Paradise Found
Scripture Reading: Luke 23:27-43
27 And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and
lamented Him. 28 But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for
Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For indeed the days are coming in
which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which
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 in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?”
32 There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. 33 And when they
had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the
right hand and the other on the left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not
know what they do.”
And they divided His garments and cast lots. 35 And the people stood looking on. But even
the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the
Christ, the chosen of God.”
36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If You
are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.”
38 And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:
THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the
Christ, save Yourself and us.”
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are
under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of
our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember
me when You come into Your kingdom.”
43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Over the past few weeks we've been studying some of the things Jesus said from
the cross. I'd mentioned that many times people will say profound things when they
are dying. This being the case, how important are the things Yeshua spoke as He
was dying? Two weeks ago, we focused on the love and forgiveness He showed as
He asked the Father to forgive those who were crucifying Him because they didn't
know what they were doing. Last week we looked at those Messiah considers part
of His family; those who do the will of the Father.
This weeks scripture reading has Yeshua heading to the cross of Calvary, with a
group of women mourning for Him but He turns it around on them. He tells them that
He is not the One that needs to be mourned for or lamented. It is them and their
children that need to be mourned and lamented. Then He said something that
seems quite confusing. He said if they do these things in the green wood, what will
be done in the dry. Now, it's not extremely difficult to see that somehow the green
wood is to symbolize plenty, whereas the dry would be in hard times; like a desert.
But what plenty would He be referring to? Israel was an occupied nation that had to
receive permission to do anything. They didn't even have the power to execute
someone. They had to have the Roman official do that for them. Likely if you had
asked any Jew of that time period if they were living a time of 'green wood' they
would have said no.
However, looking back in hindsight things are much clearer. Though occupied, they
were in their land and most were within traveling distance to come to Jerusalem for
the feasts of the Lord. Now, after the diaspora they have been scattered
throughout the globe with the large majority NEVER having the opportunity to even
set one foot in Jerusalem. The had the temple and the daily sacrifices. Now, the
temple has been gone for nearly 2000 years as have the daily sacrifices. And even
worse for them, they don't have any control over the temple mount on which has
been built the dome of the Rock, a place of worship for those that hate them and
want to see them driven into the sea. And although most of them didn't know it, they
had their long awaited Messiah with them, in the flesh. Walking with them, talking
with them, teaching them in their streets. Now, most have given up on the promised
Messiah, thinking it was merely a myth. Then the children of Israel, almost to a man,
worshipped Yahweh. They may not have all agreed on what that meant but they
were definitely interested in the things of the Spirit. Now, only about 10% of Jews
would consider themselves religious Jews; which includes both orthodox and liberal.
The other 90% are what are called secular Jews or cultural Jews, with an amazingly
large percentage of those would consider themselves atheists. Yes, Jesus was
right. So, what will be done in the dry time? Look around, read the newspaper,
watch the news and you'll see what Yeshua was telling us we should be praying for;
us and our children.
As He is forgiving them, they are mocking Him. The religious leaders challenge Him
to save Himself. The soldiers do the same, mocking that He should save Himself.
There's a sign above Him that is intended to taunt Him by calling Him the King of the
Jews, not realizing that it is dead on right. Of the two thieves who were being
crucified with Him, one challenges Him in the same way, saying save Yourself.
Ironically, what they were all unaware of was that though they were provoking Him to
prove Himself by saving Himself, He was actually proving Himself by saving us all!
But while all this was going on, while everyone seemed to be mocking Him, there
was one who was coming to a great realization. A realization that would drastically
change things for him....forever! The first thing He recognized is that he had a King;
a King with a kingdom hanging next to Him. Not just some ordinary guy and not
someone who deserved the penalty that was being applied to Him; an innocent King
on a cross. But the next thing he realized was the kicker. He recognized that he did
deserve what he was getting; that his sin was worthy of the torturous death. An
then he humbled himself and asked the Savior to remember Him. That's all! No
lofty prayer, no mandatory baptism, no rituals; just a repentant heart in humilty
coming to the Master with an earnest request. And Yeshua came through with more
than the thief deserved. He promised the man that he would be with Him in
Paradise.
This is one of the things Jesus said while dying on the cross so we're going to take
a look at what gems of wisdom He may have been imparting to us with this
comment. It may appear to be something personal, just for this thief but I think it's
more than that. John the Baptist came preaching the message that the kingdom of
heaven was at hand. Jesus can preaching the same thing. Matthew 4:17 - From
that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand.” When He sent out His disciples, He gave them the same message to
preach.
