WEBVTT 00:00:01.960 --> 00:00:05.400 This is your daily reminder. God has not run 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:09.179 out of mercy, not for you, not today. Welcome 00:00:09.179 --> 00:00:12.279 to the New Mercies Podcast. Welcome back to the 00:00:12.279 --> 00:00:15.060 New Mercies podcast. Today is Friday, March the 00:00:15.060 --> 00:00:18.079 27th, and our reading plan takes us back to the 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:21.160 book of Luke again. Before we jump into it, I 00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:23.480 do want to say welcome. If it is your first time 00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:25.519 finding us, be sure you like and subscribe and 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:27.500 follow and all the things so that you never miss 00:00:27.500 --> 00:00:30.899 an episode every day, Monday through Saturday. 00:00:31.079 --> 00:00:33.380 Our church goes through a reading plan. This 00:00:33.380 --> 00:00:36.479 reading plan helps to lead toward what is coming 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:38.960 up on Sunday that will be preached from the pulpit. 00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:41.119 And so we are always jumping. into God's Word 00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:43.700 every day. And as always, if you would like to 00:00:43.700 --> 00:00:46.700 financially give or donate to the podcast, you 00:00:46.700 --> 00:00:48.520 can do so at the link in the description below 00:00:48.520 --> 00:00:52.020 to help offset any cost for streaming and all 00:00:52.020 --> 00:00:57.520 that stuff. Now, Luke 23, verses 26 through 56, 00:00:57.640 --> 00:01:00.119 through the end of the chapter, is where we are 00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:03.399 today in our reading. I am very excited to be 00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:06.879 able to preach this on Sunday. I'm looking forward 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:09.579 to this and seeing how the Lord will work this 00:01:09.579 --> 00:01:12.060 all altogether. There's a lot that happens in 00:01:12.060 --> 00:01:15.659 this section of verses, so I just want to pull 00:01:15.659 --> 00:01:18.840 a little bit out today, specifically what happens 00:01:18.840 --> 00:01:22.480 when Jesus is on the cross. Now, there are other 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:24.719 gospel accounts that will give a little bit more 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:27.140 insight into a few more things that happen that 00:01:27.140 --> 00:01:30.079 Luke doesn't record, but there's a total of seven 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:32.579 sayings of Jesus on the cross. You can find those 00:01:32.579 --> 00:01:34.500 in the book of Luke, the book of Matthew, and 00:01:34.500 --> 00:01:36.500 the book of John. They will overlap one another, 00:01:36.620 --> 00:01:39.689 and you can see how it is all laid out. But today 00:01:39.689 --> 00:01:42.530 I want to focus in on what Luke says about when 00:01:42.530 --> 00:01:44.750 Jesus is on the cross. Something amazing happens 00:01:44.750 --> 00:01:47.069 as I looked at it today, just jumped off the 00:01:47.069 --> 00:01:48.709 page to me, and I want to share that with you 00:01:48.709 --> 00:01:51.069 in our podcast. It's a good time to do that. 00:01:51.650 --> 00:01:53.829 So I want to read a couple of verses to you in 00:01:53.829 --> 00:01:57.269 Luke chapter 23. Check this out down in verse 00:01:57.269 --> 00:02:02.549 number 32. The Bible says this, Two others who 00:02:02.549 --> 00:02:05.030 were criminals were led away to be put to death 00:02:05.030 --> 00:02:07.930 with him. And when they came to the place that 00:02:07.930 --> 00:02:11.069 is called the skull, there they crucified him 00:02:11.069 --> 00:02:14.150 and the criminals, one on his right and one on 00:02:14.150 --> 00:02:17.770 his left. And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, 00:02:17.849 --> 00:02:21.289 for they know not what they do. And they cast 00:02:21.289 --> 00:02:24.469 lots to divide his garments. I want to stop there 00:02:24.469 --> 00:02:28.370 for just a minute. Point this out. I've read 00:02:28.370 --> 00:02:30.469 this story a hundred times. I have been in church 00:02:30.469 --> 00:02:32.610 my whole life. I have heard of the crucifixion 00:02:32.610 --> 00:02:36.189 of Jesus. I've watched it play out in my mind 00:02:36.189 --> 00:02:39.430 as I've read, as I've studied. And I just cannot 00:02:39.430 --> 00:02:42.770 get over the fact that the first thing that Jesus 00:02:42.770 --> 00:02:47.550 does when he is on the cross is he prays for 00:02:47.550 --> 00:02:51.069 those who are persecuting him, who are putting 00:02:51.069 --> 00:02:53.650 him on this cross. He says, Father, forgive them. 00:02:54.659 --> 00:02:57.500 Notice he does not say, Father, forgive me. Why? 00:02:57.639 --> 00:03:00.020 Because Jesus was sinless. He didn't have anything 00:03:00.020 --> 00:03:03.419 to be forgiven of. He did nothing wrong. He says, 00:03:03.460 --> 00:03:06.680 Father, forgive them. They don't know what they 00:03:06.680 --> 00:03:09.830 do. Do you know, I have said before, and the 00:03:09.830 --> 00:03:11.810 more I think about it and the more I pray, the 00:03:11.810 --> 00:03:13.430 more I read through Scripture, the more I realize 00:03:13.430 --> 00:03:17.090 Jesus loves prayer. He absolutely loves prayer. 