Please turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 23, as we gather together on this Good Friday, 2002. And our focus this evening will be the choices people make, and specifically, the choice to accept or reject Jesus Christ. Now before we get into our text this evening, listen to this story that will illustrate what God has done for us, for you will then see the foolishness of those who choose to reject Christ.

Paul Harvey once told of a little boy, whom doting parents had spoiled into a brat. The boy carried with him a sack, and in the sack there was a most pitiful kind of stirring. He had captured some tiny birds. The sound of imprisoned wing-beats slapped hopelessly at the heavy manila walls. A pitiful chirping now and then issued from the little paper prison that he swung at his side. He met an old man as he walked along.

"Whatcha got in that sack?" asked the old man.

"I got a sack full of sparrows!" said the little boy.

"What are you going to do with them?" asked the old man.

"I’m going to take them out of the sack, one by one, and tease them - pull a feather out now and then, and then I’ll release them to the cat for his dinner."

"How much would you sell the whole sack for?" asked the old man.

The little boy thought a moment and decided that he should put a lot of capital on the venture and dicker down if he had to, so he threw out the figure: "I’ll take two dollars for the sack!"

"Done," said the old man, and he reached into his pocket, pulled out the two dollars, and gave them to the lad. The lad then handed him the sack. The old man held it far more kindly than the reckless youngster had.

In a moment he untwisted the coiled paper neck of the bag and pulled it open. In but a little bit, the sky connected brilliantly with the open inside of the bag and the birds were gone.

And so it happened one day that God met Lucifer with a huge bag. Inside the bag were the most hopeless sounds of life struggling to be free. The sounds of young and old alike wailing in pain.

"What have you got in the bag?" asked the Father.

"People," smiled Lucifer.

"And what will you do with them?"

"I will torment them one by one, and when they are all worn out with trials, I will throw them into Hell."

"And what will you take for all of them?"

"Your only Beloved."

"Done!" said the Father. And He reached down to earth and gave us the gift of His Son.

And in such a happy trade-off we come to hold the key to the resurrection and the life.

Calvin Miller, "Call in the Wilderness" in Proclaim!, Spring 1999, 7

You see, without the cross there is no life. We are still dead in our trespasses and sins, separated from God. A penalty must be paid for our sins, and, as the Scriptures tell us, "And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission." Thus, there needed to be a perfect sacrifice so that all of our sins would be paid in full, once for all. And Peter tells us "knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God." I Peter 1:18-21.

Today, as well as back then, we hear all kinds of excuses why people reject Christ. Why they won’t come to the cross. And we are going to look at several choices people made as they were around Jesus on that day He went to the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, and then we will look at one choice that took a man from the pit of Hell and brought him into Paradise. With that said, let’s look at our text this evening in Luke chapter 23, beginning in verse 26, as Jesus is being led to Calvary.

1. PILATE: PEOPLE PRESSURE, PEOPLE PLEASER

Now the first person we want to look at, who is not in our text but played a role in these events, is Pilate, the governor over this area from 26 AD to 36 AD. And this was a difficult area to control being an outsider. The Jews did not want to be under anyone’s authority. And when Pilate first came to town, he did not exactly start off on the right foot.

He came riding into town with his men who were carrying flag’s with Caesar’s face on it. Obviously to the Jews, this was idolatry and they wanted nothing to do with it. So the Jews revolted and rioted, many coming to the home of Pilate, which was in Caesarea along the Mediterranean coast. And Pilate, trying to regain some kind of control of the situation, threatened to cut off their heads if they did not stop what they were doing and return home. The Jews responded by rolling down their shirts! And many were killed! And the Jews also sent a letter to Rome complaining about Pilate and what he was doing. STRIKE 1!

Later on he tried to build a better water system, but he didn’t have enough money to do it, so he took the money from the Jewish treasury, and of course that did not sit well with the Jews. Thus, more riots, more death, and another letter to Rome complaining about Pilate’s activities! STRIKE 2!

So at this point of his life, as the Jews bring Jesus before him, he has to walk on egg shells because he already has two strikes against him and he knows that strike 3, your out! So Pilate listened to what the Jew’s were saying against Jesus, and he came to this conclusion, "...‘I find no fault in Him at all.’" John 18:38. And yet, because of the crowds, the pressure of the people, Pilate rejected Jesus and gave into the pressure.