Matthew 10:5-7
5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the
Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Do you know what it means to be 'at hand'? If we're told something is at hand it
means it's right there, it's ready, it's time! Our hands have to do with doing things
so if something is at hand, it's ready to be done. Whenever Yeshua spoke of the
kingdom of heaven, He used the present tense. John 4:23 - But the hour is coming,
and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father
is seeking such to worship Him. John 5:25 - Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is
coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear
will live. The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field (Matthew 13:
24). The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed (Matthew 13:31). The kingdom of
heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. It's always the kingdom IS. Why? Because it
is meant for right now. We spoke a few months ago about how we think; kingdom
thinking. How we are supposed to renew our minds to the mind of Christ so we can
beginning thinking like the ambassadors of heaven that we should be. Now, we
need to start living the kingdom. Walking in the kingdom and all the power and
authority that comes with it. Jesus did not come to live a perfect life, to die a
horrible death, and be risen just so we could all die and go to heaven, although that
is part of it. John 10:10 - The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to
destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
We are supposed to have access to that abundant life...NOW! Most people focus
on money and possessions and things when they hear the words abundant life, but I
want to focus on something different. I want to look at our joy. The Bible tells us
that the joy of the LORD is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10), yet many believers are
walking through live with no sustaining joy, wondering why they feel like they have
no strength. When I first came to Messiah about 8 and a half years ago, I didn't
have any of the things I have now. The cars, the bank accounts, the financial
stabilty; none of that was there but the biggest thing I was missing was joy. I had no
joy. Sure I would laugh and joke and there would be times that I would seem happy,
but I'm telling you, joy goes much deeper than that. I felt like I was walking around
with the weight of the world on my shoulders, all the time. Any happiness I may
have felt during that time was like an aspirin to a migraine. It might dull the pain for
a little while but it did nothing for the root cause. Jesus tells us to lay it on Him.
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My
yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
He promised us rest. He has offered us that yoke, so that we can learn from Him
and in so doing find rest for our souls. That's what He's done for me! Now, I have
three kids, one of which is a teenage daughter so you know I have things that come
at me, and sometimes my flesh will get the best of me and I will react or get anger or
emotional over something. But as soon as I recognize that I've stepped out of my
place of joy, I do just what this thief did in his misery. I humble myself and cry out to
my Savior. You have no idea how many times I have say something like this - "Lord,
I can't do this! I submit myself completely to you because you have to do this for
me. And then this is the really, really hard part; I have to stop worrying about it. I
have to trust that since He said to give Him my burdens, that He really does have it
covered even when things don't look like it. People sometimes see this verse but
don't really see it. They see that He has promised to take our burdens but don't
see what we're supposed to take. He tells us to take His yoke upon us and learn
from Him. A yoke is a guide that tells the animal which way it should go. His yoke is
the things He and the Father have commanded.
My six year old daughter Kimberly has long, thick, curly hair. She likes to play in the
sandbox at school so she is constantly coming home with sand in her hair. Now, if
you've ever had to wash sand out of long, thick, curly hair you would know how
difficult a task this is, but there's one thing that make it even more difficult. She will
not lean her head back. Time and time again I tell her to lean her head back, and
time and time again she leans her head forward. I know that if she would just lean
her head back I could put my hand on her forehead to protect her eyes and just
pour the water over her head to rinse out the sand. However, because she won't
take my yoke it becomes an extremely difficult task for both her and me. We do the
same thing to our heavenly Father. He tells us not to lie, or steal, or commit
adultery, to honor our parents, to make idols from the things of the world and put
those things before Him, and many other commands. This is His yoke; His guidance
for us. And just like I know what would be best for my daughter even though she
might think I'm just trying to control her as I'm trying to get the sand from her hair, so
our Father knows best as we live this life. He's not trying be domineering or to
control us for his sake. He's attempting to guide us along for our own sakes; to
keep us away from the things in this life that would be difficult for us.
Mark 9:1 - And He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here
who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.”
Matthew 11:11 - “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen
one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater
than he.
Colossians 1:13 - He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into
the kingdom of the Son of His love.
Let us learn to take the yoke of Yeshua upon us because we trust Him, so we can
walk in the rest that He has promised us. Then we can be like the humble thief on
the cross and be in Paradise with Him...today!
