Luke 23:34
Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.”
Close your eyes…imagine the scene if you will. Can you smell the sand in the air? Can you hear them say”Give us Barabas? Can you feel the hot air, the sweat rolling down your brow? Can you see the crowds gathering? Hear the soldiers armor clamor as they escort Jesus to Calvary? Can you hear the nails being driven into the aguish cries of these men? But do you hear the first 11 words from the Cross? Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.”
By the time Jesus uttered these words He must have been exhausted. With all of the events that led up to this point where His executioners have just driven the nails through His hands and feet.
He had experienced the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, the beatings, the cruel insults and mocking by the soldiers and guards. He had endured the unfair trial in front of Caiaphas, the hearing with both Pilate and Herod. And yet the Lamb of God was silent before His accusers, but NOT silent before His God. There wasn’t any amount of pain or weakness that could silence Jesus’ prayer to the Father.
Jesus had the habit of withdrawing to lonely places to pray.
He went to the wilderness in Matt 4
In the morning before light in Mark 1:35
All night on a mountainside in Luke 6:12
To a lonely place in Luke 5:16
In the Garden of Gethsemane Luke 22:37
Jesus withdrew from the presence of people to get in tune with God@!
Church, it was not unusual for crucified persons to speak on the cross. However; their words, usually consisted of wild expressions of pain or pleads for release, curses against God or cursing on those who had inflicted their sufferings. But when Jesus had recovered from the swooning shock associated by the driving of the nails into His hands and feet, His first utterance was a prayer, and His first word was "Father."
Think about that for a moment. He could have ranted out of His mind
He could have called 10,000 angels
He could have cursed the soldiers to death
He could have rebuked the crowds
Called his disciples out
All of these things Jesus could have done…but yet He doesn’t instead He says with clarity, in the right mind, in clear dialect….Father.
The Words uttered from the Cross?
1.) Father
The word "Father," further, proved that the faith of Jesus was unshaken by everything in which He had endured and by what He was now enduring.
Dr. Gilbert Stafford said “When righteousness is trampled underfoot and wrong is triumphant, faith is tempted to ask if there is really a God, loving and wise, seated on the throne of the universe, or if life is the play of chance.
Church, when prosperity is turned suddenly into adversity and the plans and hopes of a life is tumbled in confusion, even the child of God asks for “the cup to pass from him”.
But, when the fortunes of Jesus were at the blackest,
when He was baited by a raging pack of wolf-like enemies, and
when He was sinking into an abyss of pain and desertion, Jesus still said "Father."
Notice with me that when Jesus said Father…that Jesus didn’t cry out!
If He had cried out, the Bible would have said so. Rather the Bible says that Jesus said “Father”.
This lets us know that despite the agony
Despite the pain
Despite the brokenness
Despite everything Jesus had endured…
He was in His right mind to call on the…… “Father”
May Jesus always be our example and may no circumstances, however severe or depressing, keep us from praying to the “Father”.As Jesus prayed, He remained true to His “filial” relationship with His Father. Even in the extreme trial of the Cross, He submitted Himself to the will of His Father, for His prayer begins with, “Father…” Jesus taught us to pray saying, “Our Father” and here He was an example of His own teaching.
Church, the reason why we should pray like this is because the effectiveness of our prayers depend greatly on our obedience to how Jesus taught us and our confidence in our relationship with God as our Father. Preach Kevin Preach
Jesus taught us to Pray! He taught us how to come! He taught us Pray! He taught us even up until the end of His physical life! When he was on the Cross, I was on His Mind…because He was still teaching us How to Pray when He said “Father”
Listen, Even in Gethsemane, when His soul was filled with anguish, He started His prayer with “My Father…” when He asked that God would remove the bitter trial lying ahead of Him, if it were possible. May we never doubt our relationship with God as our Father or doubt His love for us.
The Words uttered from the Cross?
2.) Forgive
But most remarkable of all, was that Jesus’ prayer on the Cross though darkest of moments was not for Himself alone. The first of His seven utterances from the Cross is a prayer on behalf of others and not just others –He prayed for those who were responsible for His pain.
Church, Jesus understood the magnitude of God’s judgment against them. Considering the weight of the judgment they are heaping up against themselves, Jesus prays that God will forgive them.
Hello? He is on the Cross! He’s just had three nails ripped
Through his feet and His hands. But yet instead of cursing
Instead of yelling
Instead of crying
Jesus forgives them…….
I don’t care what anybody has said to you, or done to you. Instead of crying out against them, or yelling or cursing, or talking behind their back, or giving your two sense, or a piece of your mind…Stop IT
And Forgive Them@!
Jesus is our perfect example in unselfishness, who focuses in His worst moments not on His troubles, but instead He prays for others.
Can we follow His example and forget ourselves long enough to reach out to others in their times of trouble, when they say stupid things, hurt feelings, stick their foot in their mouth, lie, plot, and cheat us, can we just FORGIVE????
We might be in agreement to be able to do that with those we are around, but Jesus prayed not only for others, but for His enemies. Even as they were executing their murderous plot against Him, He prayed for their forgiveness.
He didn’t wait until time has passed and healed His wounds and He could forgive them easier, but prayed for them while His blood was fresh on their hands. Jesus forgave while they were killing Him@!
The Words uttered from the Cross?
3.) They Know Not what they Do
He is praying for us, wrote Paul to the Romans.
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
And just as He prayed for His enemies then, He is praying for them still today, because they don’t know who and what they are dealing with.
Church, sinners don’t know who they are dealing with! People have no idea what they are doing with their life and how their decisions affect the course of this world@!
Jesus is the great Intercessor and is now seated at the right hand of the Father still. Although He is now at the right hand of the Father and no longer hanging on the Cross, His occupation as Intercessor remains the same. He is still pleading with God on behalf of guilty humanity. His prayers are gracious. None of those for whom He prayed deserved His prayers. I didn’t, you didn’t, but I’m thankful He interceded on my behalf before God. The message of Forgiveness is amazing because it is encapsulated with the idea that Christ forgives despite anyone knowing that.
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Church, on the Cross He prayed for the most undeserving people of all. They were utterly undeserving of a single good word on their behalf from the lips of our Lord Jesus. If He will intercede for them, what will keep Him from interceding for you? Nothing…because Jesus Loves YOU!
INVitation
