Thursday is the first day of Passover, making this a good time of the year to consider Jesus’ crucifixion. (But, of course, any time of year is a good time to consider the crucifixion.) Next Sunday is the day that most Christians celebrate Christ’s resurrection. The death of Christ provided the means of our salvation from sin, and the resurrection proved its efficacy.
In our message last week, we considered the first part of this chapter from Luke. King Herod had a perfect opportunity to turn to the Lord Jesus for deliverance and forgiveness for his sin. But he squandered that God-given privilege, and today he is in hell, awaiting his final judgment. He ended up with the blood of Christ on his hands, but not on his heart. In the scripture we are considering this morning, we have two more men who were providentially brought into the presence of the Lord Jesus. Again, one wasted his privilege, dying in his sin and unbelief. But the other, by God’s grace, was born just before he died – he was born again; born from above.
One of the crucified men, just like Herod, wanted to see a miracle. He refused to believe that Jesus was the Messiah without proof – beyond what He had already been given. “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.” The man wanted to be delivered from his upcoming death, but without repentance and faith on his part. So he joined the Jewish mob, cursing, and trying to provoke Christ. He shouted, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.” But on the other side of the Lord Jesus, there hung another dying man. He had the same opportunity as Herod and his co-conspirator. But quite differently he, “answering, rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed JUSTLY; for we receive THE DUE REWARD of our DEEDS….”
This second man gave me the title to our message: “Just Deserts.” I’ll assume you know that phrase, and its meaning. But do you know that In that phrase “deserts” is spelled with one “s,” as in “deserts – an arid place? Which means it has nothing to do with lemon pie, chocolate cake or ice cream after a good meal. The word in both my phrase and the reference to a post-meal treat come from French. And they are separated by that second “s” in both French and English. One means “clear the table” referring to the last course of a meal – “dessert.” But the other speaks not of a gracious treat; it refers to something justly deserved. “Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds….”
Someone once wrote that these five verses ought to be printed in gold letters. Because they have brought myriads of sinners to Christ. These verses powerfully display the sovereignty of God the Father and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sinners, both the very worst and the not so bad – every sinner will go in one of two directions when they die: into eternal life or into eternal death. Everyone of us here today will follow one or the other of these two malefactors.
Let’s consider this paragraph under three headings – “justice,” “injustice,” and a word I’ve made up: “abjustice.”
One of the crucified men admitted to the JUSTICE of his execution.
These two men are briefly mentioned in Matthew and Mark, but only here is this conversation highlighted. The two other gospels call these men “thieves.” Some preachers and commentators, using their imaginations, link these two with Barabbas. Barabbas was a murderer and insurrectionist who was at the time being held by Governor Pilate. But despite his guilt, he was released, and the Lord Jesus was crucified in his place. What a beautiful picture of the grace of God. This is what the salvation of God involves: the substitution of Christ and his death for us in our sins.
As I say, some people think these two who were crucified with Christ were arrested with Barabbas. But there is no proof of that. Matthew and Mark call them “thieves,” but Luke calls them “malefactors” – which is a more general term. “Malefactor” means “evil-doer,” “criminal,” or “wrongdoer.” In this case I like word “malefactor” over “thief,” because it leaves the door open for me and you. I have never been a murderer or a revolutionary insurgent. Perhaps some of you have never even been a thief. But we have all been “malefactors” – wrong-doers, both in the eyes of man and God. We are sinners. John says – “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.” “Sin” is the Holy Spirit’s word for breaking the laws of God. Later John adds, “All unrighteousness is sin…” James tells us, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” Like this crucified malefactor, we ALL “have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” So, practically speaking, every one of us could have been up there nailed to one of these crosses.
You may say that theft is not a crime worthy of execution. But no one put any of us in charge. And we don’t have all the details of these men’s crimes; this may have been a “third strike” sort of situation. And then we remember that in many cultures even theft is punishable by death. Isn’t it a part of Western lore – “Around these parts we hang horse thieves.” Whatever the crimes of these two were, one of them said, “We’re just getting our just deserts. We deserve this condemnation.” He speaks of “judgment,” “condemnation” and even “damnation.”
