“Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
• At the end of the crucifixion week; man can be seen in his worst condition, the One whom had been sent to save was now facing the unjust murder pronounced by His peers
• John 1:11: “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”
• John 1:10: “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.”
• Why were the words of Jesus so profound? Why, at this moment, does this proclamation matter? There were three elements to Jesus life as viewed by the world.
• HE WAS:
o REJECTED
o DESPISED
o HATED
• The Son of God had yielded Himself up to the hands of His captures, a mock trial had been gone through, and though His judges found no fault in Him;
• Nevertheless, they had yielded to the insistent clamoring of those who hated Him as they cried again and again, “Crucify Him.”
• After the betrayal, the trial, and judgment handed down; the deed had been done
• No ordinary death would do; a death of intense suffering and shame was declared, the cross secured; and there was Jesus, nailed to it
• Imagine the Picture:
o There He hangs-(Silent)
o Is He crying out for pity-(Absolutely Not)
o What then? Is He pronouncing malediction upon His crucifiers? (NO)
• What, then, is He doing?
o He is praying;
o Praying for His enemies
o Calling out to the Father for FORGIVENESS of those who hate Him
o Looking upon those gathered with compassion and love
• “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
• THE WORD OF FORGIVENESS
• In the most difficult minutes of His life in the flesh, Jesus absorbs Himself with concern for the people which was ultimately the salvation of mankind
• There are three essential elements to forgiveness; they are:
a. PRAYER
b. PERSISTANCE
c. PARTICIPATION
1. PRAYER
• Prayer is essential in our life, particularly in the act of forgiveness
• Prayer allows us to gain an understanding of God’s will
• John 5:30: “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”
• Forgiveness is often a word that abused and misused
• Forgiveness is much more than a word, it is a process
• “In his book. Lee: The Last Years, Charles Bracelen Flood reports that after the Civil War, Robert E. Lee visited a Kentucky lady who took him to the remains of a grand old tree in front of her house. There she bitterly cried that its limbs and trunk had been destroyed by Federal artillery fire. She looked to Lee for a word condemning the North or at least sympathizing with her loss. After a brief silence, Lee said, "Cut it down, my dear Madam, and forget it." It is better to forgive the injustices of the past than to allow them to remain, let bitterness take root and poison the rest of our life.”
• Failing to forgive others of wrongs and injustices often leads us to a life of misery and discontent
• Too often we fail to forgive on the basis of:
a. The offense
b. The person
c. Hate
d. Ignorance
• We, so often, look at the circumstances by which someone has done us wrong and fail to evaluate our own wrongs toward other people to include possibly the one who has wronged us
• Forgiveness means to fully relieve someone of a mistake or wrong
• As Jesus hung upon the cross, we see in the passage that He took upon one last ministry; the ministry of prayer
a. No longer might the hands minister to the sick, for they are nailed to the cross
b. No longer may those feet carry Him on errands of mercy, for they are fastened to the tree
c. No longer may He instruct the apostles, for they had forsaken Him and fled
• How, then, does Jesus occupy Himself? By praying for the very ones who had forsaken, mocked and crucified Him
• Christ set the example of how to treat those who have wronged and who hate us
• He also showed that no one is beyond the reach and power of prayer
• If Christ prayed for His murderers, then surely we can pray for those in this life we possess disputations with
• As Christians we should never lose the hope of the ability of Salvation to reach even the most desperately lost
a. Does it appear to you to be a waste of time to pray for the man, the woman or even the family member, for they just won’t listen?
b. Does their case seem to become more hopeless everyday?
c. Do they seem to be just out of reach of the Divine Mercy of God?
• We must understand that NO ONE is beyond the reach of the mercy of God
• 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
• All have the opportunity, ability and privilege to become Christians, the choice, however, is our own
• Through the prayer for His captures, Jesus called out to God to forgive their ignorance
• 1 Corinthians 1:18: “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”
• Often, we allow ourselves to be deceived by the devil to believe that faith in Christ is something that we don’t have to do
• Satan tries to convince us that praying, studying, going to church, serving and other acts of the Christian, if done once in a while that those acts are sufficient
• Christ requires full service, all of the time
2. PERSISTANCE
• Jesus was persistent, His ministry on earth was drawing to an end, His purpose had almost been completed, the time of the end had come; but yet, here he was, at the moment of death, continuing to reach the lost
• His words spoke volumes as He shouted to the heavens, Luke 23:34: “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.”
• Jesus didn’t by the motto, ‘well I’ve done my part, it’s time for someone else to step in.’
• He didn’t say, ‘I am not doing that, it’s not my job!’
• He refused to give up, to not pray or seek salvation for the world simply because ‘times got hard’
• There He hung, in ministry crying out to God, forgive them, for if they would open their eyes, then they would surely know who it is they crucify
• Today is no different than 2007 years ago, we too, look to the cross, crucifying cross anew every time we:
o Do it our way
o Sin willfully
o Reject the call to salvation
o Reject the call to service
• Yet, as Christ set the example we must be persistent in service knowing that as the malefactor on the cross, in the last minute called out to Christ and Christ honored that cry
• Luke 23:42-43: “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
• “An elderly lady was once asked by a young man who had grown weary in the fight, whether he ought to give up the struggle. “I am beaten every time," he said dolefully. "I feel I must give up." "Did you ever notice," she replied, smiling into the troubled face before her, "that when the Lord told the discouraged fishermen to cast their nets again, it was right in the same old spot where they had been fishing all night and had caught nothing?"
• Persistence is the key to winning the lost for the kingdom of God
• Without it, we will never succeed in our spiritual endeavors
• It means:
o Going when we don’t feel like it
o In times of trial, keeping on keeping on
o In times of rejection, remaining faithful
3. PARTICIPATION
• In order for the saving of ability of Christ to take effect; Christ had to participate in the process
• He could have, at any time, quit and gone back to heaven, but He chose not to
• Why? Because He understood the magnitude of just one person getting redemption was worth it
• We, too, must be willing to participate in the ministry God has given us in order to win the lost
• Ephesians 4:7: “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-12: “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:”
• Jesus has given every Christian some gift of ministry, some ability to serve and has called us to use it in order that others might come to know Him
• It is up to us, however, whether or not we use the gifts given us
• Using our gifts can include:
o Prayer
o Study
o Visitation
o Preaching
o Teaching
o Singing
o Attending Church
• The devil would have us to believe that church attendance is not necessary to our Christian Life, that is a huge lie though
• Hebrews 10:25: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
• Assembling ourselves us gives us help that we can never receive on our own
• It allows us to:
o Lift one another up
o Confess our faults and sins
o Encourage
o Serve
o Learn
• We must be participatory Christians, otherwise the gospel can never go
• Today we celebrate Jesus and His words upon the cross and my question to you is this. Are you here because it’s Easter? Are you here because mom or dad, grandma or grandpa asked you to? Or are you here to celebrate the risen Savior and the gift He offers?
• For years you have:
o Resisted the strivings of the Holy Spirit
o Shelved all the important consideration
o Steeled your heart against Him
o Closed your ears to His appeals
o Shut your eyes to His surpassing beauty
o You know in your hearts what your doing
o You are blind to your madness
o Blind to your sins
o Yet, you are not excuseless
• You can be saved, no matter what your past or current situations! If you simply call out to the Lord and you shall be saved
• Come to the Savior now, that you may receive your sight!
• “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
