LUKE 23:32-34 [JESUS’ LAST DAY SERIES]
FORGIVENESS, THE FIRST WORD OF THE CROSS
[Isaiah 53:1-9]
Mankind here is caught in the act of doing their worst. The One who made the world was being completely denied, despised and desecrated. The Lord of Glory who came in human flesh and tabernacle among men was rejected. The Son of God had yielded Himself into their hands. He had gone through a mock trial and though His judges found no fault in Him, they nevertheless, yielded to the insistent demonic clamor of those who hated Him as they cried again and again “Crucify Him, Crucify Him.”
The Lord of Glory was beaten, whipped, and paraded up the street. Now He is stripped, nails are driven in His hands and feet, and the Old Rugged Cross is dropped into place. How did the Lord of Life respond, with a cry for pity? With the pronouncement of a curse? Or with words of judgment and anger? No, the first word spoken from the Cross is a prayer, a prayer for forgiveness. How significant! What an example the suffering Savior has left for us.
Christ’s ministry on the cruel Cross began with the forgiveness of sin, with a plea for forgiveness, the full and free forgiveness for a world of lost sinners ruined by the fall. In His prayer, “Father, forgive them,” the suffering One revealed Himself as the interceding Mediator pleading for the guilty. In His life He prayed for others and in His death, He did the same. A wondrous blessing of our holy faith is that Jesus ever lives to make intercession for those redeemed by His precious blood.
I. THE PROCESSIONAL TO FORGIVENESS, 32.
II. THE PLACE OF FORGIVENESS, 33.
III. THE PRAYER OF FORGIVENESS, 34a.
IV. THE PEOPLE OF FORGIVENESS, 34a.
V. THE PROPOSAL OF FORGIVENESS, 34b.
VI. THE PUTTING-OFF OF FORGIVENESS, 34c.
VII. THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS.
Our text begins in verse 32 were it states that Jesus was crucified between two criminals. “Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him.”
The events of this section recall language and imagery used by Isaiah where the Messiah is presented as a Suffering Servant. The prophecy in Isaiah 53:12 says, “He was reckoned with the transgressors.”
We call it “Good Friday,” but no one standing there that day would have called that Friday “good.” The best man that history has ever known was nailed to a Roman cross and murdered. For His enemies it was a victory of sorts; for the soldiers it was simply another day’s work; for His followers it was the death of their brightest hopes and greatest dreams. But no one would have called that Friday “good.”
That is true of many “bad Fridays” if you consider them apart from Resurrection Sunday. They make life seem futile– without purpose and meaning. But God’s most striking victories rise out of the graves of apparent defeats.
In his book Idols for Destruction, Herbert Schlossberg wrote, “We are not the lords of history and do not control its outcome, but we have assurance that there is a Lord of history and He controls its outcome. We need a theological interpretation of disaster, one that recognizes that God acts in such events as captivities, defeats, and crucifixions. The Bible can be interpreted as a string of God’s triumphs disguised as disasters.” [Our Daily Bread. Triumph in Tragedy]
Face each day with trust in Jesus Christ. Remember, God’s most striking victories come out of the graves of apparent defeats.
II. THE PLACE OF FORGIVENESS, 33.
Verse 33 describes some of the scene of the crucifixion. “When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.”
The Greek word for skull is Kranion (cranium), in Aramaic, Golgotha and in the Latin Vulgate Calvaris, i.e. calvary. The place was probably so named because it looked like a skull. The hill protruded from the ground much as a head does from a body. Most likely this site is where the church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem resides today. [Many appreciate Gordon’s Calvary and the Garden Tomb because they give a better picture of what the site is presumed to be like in the early centuries. Edward E. Hindson and Woodrow Michael Kroll, eds., KJV Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1994), 2067.] In Jesus’ day, before Herod Agrappa I built the next (third) wall, this place was outside the second or northern wall but near the city (Jn.19:20,41).
Note the few words, only three in the original, “there they crucified Him” are used to indicate this most significant event! They, refers to the soldiers, the Sanhedrin, the nation, and to each of you. It was your sins that put Him on the cross.
Rome generally reserved crucifixion for slaves and those convicted of the grossest crimes (and never for a Roman Citizen). “It has been said that the person who was crucified, died a thousand deaths.” Large nails were driven through hands and feet (John 20:25; Luke 24:40). Among the horrors which one suffered while thus suspended (with the feet resting upon a little tablet, not very far away from the ground) were the following: severe inflammation, the swelling of the wounds in the region of the nails, unbearable pain from torn tendons, fearful discomfort from the strained position of the body, throbbing, headache, and burning thirst. Jesus hung there experiencing a nightmare of horrible physical pain barely able to breathe (John 19:28).
