These passages of scripture give me a picture of what I call: A True Stay of Execution. The Bible gives us the account of Jesus being led to a cruel, rugged cross in the Gospel according to Luke, a familiar scripture usually read during Easter. We see the Son of God being led away to be punished for a crime that he didn’t commit. We hear his last words from the cross. We see the mistreatment of a beloved man, the man of God, the Lord Jesus, and our minds and hearts are arrested by this terrible act of hatred toward him!

All of us, and even those who are not close to him, feel the very pain that he felt, but yet there is more to this story. There are two men hanging on the cross. One man on the cross, deserving of his punishment, according to the laws of man, and the other man, admitting his act of crime in his own words, accepting his verdict and the sentence: Death, by hanging on the cross!

The first man, selfish and prideful, had no sympathy for no one, not even himself! Nonetheless, the judgment is placed, and he too is sentenced to die on the cross!

The Bible says:

We are faced with death everyday. We don’t know when, and we don’t know how, but as sure as you are sitting here this morning, we all have to face that day!

The two men on the cross beside Jesus were now facing their sentence for the crimes they committed in society. Although both of them had been on death row for a short time, one man tried to go out with a bang, by being mouthy, just like some us can be. His pride and arrogance wouldn’t allow him to show fear in the face of death.

He wouldn’t allow his last words to be: Oh God! He didn’t mind going off into eternity in a shameful way, and he had no remorse for the things he had done. All he knew was sarcasm!

Here is where the rubber meets the road! We get to witness, a true stay of execution. It reminds me of today’s criminals being placed on death row. They are convicted and sentenced, and the day or night comes when they are taken from their cells and led to be put to death for the crimes they have committed.

Now imagine for a moment, that we are the two men hanging on the cross, feel what they felt. We’re in our cell for a short time, and all of a sudden we hear the foot steps and the keys rattling, it’s the jailer. He enters the jail where you are. The key is placed into the cell door, and your heart and mind is racing because you know what is about to take place. You feel the fear, the lost of hope, and you think about the suffering you will endure. You think about what you could have done with your life, and how you could have lived better, if only you had made better decisions.

The door opens and you know it’s to late. The only piece of hope is that the Governor will call and grant you “A Stay Of Execution!”

The jailer calls your name, places hand cuffs on you and leads you into what seems like a long hall but in reality it’s but a short distance. Your cold, naked body is laid on a slab, and they place three needles in your arm. Needles that will stop every organ in your body!

The first needle goes into your arm rendering you paralyzed.

The second needle goes into your arm, stopping all your vital organs.

The third needle goes into your arm to end your life!

This is the state of the two men on the cross. The ones hanging there beside Jesus!

This is the state, we have or are in now, or at least the state you once were in.

The first needle has already been placed into the both of them. They are tied to the cross! The second needle goes into the both of them, the cross is lifted up!

The third needle goes into one, mouthy, man on the cross, and he dies and is in eternity, but just before the third needle goes into the other man, he looks over thinking he had heard a phone ring. He looks into the face of the man in the middle, and he realizes that it’s the Governor himself! He’s got the phone with him!

Even though he brought the phone, he wanted to tell Jesus out of his own mouth and in person.

Jesus says:

“TODAY THOU ART PARDONED AND YOU WILL LIVE WITH ME IN MY MANSION!

This man is pardoned and forgiven of all the crimes he’s committed. He moves into the governors arc of safety, he can now fellowship with the Governor for himself. He can check in and out as often as he wills, and he has all his needs met just by making a phone call!

The mouthy man is now being put to death, gone out of his mind forever. Due to his unwillingness.

The other man, who had received so much grace and favor from the Governor, has now entered eternity, fully pardoned and forgiven, he didn’t have time to tell the others on death row that the Governor is good, but if he did I think he would go and tell them.

You may not see this message in the passages of Scripture you’ve just heard, but you and I, who are in this room, have either become the one man who represents those out there who have not received Jesus as Lord.

We have become the ones who received his pardon, and now are in the arc of safety.
I pray if you are like this man, that you will not forget the others on death row.

Use your influence to talk to the governor for those who need the pardon, by writing letters to him. Pray for those on the outside, and tell those who don’t understand that Jesus is approachable.

Go back to death row and give hope.

Which one are you?