Sticks and Stones…

Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me. Did a few of you learn that mantra as you were growing up? Do you believe it? I just heard a no. Yeah, and I think I agree. On one level, yes, words can’t hurt me in the same sense that a person punching me in the face hurts me because they don’t hit me physically. True. And I guess I have the choice to listen to and pay attention to words and take them to heart or dismiss them. So I suppose in that sense, they shouldn’t be able to hurt me. But I would guess there’s a whole lot of people in here who have heard some words that have been pretty hard to take. You didn’t make the team. No, I won’t go to the prom with you. Sorry, somebody else got the job. Your position’s been eliminated. There’s a lot of words that can hurt and hurt a lot. True? And boy, do we see it in the text in front of us today. What’s going on? As Jesus gets nailed to the cross, we have not only leaders but the religious leaders. The other gospels tell us that these rulers who are gathered are the religious rulers. And what are they doing? They’re making fun of Jesus. Just stop and think about it just from a base level. Does it make sense that anyone would make fun of a person who’s in excruciating pain? No. Add to it that it’s not just anyone who’s doing this mocking. It’s the religious leaders. And be as if Damien and I were out front making fun of people when they had to go to the hospital or something. What? You wouldn’t, we wouldn’t, well, I hope he wouldn’t dream of doing that. We wouldn’t dream of doing that. And these religious leaders were the ones who should have known better than anybody in the world who Jesus was, that he was the Savior of the world. And what are they doing? They’re mocking and making fun. So are the thieves. The other gospels make it clear that when Jesus is first crucified, both of the thieves are mocking and making fun of him. It’s only Luke’s gospel that records the amazing conversion. Here these guys are who are steps away from facing God. And they’re doing what? Making fun of somebody else. Does that make any sense? None whatsoever. The religious leaders back to them. What’s the basis of their mockery? He saved others. But he can’t save himself. Wait, think about that. What are they acknowledging? They’re acknowledging that he had the power to save others. They’re acknowledging that he has power. At least at some level, they’re acknowledging it. Does it, therefore, make sense that you would make fun of this guy? No, it doesn’t make any sense at all. And all of it is, unfortunately, illustrative of a very sad truth about us human beings. That we are oh too quick to use our words to hurt. When Jesus talks about the evils of our heart, out of the heart comes evil. One of the things he points to is malice and deceit. Who’s he accusing? Every one of us. When God, in the book of Romans, makes his great condemnation of the entire world, he spends about three verses talking about how we use our mouths for evil. Their throats are open graves. Their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. And God prefaced those words by saying, “All people, Jews and Gentiles alike, are under sin.” So, as he speaks those words, who is he condemning? Every single human being. Sticks and stones can break my bones. But I think it’s awfully true that words can hurt me and hurt me a lot. And that oh too often I use my words to hurt others. By contrast, what you see in Jesus. Words of grace upon words of grace upon words of grace. Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me. Why? Well, partially, it was because things were going to get way worse for the children of Israel very soon after that. The Romans were going to come in about 40 years later and absolutely destroy and level the place and kill a whole bunch of the Jewish people. There’s at least one time recorded where a mother actually ate her own child because the suffering was so bad. That’s why they would say blessed are the wounds who did not bear. But there’s a second reason. Don’t mourn for me. Why? Because I’m doing exactly what you need me to do. I’m going to the cross for you. So don’t mourn for me. Rejoice. I’m going to win salvation for you and for the entire world. As the soldiers take the nails and are piercing him through, you’d expect to hear words of anger, words of condemnation. Do you know who you’re nailing to this cross? Instead, it’s what? Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing. And notice it’s not a request. It’s an imperative. That Jesus is telling the father what to do. Says Jesus is God. He has that right. Forgive them. That’s not what you’d expect. And then there’s the thief. How in the world God broke through his heart and brought him to faith is just one of those really cool miracles. We’ll talk more about that Wednesday night. But sometime during that time up there on the cross and appears to be fairly early on. The one thief rebuked the other and said, don’t you fear God? We’re under the same punishment. But this guy has done nothing wrong. How he knew all that? Hard to say. Was it just what he had seen of Jesus there on the cross? Had he other knowledge about Jesus? We’re not sure. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. I tell you the truth. And in the Greek, it’s an oath form. So you other words, you could translate it. I swear to you. Today. You will be with me. In THE paradise. The Greek has an article making it very specific. Really? This guy who is so bad and he’d live such a bad life that they’re crucifying him. Jesus says today you’ll be with me in paradise. Yes. What grace. And for this thief, it’s gracious on a couple of levels. First of all, there’s the simple physical level. Spartacus when Spartacus is rebellion took place. The Roman government crucified hundreds of people, and the records are kept that some of those people who were being crucified were still talking to the soldiers up to four days after they were crucified. The average length of time before they died was between four and seven days. You see, the Romans had taken crucifixion and turned it into an art form. So that it would last as long as possible and would be this is terribly excruciating. We get our word excruciating from crucifixion. There would be this horribly excruciating, painful death. And so for Jesus to say to that thief on the cross today, you’ll be with me in paradise. He’s letting the thief know your sufferings are going to come to a relatively quick end. But of course, far more important is the spiritual level of this. You’ve been a horrible person. You’ve lived a terrible life. But that’s the whole point of me being up here on the cross. Today, you will be with me in the paradise that this guy who had lived such a horrid life was going to end up in life eternal, and you will join him someday. Can you imagine? What grace. A very apocryphal story is told about the thief on the cross arriving in heaven. And again, this is totally apocryphal. This isn’t the way it works. But I think the story is helpful for us to just sort of get this whole thing. The thief on the cross shows up there, and the person who’s at the door greeting him says, “So what’s the story of the thief on the cross?” And he says, “Well, I’m going to tell you what. I’m going to tell you what.” And he’s there, and the person who’s at the door greeting him says, “So what are your qualifications for coming into heaven? Were you a church member all your life?” No. No, I wasn’t. “Well, you must have become a church member later in your life.” “Well, no, I really didn’t.” “Well, you had to have been baptized, right?” That didn’t happen either. “Well, did you at least live a pretty good life?” “Well, no.” “In fact, I was so bad they crucified me.” “Well, then, why are you here?” “Because the man on the middle cross said I could come.” And isn’t that the truth for every one of us? Finally, why is it that at our last day, we’re going to hear those words of promise from Jesus today, you will be with me in paradise and we’ll know that it applies to us. Why? Because it’s Jesus’ words. For many of us, those gracious words started with our baptism, where Jesus gave us those gracious words of adoption. I baptize you into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and we became the children of God. God refreshes those words of forgiveness to us over and over again, every time we read the Bible, hear the Bible, when we have our confession and absolution at the beginning of the worship. Service, your sins are forgiven. And God refreshes that wonderful, forgiving love to us. As we come to the supper, we hear God strengthening wonderful words of feeding. As he says, “Take and eat.” “This is my body. Take and drink.” “This is my blood.” That Jesus gives us himself, his true body and his true blood, strengthening us and sealing us for life everlasting. Why are you going to go to heaven? Because the man on the middle cross said you can come. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can or can’t hurt me. I don’t know. You can decide for yourself. But here’s what we can know for sure. Sticks and stones can break my bones. But Jesus’ words are the only words that can heal me. And heal me eternally. And they have. Amen. And Amen.