Luke 23.27-43

THE season is here.

Clocks are set back.

The temperatures are around the point where water freezes.

Snow flurries have already fallen

Gloves, coats and hats are the dress code.

Hot chocolate sales are up.

Egg nog is back in stock at the supermarket.

The Hallmark Chanel is operating in all of its glory.

Mariah Carey is on the radio.

And, Mariah Carey is on the radio.

And, Mariah Carey is on the radio.

The season that I am, of course, talking about is the Christmas season.

Next Sunday, when we are back in this sanctuary, we will be celebrating the first official day of the Advent and Christmas season.

Some of you have all of your decorations prepped and ready to go up the day after Thanksgiving.

However, there are also many of you that have bi-passed Thanksgiving, tossed the turkey and the cranberry sauce aside, and have been living in the light of the tiny colored bulbs of your Christmas tree since November 1st.  

Whether you are preparing now to set up those Christmas decorations as soon as the Thanksgiving left overs are put away or you are of the kind that forsakes the calendar and lives lawlessly by setting up your Christmas decorations weeks before the turkey is served, what this planning and excitement show us is that almost everyone lives in anticipation of the Christmas season.

And, we live with this anticipation because we all see something special about this season.  We all enter this time of the year with a specific reason or set of reasons for the celebration that this season brings.

So, I ask you, what is the reason for the season for you?

Do you see the reason for the season being family gatherings?

Do you see the reason for the season being gift giving and gift receiving?

Do you see the reason for the season being the smiles on the faces of your kids as they tear the wrapping paper off of their presents?

Do you see the reason for the season being a few restful days off of work?

Do you see the reason for the season as being a time to go out to catch up with your friends who are home from school on winter break?

Do you see the reason for the season being an opportunity to flee to the cold whether for a tropical vacation?

When you think about this time of year, what is the reason for the season for you?

This morning, to define the reason for the Christmas season, we are going to look at what probably seems like a strange Biblical text to use in order to do so. It may seem strange to you because instead of talking about happy and fun things like babies and animals and presents, our Biblical text that answers the question, “What is the reason for the season?,” talks about things like suffering and death.

Our Biblical text for his morning, picked for us by the lectionary brings us to Luke 23.27-43.  It is in this graphic scene from Jesus’ life that we are set up and led into the right mindset for the Christmas season.

Let’s hear from Luke 23.27-43 together now.

The text tells us this:

[27] And there followed [Jesus] a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. [28] But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. [29] 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!’ [30] Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ [31] For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

[32] Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. [33] 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. [34] And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. [35] 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!” [36] The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine [37] and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” [38] There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

[39] One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” [40] But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? [41] And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” [42] And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” [43] And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (ESV)

Now, after hearing this text, this text about Jesus’ death on the cross, you may be thinking, “Pastor Fred, you must have read the wrong verses, those verses are for Good Friday and Easter.”

If you are thinking that, you aren’t alone.  When I opened up the lectionary and then opened my Bible to these verses this week, I thought the same thing.

But, as I asked the question, why are these verses chosen for the week before we officially begin celebrating Advent and Christmas, God, through the moving of His Holy Spirit, helped me understand why these verses are important in defining the reason for the Christmas season.

Although it is historically true that these verses tell us what happened on Good Friday and what led into the first Easter three days later, we have to remember that the Good Friday and Easter events, which are the reason we gather and celebrate every Sunday, were and are the driving force behind the Christmas season.

Yes, the Christmas season celebrates that a baby was born.

But, the Christmas season also celebrates that the baby, named Jesus, called “God with us” and “the One who would save men and women from their sin,” was born with the intention and goal of dying on the cross around 30 years later in order to provide what was needed to connect men and women back to God, the Father in Heaven.

Many of us are familiar with the Toys For Tots organization.  We see them out and about in the months and weeks leading up to Christmas collecting donations of toys that will eventually be distributed to families in need.

The Toys for Tots website states: “The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November, and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.” 

That being the case, it was surprising when the charity rejected a donation of 4,000 new, unwrapped toys heading into the 2006 Christmas season.

What was the reason for this rejection? The toys in question were battery-operated, talking representations of Jesus Christ. 

According to the website of the dolls’ manufacturer, One2Believe, the button-activated, bearded Talking Jesus doll is dressed in hand-sewn cloth outfits and sandals. It also recites Scripture verses, such as, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Bill Grein, vice president of the Toys for Tots program, said the charity chose to reject the dolls for several reasons. First, as a government entity, the Marines “don’t profess one religion over another,” Grein said. “We can’t take a chance on sending a Talking Jesus doll to a Jewish family or a Muslim family.”

