I have found no guilt in this man

Luke 23:13-43 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion, and behold, having examined Him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against Him. ¹⁵ No, nor has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him.¹⁶ Therefore I will punish Him and release Him.” ¹⁷ Now he was obliged to release to them at the feast one prisoner.

¹⁸ But they cried out all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!” ¹⁹ (He was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city, and for murder.) ²⁰ Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again, ²¹ but they kept on calling out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” ²² And he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has this man done? I have found in Him no guilt demanding death; therefore I will punish Him and release Him.”²³ But they were insistent, with loud voices asking that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. ²⁴ And Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted. ²⁵ And he released the man they were asking for who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but he delivered Jesus to their will.

²⁶ When they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.

²⁷ And following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting Him. ²⁸ But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.²⁹ For 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.’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

³² Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him.

³³ When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. ³⁴ But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. ³⁵ And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” ³⁶ The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, ³⁷ and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” ³⁸ Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

³⁹ One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” ⁴³ And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Today’s text begins with a nearly unimaginable scenario; that people would actually choose a guilty murderer over the innocent Christ. It says:  Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion, and behold, having examined Him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against Him. No, nor has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him.Therefore I will punish Him and release Him.” Now he was obliged to release to them at the feast one prisoner. But they cried out all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!”  (He was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city, and for murder.) Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again, but they kept on calling out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” And he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has this man done? I have found in Him no guilt demanding death; therefore I will punish Him and release Him.” But they were insistent, with loud voices asking that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail.  And Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted.  And he released the man they were asking for who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but he delivered Jesus to their will.   Almost as unimaginably, the same scenario is played out daily in our culture and society. While no fault can be found in Christ, those who are guilty even of the most vile and immoral sins and actions are esteemed above and preferred over Him. The innocent Christ has been condemned in our society. He has been cast out of our schools and our public places. Profanity laced rants are embraced as protected speech, while phrases like, God bless, Merry Christmas, praise the Lord and any such mention of God are considered offensive and prohibitted from speech. 

In today’s text, beyond Jesus dying for our sins, there are some important lessons we can apply in our lives as we look at this account.  It says: When they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus… Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him.  When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”  Galatians 6:2-5 exhorts us saying:  Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one will bear his own load.  In today’s text, we see that even Jesus, because His human body was so badly beaten, needed help to bear the weight of the cross. Simon though, could only bear the cross to calvary. There, only Jesus could bear the load of the sins of the world on the cross. We too, when we come along side someone whose burden is too heavy, can only carry it for them to calvary. There, we need to turn it over to Jesus, who already accomplished all that is needed. In John 19:30, He said: “It is finished.”   

The text continues saying:  One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”  And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”  And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”   Many people, like the first thief, challenge God to save them, without repentance, from their place of sin. Like the second thief, we too need to recognize that: we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds. Many people cry out for justice today, but justice is not what they actually want. If we were to receive justice, we would receive the sentence of condemnation and death. Romans 6:23 says: The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 says: By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.  Grace is demonstrated in that Jesus says: “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”   The repentent thief never had the opportunity to change his life, to do good and serve God, but by grace he was saved. We cannot though presume on grace, choosing to continue in sin until we are near death. James 4:17 says:  To one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.   Still, for those who believe, we should never stop carrying those we love to the cross of Christ, where He says: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing,” even to the end of their days, we should seek grace for them.  

It may be ironic that it was meant as mockery, but the inscription they placed above Jesus spoke truth:  “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”   Many today also mock the name of the Lord, but the truth is, He is Lord. He is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. Philippians 2:5-7 is my prayer today.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,  and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.   Amen.