Surrounded

God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever (1 Timothy 6:15-16). Amen.

Lieutenant Lewis "Chesty" Puller was assigned to the Nicaraguan National Guard in December 1928. A few months later, Puller was leading his platoon of Marines through a dangerous mountain pass in the dense Nicaraguan jungles when rebels suddenly ambushed the Marines. The rebels attacked from all sides with machine guns and mortars. Four of Puller's men went down in the initial attack.

Puller is quoted as telling his men, "All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us. They can't get away this time."

Puller got his men to cover, directed their fire at the rebels, and led his Marines in a flanking maneuver that completely destroyed the rebels.

Puller was surrounded by the enemy. But he wasn't afraid. He had the enemy right where he wanted them. He said at another time when his Marines were surrounded, "They've got us right where we want 'em. We can shoot in every direction now."

Jesus on the cross is surrounded by his enemies. This is how King David described King Jesus being surrounded on the cross. Remember, David is accurately describing this event one thousand years before Jesus was crucified!

"I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me. They sneer. They shake their heads. They say, 'Trust in the Lord.' 'Let the Lord deliver him. Let him rescue him, if he delights in him.' … Many bulls surround me. Strong bulls from Bashan encircle me. Enemies open their mouths wide against me, like a lion that tears its prey and roars. Like water I am poured out. All my bones are pulled apart. My heart has become like wax. It has melted in the middle of my chest. My strength is dried up like broken pottery, and my tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth. You lay me in the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded me. A band of evil men has encircled me. They have pierced my hands and my feet" (Psalm 22:6-8, 12-16).

Jesus is surrounded by everyday citizens who traveled to Golgotha's hill for a good show. Many of these are the same ones who shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" earlier that morning. He's surrounded by the respected members of society – the clergymen and religious teachers. They taunt him, "He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, the Chosen One" (Luke 23:35)! He's surrounded by Roman soldiers doing their jobs of killing criminals. They taunt him, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself" (Luke 23:37)! Governor Pilate is back in his palace. But he lets everyone know his feelings about Jesus with the sign at the top of his cross that reads, "This is the King of the Jews" (Luke 23:38).

Jesus is surround by bulls, dogs, and evil men. He is surrounded by his enemies while his best friends – his disciples – have fled and are in hiding. Jesus has been spat upon, slapped, beaten, scourged, mocked, taunted, and abused in inhumane ways. Worst of all, he's crucified – the most torturous death the Romans could devise. Within the spiritual realm, he is also surrounded by his enemies of the Devil and his demons. They're all on hand to witness the death of the Son of God. Jesus is despised and rejected on every side. He looks more like a criminal than the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Jesus was a King who perfectly fit God's own description of the Savior who was coming! Marvel at how precisely the prophet Isaiah describes Jesus on Golgotha's cross 700 years before it happened! "There were many who were appalled at him – his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness" (Isaiah 52:14). "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not" (Isaiah 53:2-3).

What kind of king doesn't have the support of his adoring public? Instead, they are mocking and ridiculing him. What kind of king has no royal vestments of his own? Jesus has no scepter except for the staff given him by jeering soldiers. He has no royal gown except for the scarlet robe draped around him by those who feigned respect. He has no crown except for the crown of thorns brutally shoved upon his head by those who made sport of him. He has no subjects unless you want to count the soldiers who spit on him, struck him with his scepter, and called out, "Hail, king of the Jews!"

Jesus is surrounded by his enemies. We're there, too. It was our sins that put Jesus on the cross. We mock Jesus when we reject his words for the words of the world. We slap Jesus in the face with every deliberate sin. We beat him with our prideful thoughts, scourge him with our sharp tongues, and abuse him with our hurtful actions. We taunt Jesus every time we choose to do something other than give him the worship he deserves as our Savior and King. Lord, have mercy!

Take the time to bow your head and confess your sins of putting King Jesus on the cross.

Private confession.

Citizens of Christ's kingdom, Jesus Christ is your King. He is the King, gracious and giving, who stayed upon the cross, though the world considered him an idiot and a failure for doing so. He stayed there. He paid there. He died there. And he won there! Jesus was surrounded. He had his enemies right where he wanted them!

The enemy of sin was there on Golgotha's hill. Jesus was surrounded by sinners. These were rebelling against God's will. Mocking their Savior and crucifying the very Son of God. What did Jesus do with all that sin? He forgave it! He cried out on the cross, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they're doing" (Luke 23:34).

Jesus had sin right where he wanted. He removed it. He defeated it. Because he forgave it.