In the case of Jesus the emphasis, however, should not be placed on this physical torture which he endured. It has been said that only the damned in hell know what Jesus suffered when He died on the cross. In a sense this is true, for they too suffer eternal death. But they are experiencing punishment only for themselves, not for mankind. One should add, however, that they have never been in heaven. The Son of God, on the other hand, descended from the regions of infinite delight in the closest possible fellowship with His Father (John 1:1; 17:5), to the abysmal depths of hell. On the cross He cried out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34).
It was a gross injustice that Jesus was crucified between two “criminals,” as if He too were a criminal. Nevertheless, viewed in the light of God’s providence, it was also His duty. Is it not true that Jesus came to earth in order to seek and save the lost (19:10)? Was He not “the Friend of publicans and sinners” (Mt. 11:19)?
Have you noticed that the event at the CROSS DIVIDES all mankind into two distinct groups or sides. Let me explain if you will. Journey back with me to Golgotha, a hill just outside Jerusalem, to watch the scene unfold. As we approach the hill, we see three crude, wooden crosses. On the two outside crosses are criminals or evildoers, hanging in intense agony as payment to society for their crimes. But on the middle cross hangs an innocent Man. His pain has come through no fault of His own. He is suffering for others. He is Jesus.
As we watch the three men, one of the criminals begins to mock Jesus. But the other one rebukes this mocker. Then, turning toward the Man in the middle, he pleads, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom,” to which Jesus replies, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (vv. 42,43). The dividing line is drawn: one man finds forgiveness and hope; the other dies in his sins.
Jesus Christ is still the dividing line between two segments of humanity. We have but two choices: Reject His sacrificial death for our sins and be lost for eternity, or trust in His work on the cross and receive eternal life.
The cross has only two sides. On which side are you?
A Hill with three crosses–
One cross where a thief died IN SIN
One cross where a thief died TO SIN
A center cross where a Redeemer died FOR SIN
It is thought that the day we call “Good Friday” originated from the term “God’s Friday”– the day that Christ was led to the hill of Golgotha and crucified, assuring an eternal reconciliation for lost man. The Roman cross, intended to be an instrument of cruel death, instead became an instrument of new life and hope for the human race. God loved and valued each of us so highly that He was willing to pay the greatest price imaginable for our salvation. God’s Love crossed out Man’s sin at Calvary.
When Jesus died upon the cross, He took our sin and shame;
He offers us His righteousness, A gift for us to claim.
[I wonder, as John the Apostle stood at the foot of the cross if he remembered the statement he and his brother James made about being on the right hand or the left hand of Jesus (Mark 10:35-39). Or about them being able to go through the same fire Jesus was going through. I wonder if His position conscious disciples were ready to suffer and die?]
III. THE PRAYER OF FORGIVENESS, 34a.
“But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them;”
Amazing, so unhuman that it must be supernatural but Jesus, dying that we might be forgiven, prays that we might be forgiven. In this sublime sentence, “Father forgive them,” Jesus not only revealed the Father’s love, but His own. Do you sense and see the Divine life and character flaming out of His human nature like it did in the burning bush of Moses’ time? Father forgive them speaks of love, divine love. Jesus had taught His disciples to love their enemies and to pray for those who ill treat them and trespass against them. Here, dying, paying the penalty for the sins of the world, He does exactly that.
Calvary’s prayer for pardon is even more remarkable when we see it set in the midst of the cruel treatment to which the Intercessor is subjected. Jesus had been and yes still was surrounded by heartless cruelty and mockery. Bearing a weight of sin unknown to any but the Father and the Spirit He endured a whirlwind of abuse, contempt and ferocious glee at His suffering. Yet He returns no taunt, nor utters any cry of pain, nor was He moved to the smallest anger. While in that wicked tragedy “He opened not His mouth in threat, complaint or reviling.” He opened it in intercession.
The first saying of the cross is in the imperfect tense meaning that Jesus kept saying, “Father, forgive them.” With each blow of the hammer that sent the shrill of agony through His whole body He repeated “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
What comfort to know that the first word after He calls on His all–powerful “Father” is forgive. Forgive them means exactly that. Blot out their transgression completely. By Your amazing grace bring them to true repentance so that they find full and free pardon.
At some point in our early schooling, most of us were exposed to Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Everyday life is filled with examples: the rebound of a basketball hitting a backboard; the flight of a baseball after colliding with a well-swung bat; the recoil of a shotgun.
Have you noticed how human conduct typically follows a similar pattern? If someone slaps you, slap him back. If another motorist gets in your way, let him have it with your horn. If a family member offends you, storm out of the house and make him wonder where you’ve gone. For every action, an equal reaction.
