Jesus Planned to Die
Luke 23:44-49

I.  Jesus planned His death to bring judgment.

A.  The cross that Jesus died on is a symbol of two things. It is a symbol of God’s judgment on sin. And at the same time it is a symbol of God’s mercy for sinners. The first sign of God’s judgment on sin on Good Friday was literally a sign from heaven: darkness (vs. 44). Amos 8:9-10: “And on that day,” declares the Lord God, ‘I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.”

B.  Then there was a second sign from God of judgment. We read in Luke 23:45 that the curtain of the temple was torn in two. The torn curtain suggested that judgment was coming on the temple. Jesus had just warned the women of Jerusalem in vs. 28-31 that judgment was coming on Jerusalem for its rejection of Jesus. And one of the buildings that would be destroyed in Jerusalem in 70 AD was the building the Jews were so proud of: their temple.

II.  Jesus planned His death to bring mercy.

A.  The reason why Jesus planned to die on the cross is found in 1 Peter 2:24: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” Jesus was a sacrifice for us on the cross. We deserved to die for our sin because the penalty for sin is death. But because of His mercy Jesus took our place on the cross. He died for us. Jesus’ death for us not only healed us from the disease and the penalty of sin. His death also gave us the gift of righteousness.

B.  Christ’s mercy then brought us forgiveness, healing and righteousness at the cross. But there was another gift of mercy that Jesus brought us at the cross that is symbolized by the torn curtain at the temple mentioned in v. 45. The torn curtain symbolized not only God’s coming judgment on the temple. It also symbolized the fact that Jesus’ death on the cross has opened the way to God for us. Before Jesus died for us our sins had blocked us from a holy God. But now that our sins are forgiven through Christ’s death we have access to God.

III. Jesus planned His death to bring life.

A.  In Luke 23:46 we hear Jesus’ last words. Jesus uses this prayer from Psalm 31:5 to express His trust that God will care for Him. Verse 46 says Jesus called out with a loud voice. It was a prayer of victory for Jesus in which Jesus was saying: “This is not the end of my story. Death will not have the last word. Father, you will raise me from the dead. I trust that you will give me life so that all might know that I am your son who pleased you and so that all who follow me might also have life.”

Application:
Ask God for the mercy you need. Trust that Jesus can give you eternal life.

Sources:
The Gospel of Luke
Commentary on Luke by Darrell Bock
Sermon by R. Kent Hughes