00:03:17.210 --> 00:03:20.229 The disciples saw Jesus' prayer life and said, 00:03:20.270 --> 00:03:22.610 we want this prayer life. How do we pray like 00:03:22.610 --> 00:03:24.949 you pray? We want you to teach us how you pray. 00:03:25.629 --> 00:03:28.590 And then I look into the New Testament, into 00:03:28.590 --> 00:03:30.270 the book of Romans. What is Jesus doing right 00:03:30.270 --> 00:03:31.969 now? He's seated at the right hand of the Father 00:03:31.969 --> 00:03:34.389 making intercession for us. He's praying for 00:03:34.389 --> 00:03:37.479 us right now. Every time I look through the scripture, 00:03:37.580 --> 00:03:40.139 Jesus is found praying. When he needs spiritual 00:03:40.139 --> 00:03:43.020 power, he prays. Whenever the disciples ask, 00:03:43.219 --> 00:03:47.759 they miscalculated how to cast out a demon. They 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:49.520 don't know how to do it. They've miscalculated. 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:51.259 They don't know how it happens. And they ask 00:03:51.259 --> 00:03:52.759 him, they say, teacher, how do we do this? And 00:03:52.759 --> 00:03:54.300 he said, well, this kind of demon only comes 00:03:54.300 --> 00:03:56.259 out with prayer. I always ask, what were the 00:03:56.259 --> 00:03:57.919 disciples doing whenever they were trying to 00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:00.500 cast this demon out? He says, listen, you got 00:04:00.500 --> 00:04:02.379 to pray. You got to pray. You got to pray. Here 00:04:02.379 --> 00:04:05.560 we find him on the cross, and he is our mediator 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:09.699 once again. He is going between us and God and 00:04:09.699 --> 00:04:12.439 making the connection. Even while he was on the 00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:15.840 cross, he was praying. He was praying and trying 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:18.120 to connect us back to God. There's a part of 00:04:18.120 --> 00:04:19.540 me that thinks the angels in heaven are ready 00:04:19.540 --> 00:04:21.819 to come down and just wipe out mankind. How dare 00:04:21.819 --> 00:04:25.720 they slay the very son of God himself and the 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:29.120 person who created all the things. And a part 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:30.860 of me thinks that these angels were about to 00:04:30.860 --> 00:04:33.540 come and Jesus was like, forgive them. It's not 00:04:33.540 --> 00:04:37.699 an act of retaliation. It's an act of love. He 00:04:37.699 --> 00:04:41.079 is saying forgiveness will win. He is going to 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:43.180 forgive, and he asked the Father to forgive them. 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:46.779 There Jesus is mediating for us once again. A 00:04:46.779 --> 00:04:48.259 couple of things I will see, you will see as 00:04:48.259 --> 00:04:50.680 you keep reading this text today, you'll see 00:04:50.680 --> 00:04:53.379 a couple of things show up. Number one, the first 00:04:53.379 --> 00:04:56.899 people that scoff at him are the religious leaders. 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:00.459 Those who are supposed to be the ones who are 00:05:00.459 --> 00:05:03.540 yearning for the Messiah, and they are the first 00:05:03.540 --> 00:05:07.790 ones to mock him, to scoff at him. Then the next 00:05:07.790 --> 00:05:09.370 group that does that, and this is just a few 00:05:09.370 --> 00:05:12.189 verses right after, right? Go read it. See it 00:05:12.189 --> 00:05:14.550 for yourself. They begin to scoff at him and 00:05:14.550 --> 00:05:18.430 mock him. Then the soldiers begin to mock him. 00:05:18.829 --> 00:05:21.230 And then the next thing you see, the criminals 00:05:21.230 --> 00:05:23.709 begin to mock him. Now, one of the criminals 00:05:23.709 --> 00:05:28.189 ends up blaspheming against Jesus, and the other 00:05:28.189 --> 00:05:30.110 one, he's rebuking him. He's saying, listen, 00:05:30.529 --> 00:05:33.930 we did nothing wrong. We deserve this. This guy 00:05:33.930 --> 00:05:37.199 did nothing wrong. What are you doing? And then 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:38.579 he begins to have a conversation with Jesus. 