1 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:09,880 So a couple years ago, my wife and I, we got a mini fridge for 2 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,200 our house. We wanted to free up some space 3 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:17,080 on our, you know, actual fridge. So we set it up in the the 4 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:19,360 dining room. We have a dining room table with 5 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:22,720 some chairs and we have a little a little cabinet. 6 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:25,960 So we kind of squish that over and in the corner we put the 7 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:31,640 mini fridge and the thing was the weekend and my kids were 8 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:36,160 coming home different times. And Micah at the time he was 9 00:00:36,160 --> 00:00:39,440 probably 9 and a nine year old comes, comes in and I say, hey, 10 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:41,040 Micah, do you notice anything different? 11 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:46,320 Within one second he goes cool new fridge and he opens the 12 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:49,600 fridge and you know, see it was empty, but he immediately 13 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:53,240 noticed it. And then my, at the time, my 11 14 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:57,480 year old or maybe 12, he comes in and I said, Maddie, do you 15 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:03,880 notice anything different? Hmm, no exaggeration. 16 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:08,800 He's looking around for maybe a minute or two and then he goes, 17 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:14,240 aha, is this a new picture? I said, Maddie, that picture has 18 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:16,560 been there for two years. What are you talking about? 19 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:20,320 And he just could not. He's like, I know something is 20 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:22,360 different. I just can't put my finger on 21 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:24,120 it. I said I you, you think it's 22 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:26,120 something's different because I told you something's different. 23 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:31,560 They're in the same room. How does one kid immediately 24 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:39,320 clearly see something new and the other totally miss it? 25 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:43,040 The answer to a question is not relevant to the sermon, so I 26 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:47,960 won't answer that. When In today's passage there's 27 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:50,920 about the two criminals who were hung next to Jesus. 28 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:58,680 In that passage, the author Luke is showing us how one was able 29 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:04,000 to see Jesus clearly and the other one completely misses him. 30 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:08,759 When you, when you see Jesus face to face, meaning when you 31 00:02:08,759 --> 00:02:11,440 go to church, when you listen to sermons, when you read the 32 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:20,440 Bible, you're here today. You could see him clearly or you 33 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:25,440 could totally miss him. So that's what we're going to 34 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:27,240 find out today. That's the question of the day. 35 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:32,880 What keeps people from truly seeing Jesus? 36 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:42,280 What keeps people from truly seeing Jesus #1 You can't see 37 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:48,880 Jesus when you try to use him. You miss Jesus completely if you 38 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:53,920 try to use him. This passage is found in Luke 39 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:59,600 chapter 23. It's 32 to 43 before now we'll 40 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:10,280 read 32 to 39, 32 to 39. Oh, it's not coming up on mine. 41 00:03:15,890 --> 00:03:18,050 I'll just excuse me, I'll just turn around and read it. 42 00:03:19,690 --> 00:03:23,090 All right. Two other criminals were also 43 00:03:23,090 --> 00:03:25,490 LED away to be executed with them. 44 00:03:25,970 --> 00:03:30,080 When they arrived at the place called the Skull, they crucify 45 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:33,560 them there along with the criminals, one on the right and 46 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,440 one on the left. Then Jesus said, Father forgive 47 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:38,960 them because they do not know what they are doing. 48 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:41,800 And they divided his clothes and cast lots. 49 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,640 The people stood watching and even the leaders were scoffing. 50 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:49,200 He saved others, let him save himself. 51 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:52,360 If this is God's Messiah, the chosen One. 52 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:56,880 The soldiers also mocked him. They came offering him sour wine 53 00:03:57,200 --> 00:03:59,800 and said, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. 54 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:03,920 An inscription was above him. This is the king of the Jews. 55 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:08,080 Then one of the criminals hanging there began to yell 56 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:11,160 insults at him. Aren't you the Messiah? 57 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:20,839 Save yourself and us? One of the criminals asked 58 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,800 Jesus, aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us. 59 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:30,160 And the criminal's response is similar to pretty much everyone 60 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:33,680 else. In verse 35, it says the people 61 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:37,800 yell let him save himself. The next verse in 36, the 62 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,560 soldiers essentially say the same thing. 63 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,920 If you're the king of the Jews, save yourself. 64 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:50,280 This reminds us that this response is not the unusual 65 00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:54,480 response. It is the usual normal. 66 00:04:54,480 --> 00:05:00,320 The common response is to look at Jesus and say save yourself. 67 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:05,200 Aren't you the King? The criminal says, aren't you 68 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:08,240 Jesus? Save yourself and us. 69 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:14,120 See what he's doing is he's setting conditions for Jesus. 