Probably not very helpful.

JEANNIE: But you were trying, Honey, and I have found a way to deal with the fear and guilt that I once held so tightly. One of the most profound ways for me was when I applied a text that I've claimed as my very own. It’s in Isaiah 43:1-5 and these words have meant the world to me.

"Fear not: for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you: when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; neither will the flame kindle upon you. For I am the Lord your God,..your Savior. ...You are precious in My sight, you've been honorable, and I have loved you:...Fear not: for I am with you."

Well I just had to believe those words. Whenever those “I’m not worth much” thoughts came to my mind, I repeated this wonderful assurance to Israel. And I affirm the fact that I’m redeemed. That was a big step in my relationship with Christ. I’m so much more secure in His love and acceptance now. He’s taken care of my guilt problem.

LONNIE: Honey, what was the key idea for you, that sort of turned the switch?

JEANNIE: I think it’s so important to focus not on me, myself, and all my failures. Focusing on Jesus, that’s what matters. Actually picturing Him there in front of me and sensing His love. So, the significance of the Cross for me is all about Him. It’s about His gift of acceptance. He is my compassionate, loving and forgiving Savior.

LONNIE: And it’s motivated you to share it with other people.

Thanks so much for sharing Jeannie.

Right now we’d like to give you the opportunity to start living a free and forgiven life in God’s grace.

I’d like to make a prayer of confession now. I’d like to give you the opportunity to make things right with God. You may have tried to make things right in your way for a long time. It’s time to make things right in His way.

We’ll acknowledge that the cross has your name on it. I had to realize one day that the cross had my name on it. And I’m so glad I was able to see that, so glad I accepted what Jesus did there.

The cross is Jesus saying, “I loved you then, and I love you now.” The cross carries the weight of God’s love—from before the foundation of the world.

So open up to the love you don’t deserve now. This is also a prayer of acceptance. We’re going to thank God for giving up His Son, thank Jesus for giving up His life. We’re going to take the gift with both hands.

Make this prayer your personal response to God’s personal sacrifice on your behalf. Place your life in the hands of the nail-scared hands that held you—at the cross.

Don’t let anything in the world keep from you accepting this costly gift. I invite you to the place where all our troubles run into the immovable object of grace. Are you ready?

I’d like you to say this simple prayer—along with Jeannie. Just repeat these words, with her, and you’ll be making the most important commitment of your life.

LONNIE: Dear Father, I’ve sinned against you. I’ve fallen short.

JEANNIE: Dear Father, I’ve sinned against you. I’ve fallen short.

LONNIE: So here I am in need of Your forgiveness.

JEANNIE: So here I am in need of Your forgiveness.

LONNIE: Thank You for blotting out my sins on the cross of Calvary.

JEANNIE: Thank You for blotting out my sins on the cross of Calvary.

LONNIE: Thank You for pardon---full and free.

JEANNIE: Thank You for pardon---full and free.

LONNIE: Thank You for an assurance of my place in heaven.

JEANNIE: Thank You for an assurance of my place in heaven.

LONNIE: I accept this now empty-handed, but with both hands.

JEANNIE: I accept this now empty-handed, but with both hands.

LONNIE: I claim the privilege of being Your child.

JEANNIE: I claim the privilege of being Your child.

LONNIE: I make this commitment in the name of the Beloved Son, Amen.

JEANNIE: I make this commitment in the name of the Beloved Son, Amen.

JEANNIE: It’s time for your assignment for next week.

LONNIE: A little bit of homework so you can prepare to really Explore the Word with us in our next program.

JEANNIE: The assignment is Romans. We’d like you to read the first eight chapters of this remarkable letter.

LONNIE: The subject next week is a second chance at life, salvation. And Romans is a masterful treatment of just how God does save us.

JEANNIE: So remember, read Romans 1 through 8 and you’ll be ready for our next program.

LONNIE: Until next week, God bless you and yours. And remember, never stop exploring the Word.