We Can Endure Anything [9-6-26]

NOTE: We had a problem with the streaming computer during the service, so the livestream is split up into 2 parts, both of which are below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SC7tb_N5u8?si=bH48fDdrf_WSfNzl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfWxN_Wq0vE?si=eGsmsdvjfyxL1S-4

September 6, 2026

Luke 23:26-49

“We Can Endure Anything”

As we’ll see, there’s a lot going on in today’s passage. We’re going to break it up into four distinct parts. In the opening verses, we’ll touch on some general points. The later sections will get a more detailed examination.

Let’s kick things off with Luke 23:26-31:

And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

One of the first things we notice is what we don’t notice. Luke avoids the grisly details of the tortures that come with crucifixion. He spares us the description of savage violence. It would distract from telling the story of our salvation history.

Two things jump out at us in this section.

First, Jesus has been so weakened by the abuse he’s already endured, he can’t carry the crossbeam to the crucifixion site. Because of the shame associated with it, soldiers would not carry it. Which is why they draft Simon of Cyrene to do it.

Second, Jesus is mindful of coming tragic events about to fall on the people of Jerusalem. He is going to the cross with full knowledge of its saving purpose. His is a mission from God to save people from their sins. 

They are to be pitied, not Jesus. What we see in these verses is what we’ve seen throughout Luke. Jesus is more concerned about what happens to others than what happens to him.

All of this is a preamble to the meat of chapter twenty-three.

Here’s Luke 23:32-38:

Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

The name of the crucifixion site tells us all we need to know about its purpose. It is meant to strike fear in the hearts of anyone who would dare violate Roman laws or practices. The Greek word for skull is “Kranion.” Geographically, it is in a rock quarry with formations resembling a skull. Its purpose is to strike fear in anyone who sees it.

As an instrument of terror, crucifixion is meant to be public.

According to Emperor Justinian’s Code of Roman Law {cited in 3^rd century AD}:

• “Whenever we crucify the condemned, the most crowded roads are chosen, where the most people can see and be moved by this terror…The practice approved by most authorities has been to hang notorious brigands on a gallows in the place which they used to haunt, so that by the spectacle others may be deterred from the same crimes, and so that it may, when the penalty has been carried out, bring comfort to the relatives and kin of those killed in that place where the brigands committed their murders.”

One thing this tells us is the two men crucified with Jesus are not thieves. 

They are guilty of some more heinous crime, probably murder.

Next, there’s this report from historian Josephus ca. 70 AD:

• “Yonder I see crosses, not indeed a single kind, but differently contrived by different peoples; some hang their victims with head toward the ground, some impale their private parts, others stretch out their arms on a fork-shaped gibbet.”

In the midst of all this horribleness, what does Jesus do? Unjustly accused, dying a slow, agonizing death, what does Jesus say?

We need to hear it again:

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

What a contrast. There’s the hatred hurled at Jesus and his forgiveness. He offers them forgiveness when they’re in the middle of doing horrible things to him. How can it be? As we hear in that lovely Lauren Daigle song:

I am guiltyAshamed of what I've done, what I've becomeThese hands are dirtyI dare not lift them up to the Holy oneYou plead my causeYou right my wrongsYou break my chainsYou overcomeYou gave Your lifeTo give me mineYou say that I am freeHow can it be?How can it be?

Jesus remains focused. Verse thirty-four makes it clear that no amount of pain, suffering, or betrayal will deter him from the trajectory that began back in chapter nine, when he set his face for Jerusalem. This is the point. This is the purpose. Here’s something you might want to write down:

IN NOT SAVING HIMSELF, JESUS WAS ABLE TO SAVE OTHERS.

Jesus turns the perception of the crowd upside down. Even after he says, “Father, forgive them,” they mock him. “He saved others; let him save himself.” They don’t get how stupid they sound. By not saving himself, he’s saving them. How utterly devoid of understanding they are.

Here’s what Luke is building to. When Jesus says, “Father, forgive them,” he is offering them a gift. It is the gift of salvation. And when we talk about the gift of salvation, we of course think about being saved. And when we think about being saved, what are we saved from? We are saved from God’s wrath over our sin. We are saved from God’s justice. We are saved from God’s judgment. We are saved from eternal punishment in hell. How simple is that to understand? Jesus isn’t saving us so we can enjoy our best life ever. Jesus isn’t saving us so we can have economic freedom and prosperity. Jesus isn’t saving us so we can live long, healthy lives. With crystal clarity, Jesus saves us from the consequences of our cosmic treason. He saves us from the separation from God caused by our sin.

Before moving on to the next section, a reiteration and a final point for today.

First, the reiteration. Remember, as the soldiers mock Jesus about not 

being able to save himself:

JESUS CANNOT SAVE HIMSELF BECAUSE HIS MISSION IS TO GIVE HIS LIFE TO SAVE OTHERS.

The final point for today leads up to Jesus’ imminent death. After mocking Jesus, what do the soldiers do? They offer him a sour wine. This is meant to do two things. First, provide some sort of sedative effect. Second, help him hang on a little longer so they can extract maximum suffering from him. How diabolical is that?

Here’s the whole point of it all. An important sidenote is that the drink they offer Jesus is considered more of a woman’s drink. It is for the weak at heart. And Jesus refuses it. We know that because while Luke tells us they offer it, he doesn’t tell us that Jesus drinks it. And here’s why. When Jesus says, “Father, forgive them,” there is no greater illustration of grace. And in order to feel the full weight of our sin upon himself, Jesus makes sure he is in no way sedated. Not at all. Jesus bears the full weight of our sin…Jesus endures the weight of our sin so we can be strengthened in and for all things.

I love how Paul puts in in Philippians 4:11-13:

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

That is the beauty of the cross. That is where the cross leads…forgiveness and strength in all things.

Let these words from Charles Spurgeon prepare us for our approach to the Lord’s Table:

"We never should have known Christ's love in all its heights and depths if He had not died...He who would know love, let him retire to Calvary and see the Man of sorrows die."