Thus, in Matthew 27:22-25 we read "Pilate said to them, ‘What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?’ They all said to him, ‘Let Him be crucified!’ Then the governor said, ‘Why, what evil has He done?’ But they cried out all the more, saying, ‘Let Him be crucified!’ When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, ‘I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.’ And all the people answered and said, ‘His blood be on us and on our children.’"

The crowds made him respond contrary to what he saw, and even though he tried to wash his hands of his responsibility, he was still accountable for his actions. People today are no different, they do the same thing with Jesus. They know the truth, but, because of people pressure, because of peer pressure, they trample the Lord underfoot, they put Him to death in their own lives! So people pressure and trying to be a people pleaser put an end to Pilate’s life, eternally separated from the Lord because he sought to be a man pleaser rather than a God pleaser! What about you?

2. THE SOLDIERS: INDIFFERENT - DOING THEIR JOB

The soldiers that were assigned to this execution were basically indifferent to it, they were just doing their job, yes, they mocked Jesus, beat Him, but I’m sure that is how they treated all their prisoners. Jesus wasn’t treated any better. We read in Luke 23:36-37 "The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, ‘If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.’"

And like the soldiers, many go through life today totally oblivious to what is happening around them. They are just doing their job, going through all the motions, but unaffected by God. You see, there is no time, too many other things to do right now, and there is a indifference towards God. What about you?

3. RELIGIOUS LEADERS: HE DIDN’T FIT THEIR THEOLOGY

This is a dangerous area to be in, having pre-conceived ideas about God, and when you see Him face-to-face you reject Him because He doesn’t fit your theology. The religious leaders said "Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, ‘He saved others; Himself He cannot save. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.’..." Mark 15:31-32.

You see, these religious leaders could not deny the miracles, the works of Jesus, so they push that aside, blamed it on the Devil doing it, and they mocked the Lord for not being able to save Himself. The tragedy of course was He went to the cross to save them!

Many in the church today do the same thing. They have all kinds of rules and regulations and ideas about God that you have to follow to be saved. They deny the empowering in the Holy Spirit. They deny the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They even edit the Word of God. Why? Because it doesn’t fit into their theology and thus, to tell others this is what they believe they have to edit or re-interpret the Word of God, and for some, it is so edited that salvation and sin are not to be found!

And yet, Paul speaks very clearly on how to be saved. He says in Romans 10:9-10, "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." If your theology does not match up with the Word of God, guess who is wrong? It is not God! Where are you at this evening in regards to knowing God? Is it your theology or His?

4. THE CROWDS: CROWD MENTALITY - FOLLOW THE LEADER

The religious leaders had whipped the crowd into a state of frenzy and they stood by watching Jesus die this slow death, shaking their heads in disgust, laughing at the foolishness of Jesus. And yet, this is the same man who feed them, healed them of sickness, cast out demons and-so-on. In fact, just a few days before, many in this same crowd were saying "Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" Hosanna in the highest!’ And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, ‘Who is this?’ So the multitudes said, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.’" Matthew 21:9-11.

Now why were all these people in town in the first place? Because of the Passover feast! They came to worship God! And yet, it was an empty ritual, there was no relationship as is evident by their actions on this day. They were fickle and easily influenced by others.

People today are no different. They make their pilgrimage to the churches on Easter and Christmas. And they gain their information about God from the so-called religious leaders, the intelligentsia of our day, from those that don’t even know God but speak as if they do. And as they speak forth, they get the crowds whipped up, denying the true and living God, even mocking Him. How about you? Do you really know the true and living God?

5. TWO THIEVES ON THE CROSS: MOCKER AND SEEKER

Being crucified alongside of Jesus were two robbers. It is a word that speaks of taking something from another by force, by using violence. And they must have gone pretty far to be put to death for their crimes. These were not altar boys! Now these two guilty men hung on either side of Jesus, who was innocent of any crime, and in Matthew 27:44 we are told, "Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing."

Both these criminals began to mock Jesus, they were making fun of Him, taunting Him to do something about the situation He was in. In Luke 23:39 we are told "Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ‘If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.’" Here is a man, guilty of many crimes and being put to death for it, and even at this point, his heart is so hard that he refuses to make amends with God, to get right with God.

And today we see people in that same condition, dying in their sins and yet refuse to come to Christ and be forgiven. Thus, they will mock God, make fun of Him and the tragedy is, they will have an eternity to think about their foolish mistake. How about you?

