( Lk. 23: 33 – 49 ) - [ Deutsch ] - [ Akündigungen352 KB ]
When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. One of the criminals who hung there, hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, inclu-ding the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
Beloved in the Lord!
Due to the many different possible themes in this text, I will have to limit myself to one topic. Today I have chosen to speak to you about Jesus’ three words on the cross which are peculiar to the gospel of St. Luke: 1) “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” 2) “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” And 3) “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
We see how Jesus is arrested, then accused; even false witnesses are brought to speak out against him. But he does not say anything; he is condemned to death and he receives his verdict in silence; they spat in his face and struck him, they put on a crown of thorns on his head, they ridiculed and mocked him but Jesus remained silent and did not defend himself. We can hardly take it any more. Like Peter we would like to just jump in and protect him, defend him and shout at those that maltreat him: “You cannot do that to our Lord!! But would we have done it at the time, wouldn’t we also have run away or denied that we had known him? But what Jesus does next we can’t understand. He goes on and even forgives those who have done these terrible things to him. That is unbelievable, even unacceptable, we think – that is just going too far! All those people should come to him and apologize to him about what they have done. He does not ask the Father to forgive his friends, he asks that his enemies, those that are desperate to kill him, to forgive them! While one of the criminals faces death, he mocks Jesus; the soldiers under his cross challenged him to save himself as he is the king of the Jews, they laughed and offered him wine vinegar; the crowd and the rulers stood watching even sneering at him, shouting: let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One. All this ridiculing and mocking and yet Jesus asks his Father to forgive them!
He does not ask anything for himself, not even that all this should now come to an end. This reaction of Jesus is just too heavy for us, too demanding, we who judge according to what is right or wrong. Do we not rather react by saying, if something bad happens to an evil person: That serves him right, he deserved that! Jesus’ conduct is too big for our lives where we always fight for our right or to be right, where we insult where we have been hurt, a life where we live according to the old rule: an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth – what you do to me, I will do to you; bad and negative talk about the other to defend ourselves. Who speaks negatively about me, I will also speak negatively about him/her to retaliate. That is why it is so difficult to understand Jesus, who after all he had experienced: false witness, lies, torture, humiliation, mockery and insult still says: Father, forgive them…. If Jesus can react this way, he must have an incredibly big heart, then he must know of another principle that determines his heart. His principle is: Forgive and return good for evil. Our heart however cries for retaliation and revenge.
Is there a way that can lead us to a forgiving heart? Yes, but it only leads over the path of a heart that is willing to receive forgiveness. Only those that have acknowledged their own sin or guilt, and take them
seriously, can acknowledge how huge the gift of forgiveness is. Whoever has received this gift can then receive the strength to forgive also. The willingness to forgive grows with the realisation of one’s own weakness and guilt, the knowledge that we are not worthy to stand before God. With that we come to the second word on the cross.
“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Jesus was hanging between two criminals. He is mocked by the one. Also, here Jesus remains silent. Jesus did not remain silent when it was a matter of the truth or when it was a matter of his Father’s honour. However, when he was maltreated or treated unrighteous, when he was betrayed and treated as a criminal, he remains silent and does not fight for himself or his honour. There are several possible reasons to remain silent: one can remain silent because of one’s own ignorance; or because of arrogance; or because it is prudent to remain silent, not to cause too much uproar or embarrassment; or one can remain silent out of cowardice. One can also remain silent because one has committed everything into God’s hands, knowing to be in God’s hands – the false accusations can no longer hit or hurt. That is Jesus’ silence. He had already put himself into God’s hands: “Not my will but your will be done”, he prayed in the garden of Gethsemane.
The one criminal mocked Jesus and said: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” That is a very low blow. The criminal punches Jesus where he is vulnerable. That is what he had proclaimed during his mission, that he was the Christ, the Messiah. This is a mockery that must have hurt him in his essence. He had helped so many people, even their mockery is a witness to it. He had healed so many people in so many different ways, but he can’t help himself. If you are truly the Christ, then something has to happen now, he is challenged. If you don’t do anything then you cannot be the Christ. Yes, together with the others this criminal ridiculed him. Even in the face of death he does not acknowledge any guilt, he has no humility. That is why he does not recognise Jesus. He is only concerned about himself. And so, he has to die without Jesus, without Jesus’ grace of forgiveness.
The other criminal however acknowledges the innocence of Jesus, he acknowledges Jesus’ love and goodness – and he acknowledges his own guilt and turns to Jesus. “We are punished justly, he says to the other criminal on the cross, “…for we are getting what we deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” All the others mock Jesus, Jesus who was followed and honoured by so many people, but now he has nothing to offer anymore. Here, in this terrible hour, this criminal turns to Jesus. What a miracle. He senses that Jesus can still do something for his lost situation and asks him for something small:” Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.” He acknowledges Jesus as king and as Lord. In this moment Jesus does not remain silent, because it touched his whole mission – to reconcile people with God, to re-unite people with God, that they may be healed, saved. And Jesus adheres to his request:” “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” Now the criminal was taken up into God’s forgiving and saving action.
“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
While Jesus prays, he quotes from Ps. 31. We hear how he dies. If we want to know who a person really is, then we need to be with that person when he dies, because in the face of death we become honest and no longer wear masks. Here we experience Jesus in his hour of dying. It was during the 9th hour when the trombones and trumpets at the temple called for evening prayer. In this hour the people prayed that they may be protected through the night and awake again the next day. In this hour Jesus prays:” Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”. With the hope of resurrection, he places himself into God’s hands. The verse which he prayed continues: “Redeem me, O Lord, the God of truth.” Jesus knows that his difficult task is now fulfilled. Everything he has done, proclaimed, suffered he can now lay into his Father’s hands; nothing will be lost. Nothing he did was in vain. Whatever is with the Father, in the hands of the Father, will be changed into a blessing, even his death.
May we be protected against taking this cross for granted, that it does not only become a mere polished ornament hanging around our neck. May we rather realize that our life or death is decided at this cross, as was the case with the two criminals: The one wanted his life and lost it; the other one acknowledges his guilt and his need of Jesus, he gave himself up and received life. In this way we do not face Good Friday only once in a year, but every day. In this way the cross receives a double meaning: On the one hand it is the place where we receive acceptance and forgiveness, God’s love and on the other hand it is a sign that wants to admonish and shock us that we do not, as with the first criminal, remain with ourselves and lose life, but that it leads us to repentance and healing to receive life. Amen