Bible Passage: Luke 23:35-43
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: November 23, 2025

Bulletin – November 23, 2025

The people stood watching. (v. 35)  This is the first verse of our text this morning.  That verse may seem rather insignificant.  Yet it actually reveals something quite interesting.  You see, the word used for “watching” is a word that means more than simply glancing at something.  It is a word that means to carefully observe something.  To concentrate on something.  The people are watching and trying to discern the meaning of this strange crucifixion.

We must do the same.  What does this cross mean?  It was before us week-in and week-out in our worship services this past year.  It looms large before our every gathering in this house as it hangs prominently on the front wall.  There on that cross is a King!  But what kind of a “king” do you see?  In our text today we have four different assessments of the “king” on the middle cross.  But, as we shall see, Only One Truly Saw the King.

Our text is a portion of Jesus’ crucifixion narrative.  Luke tells us there was a crowd of people gathered, trying to process what they saw.   Then he zeroes in one of the groups on the scene.  The rulers. (v. 35) These would have been members of the Sanhedrin.  The Sanhedrin was the Jewish ruling body.  These rulers were there ridiculing him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, the Chosen One!” (v. 35)

They use “king talk” when they refer to Jesus.  They call him the Christ of God.  “Christ” means “the anointed.”  Great King David of old had been anointed.  All David’s royal descendants in the Davidic Dynasty had been anointed.  Anointing was the mark of kings!  The rulers look at Jesus and see a failed king.  A “wanna be” king.  A pretender.  A flop.  A disappointment.  If he were a great king, he would fight!  He would save himself!  Especially if he is God’s anointed, chosen One!  “Nah!  He’s a fake!”  They didn’t truly see the King.

There are those today who look at the crucified Jesus with the eyes of the rulers.  They ridicule, “Hey, I thought Jesus was supposed to be the King of Peace!  Where’s the world peace?  What’s the deal with Ukraine and Gaza?  Where’s the harmony?  What good is he?  Nah, he’s a fake!”  They don’t truly see the King.

Next in our text we have the soldiers.  The soldiers also made fun of him.  Coming up to him, they offered him sour wine, saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”  (v. 36)  To the soldiers, Jesus is a silly king.  Why, he had been the easiest crucifixion ever!  It was pitiful.  Even while they were torturing him and insulting him, he had been silent and did not open his mouth.  He even prayed for their forgiveness while they were hammering nails through his hands!  King Jesus with a kingdom was a joke!  They didn’t truly see the King.

How many today don’t see the crucified Jesus with the eyes of the soldiers?  Christ and his Kingdom of Christians are a joke.  Many ridicule us, “What complete simpletons!  They worship some guy who died 2000 years ago!  And here’s the kicker!  They honestly believe he came back to life again!  What a joke!”  They don’t truly see the King.

Next we have one of the criminals who was crucified with Jesus.  We are told he blasphemes Jesus, saying,  Aren’t you the Christ?  Save yourself and us! (v. 39)  He wanted King Jesus to make everything better RIGHT NOW!  He didn’t so much want Jesus to be a king, but a “genie-in-a-bottle” who could grant him his wish, and his wish at the moment was to get off the cross!  He wanted Jesus to be his “winning lottery ticket.”  He didn’t truly see the King.

How many today also look at Jesus through those eyes!  They want the Jesus who is all about giving health and wealth.  They want the Jesus who likes to play “name-it-and-claim-it.”  You name whatever you want, and King Jesus will give it to you!  They don’t want the Jesus who calls for repentance and faith.  That’s no fun.  They don’t truly see the King.

Only one truly saw the King.  The other thief.  We notice that he scolds the other thief for his blasphemous talk.  We are punished justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for what we have done, but this man has done nothing wrong. (v. 41)  This man confesses something about himself.  He admits he deserves the cross for all he’s done!  What shall he do?  Shall he die despairing?  No!  There is one he can turn to.  A King, no less, who can help!  Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom. (v. 41)

He sees in Jesus a King!  A king so gentle and humble he calls him by name.  “Jesus.”  He didn’t address him as “Your Majesty” or “Your Royal Highness.”  He called him “Jesus.”  He was on a first name basis with the King!  And he, a self-admitted sinner worthy of the cruelest death, asks that Jesus might find a place for him in his Kingdom!  This man truly saw the King!

The humble, gentle King looks at him and says, Amen, I tell you:  Today you will be with me in paradise. (v. 43)  The thief would not have to wait long for a place in the Kingdom.  “Today,” says Jesus!  Jesus’ soul entered the heavenly kingdom about three o’clock that afternoon.  The thief would arrive a little later.  But in the moment of his death, the thief’s soul was with Jesus in paradise!  Paradise, that place of eternal peace and rest!

The thief’s story is your story.  You are a sinner deserving of your own cross. Yet you have been given eyes to truly see the King that is on the cross.  You even call this King by name, Jesus.  You know the King hangs on a cross to pay the debt of your sin.  You know this King, by his death and rising, has opened Paradise for you!  You, like the thief, truly see the King!

Amen.