So this malefactor was nailed to a cross on the top of a small hill next to a busy highway outside Jerusalem. Both these malefactors were the same distance from the Saviour, so they should have seen things equally. They both saw how battered and bloody He was. They both saw Christ’s peacefulness and surrender; His quiet demeanor and courage. Eventually the three crosses were lined up with Christ’s in the middle. From his, this one who figuratively bowed before Christ, saw things which he had never seen before.
For example, he got his first really good look at himself. Before the nails were being driven through his hands and feet, tacking him to his cross, he might have thought he was somebody important. Perhaps he had been a “Baaad” man; a bully, a thug, a school-yard delinquent, if not more. Or more positively, maybe he pictured himself as a non-conformist, a martyr, a rebel with a cause. Sure, he was not perfect, but he liked to think of his imperfections as the things which made his life interesting or admirable. But, after only a few minutes of crucifixion, the white paint began to peal off the filthy mud of his life. And the scales fell from his eyes. “I am exactly where I deserve to be. I am a thief. I am a malefactor.” It was in this condition he addressed the Lord Jesus. In acknowledging who he was, he displayed humble repentance. He knew he didn’t deserve to be remembered by the Lord in Heaven, but he humbly begged for it anyway.
He said to his accomplice, “Doest not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds.” “Due reward for our deeds.” He was a sinner in the sight of the holy God, like every other human being in the world today. May this man be an example to all of us in his humility and repentance before the Lord Jesus. The other thief may have been a lesser criminal than the repentant man, but his refuse to bow before Christ doomed his soul to hell. The Lord Jesus said, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
Sometime between his crucifixion and verse 40, this thief caught a sight of himself. What gave him that insight? There was no mirror of any kind. What enlightened him? Was it the pain he was feeling? I have my doubts, because pain usually numbs the senses rather than sharpening them. This crucifixion involved excruciating pain, but that was not the key to his self-realization. Then – was his transformation brought about by the specter of death? Death may be at a time when sinners truly begin to fear God, fearing they will soon face him. But death itself doesn’t produce faith and repentance. Maybe this man had once heard the preaching of John the Baptist – “Repent, for the Kingdom is at hand.” Maybe he didn’t demand more miracles from the Lord, because he had already seen some of them. Maybe he had been in the hungry crowd when Jesus fed the multitude. Perhaps he personally knew of someone who was sick and that Christ had instantly healed him.
What brought the man to see himself was the ministry of the Holy Spirit in his heart. Not a single Christian in this auditorium today has ever been crucified. And none of us have personally witnessed any of Jesus’ miracles. We’ve never heard the voice of John the Baptist. But every true saint of God has been brought to see his sinfulness in exactly the same way as this man. He came under the conviction of his sin by the operation of God.
Gerrith and I were talking about this last Wednesday. There are millions of people who intellectually know they are sinners to some small degree. But there is a huge difference between knowing in our heads that we are “malefactors,” and understanding that we are hell-bound aliens from God. The difference between the two requires an operation of the Holy Spirit. The crucified man who was still railing on the Saviour, knew he was a criminal. But he had not been brought to understand the sinfulness of his sins. He had not yet been broken by the Holy Spirit. He probably refused to admit that he was under his “just deserts.” Before the application of the medicine there must be the diagnosis of disease. “Jesus came not to heal the healthy but to raise the spiritually dead to eternal life.”
The first word describing this paragraph is “JUSTICE.” The men on either side of the Saviour were justly dying for their sins.
The second thought here is “INJUSTICE.”
The crucified believer rebuked his partner saying, “Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but THIS man hath done NOTHING amiss.” Christ Jesus had done nothing that was “amiss” out of place, unreasonable or harmful.