But God’s mercy operates in defiance of Newtonian logic. By human standards, sin ought to evoke divine retaliation. Instead, the Lord is “ready to forgive.” Never has this been demonstrated more dramatically than when Christ in His crucifixion looked through His pain at the scoffers around the cross and prayed, “Father, forgive them; for the know not what they do.”
IV. THE PEOPLE OF THE CROSS, 34b
The prayer “Father forgive them,” is not just for those who nailed Him to the cross but for all those involved in His death. He asks forgiveness for the soldier, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, for those who cried, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” for the passer-by who mocked Him or chose to ignore Him, and for us. Them means us too. For our sins He was dying. For our sins He went to the cross. There is a song that expresses the fact, “Where You There When They Crucified My Lord?” Isaiah 53:4-6 says,
Surely Our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
(5) But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities.
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
(6) All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
Jesus’ heart goes out in mercy for all who had part in that wickedness.
[The sculptured figure of Justice holds balance scales in one hand, and her eyes are covered with a blindfold. The art symbolizes the ideal of impartiality before the law. Justice is depicted as blind to kindred, friendship, political party, or special interests. Both the art and the concept behind it are noble representations.
Now become an artist yourself! Visualize a statue of Mercy. What kind of figure would you carve? The features doubtless would be noble and the size heroic. No blindfold would be found on this statue. Mercy sees! Its eyes are open. The guilty are known. Their wrongs are obvious. Mercy extends a helping hand, a reprieve, to persons who have no right to expect it. It is compassionate and redemptive. This, too, is a noble ideal. It, and the art that represents it, are grounded in the grace of God. OUR Daily Bread. Immeasurable Mercy]
The men who crucified Jesus were guilty of a heinous crime. They did not deserve His intercession with the Father for forgiveness. Neither do we! But our sins place us with Him as He dies for us on that cross.
England’s historic Coventry Cathedral was devastated when Nazi planes blitzed it during World War II. In the middle of the ruins, the authorities placed a huge cross made from two charred beams of wood. On that cross were engraved the words, “Father, forgive.” Not the three familiar words of Jesus, but only two, “Father, forgive.” The fact that the word them is omitted reminds us that not only did the Nazis who ordered that appalling destruction need forgiveness, so do all of us. From our perspective, some wrongdoings may strike us as trivial–say, a “little white lie”– while other sins loom up as huge abominations–like Hitler’s Holocaust or Stalin’s Gulag.
Only God can determine if one sin is greater than another. But one thing is clear: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). God’s standard of perfect obedience is revealed in Jesus Christ. All of us, whether victims or perpetrators, stand in helpless need of His divine forgiveness (v.10).
The glorious message of the gospel is that God has provided salvation to everyone who accepts His Son Jesus Christ (6:23; 8:1; 10:9-13).
The worst of sins can be forgiven, Their penalty is paid;
When Jesus died on Calvary, Full recompense was made.
Whether the sins are great or small, Jesus is able to forgive them all. [OUR Daily Bread. Them Is Us.]
V. THE PROPOSAL OF FORGIVENESS
Luke goes on in verse 34 to record a reason that forgiveness is requested. “For they do not know what they are doing”
Is it not marvelous beyond words that Jesus, in His earnest intercession for His torturers, even while under going the sin penalty payment, presents to the Father a special plea, an argument as it were for granting His petition, namely, for they do not know what they are doing. Truly we are blinded by satan as to the damage sin does or we would never consider it if we understood sin’s full ramifications. The persons covered by the sweeping cast of this prayer were ignorant in differing degrees and had differing opportunities to exchange their ignorance for knowledge. The enormity of their’s and our sin is truly beyond our grasp even today. All sin and especially this one is so terrible in its enaction and its consequences that none can ever know the extent or the measure of harm they have done (Acts 3:17, 1 Cor. 2:8). The soldiers and the rulers were in very different positions in respect to their knowledge and responsibility. Their ignorance did not remove guilt, but His plea did postponed punishment by giving them every chance to repent. None were so entirely ignorant that they had no sin and none were so entirely seeing that they were beyond the scope of Christ’s mercy or the power of His intercession. Jesus’ lack of vindictiveness illustrates the very love He called for from His disciples (6:29, 35).
[Pray for deliverance for the moral confusion that wants divine forgiveness but refuses to seek it or grant it to others.]
[MAN’S WORST, GOD’S BEST] In His book, Becoming a Whole Person in a Broken World, Ron Lee Davis tells about a violently insane girl who was admitted to a hospital in Europe. Raised by cursing, abusive, alcoholic parents, at age 12 she saw them wrestling for a gun that fired and killed her father. Filled with pain and hatred, her mind snapped. But the fantasy life to which she retreated was no less violent. She would scratch and scream at anyone.