Now if we ended here, it truly would be a sad story. But it doesn’t end here. There was another thief on the cross and in Luke 23:40-43 we read "But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’"

What happened? I think that as this criminal looked into the eyes of Jesus, seeing this beaten, bloodied, innocent man, and the reality is they were only getting what they deserved, his heart was broken. And as he see’s himself as he really is, a sinner separated from God, all he could do is cry out to Jesus, "...‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’" Luke 23:42. You see, he recognized Jesus’ authority and he called out for His help!

As all these people mocked Jesus, made fun of Him, laughed at Him, He was silent before them until He hears this man cry out for help. And please understand this, Jesus will always respond to those who are sincerely seeking Him! In Revelation 3:20 we are told by Jesus "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."

Notice, it is always an invitation by Jesus to "come" or to "open" or to "receive Him" and-so-on. Jesus doesn’t force us to come to Him, but when we do turn to Him out of our own free will, He will respond. It is as Jeremiah 29:12-14 says "Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you..."

And notice the response of Jesus to this man who is broken, "...‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’" Jesus gave this man with no hope, hope! He gave this man with no assurance in the afterlife, total assurance. Jesus said "...You will be with Me in Paradise." I like that because the response of most people to those who are in trouble is they would put that person down. They would say things like "You are only getting what you deserve!" Or "You should have thought about that before you traveled down this path!" Not Jesus, He see’s a man crying out to Him and He responds with words of comfort. Never forget that! God desires to draw you to Him, but man keeps trying to run away.

A good illustration of what we do is seen in this story of Ringo the duck. It goes like this:

Poor Ringo the duck! Grubbing for food on the bottom of Grenadier Pond, in Toronto’s High Park, the duck got a pull-ring from a beverage can clamped around her beak. As a result the duck could not feed properly and faced starvation when the pond froze over. Concerned people saw her plight, and set in motion various attempts to capture the bird and remove the ring.

First, a cannon which fires a large net was set up on the shores of the pond. But no success!

Then a skin diver tried to scare Ringo out from the bulrushes. Again, no success!

The Toronto Humane Society tried to allure Ringo with bread and corn, but that only drew seagulls from miles around.

Finally, Canada’s champion duck-caller was called in, but although he got the attention of nearly every duck in the pond, Ringo did not respond.

All for the sake of a duck! Ringo simply did not understand that all these attempts were not designed to frighten her, but to free her from her plight.

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, 5345

I don’t know where you are at this evening with your relationship with the Lord, but I do know this, you are not here by accident. And as I close this study this evening, let me ask you a few questions that I want you to think about. Are you willing to please the Lord or are you seeking to please man, a people pleaser, influenced by peer pressure? Are you going through your life, doing your own thing, indifferent to God, or are you seeking after His will for your life? Are you seeking to follow your own theology or His? Are you moved by the cross or the crowds? Are you headed for Paradise or judgment? Are you standing firm in your own rights or are you saying that He is right?

You see, it all revolves around Jesus, the cross and His resurrection from the dead! That is the Gospel message, that is the good news that has been given to a world filled with bad news. Jesus came to give us abundant life, but the choice is yours, to either receive it or reject it. But, understand this, there is no life without Jesus!

You see, prior to Jesus giving up His spirit on the cross of Calvary, He cried out "It is finished!" or "Paid in full!" it is the Greek word TETELESTAI! What is finished? The redemption of man from his sin. The door has now been opened for man to come to God through Jesus. It is as I Timothy 2:5-6 says "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."

You see, the access to the Father is through His Son, Jesus Christ, who paid in full the penalty for our sins. Jesus said in John 14:6, "...‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’" Thus, there is no other way, no other door, no other truth, except through Jesus Christ!

If you don’t know the Lord, come to Him, ask Him to forgive you of your sins and be the Lord of your life, and you will receive the forgiveness of sin that Jesus purchased for you, it is a gift to you. If your walk with the Lord is not right, repent and get right with the Lord, asking God to help you to stay on track, and He will!

But don’t leave here this evening thinking the work of Christ some 2,000 years ago was in vain, for it most definitely isn’t, all you must do to receive it is come to Him and ask. Don’t be like Pilate, or the soldiers, or the religious leaders or the crowds or the one thief on the cross who hardened his heart to the Lord. But may you be like the other thief on the cross who cried out "...‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’" Luke 23:42. The choice is yours!