I tried last week to prove that as far as the government was concerned Jesus should not have been executed. Pilate examined Christ and so did King Herod. The governor said to the Jews, “Ye have brought this man unto me as one that perverteth the people, And, behold I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him: No, nor yet Herod, for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. I will therefore chastise him, and release him.” About that same time, Pilate’s wife came to him, urging him to release Christ. “Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.” But when the Jews threatened Pilate with filing reports of misconduct to Caesar, he gave in to their wishes.
Not only did Herod and Pilate declare the Lord Jesus’ innocence, but so did Jesus’ disciples. Peter said that Christ “did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” Paul declared that God the Father “made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” And Hebrews says that Christ was “in all point tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” This is an absolutely critical Bible doctrine, because only a perfectly holy sacrifice could be accepted as our substitute and Saviour. As far as the law is concerned, the death of Christ was an act of absolute injustice.
Incidentally – the people “railed” on Christ. And the unbelieving malefactor also “railed on him, saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself and us.” In English, “to rail” is to verbally attack – to assault someone with slanderous words. But the Greek word used here is “ blasphemeo” (blas-fay-meh’-o). “Blasphemy” is the English word we use to describe defaming God. Jesus’ accusers were in fact defaming God when they railed against Him. Christ used that same word in John 10:36 when He said, speaking of Himself, “Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?” Jesus Christ was thoroughly innocent, and never committed blasphemy, because He is the Son of God. Those who were railing against him were, in fact, the blasphemers.
The death of Christ on the cross was an act of injustice, because a righteous man should be not executed. Where there is no sin, there should be no death. Christ did not deserve to die, because eternal life properly belonged to Him.
With that I’ll digress into something rather important, but which is only remotely related to this passage. Before sin there was no death. Death is a result of sin. I believe that not a single plant or animal in the Garden of Eden died before Adam broke God’s command. There was no death throughout God’s creation until man rebelled against his Creator. Romans 5:12 – “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…” But according to atheistic evolution, what happened to all the dinosaurs which lived before the first man? Aren’t we told that for millions of years, prehistoric creatures lived and died in various ways? The Bible indicates that to be impossible, because death didn’t exist before Adam’s sin. The massive creatures being excavated throughout the world today, died during the flood several hundred years after God created the first man and all the animals.
Going back to my point: Since Christ had no sin, there was no justified reason for Him to die. And yet He did.
And that brings me to my third point – the AB-JUSTICE, or the NON-JUSTICE of this paragraph.
I said earlier that this word – “abjustice” – can’t be found in any dictionary. It is not so ancient that has fallen into disuse, and thus it is not in Google’s list of words. And as far as I know no person dumber than I am has recently coined it for modern use. I made it up, applying a common prefix to the word in my first point – “justice.” The prefix “ab” means “away from,” as in someone who is “absent” from church. To “abduct” someone is to unlawfully take him away. And to “abscond” is to hurriedly leave the scene. So in the case of my “abjustice,” it is not bad justice or “injustice,” it is to leave justice behind.
The crucified believer rebuked his partner saying, “Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but his man hath done nothing amiss.” Then he turned toward the Saviour saying, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” JUSTICE demanded that this criminal die for his crimes. Furthermore, as a sinner, he deserved to die the second death – eternal death. It was an INJUSTICE that Christ was hanging on the cross. And there was no justice, or even logic, that the dying Christ should promise a guilty sinner that later that day they would be together in paradise. Something else, something special, must be involved for this miraculous, gracious thing to take place.
Jesus once said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” Certainly there is more to it than this, but when Christ was nailed to that cross He was elevated a few feet above the top of that little hill. And millions of sinners, from the criminal next to him, to many people today, have been drawn by the Holy Spirit to look up to the blood covered, crucified Saviour. Those humble, repentant, looking, believing, trusting people will be with Christ throughout eternity. But – those who live and die rejecting Christ, will also one day bow before Him, ashamed to see the scars in His hands and feet which they despised and rejected during their lives. They shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, to be judged for their sins for eternity.
