#1: Father, Forgive Them
Luke 23:33-38 Victory Fellowship
February 21, 2021 - Rev. Roderick Grabski
1st Sunday in Lent
I. INTRODUCTION:
a. We pay keen attention to the words people say just before they die.
b. Jesus spoke seven times during the closing moments on the Cross. Before the darkness overwhelmed them, Jesus spoke three times. While the darkness hung, He spoke once. And after the darkness had passed, He spoke three more times.
c. The seven utterances of Jesus from the cross reveal God’s answer to our basic needs. Jesus spoke words on the Cross that are worthy of our study because of who, where, and why they were spoken - and what they mean.
d. Here we find deep expressions of our Savior in His time of terrible agony right as He paid the price of our redemption.
e. Jesus’ statements are taken from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John - but assembled into what was probably their chronological as they were uttered. Jesus was consistent in His life and in His message until the end. Let us briefly reflect on the seven last words of Jesus before He died on the cross:
1. "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."
2. "This day you will be with me in Paradise."
3. "Woman, behold your son…Here is your mother"
4. "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
5. "I thirst."
6. "It is finished."
7. "Into your hands I commit my spirit."
f. For the next few weeks leading up to Resurrection Sunday, we will examine one of the statements Jesus made.
II. "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."
a. In the midst of his excruciating suffering, the heart of Jesus was focused on others rather than himself.
b. Here we see the demonstration of God’s agape love—unconditional, selfless, redemptive, sacrificial, steadfast and serving love.
c. It makes sense that the first words of Jesus from the cross are words of forgiveness. After all, the reason of the cross is Jesus dying so that we might be forgiven for our sins; so that we might be reconciled to God for eternity.
d. The timing seems to suggest that Jesus was primarily asking His Father to forgive the soldiers who have whipped and scourged him, mocked him, tortured him, and who have just nailed Him to the Cross. Could this not also apply to each one of us who committed sin against God? Also to the apostles who had deserted Him, Peter who had denied Him three times, to the religious and fickle –minded crowd, who only days before praised Him on His entrance to Jerusalem, and then days later chose Him over Barabbas to be crucified? The gospel writers simply wrote "They crucified Jesus" But who really crucified him? Perhaps each one of us is guilty.
e. "They do not know what they do" said Jesus. “Forgive them.” The good news of the Cross is that there is forgiveness for every person who has ever sinned. The Bible says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9).
f. Jesus practiced what He preached. One day Jesus preached on the mountain, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you.” When asked by Peter, how many times should we forgive someone, Jesus answers seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21-22). At the Last Supper, Jesus explains his crucifixion to His Apostles when he tells them to drink of the cup: “Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28).
g. Jesus forgives the paralytic at Capernaum (Mark 2:5), and the adulteress caught in the publicly despicable act and about to be stoned (John 8:1-11).
III. CONCLUSION
a. It is so much easier to talk about forgiveness than it is to forgive. But what Jesus preached in the Sermon on the Mount, He practiced on Calvary’s hill. The Bible says, “Be ye therefore kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another” (Ephesians 4:32).
b. As we walk spiritually together through Lent, let us focus not only on the unmerited forgiveness that Jesus bestowed upon us, but also His command for all of His followers to do likewise to others.
c. Forgiveness for our enemies - Mercy and grace. The Word of God – even though spoken from the cruel cross – will endure forever.
