Luke 23:32-43
A. INTRODUCTION
1. The World
With all the wonderful achievements, and the technology that makes life so much easier than it has ever been before (and that includes all sorts of medical advances), many people are still not happy with their lot in life. Many people just don’t appreciate how much better off they are than those who have lived before. And that’s reflected in two extremes. There are those, who don’t appreciate what they’ve got, and who look back longingly at older, simpler times. And there are those who are ungrateful for what they’ve got and who are constantly calling out for a whole lot more.
Being negative, not being happy with the way things are, sometimes, seems to me to be a national pastime. And that is particularly true when you consider the calls for more money for this, and for more money for that, complicated by the fact that different people have different priorities, and the fact that there is only a limited amount of money to go around.
2. The Church
Of course, not being satisfied with what you’ve got, isn’t just something that affects the world in general it also affects the church. But the issue in the church isn’t usually technology but God. Because many people aren’t happy with him either. And yet, generally, it has always been that way. Let me illustrate what I mean.
B. A HISTORY OF DISSATISFACTION WITH GOD
1. Adam and Eve (Genesis 2 & 3)
Right from the outset, Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden by God. And he was told that he could eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, but one. In other words, Adam was put in a garden where he didn’t have to work to get his food, there was no hard labour, and all his food was provided for the taking. And provided he kept away from the one specific tree, he was set for life.
But did Adam (and Eve) appreciate what God had given them? No! They ate the one fruit they were told not to. And, as a consequence, God ejected them from the garden for their trouble. And from then on they were required to labour hard in order to eat.
2. The Exodus (Exodus 5 & 14)
When God came to the rescue of his people who were living in slavery in Egypt, the people weren’t very grateful to God either.
Because when Moses started to speak out for the people, and tried to persuade Pharaoh to let the people go—even on a temporary basis so they could worship God—the people responded by telling Moses to quit, because he was making their situation worse (Exodus 5:19-21). Then when God came to their rescue and freed them from slavery in Egypt, even with the promise of the Promised Land to look forward to, several times on the journey they showed their lack of trust and lack of gratitude. And they moaned to Moses, about how better they would have been off, had they stayed in Egypt (Exodus 14:12).
3. A King (1 Samuel 8)
Of course, having successfully been led by God into the Promised Land, and after they had got themselves established, you would think things would be different. However that was not the case either. Because despite the fact that from the time of Abraham they had been reasonably content to have a political system that was unique amongst the nations—a theocracy—they wanted to change that too.
They were a nation not ruled by a man but by God. And a God who appointed representatives from time to time as the need arose. However, despite God’s faithfulness in the past, this wasn’t good enough for the people either. They wanted to be like all the other nations; they wanted a king. They wanted more control themselves; and they looked enviously at other nations and the relative security of king following king. And as a consequence they demanded that the prophet Samuel effectively replace God’s system of ‘Judges’ with a king. And so, as history goes, Saul was anointed.
4. The Messiah (Luke 23:32-43)
And then, after a series of prophecies about God sending his people the ultimate king, the Messiah, we come to this passage from Luke. And what do we find? That despite the fact that the people had heard God’s message about the promise of a Messiah, and despite the fact they were told the details of how the Messiah was going to be born and what he would be coming to do, the people were still not happy with God.
And, as a consequence, we have this picture of Jesus being confronted by a very unsympathetic crowd; being crucified along with two ordinary criminals; and whilst there, dying on the cross. Below him, his executioners shared out his garments. He was mocked by the rulers, mocked by the soldiers, mocked by the actions of Pontius Pilate in placing the inscription of the cross ‘The king of the Jews’, and mocked by one of the criminals.
Whether anyone believed he was the real Messiah or not, no one made any movement to come to his rescue, or even claimed the injustice of the situation. He was not their king, and they didn’t want a bar of him. And, as a consequence, the dissatisfaction and rejection of God was complete.
Indeed, whilst there were evidently supporters of Jesus at that crucifixion, only one person is recorded to have spoken out. Only one person publicly identified Jesus for who he was. And that one person was one of the criminals who was not able to do anything to help him anyway.
C. COMMENT
So, when we consider the fact that some people are not happy with their lot in life and with what they’ve got, and we apply the test to the people of God, what we find is that God’s people do not have a good track record, particularly when it involves being satisfied with God.
Time and time again (and I’ve only mentioned 4 incidents), God’s people have shown their true colours. And sadly, in each case their true colours have not presented us with a very flattering picture of his people at all.
But lest we point the finger only at God’s people of the past, in our own way we are, probably, not very good at following God either. And we are, probably, just as guilty of rejecting God as the people in the Bible.
D. IMPLICATIONS
But it’s not my intention to leave you all depressed—with a feeling of doom and gloom or even a feeling of woe is me—I’d much prefer to leave you on a much more positive note.
As a consequence, having demonstrated that it is far easier to be negative than positive—far easier to go our own way rather than God’s—there are still really positive messages regarding the faith, which we can get out of each of these stories.
So, let’s revisit these stories to see what we can learn.
