Good News At Calvary
Luke 23:33-43 NRSV
By all accounts, this is the end of the road for the three men crucified at Calvary. Jesus is there, flanked by two criminals – one on his left and one on his right. We don’t really know what crimes they’ve committed. We only know the accusations were heinous enough to warrant the death penalty. They each hang upon a bloody cross awaiting the inevitable final breath. Here at Calvary, there’s nothing left to do, except to die. This is the end of the road.
Have you ever been there? At the end of your road. Convinced you’re out of options. Convinced there’s no way out. No hook ups. No backups. At the end of your road? You’ve done everything that you know to do. You’ve petitioned. You’ve pleaded. You’ve prayed. The situation gets no better, only worse. If you’ve been there, then maybe, just maybe, you’ve been by Calvary. Maybe, just maybe you’ve been the spectacle that people watch in pity as you slip deeper and deeper into death. Maybe, just maybe, you’ve been where the excruciating pain of your circumstance is matched also by the shame you feel. Maybe, just maybe you’ve been by Calvary. For Calvary is the end of the road, particularly for these three men -- Jesus and two criminals.
It’s not just the end of the road for the crucified ones. It’s also the end of the road for those at the foot of the cross, for death changes you. You can’t watch death and not be changed. You cannot get close to death and not be changed. Whether justified or unjustified, death changes you. Whether planned or unplanned, death changes you. Whether expected or unexpected, death changes you. Calvary was the end of everyone’s road that day.
And it is into this dark and dismal circumstance that Jesus speaks words of hope. Who would have imagined that one could find hope at Calvary? Amid the dismal and depressing sights, Jesus speaks hope. For while Jesus is being crucified like a man, he isn’t just a man. He is the Son of God. As the crowd gazes, as the soldiers ridicule, and as one criminal hurls insults upon Jesus, the other criminal says, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus speaks words of hope, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise." In other words, Jesus says, “You thought this was the end of your road. You thought you were out of options. You thought this was how your story ends, but ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’" In the midst of death and despair, Jesus opens up unforeseen possibilities. Jesus reveals unexpected alternatives. Jesus unveils unanticipated avenues. Who would have imagined that one could find hope at Calvary? When your circumstances say dead end, Jesus says intersection. When your circumstances say road block, Jesus says speed bump. When your circumstances say the end, Jesus says new chapter. Our Lord is never out of options. Perhaps this is why the elders say, “He’s a way out of no way.” Jesus speaks words of hope. Jesus brings hope to Calvary.
Jesus also speaks words of assurance. Jesus says to the criminal, "Truly, I tell you.” Jesus emphasizes that these are his words, and therefore they are words one can count on. “I tell you.” These are words one can depend on. These are words one can stand on. These are not the words of mere mortals, but these are words backed by heaven, grounded in eternity, and proven by history. I wonder how many times this criminal had been lied to, lied on, or lied about. I wonder the distrust he bore and the suspicions he carried. Perhaps he had been disappointed by too many, too often. But not this time. This time he gets a promise from the One through whom all things were made. This time he gets a promise from the Messiah. This time he gets assurance from Jesus. And this assurance was not for the criminal alone, but it is accessible to each of us. This assurance is accessible to each of us who dares admit that we too need a word we can count on, a word we can depend on, and a word we can believe on. We too have been disappointed by too many to often. Disappointed by systems that fail us, disappointed by structures that oppress us, disappointed by politics that betray us, disappointed by economics that starve us, and disappointed by communities who abandon us. There’s good news! This assurance from Jesus is accessible to us. “Truly, I tell you.” Jesus speaks words of assurance. Jesus bring assurance to Calvary.
Finally, Jesus brings grace to Calvary. To this criminal who has committed death warranting crimes, justly condemned to death, and by his own admission is getting what he deserves for his deeds, Jesus offers grace. Jesus says, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise." In my haughtiness I questioned, “But Jesus, Paradise? He gets Paradise? I thought Paradise was for the converted? I thought Paradise was for the repentant? I thought Paradise was for the renewed? He did not ask for forgiveness. He did not confess you as his Lord. And he gets Paradise?” The Spirit says to you and to me, that’s how grace works. To those of us who’d rather keep people out of the realm of God than welcome them into the realm of God…to those of us who’d rather exclude persons than include persons in the unconditional love of God…to those of us who treat Paradise as if it is a limited good operating under economic laws of scarcity (if we let too many of those people in, there won’t be enough room for people like us)…the Spirit says to us, “Yes! This criminal gets Paradise. That’s how grace works.” Grace grants what you have not earned. Grace gives what you have not deserved. Grace offers what you cannot afford. Yes! He gets Paradise. That’s how grace works. Jesus brings grace to Calvary.
In this Lenten season, as I was reminded of the crosses Black women are crucified upon each day, it was encouraging to know that Jesus meets each of us at the end of our roads, even where death hovers, with words of hope, assurance and grace. And that’s good news!
Reverend R. Janae Pitts-Murdock is the Interim Senior Pastor at Light of the World Christian Church in Indianapolis, IN and the first woman to pastor in the church’s 154 year history. Rev. Pitts-Murdock is a candidate for the PhD in African American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric at Christian Theological Seminary. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan (A.B., Communication Studies), Carnegie Mellon University (M.S., Public Policy and Management), United Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and the University of Memphis (M.B.A.). Rev. Janae resides in Fayetteville, Arkansas with her husband Rev. Jeffrey A. Murdock, Jr., PhD and their children Jasmine, Jeffrey III, and John Patrick.