There, hanging next to the Lord was a believing malefactor. Earlier I said that he was seeing things for the first time. From his new vantage point, he saw eternity for the first time. I’m probably wrong, but I picture him as relatively young. Young people mistakenly think they will live forever, or at least until they are 29. Generally speaking, they don’t think in terms of eternity. And they certainly don’t like to think about Hell and eternal torment. It often takes some dramatic thumping on the head to make people sit up and notice of eternity. But the fact is, there is an eternity in front of every living soul.
And this man also saw Christ Jesus in a way he never had before – if he had given Him thought before. Can you picture our Lord carrying His cross toward Calvary? He was so tired. He had been beaten so that He was covered in blood. He was dehydrated. He was dying. And then the Romans drafted a stranger to help carry the cross. While picturing that horrible scene, do you see the other two victims of the crucifixion watching Him? How did they get to the top of the hill? Probably in the same way as our Saviour.
I picture Christ being the first of the three to be crucified. When they drove in the nails through the feet of Christ, this man didn’t hear a peep out of Jesus. Still, He was as a sheep before her shearer, perfectly silent. And when this man was being crucified, Jesus was praying. This man heard the priests, “He saved others, but himself he cannot save.” Yes, Jesus did save others. He heard or read what was on the sign above Jesus’ head – “This is the King of Jews.” This man saw Christ at the lowest point in His life in many ways. Jesus had never at any time since His infancy, looked more helpless and powerless.
Yet by the grace of God, this believing criminal still saw the Lord’s deity and His saving power. He prayed, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” This made no sense. This was not natural behavior under the circumstances. From where did this perspective, and this faith come? It was a gift from God.
The Lord Jesus replied, “To day thou shalt be with me in paradise.” There was no justice in this; the man deserved to die. He was a sinner, equal in his criminality to his friend and partner. There was no justice in the salvation of this man, but neither was there any injustice.
He was saved by grace through faith – two gifts from God. By faith this man could imagine Christ Jesus entering into His kingdom and taking his place on the royal throne. I have read the fanciful imagination of someone who said the shadow of Jesus’ cross passed over this man on his cross, changing his heart and his future. It was a shadowy miracle! A much more Biblical miracle is the ministry of the Holy Spirit passing across the heart of this man. He went from believing that Jesus was a good man, to trusting Him as His Lord and Saviour.
Christ Jesus did not merely die the death of any man – after which He was buried before He was raised. No, in Christ’s death on the cross, he took upon himself the sins and the judgment of that man next to him. Peter says of Christ, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree… by whose stripes ye were healed.” “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God…” Galatians tells us: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed in everyone that hangeth on a tree.”
I will never say that in the death of Christ, the just punishment that sinners deserve was unjustly forgotten. No, what happened was that Christ, who was unjustly executed by sinful men, bore the just punishment which that man’s sins required. The condemnation of that crucified believer was laid upon Christ; there was a substitution. The justice against the man’s sin was carried out in Christ. But on the other hand, the sin of that sinner that justice was carried away by Christ.
Conclusion:
I like what Spurgeon said about this man: “He breakfasted with the Devil, then he lunched with Christ on earth, but he had supper with the Saviour in Paradise.”
I also like what an old preacher named Rollock once said: “I say of this man, to the glory of God, that he shamed all that stood by. He shamed the Apostles and made them cast down their faces. He shamed all men who will not believe, when they see Christ not crucified as he saw, but glorified in the heavens, and sitting at the right hand of Majesty. The Lord raised him up on the gallows to be a teacher of faith an repentance, of hope, of patience, of love, and of all graces. Think no shame to learn of him.”
This dying malefactor should be held up as an example to us all – to the saint of God, but also to the criminal. He knew that justice demanded his execution, but he humbly acknowledged and repented of the sin which led him to his cross. And then he acknowledged the Lord Jesus to be his Saviour. “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”
Are you following this man into the kingdom of Christ? Will you admit that your heart is full of wickedness and sin? Can you say that you absolutely deserve to die and to spend eternity in condemnation – “damnation?” Will you trust the dying Saviour to take you with Him into eternity? This man never heard, but by faith he knew that in “believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, he would be saved.”