Jesus Paid the Price

Background Scripture: Luke 23
Lesson Scripture: Luke 23:32-46

Introduction

Paid in full. No debt. If you have paid off a debt, you know how free you feel. No obligation to the one who held the debt. Often a receipt shows the debt is discharged, proving the debtor’s freedom.

What if the debt you owed could never be paid? “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” (Prov. 22:7). Forever a servant with no freedom.

Jesus paid the debt! We are free to serve God if we accept his payment for our sins. Why would we refuse?

Key Verse

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Lesson Scripture

Studying the Lesson

Our lesson scripture focuses on Jesus’s time on the cross. His trial by the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman civil authorities had been unjust, illegal, and immoral. Isaiah prophesied it would be so. “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” (Isa. 53:7). Man was showing why he needed a Savior.

The Romans were conquerors in a turbulent society and a troubled world. Though crucifixion would be considered a harsh penalty today, the Romans used extreme methods to maintain control. “And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors” (Mark 15:28, referring to Isa. 53:12).

Jesus did not deserve death on the cross. Pilate and Herod did not find him guilty (Luke 23:14-15). Nevertheless, the Jewish leaders were plotting to get rid of Jesus because they thought He was turning the people against their leadership. They were afraid they would lose their place in Jewish society, and the nation might perish. The high priest made it clear he found it “expedient that one man should die for the people” (John 18:14) on the charge that “he made himself the Son of God” (John 19:7). Expedient means to be an advantage or to be profitable. Seeking justice was not part of their consideration.

The law required a perfect, unblemished sacrifice. A lamb was often used for this sacrifice. This was especially true of the Passover, the commemoration of God’s deliverance of Israel. The blood of the lamb that was sacrificed marked the houses that the death angel would “pass over” on his way to the Egyptians. It would be hard to think of a more innocent creature than a lamb. Jesus was innocent and a perfect substitution for sinful man. The key verse tells us that because of love, God gave his Son, Jesus. He took our place, suffered the curse of death for us, and paid our debt.

Calvary was “the place of a skull,” which in Hebrew is called Golgotha (John 19:17). It was an established place of execution “nigh to the city” (v. 20). The writer of Hebrews mentions that Jesus “suffered without the gate” (Heb. 13:12). The writers of the Gospels did not dwell on where this happened as much as what was accomplished.

Numerous people witnessed Jesus as He was nailed to the cross. The two malefactors were remarkably close witnesses—one on either side. The word malefactor means evildoers, but criminal is the word we would use today. Matthew and Mark tell us they were thieves. Jesus and these two malefactors were condemned and fastened to a cross. There they would die slowly, their body unable to overcome the effects of gravity, which caused pooling of the blood in the lower extremities. Insufficient oxygen due to lungs that were not able to expand fully contributed to their misery as they hung from their arms. It often took two or three days to die, and sometimes longer. This was a public spectacle meant to remind people that they could also be put to death in this way.

Although the Roman soldiers witnessed Jesus’s sufferings, they were more than witnesses. They were the ones who crucified Him and the two malefactors. Jesus responded by asking God to forgive them, because of ignorance. Who all was to be forgiven? The Romans? The Jews? The malefactors? Us?

The people and the rulers were the largest group of witnesses. Matthew and Mark made it clear that the people joined the rulers in deriding Jesus. The essence of their derision was that He should save himself if he was the Christ. Although we did not hear from the Roman soldiers at first, soon they begin to mock Jesus, echoing the Jews and their leaders. The Romans looked down on the Jews as a conquered people and placed an inscription above his head as part of their despising the Jews. They insinuated that if Jesus was their king, He should save Himself.

Lastly, we hear from the malefactors. One of them railed on Jesus, throwing the same taunt that the people and leaders had shouted, adding that Jesus should save them too. The other malefactor rebuked the first—owning the justice of their sentence and the injustice of Jesus’s sentence. He asked Jesus to remember him when he came into his kingdom. He believed Jesus was a king and would come to power in the future. Jesus promised the malefactor that he would join Him in paradise.

Fittingly, the creation also bore witness to the crucifixion of its Maker. Darkness descended on the earth at an unnatural hour. The sixth hour would be about noon since the daylight hours numbered from sunup. It stayed dark for three hours, until 3 PM. When Jesus died, the curtain between the Holiest place and the Holy place of the temple was torn. This veil was symbolic of the barrier between a holy God and sinful man. Matthew and Mark tell us this curtain, which was probably ninety feet high, was torn from the top to the bottom. This barrier was only crossed by the high priest on the Day of Atonement, which happened once a year. The high priest only entered after offering sacrifices to atone for his sins and the sins of the people.

At the end of three hours, Jesus entrusted his spirit to his Father and died. The Roman centurion and those that were with him said, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matt. 27:54).

Practical Truths for Today

What do we see when we look at Calvary? The disciples saw everything go wrong. They had dreamed of Jesus as Messiah, setting all things right. How was that going to happen if Jesus was condemned to death? And why would God allow evil to triumph? That this was all God’s plan was beyond their comprehension.

Jesus had agreed to this at the creation; He was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). In Gethsemane He prayed and yielded his will to his Father’s will. From there He resolutely carried on through until He died.

What do we owe to someone who does something kind for us? Of course, we are thankful for their kindness and seek opportunity to express that thankfulness. If the act was significant, such as rescuing us from danger or death, we will remember what they did for a long time. Likely, we will look for ways to honor them for their sacrifice on our behalf and feel inspired to do good things for others.

What do we owe to the One who died in our place? Jesus did what we could not do for ourselves. “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit” (1 Pet. 3:18). What do we have of value to give? “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isa. 64:6). Alas, we have nothing.

At Pentecost, the crowd cried, “Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:37-38). “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord” (Ps. 116:12-13). A grateful sinner takes the hand of a loving Savior and accepts that he does not deserve forgiveness and that he cannot pay for his salvation. He confesses his sins, and because of love for the One who forgives him, he wants to please Him for buying his pardon at such a high cost. This is what the malefactor did who asked Jesus to remember him. He believed. Yet it was more than just words. He used the last of his strength to plead salvation from the only One who could make a difference in his eternal destination. If he had been granted more time, he would have proven his faith by his actions.

Perhaps we can sum up all that was done for us in that awful place with what Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). We can be forgiven and have the beautiful privilege of “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).

Questions

1. Do I properly value the price paid for my sins if I am careless in my Christian life?
2. What are ways to help others understand God’s love, as John declares it in John 3:16?
3. Will a good understanding of my depravity keep me grateful for the price Jesus paid for my sins?
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Source: COGICM Daily Bible Readings (Daily Bible Readings, PO Box 124, Glenn, CA 95943).