The Son - Justice

Luke 23:39-43 (ESV) ³⁹ One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him,^[d] saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³ And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

We have all been in that scenario where we look upon someone “utterly horrible”, who has knowingly done atrocities, and we say to ourselves, “I’m so glad I’m not like THAT guy.” As you are reading this you are telling yourself one of two things. The first is, “Yeah you’re right, I’ve been there.” To which I say, so have I. Or, you are saying to yourself, “No! I wouldn’t ever say that or do that!” To which I say, quit lying to yourself.

Here is a harsh reality. Each and EVERY person who has ever breathed God’s air on this earth since the onset of humanity in the Garden of Eden, has been born under the curse of sin. We call this the doctrine of “total depravity.” You’re not good. You never were good! Anything truly good from you comes from God and only God.

So, are you done with me beating you up yet? Do you want a break from this? Too bad…we have to go a little further :)

When we talk about sin…it is not merely a “whoopy daisy I made a little mistake!” It is an act against the most High God…whether we mindfully were doing so against Him or not. Sin is sin. There is no ifs, ands, or buts. Further, Scripture tells us the wages of sin is death. We are due this spiritual death. God is Just to punish those who do not accept Him at His word and place their faith in Him. He is Just to punish those who are unregretting of their sinfulness against Him.

Yet, He is also Just to pour out His mercies upon those who love Him and have placed their faith in His Lordship. Look at the Scripture. There is a LOT here in just these 5 verses. We see a criminal on a cross who is mocking Christ. We see a criminal on a cross who accepts Christ at His word and realizes the truth. We see the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, beaten, scourged so badly his spine is likely exposed. His beard is ripped out, and His head is likely bleeding profusely from the crown of thorns. In this moment two incredibly subtle things happen. The first is Christ, who would be Just to obliterate the criminal who is mocking Him, stays silent to him. He grants mercy even to this man. This demonstrates the patient character of Christ to give this man as much time as humanly possible to accept Him and be redeemed. The other subtle thing that happens, is that Christ does not deny He could save them all with His might. He makes no response to the mocker…yet He absolutely COULD have done this. Further is Christ staying true to His nature of Justice. There MUST be an atonement sacrifice. The only man worthy to fulfill the conditions is Him.

We then see Christ pour out His great mercy on the man who clearly shows remorse for his sin and calls unto Christ as Lord. Christ’s response? You will see me in eternity. The man, forgiven of his sin on the spot. That’s the Gospel in motion brothers and sisters.

What is so profound…that same Gospel worked in you to His glory the exact same way. And the King was fully Just in doing so. Praise you Jesus for YOUR version of Justice.

Soli Deo Gloria!!!!