70 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:19,720 This is why he misses Jesus. He's saying if you're the 71 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:25,440 Christ, you got to save me. Prove yourself by fixing my 72 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:31,360 situation. If you are the Christ, indeed, I 73 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:36,120 will believe that you are Christ if you fix my circumstance. 74 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:41,960 Over the years I've been a pastor, a lot of people, I've 75 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:44,160 seen a lot of people give Jesus a try. 76 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,360 Plenty of people, even our church, have come and worshipped 77 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:55,480 and given Jesus a chance, but often they go away disappointed 78 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:02,320 because they come looking for ways how Jesus might benefit 79 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:07,080 them. God, if you fix this, I'll trust 80 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,600 you. God, if you're real, show me by 81 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:15,440 doing this. Jesus, if you're real, Get Me 82 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:20,120 Out of this situation. It's honestly not too different 83 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:23,080 from the criminal saying, if you are Jesus, save yourself and 84 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:29,000 save me. And when God doesn't solve your 85 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,960 problems, you feel like something's missing. 86 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:34,520 You come to church and you're like, oh, I don't know if God 87 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:39,640 made anything better in my life. People start questioning and 88 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:44,240 then people walk away. Here's a problem. 89 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:48,080 That's not faith, that's negotiation. 90 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:51,880 That's if you do this for me, then I will follow you. 91 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:56,880 You're not asking is Jesus who he says he is. 92 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:02,080 You're asking will Jesus do what I want him to do? 93 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:09,760 Will Jesus fix my problems? This is why many of us miss him 94 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,720 completely. We're in the room worshiping 95 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:19,480 God, talking about Christ our Savior and Lord, and we miss him 96 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:22,640 because we are not looking for a saviour. 97 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:26,320 You're looking for someone that will benefit you. 98 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:29,840 You're not going to find the Saviour if you're not looking 99 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:34,080 for one. All right? 100 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:38,600 So the question was what keeps people from truly seeing Jesus? 101 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:41,560 And I just said, well, you can't see Jesus if you're trying to 102 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:43,800 use him. If you're not looking for a 103 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:45,240 saviour, you're not going to find him. 104 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:53,680 And #2 you can't see Jesus until you surrender to him. 105 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:00,240 You can't see Jesus until you surrender to him. 106 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,480 Let's read the last four verses from 40 to 43. 107 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:06,560 Now we're going to look at the second criminal. 108 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:11,360 Same cross, same suffering. It's the same Jesus, just 109 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:15,560 opposite sides. Let's read, but we're going to 110 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:18,240 read how this guy does not miss Jesus. 111 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:22,080 He sees Jesus exactly for the person he is. 112 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:28,040 Let's read it verse 40 to 43. But the other answer, rebuking 113 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:32,440 him, making the other criminal. Don't you even fear God, since 114 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:34,720 you are undergoing the same punishment. 115 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:39,120 We are punished justly because we're getting back what we 116 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:43,320 deserve for the things we did. But this man has done nothing 117 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:47,320 wrong. Then he said, Jesus, Remember Me 118 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:52,400 when you come into your Kingdom. And he said to him, truly I tell 119 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:57,200 you today you will be with me in paradise. 120 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:05,440 Same cross, same pain, same distance to Jesus, but a 121 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:10,160 completely different outlook, completely different vision, a 122 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:15,840 different perspective. He doesn't give demands, but he 123 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:20,480 surrenders. What does he ask for? 124 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:25,280 What does he ask Jesus save me, save my situation? 125 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:30,280 No verse 42 he just says Remember Me. 126 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:34,800 No condition, no demands, no Get Me Out of this, Get Me Out of 127 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:37,320 that. He doesn't ask for a better 128 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:41,880 life. He doesn't ask for better things 129 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:45,120 in our in our life. Better marriage, fix my kids. 130 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:48,440 I want more money, I want a better status, I want less 131 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:54,600 problems. He just says Remember Me, I want 132 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:57,880 you. He's just asking for Jesus. 133 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:03,520 The first criminal says I'll believe in you if you fix my 134 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:06,360 life. The second criminal says, even 135 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,840 if my life doesn't change, I want you. 136 00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:14,240 So how do we get this perspective? 