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: April 8, 2007
Scripture Reading: Luke 23:27-43
27 And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and
lamented Him. 28 But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for
Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For indeed the days are coming in
which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which
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 in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?”
32 There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. 33 And when they
had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the
right hand and the other on the left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not
know what they do.”
And they divided His garments and cast lots. 35 And the people stood looking on. But even
the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the
Christ, the chosen of God.”
36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If You
are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.”
38 And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:
THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the
Christ, save Yourself and us.”
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are
under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of
our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember
me when You come into Your kingdom.”
43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Over the past few weeks we've been studying some of the things Jesus said from
the cross. I'd mentioned that many times people will say profound things when they
are dying. This being the case, how important are the things Yeshua spoke as He
was dying? Two weeks ago, we focused on the love and forgiveness He showed as
He asked the Father to forgive those who were crucifying Him because they didn't
know what they were doing. Last week we looked at those Messiah considers part
of His family; those who do the will of the Father.
This weeks scripture reading has Yeshua heading to the cross of Calvary, with a
group of women mourning for Him but He turns it around on them. He tells them that
He is not the One that needs to be mourned for or lamented. It is them and their
children that need to be mourned and lamented. Then He said something that
seems quite confusing. He said if they do these things in the green wood, what will
be done in the dry. Now, it's not extremely difficult to see that somehow the green
wood is to symbolize plenty, whereas the dry would be in hard times; like a desert.
But what plenty would He be referring to? Israel was an occupied nation that had to
receive permission to do anything. They didn't even have the power to execute
someone. They had to have the Roman official do that for them. Likely if you had
asked any Jew of that time period if they were living a time of 'green wood' they
would have said no.
However, looking back in hindsight things are much clearer. Though occupied, they
were in their land and most were within traveling distance to come to Jerusalem for
the feasts of the Lord. Now, after the diaspora they have been scattered
throughout the globe with the large majority NEVER having the opportunity to even
set one foot in Jerusalem. The had the temple and the daily sacrifices. Now, the
temple has been gone for nearly 2000 years as have the daily sacrifices. And even
worse for them, they don't have any control over the temple mount on which has
been built the dome of the Rock, a place of worship for those that hate them and
want to see them driven into the sea. And although most of them didn't know it, they
had their long awaited Messiah with them, in the flesh. Walking with them, talking
with them, teaching them in their streets. Now, most have given up on the promised
Messiah, thinking it was merely a myth. Then the children of Israel, almost to a man,
worshipped Yahweh. They may not have all agreed on what that meant but they
were definitely interested in the things of the Spirit. Now, only about 10% of Jews
would consider themselves religious Jews; which includes both orthodox and liberal.
The other 90% are what are called secular Jews or cultural Jews, with an amazingly
large percentage of those would consider themselves atheists. Yes, Jesus was
right. So, what will be done in the dry time? Look around, read the newspaper,
watch the news and you'll see what Yeshua was telling us we should be praying for;
us and our children.
As He is forgiving them, they are mocking Him. The religious leaders challenge Him
to save Himself. The soldiers do the same, mocking that He should save Himself.
There's a sign above Him that is intended to taunt Him by calling Him the King of the
Jews, not realizing that it is dead on right. Of the two thieves who were being
crucified with Him, one challenges Him in the same way, saying save Yourself.
Ironically, what they were all unaware of was that though they were provoking Him to
prove Himself by saving Himself, He was actually proving Himself by saving us all!
But while all this was going on, while everyone seemed to be mocking Him, there
was one who was coming to a great realization. A realization that would drastically
change things for him....forever! The first thing He recognized is that he had a King;
a King with a kingdom hanging next to Him. Not just some ordinary guy and not
someone who deserved the penalty that was being applied to Him; an innocent King
on a cross. But the next thing he realized was the kicker. He recognized that he did
deserve what he was getting; that his sin was worthy of the torturous death. An
then he humbled himself and asked the Savior to remember Him. That's all! No
lofty prayer, no mandatory baptism, no rituals; just a repentant heart in humilty
coming to the Master with an earnest request. And Yeshua came through with more
than the thief deserved. He promised the man that he would be with Him in
Paradise.
This is one of the things Jesus said while dying on the cross so we're going to take
a look at what gems of wisdom He may have been imparting to us with this
comment. It may appear to be something personal, just for this thief but I think it's
more than that. John the Baptist came preaching the message that the kingdom of
heaven was at hand. Jesus can preaching the same thing. Matthew 4:17 - From
that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand.” When He sent out His disciples, He gave them the same message to
preach.