The attending physician recommended a then common therapy called catharsis–the venting of her rage on someone. A nurse named Hulda volunteered. Every day for 2 weeks she went into the girl’s cell for a full hour. The girl kicked, clawed, and pounded her until she was exhausted, then she would crouch in a corner like a frightened animal.
After each assault, Hulda, bloody and bruised, would bend down and say over and over, “Darling, I love you.” Little by little the girl responded with tears and affection. She was becoming a whole person.
To begin our journey to wholeness, we must see ourselves in the heartless participants at Calvary–those who cried out. “Crucify Him!” And who hammered nails through Jesus’ flesh. We must then hear Him saying to us, “I love you,” we must see in ourselves man’s worst met by God’s best. For Jesus offers us life, even though we cause His death.
VI. THE PUTTING-OFF OF FORGIVENESS, 34c.
Luke then goes on to record that Jesus’ executors ‘divided up his clothes by casting lots’ “And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.”
Having crucified Jesus the Roman soldiers as was their custom divided “up His garments by casting lots.” They, (probably the four soldiers, Jn.14:23), threw the dice for His headgear, sandals, belt and outer garment. The one-piece seamless tunic woven all the way from top to bottom was also put into the lottery fulfilling the prophecy of Psalm 22:18.
Poor, poor Soldiers! How much did they take home from Calvary? A few pieces of clothing! No truly broken and contrite heart, no renewed vision of God’s love, no changed life, and no Lord and Savior. Even today, how much or rather, how little do people carry home with them from the message of Jesus’ crucifixion, or even from a church service, a Bible study, a special chorus or hymn, or a revival meeting. Each individual is called upon to answer this question for him or herself. Are you to gambling with Jesus and life waiting only what you can take from Jesus materially of in contrition and repentance taking Him as your Lord and Savior?
VII. THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS
John 15:13 says, “No greater love exist than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” Hebrew 9:22 says, that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. Jesus stood in for each of us at the cross and endured the eternal suffering for our sins that each of us justly deserve. He did this so that we might be reborn, not reformed. The cross is not where the scales were balanced but where forgiveness is extended. But this forgiveness must be received.
In CLOSING
When the Romans crucified someone, they chose a most conspicuous place where the multitudes would be passing. They wanted every crucifixion to be a warning to others who might be tempted to be transgressors of Roman law.
As Jesus hung naked on the cross, looking down, what an array of people and emotions He must have seen: Four Roman soldiers, who comprised the death watch, gambling for His seamless robe. The Jewish authorities relishing the fact they had finally done away with Him. The curious mob looking on, hurling curses at Him but not really knowing why. Mary, Jesus’s mother, John, and Mary’s companions, grieving in disbelief. And the two thieves, one on His right and one on His left -one who continued seeking his own selfish desires unto death and the other who would surrender and cry out to Jesus for forgiveness.
Yes, Christ prayed a prayer for our forgiveness. The prayer was answered by His death, His substitutionary payment which brings about the forgiveness of sin (Acts 2:38). Christians are simply forgiven people. Do you know the forgiveness of your sin?
If God did this in judging His own Son for the sake of forgiveness, what will His judgment look like on those who reject God’s offer of forgiveness?
Almighty God,
The reminder that You are all-powerful over sin, death & the grave fills us with hope this Easter. So much has passed that’s beyond our control due to the pandemic. Yet we, as believers, can rest in the knowledge that you will work all things for our good. Scripture promises us that you are the good Potter.
We ask you to take the broken pieces of our lives and form something good, something to startle and amaze us—like when you startled the women at the tomb!
The women came to the tomb, A place of decay and death, ready to meet you. They went away instead with good news!
You had conquered the grave, and you grafted us into that moment and experience. Renew that promise in Your people today. Transform us today through your power. Forgive our sin; redeem the dead places in our lives, and plant new seeds of life and hope.
May we live as expectant people, bolstered by your grace. Lord, where we are afraid, bring peace.
Where there is anger and division, bring humility and unity. Where there is lack, bring your abundance.
We confess as your people: Your Spirit is alive and active—Give us the eyes to see Him and the willingness to be used by Him! We affirm as your people: “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed.”
Release your Spirit and let it blow through our needy land. Bind us together as one people in your service. Use us as agents of your grace and move mightily through your church. For the world is hungry for what only You can provide.
Only You offer enduring peace. Only You offer victorious hope. Only You offer unconditional love. Scripture promises that those you seek you will find you, when they seek you with all their heart.
Hold our tender heart in Your strong hand. Let us experience your Easter promise by coming face to face with your grace. May your victory be our victory, as we await the promise of all your glory, face to face in heaven. Amen.