1. Adam and Eve
Because, regarding Adam and Eve, the message is that God knows what’s good for us and what’s bad. As a consequence we can learn that the rules that he has given us are for our own benefit.
Indeed, we would be well advised to immerse ourselves in God’s thinking. Because the laws he has given us have been given for a reason. And that reason is, not that he wants to be a dictator or an ogre, but that he is concerned for our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.
Adam and Eve, with all the food around them, may not have been satisfied with what they’d been given—and consequently ate the forbidden fruit—but they had to learn that there was a price to pay for their disobedience.
Now, over the years God’s people have accumulated a lot of God’s wisdom; instructions on things which are wholesome; and warnings about actions which are destructive. And if we do as God suggests we would find out how we can have a proper relationship with our creator, how we can live in harmony with one another, and how we can care for God’s creation.
Adam and Eve may have shown us what can go wrong when we don’t follow God’s leading. But think of the difference it would make if only we tried to get everything right.
2. The Exodus
With the Exodus, the message is that God wants us to move on in life. Because, whatever our lot has been, he has something much better in mind for the future.
The Israelites moaned and groaned to Moses, and they constantly appealed to happier times. The tragedy is, though, that they weren’t happy times at all. Their memories were not as good as they made out them to be.
Now, over the years, God’s people have accumulated a history of memories and traditions, and there are some which can be looked back on very fondly indeed. But God wants his people to move on not to stagnate in the past. And he can only do that if we are willing to let the past go.
Just as the people of the Exodus needed to move on and to let go of the past, so God requires us to do the same. Now that may mean that there may be times of hardship to face, even a wander in the wilderness for a while. But if we are willing to get up and move on, if we are willing to follow God’s agenda rather than our own, then in the end what awaits us is a life that is so much better than anything that has gone in the past. Indeed, a Promised Land of our own.
3. A King
Regarding the story of the first king, the message is that God wants us to quite distinct from other people, and trust in him for our day-to-day needs.
Of course, living without visible, consistent, human leadership is never an easy thing to do. And once settled in the Promised Land, it’s quite understandable (from a human point of view) that the people wanted to be more like the surrounding nations. But how can God bless us if we don’t trust in him?
Now we may not be satisfied unless we have control. But at what price does that come?
Instead, God’s people are supposed to be unique, reflecting their faith in God and expressing God’s values. God’s people are supposed to have a specific identification as being the people of God surrounded by pagans. God’s people are supposed to have faith in God to supply the appropriate leadership as and when required. And God’s people are supposed to trust in God to look after their needs. And if we do those four things then God can truly bless us.
4. The Messiah
And regarding the story of the crucifixion, the message is that God has found a way to reconcile us to him, despite us doing everything wrong. But it is a solution that requires us to grasp it firmly with both hands.
Having been promised a Messiah, even with all the miracles and the teaching, the people decided that Jesus wasn’t the kind of Messiah that they wanted. And today the majority of people think Jesus isn’t the kind of Messiah they want either.
The majority of people still want to come up with solutions of their own to the problem of sin. The problem is there are no other solutions.
God has demonstrated the extent of his love for us. He has gone to extraordinarily lengths so that we might be saved. Out of all his creation he has shown that we are special in his eyes. And even his son volunteered to be a major part of the solution, so that we no longer have to pay the consequences of our sins.
Rejecting God’s solution is not a sensible option. Rather, what should be doing is to embrace the crucifixion, and be prepared to stand up and to be counted amongst the faithful.
The reality is that we need God’s solution; we need to have faith in the living Jesus. Because only that way can we have eternal life.
E. CONCLUSION
Not being happy with one’s lot in life, then, is often represented by two extremes. The first is looking longingly to the past. The second is showing ingratitude for what one has. And these two attitudes are very evident in our society today.
And in our church dissatisfaction with God is very common too. But just because it’s always been like that (as we have seen), it doesn’t mean that we should continue to live as though that was still true. Rather we should learn from the mistakes of the past.
The story of Adam and Eve teaches us, that there are some things best left alone. That God knows best. And the reasons for God’s instructions on what to do—and what not to do—are ultimately for our own benefit.
The story of the Exodus teaches us that the past isn’t always as brilliant as some would make out. And that God has something much better in mind for us anyway. But to arrive at our final destination we need to follow God’s way.
The story of the first king teaches us of the need to make ourselves distinct from the rest of the world. And to trust in God for our day-to-day needs. That we should, indeed, allow God to rule our lives.
And the story of the crucifixion teaches us that God loves us so much that he has gone to extraordinary lengths for our relationship with him to be restored. And what we need to do is to stand up for what we believe.
So, as we read the history of God’s people it is littered with stories of God’s people rejecting God. (And rejecting God is something that we all do even today). But in those negative stories are positive messages that we should all take to heart. What we need to do, then, is to try to get beyond the negative; we need to move beyond rejecting God. And we need to live as God’s people just the way that he meant us to do.
Posted: 7th December 2024
© 2024, Brian A Curtis
www.brianacurtis.com.au