Matthew 10:5-7
5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the
Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Do you know what it means to be 'at hand'? If we're told something is at hand it
means it's right there, it's ready, it's time! Our hands have to do with doing things
so if something is at hand, it's ready to be done. Whenever Yeshua spoke of the
kingdom of heaven, He used the present tense. John 4:23 - But the hour is coming,
and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father
is seeking such to worship Him. John 5:25 - Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is
coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear
will live. The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field (Matthew 13:
24). The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed (Matthew 13:31). The kingdom of
heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. It's always the kingdom IS. Why? Because it
is meant for right now. We spoke a few months ago about how we think; kingdom
thinking. How we are supposed to renew our minds to the mind of Christ so we can
beginning thinking like the ambassadors of heaven that we should be. Now, we
need to start living the kingdom. Walking in the kingdom and all the power and
authority that comes with it. Jesus did not come to live a perfect life, to die a
horrible death, and be risen just so we could all die and go to heaven, although that
is part of it. John 10:10 - The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to
destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
We are supposed to have access to that abundant life...NOW! Most people focus
on money and possessions and things when they hear the words abundant life, but I
want to focus on something different. I want to look at our joy. The Bible tells us
that the joy of the LORD is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10), yet many believers are
walking through live with no sustaining joy, wondering why they feel like they have
no strength. When I first came to Messiah about 8 and a half years ago, I didn't
have any of the things I have now. The cars, the bank accounts, the financial
stabilty; none of that was there but the biggest thing I was missing was joy. I had no
joy. Sure I would laugh and joke and there would be times that I would seem happy,
but I'm telling you, joy goes much deeper than that. I felt like I was walking around
with the weight of the world on my shoulders, all the time. Any happiness I may
have felt during that time was like an aspirin to a migraine. It might dull the pain for
a little while but it did nothing for the root cause. Jesus tells us to lay it on Him.
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My
yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
He promised us rest. He has offered us that yoke, so that we can learn from Him
and in so doing find rest for our souls. That's what He's done for me! Now, I have
three kids, one of which is a teenage daughter so you know I have things that come
at me, and sometimes my flesh will get the best of me and I will react or get anger or
emotional over something. But as soon as I recognize that I've stepped out of my
place of joy, I do just what this thief did in his misery. I humble myself and cry out to
my Savior. You have no idea how many times I have say something like this - "Lord,
I can't do this! I submit myself completely to you because you have to do this for
me. And then this is the really, really hard part; I have to stop worrying about it. I
have to trust that since He said to give Him my burdens, that He really does have it
covered even when things don't look like it. People sometimes see this verse but
don't really see it. They see that He has promised to take our burdens but don't
see what we're supposed to take. He tells us to take His yoke upon us and learn
from Him. A yoke is a guide that tells the animal which way it should go. His yoke is
the things He and the Father have commanded.
My six year old daughter Kimberly has long, thick, curly hair. She likes to play in the
sandbox at school so she is constantly coming home with sand in her hair. Now, if
you've ever had to wash sand out of long, thick, curly hair you would know how
difficult a task this is, but there's one thing that make it even more difficult. She will
not lean her head back. Time and time again I tell her to lean her head back, and
time and time again she leans her head forward. I know that if she would just lean
her head back I could put my hand on her forehead to protect her eyes and just
pour the water over her head to rinse out the sand. However, because she won't
take my yoke it becomes an extremely difficult task for both her and me. We do the
same thing to our heavenly Father. He tells us not to lie, or steal, or commit
adultery, to honor our parents, to make idols from the things of the world and put
those things before Him, and many other commands. This is His yoke; His guidance
for us. And just like I know what would be best for my daughter even though she
might think I'm just trying to control her as I'm trying to get the sand from her hair, so
our Father knows best as we live this life. He's not trying be domineering or to
control us for his sake. He's attempting to guide us along for our own sakes; to
keep us away from the things in this life that would be difficult for us.
Mark 9:1 - And He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here
who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.”
Matthew 11:11 - “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen
one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater
than he.
Colossians 1:13 - He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into
the kingdom of the Son of His love.
Let us learn to take the yoke of Yeshua upon us because we trust Him, so we can
walk in the rest that He has promised us. Then we can be like the humble thief on
the cross and be in Paradise with Him...today!
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: April 8, 2007