The enemy of Satan was there on Golgotha's hill. Jesus was surrounded by the Devil and his demonic forces. Satan was working behind the scenes to move government leaders, religious rulers, and citizens to put the Son of God to death. This was always Satan's goal from the Garden of Eden. He knew he would one day crush the Savior's heel. He and his demons were excited to finally defeat God's Son. They couldn't defeat him with temptations in the Judean desert. Now, they imagine they can defeat him with crucifixion outside Jerusalem's walls.

Even in apparent defeat, Jesus still has power over the physical and spiritual realms. St. Paul explains, [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him" (Colossians 1:15-16). These thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities are the various ranks of angels and demons. Jesus defeats the highest-ranking demon of all when he crushes the Devil's head. On the cross, Jesus' heel is crushed by the Ancient Serpent. At the same time, Jesus crushes the head of the Ancient Serpent. The Lord promised the serpent in the Garden, "He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel" (Genesis 3:15).

The enemy of death is there on Golgotha's hill. Jesus is surrounded by death. Within a short time, Jesus will die and his corpse placed into a borrowed tomb. There he rests the slumber of death for three days. Then at Easter Dawn, Jesus gloriously and victoriously rises from the grave. He has defeated death once and for all. St. Paul explains, "He is also the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things he might have the highest rank" (Colossians 1:18).

Jesus has his enemies right where he wants them. They can't get away this time. He wins the victory over them. Then he grants that victory immediately to the repentant thief. This was the thief who had grown silent at some point. He no longer joined in the taunts. Instead, when this thief could stand the rejection no longer, he rebuked his partner in crime, "Don't you fear God, since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong" (Luke 23:40-41).

This thief on the cross knew his sinfulness. He knew he didn't deserve any kind words from Jesus. But that didn't stop him from making a remarkable prayer of faith. His words show repentance and humility. He pleaded, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He prayed in the name of Jesus – the One who will save his people from their sins. He prayed in the name of the Man who did "nothing wrong" – the One who is perfect and holy and who carried all wrongs, shortcomings, miscalculations, poor judgments, and alternate lifestyles – all sins on his shoulders on that cross.

The thief came to Jesus, not making demands, but counting on grace. He asked only that Jesus would "remember" him, nothing more. He didn't ask for any favors. He wasn't so bold as to request a place in heaven. Only "remember." He left it solely up to Jesus to answer his prayer.

Jesus answered him with those beautifully comforting words, "Amen I tell you: Today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). Are these the words of a convicted criminal? No. These are the words of a victorious, all-powerful King. These words contain no ifs, no ands, no buts, and certainly no maybes. The King nailed to the cross, the One who looked so helpless and hopeless – this is the King who showed that even in the hour of his greatest agony, he was a King who came to give. He came to give eternal life. He came to win a home for people in paradise. He came to give forgiveness for sins. He came to reconcile humanity to God. St. Paul writes, "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile all things to himself (whether things on earth or in heaven) by establishing peace through the blood of his cross" (Colossians 1:19-20).

"Today you will be with me in paradise." Not a single person on Golgotha's hill deserved to hear such a promise. They had all been his enemies. But the Savior made that promise anyway. He promised that through faith in him as their King and Savior, he would turn them from enemies into heirs. Not a single person here deserves to hear Jesus tell us, "You will be with me in paradise." We had all been his enemies. But the Savior makes that promise anyway. He promises that through faith in him as your King and Savior, he has turned you from enemies into heirs of his paradise. He gives you this promise at the baptismal font, at the communion rail, in our Sunday School classrooms, from our pulpit, and on our deathbed. This is the promise of the King who looked so foolish on Golgotha's hill. The King who looked so weak and helpless. The King despised and rejected. The King surrounded by his enemies.

In December 1950, now Lieutenant Colonel Puller was in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War. Puller's 1st Marine Regiment was outnumbered and trapped by Chinese forces in freezing conditions. When a subordinate reported they were surrounded, Puller replied, "We've been looking for the enemy for several days now. We've finally found them. We're surrounded. That simplifies our problem."

Jesus' problem was simplified as he had all his enemies in one place at one time. There Jesus forgave sin, crushed Satan, and defeated death. He couldn't miss.

Jesus gives these victories over your enemies to you now and with the promise of paradise to come. We sing of these victories today and throughout eternity in paradise. "Crown Him with Many Crowns" (CW: 341). "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name (CW: 370). And "The King of Glory Comes" (CW: 363). Amen.

The Father rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14). Amen.