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:41.759 Beautiful story, incredible story. I think about 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:45.220 this and just wonder, how did he know that Jesus 00:05:45.220 --> 00:05:47.660 did nothing wrong? There was something different 00:05:47.660 --> 00:05:49.699 about his demeanor. They probably knew about 00:05:49.699 --> 00:05:52.379 this Jesus. Most people in the town probably 00:05:52.379 --> 00:05:54.319 knew about this Jesus. This was a big trial. 00:05:54.860 --> 00:05:57.680 Whenever he came into town just earlier that 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:00.120 week, there was a big triumphal entry. There 00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:02.879 was a massive parade that led him into town. 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:06.399 People knew who he was. And yet here we see the 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:08.600 religious leaders leading the charge in mocking 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:11.540 and scoffing at him. Then the soldiers mocking 00:06:11.540 --> 00:06:15.319 him and casting lots about his clothing and trying 00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:18.899 to gather everything for themselves, being selfish. 00:06:19.139 --> 00:06:21.519 And then we see the criminal beside Jesus who 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:24.540 is just mocking him and blaspheming him and calling 00:06:24.540 --> 00:06:26.920 out these cursings against him. And this other 00:06:26.920 --> 00:06:30.240 criminal who is the voice of reason. I think 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:31.839 about why weren't those religious leaders the 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:35.019 voice of reason? It just says over and over again, 00:06:35.060 --> 00:06:36.560 everybody was just looking, watching this thing 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:38.259 happen. They were just beholding as this was 00:06:38.259 --> 00:06:41.379 all taking place. I don't want us to think today, 00:06:41.420 --> 00:06:43.079 like, what if we were in that side of the story? 00:06:43.180 --> 00:06:44.600 What would we have done? How would we have been 00:06:44.600 --> 00:06:46.800 there? We don't know. We don't know. If you were 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:49.740 put in that situation and taken back there, you 00:06:49.740 --> 00:06:51.199 don't know which part of the story you'd be in, 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:53.860 right? Here's what I do want to do. Today, you 00:06:53.860 --> 00:06:57.829 have a choice and a decision. You have an absolute 00:06:57.829 --> 00:07:01.509 obligation as a believer. You are compelled by 00:07:01.509 --> 00:07:04.870 the love of Christ to serve him and serve him 00:07:04.870 --> 00:07:07.529 to the absolute fullest. So the challenge for 00:07:07.529 --> 00:07:10.149 you today is don't put yourself in the story 00:07:10.149 --> 00:07:12.470 and figure out which position you would be. Know 00:07:12.470 --> 00:07:15.189 the story. Know what Jesus has done for you. 00:07:15.209 --> 00:07:18.170 And let's live for that today. Let's do that 00:07:18.170 --> 00:07:21.250 today. Maybe you need to up your prayer life. 00:07:21.709 --> 00:07:23.709 Maybe that's what you need to do. Jesus' act 00:07:23.709 --> 00:07:26.410 on the cross was to pray for us, pray for those 00:07:26.410 --> 00:07:29.350 who were persecuting him in that moment. Man, 00:07:29.389 --> 00:07:34.449 he prioritized prayer so much, and we let it 00:07:34.449 --> 00:07:37.490 fall to the wayside for absolutely nothing. We 00:07:37.490 --> 00:07:40.050 don't even count it as anything of any power. 00:07:40.350 --> 00:07:43.490 And Jesus says it's the most powerful thing he's 00:07:43.490 --> 00:07:46.290 got. He's still doing it for us today in heaven 00:07:46.290 --> 00:07:49.810 until the day he mounts a horse and comes back. 00:07:50.269 --> 00:07:53.889 He's praying. That's what he's doing. I think 00:07:53.889 --> 00:07:57.129 we need to pray more. I just do. Even in Jesus' 00:07:57.290 --> 00:08:00.370 death, the greatest moment of love and sacrifice 00:08:00.370 --> 00:08:03.889 in all of human history, and he is still praying. 00:08:04.620 --> 00:08:07.319 for those around him. I want to encourage you 00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:08.480 today. Maybe you need to start praying a little 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:09.899 more. Maybe you need to up your prayer life. 00:08:10.180 --> 00:08:12.139 Maybe you need to spend more time knowing and 00:08:12.139 --> 00:08:15.279 tapping into that type of power. Or maybe today 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:18.379 it's that you need to realize and recognize the 00:08:18.379 --> 00:08:21.839 act of love he did, and let's live for that. 00:08:22.180 --> 00:08:25.800 Let's be the people that promote this Jesus more 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:28.040 than anything else in our life. When people see 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:30.899 you, may they recognize him.