In Luke's Gospel, chapter
23, verse 33, I want to kind-of break some grammatical rules. You can do that
when you are out of school. You've got to graduate first, though. It says this:
"And when they were come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified
him." It goes on to say some more things, but that is the part I want to
deal with this morning.
"And when they were
come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified him." I want to
lift as a thought around this text: Why Calvary? It is up out of Luke's legacy
that I am led to lift this word about our Lord.
Luke is, indeed, the third
of the three Synoptic Gospels. Luke is the heavily editorialized biography of
Jesus of Nazareth. Luke is the one that was written and addressed to that Roman
dignitary, the most excelled Theophilus. Luke's Gospel is a most distinct
biography. It is loaded with luscious tid-bits and a plethora of detail on the
man from Galilee, his message, and his mission. Matthew's Gospel is a great
Gospel, some scholars have called it the Jewish Gospel in that it points out
that Jesus was the fulfillment of the promise. Mark's Gospel, I think, is a
very interesting Gospel. Scholars lay claim that it is the first one, and
rather rustic in its presentation. But the main emphasis is that whatever
situation Jesus entered into -- when he exited that situation, things were
different. Luke's legacy is one that begins way back with the genealogy of
Abraham. John's Gospel is the one that begins way back before Abraham, back
where Moses started in the Pentateuch, "In the beginning . . ."
Luke's Gospel is the one
that has some unique stories in it. Only Luke carries the story of the
annunciation to Mary. Only Luke carries the story of Anna and Simeon in the
temple. Only Luke carries the story of Jesus at the age of twelve being in the
temple. Only Luke carries the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah. So I guess, as
is bound to be, it would be Luke's Gospel and a luscious bit of detail that
would demand our attention for this preaching moment.
Calvary--Golgotha--the
place of the skull. It symbolizes the seat of death, the rule and reign of the
grim reaper--Calvary. It was the citadel for that cold, unconscionable reality
that has no eyes, no ears, and no heart. Death ruled and reigned on Calvary.
Death was the real hallmark in the minds of those of that day on Calvary, and,
"When they were come to the place called Calvary," listen y'all,
"there they crucified him."
But not only that, death
was reigning on Calvary, and death was the last word. Death was the bomb,
y'all. Death was king. Death had the last word. Death had taken everybody.
Death had taken Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Death had taken all of the
prophets, major and minor. Death had to wait on Methuselah for 969 years, but
death won out. Hezekiah got a fifteen-year extension, but death still won out.
Elijah resurrected a boy, but he only lived long enough to die again. Death was
the bomb, and they wanted to make sure that they put Jesus in the hands of
death so that he would be finished, so ". . . when they were come to the
place called Calvary, there they crucified him."
But is there another
reason? And the Spirit said, "God didn't want any questions about who was
really in charge. He let them go to Calvary because He inarguably wanted them
to know that He was the victor. He wanted the victory of Jesus uncontested,
indisputable, and the reason He let them go all the way to Calvary is because
if they thought that Calvary belonged to Satan, then God was going to show that
He was the Captain Ship God by whipping Satan on his own turf. He was going to
beat him even though Satan had home-court advantage."
So what happened that
fateful Friday? What happened was when the soldiers grabbed Jesus and laid him
down on that old rugged cross, Jesus was talking to them all the while. He was
saying, "Now, you can go on and nail my hands, but whatever you do, don't
raise me. You can go on and you can rivet my feet, but whatever you do, don't
raise me. You can go on and spear me in the side, and my head is already
crowned with thorns and you've already whipped my back. You go on and do
whatever you got to do, but I am trying to warn you now, whatever you do, don't
raise me, don't raise me." I heard somebody say that what they did was
they made the mistake of doing what he told them not to do. They raised him
from a dead level to a perpendicular on the square. They raised him, and when
they dropped him in that hole, the black preachers from Louisiana said that the
whole world reeled and rocked like a drunken man. Midnight told midday, "Move
over and let me sit on the throne, because the sun refused to shine, because
two suns can't shine at the same time."
When they raised Jesus, he
said, "I told you not to raise me. I told you it is all right to nail my
hands and rivet my feet, but I told you don't raise me." When they raised
him that is when he said, "And I, if I be lifted up, I draw all men unto
me." So they raised him, and in their raising him, guess what? It changed
all of history, because guess what? The law, the love of the law, was given on
Sinai, but the law of love was given on Calvary. See, the waters receded on
Ararat, but at Calvary all my sins were washed away. There was fire on Mount
Carmel. Oh, but there's blood on Calvary. There was a transfiguration on Mount
Tabor, but if you come to Calvary, you can be born again. Abraham almost
sacrificed Isaac on Mount Zion, oh, but, "For God so loved the world that
He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish
but have everlasting life."