He also added that, “Kids want a gift for the holiday season that is fun.”

Thankfully, this particular Christmas story does have a happy ending. About a week after his initial decision to reject the toys, Mr. Grein sent the following e-mail to their manufacturer: “Having reconsidered your kind offer of several thousand dolls last week, the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation would like to receive them. We believe that with some effort we will be able to find homes for them all.”

Even though I find it ironic that Toys For Tots’ mission statement uses the word Christmas and then rejects Christ, I share this story not to point a finger at Toys For Tots initial decision to reject talking Jesus dolls (although the description of them seems a bit weird and creepy, even to me, a Christian pastor).

I share this story because like Toys For Tots, like many of us define the reason for the Christmas season wrong.

Toys For Tots defined the reason for the Christmas season as “Fun.”

In our commercialization of the Christmas season, we try to make the reason for the season pure fun by focusing on a jolly old man who laughs while surrounded by dancing and singing elves who hand out candy and presents to all the good little girls and boys.

Although the reason for the Christmas season is defined throughout the week’s of Advent leading up to Christmas morning as love, joy, hope, and peace, that love, joy, hope and peace is brought into the world and into your life through the least fun event possible — death through crucifixion.

One of the criminals hanging next to Jesus on his own cross rejected Jesus because what was happening in that moment wasn’t fun.

However, the other criminal knew the truth of God’s grace and mercy in that horrendous moment of suffering and death — sin creates a mess that is cleaned up by an equally appropriate mess.  Sin brings death into the lives of each one of us and can only be overcome and defeated by the death of a perfect substitutionary sacrifice. 

The reason for the Christmas season is God’s love for you driving Him with the single-minded purpose of bringing you to a state of hope, joy, and peace, by providing you with the Savior you need to forgive you of your sin and re-connect you back to God your Father in Heaven today and forever.

When God steps into your life in the person of Jesus Christ, born into the world on Christmas morning, He is saying to you the exact thing that Jesus said to the criminal who had faith in Him on Good Friday — He is saying to you, “Today, you will be with me in paradise!” He is saying, “I am hanging here and being punished and condemned for sin, not my sin, but the sin of others, so that through my sacrifice, their debt before God can be paid completely off and they can be forgiven and connected back to God in Heaven.” 

And, though fulfilling the promise of providing a Savior to rescue you from the mess of this life and that sin causes, God is giving you the assurance that He truly loves you, the assurance of the forgiveness of sin that instills hope for a future in Heaven, the assurance of having peace with God today and forever, and all of those Christmas gifts of love, hope, and peace, give the you the final gift of joy, knowing that everything you ever need, God has provided for you through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, His Son.

In their typical 80’s glam metal style, the Christian band, Stryper, sang these lyrics over double bass drumming and squealing guitars:

You, your life can be a holiday

Everyday when He is with you.

Hey, let’s get back to what it’s all about.

Shout it out. Christ is the reason.

We all know it’s better to give that receive

His gift is for those who believe.

You got it if you want it, just believe.

He is the reason for the season.

He is the reason for today.

He is the reason for the season.

Celebrate.

Another Christian musician from that same 1980s era said this:

This is an exciting time to be a Christian! There is more and more opposition to real Christianity which means that there will be more and more opportunity to shine for Christ. The darker the room, the brighter the light will shine. (Michael Bloodgood)

And, that thought comes from the Biblical statement made by the disciple John when was discussing Jesus’ coming into the world by saying:

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

God’s ultimate goodness is revealed in Jesus nailed to a cross. 

Jesus allows His body to be beaten, stripped, whipped, and pinned to wood to forgive every sin of every person who ever lived. 

Jesus sees Mary and John at the cross to comfort Him and instead He comforts them. Jesus promises paradise to a dying thief. With His final breath, Jesus prays for forgiveness—for the very people who crucified Him. What does the cross tell us? God is good—very good.

Put the scenes together: Judgment is coming. God is forgiving. Paradise is offered. But the only ones who receive it are the humble who admit their sins and confess that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to atone for their sins and was raised from the grave three days later. 

Friends, this morning be humble enough to confess your sins and turn away from them, calling on the name of the Lord.  God promises he will forgive you of your sin and robe you in his righteousness. And today paradise will be your home.

This morning and this season, follow Jesus from the manger in which he was born all the way to the cross on which he died.

Follow him, believe in his death on the cross for you, have faith, fear God, and hear him say to you, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do…Today, you will be with me in Paradise…God’s eternal Kingdom of Heaven.”

This is the Word of God for you today.

The is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

November 23, 2025.