137 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:17,840 How do we have the same perspective of the second 138 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:23,040 criminal? I think verse 41 is the key. 139 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:28,320 He omits what's true about himself. 140 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:35,200 He sees himself clearly and he's able to see Jesus clearly. 141 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:41,480 Verse 41 We are punished justly. We are getting back what we 142 00:10:41,560 --> 00:10:43,840 deserve for the things that we did. 143 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:50,440 I've said this many times, the gospel starts with you saying I 144 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:54,680 am a Sinner. He doesn't blame, he doesn't 145 00:10:54,680 --> 00:10:58,320 justify, he doesn't compare. He doesn't say, well that guy 146 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:02,800 was worse than me. He just says I deserve 147 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:08,040 punishment. See people whether they're 148 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:14,680 religious or anti religious or irreligious, unreligious, they 149 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:21,440 often reject guilt. People who embrace religion, 150 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:27,320 they're like, I'm not guilty, I've done all this good people 151 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:30,000 who reject religion, they also think, well, I don't, I'm not 152 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:31,880 guilty. I'm a good person. 153 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:36,640 I'm not bad as these people. It doesn't matter if you're good 154 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:39,920 or bad that you find some reason to avoid your guilt. 155 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:45,160 So either way, people think that God owes them a good life. 156 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:53,240 The heart the second criminal had his heart said I deserve 157 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:56,920 nothing for my good deeds. In fact, I'm a Sinner and I 158 00:11:56,920 --> 00:12:02,600 deserve punishment. I need mercy, not repayment for 159 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:10,120 my good works. And Jesus offers him to the 160 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:15,640 thief who correctly saw him. Jesus offers him exactly what he 161 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:22,160 was asking for. Verse 42 Jesus says oh you want 162 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,080 me? That's what you get. 163 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:33,400 Truly, I tell you today you will be with me in paradise. 164 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:39,960 First thief says, what can you do for me? 165 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:45,160 Second thief says, how can I get more of you and Jesus give 166 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:49,480 exactly what he desires, You will be with me. 167 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:55,560 See that Thief was just looking for a savior to be with, and he 168 00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:58,800 finds exactly what he's looking for. 169 00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:03,360 You see this first guy is looking for the wrong thing. 170 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:07,640 He doesn't find it. He misses Jesus completely. 171 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:12,920 Second guy is looking for a savior because he knows he's a 172 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:14,600 Sinner. I need salvation. 173 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:19,360 I need rescuing. He's looking for a savior, and 174 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:24,520 he finds a savior. You know what else makes this 175 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:27,920 moment so powerful? I believe the stories truly 176 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:33,880 brings out the power of the gospel because this man, he says 177 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:40,240 Remember Me, but he had really nothing else to offer to Jesus. 178 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:46,120 No good works, no time to change his life, no chance to make it 179 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:49,320 up. All he had was that he knew he 180 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:51,600 was a Sinner and he wanted the Savior. 181 00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:57,840 And the shocking thing about the gospel is that Jesus promises 182 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:03,280 him paradise. So it shows that there's no way 183 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:07,480 we could earn any of this. You cannot earn salvation. 184 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:13,440 Nobody deserves God's love. Nobody deserves to be God's 185 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:19,640 child. Jesus knew I'll give you 186 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:24,680 paradise because salvation is something I do anyway. 187 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:30,920 Jesus dying in his place is what was needed, not the the thief 188 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:36,640 doing good works. Jesus knew that he himself will 189 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:43,120 earn salvation for us. And this is the reason we still 190 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:45,680 celebrate Good Friday after 2000 years. 191 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:50,360 After 2000 years we still celebrate and we still worship 192 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:55,200 on the day that Jesus died because the invitation is still 193 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:59,680 true today. If we go to Jesus and ask Jesus 194 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:04,560 Remember Me, He will not give you what you deserve because 195 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:08,280 what we deserve is death and penalty, but He gives you 196 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:16,640 something better Himself. Good Friday for some people, for 197 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:21,360 some of us, can be a bad Friday because you could show up here 198 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:27,880 and you can still miss him. You can miss the point or Good 199 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:34,040 Friday can truly be a Good Friday because we can come with 200 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:39,080 nothing to the cross and walk away gaining everything. 201 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:44,520 Good Friday is indeed good main point. 202 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:51,160 We don't truly see Jesus until we stop using Him and surrender 203 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:54,680 to Him. Let's take time to pray.