From Golgotha to the Grave (2)
Notes
Transcript
Lu. 23:33a—And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him.
These are the solemn words that Luke records concerning the crucifixion of our Lord.
There is no great detail, just a simple statement, there they crucified him.
This was the moment in time that forever changed humanity.
It was there that the sin of mankind met redemption.
It was upon the cross that the holy, sinless, eternal Son of God became our sacrifice, atoning for sin.
We cannot begin to imagine the agony that Jesus endured while upon the cross.
The physical suffering would have been horrifying, but the presence of sin being laid upon Him would’ve been the worst.
Like we mentioned last week, As Jesus hung upon the cross for six long hours, He uttered seven statements.
Father Forgive...
Today thou shalt...
Mother behold thy son...
Father why hast thou...
I thirst ...
It is finished ...
Into thy hands I commend my Spirit...
Three of these sayings were addressed to God the Father.
Four of them were addressed to man.
The three addressed to God were prayers (1st, 4th, and 7th).
Luke and John each record three of the seven accounts.
Matthew and Mark only record one and they both record the same saying.
We will only be looking at 4 of these seven saying because I wanted to look at two other sayings that were uttered
We looked at the first one last week, Remember me...
The last saying we will examine is the statement that was made three days later the morning of His Resurrection.
As we look toward Easter Sunday and the resurrection, I want to continue the series “From Golgotha to the Grave: A Plea of Forgiveness”
I. The Sovereignty of the Plea
I. The Sovereignty of the Plea
A. The Plea was Unnatural
Think about it:
He just went through a mock trial and a beating that most men would have died from
A cross, the worst death a person could endure at the time, was secured for Him.
He walk the one mile up to calvary bleeding
He was nailed to this cross with three long spikes
and as he was being lifted He cries out Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.
He was praying for the very ones that were lifting Him into the air
He was praying for His enemies.
Most of us if not all of us would have been cursing them
Most of us would have been begging God to destroy them
But no, He pleaded for them to be forgiven
What an unnatural plea!
A. The Plea was Unnatural
B. The Plea was Unselfish
Christ had gone through great injustice in His trials.
He had experienced brutal treatment by the soldiers in the chastising.
Now on the cross He is suffering untold physical agony.
Yet, when He opens His mouth, His comments are not about Himself but about others.
He does not seek relief for Himself but relief for others.
A. The Plea was Unnatural
B. The Plea was Unselfish
C. The Plea was Unhindered
On the cross, Christ was limited in His physical ministry.
He could no longer gather the crowds around Him and teach
He could no longer touch the sick and heal them
He could no longer go by the way of Samiria and meet one by the well
He could no longer feed the five thousand
But in spite of these limitations, Christ still was unhindered in His priestly ministry.
He pled to His heavenly Father.
In a few short hours the sky would turn dark and the Son of God would be forsaken by His Father,
but His priestly ministry of making atonement for the people was being performed at this very moment
He was unhindered
He still had direct access to the throne of heaven
The Plea of Christ that day on the cross showed His Sovereignty
II. The Sympathy of the Plea
II. The Sympathy of the Plea
Knowing what Christ endured and knowing who He is, it is clear that this plea was full of sympathy.
This is seen in three ways:
A. It was Persistent
The word translated “said” is in the imperfect tense in the Greek which means a continuous action.
This means that Christ plead “Father forgive them for the know not what they do” over and over and over again.
Dr. Hershel Ford, who was for many years a well-known pastor in the south, gives us an idea of how this plea persisted.
“When He arrived at Calvary He looked around Him and prayed, “Father, forgive them.’ When the soldiers crushed Him down and laid Him upon the cross, He prayed, ‘Father, forgive them.’ When the nails tore through His flesh, He prayed, ‘Father, forgive them.’ When He was lifted up on the cross, He prayed, ‘Father, forgive them.’ When the soldiers gambled for His garments, He prayed, ‘Father forgive them.” No one knows how many times this cry pierced the heavens. He just kept storming the Throne of Grace on behalf of others.”
A. It was Persistent
B. It was a Priority
Christ pleading to the Father, Forgive them and saying this over and over again also shows the importance of the plea.
Men’s greatest need is not health, food, clothing, housing, or a job.
These needs are not necessarily evil in themselves but they are not our most important needs.
The greatest need of man is forgiveness from God.
Without Divine forgiveness a man will be condemned by God to hell for all eternity.
Christ prayed for forgiveness for sinful men in His first audible statement from the cross.
That surely shows something about the importance of this need.
Divine forgiveness should have the top priority in every life.
A. It was Persistent
B. It was a Priority
C. It was full of Passion
One could never doubt or deny the passion of Christ.
It is beyond our ability to comprehend the torment of the cross.
We cannot begin to fathom the pain that Christ endured.
He was scourged and beaten of the soldiers prior to the cross.
The cross was devised as the cruelest method of execution that man could endure.
It was meant to be a slow death, full of suffering and pain.
Not to mention the fact that Christ would bear the sins of humanity within His body.
He, who knew no sin, became sin.
As he endured the torments of the cross, His genuine passion was revealed.
His passion was to see men receive salvation.
His passion was to provide for their redemption.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace
His passion was the forgiveness and reconciliation of humanity to God.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed.
We see the sovereignty in the plea
We see the sympathy in the plea
III. The Sufficiency of the Plea
III. The Sufficiency of the Plea
It was sufficient Because ...
A. Man is Ignorant
“They know not...”
Jesus declared that they didn’t even know what they were doing.
They had yet to perceive the enormity of the injustice that was being carried out that day.
Many were unaware of the lies that had been told.
Most were unaware of the holiness and perfection of Christ.
To many this was just another criminal, accused, condemned, and sentenced to death
Their minds had not comprehended all that was taking place.
They were ignorant of the plan of God.
They were ignorant of the fact that Christ was the Messiah, Savior of the world.
Their eyes had not yet been opened to the truth.
I rejoice that God is patient and loving.
I am glad that He sent the Holy Spirit to convict my heart and open my eyes to truth.
Ignorance will not be a viable argument when we stand before God and give account of our lives.
Our blessed Lord doesn’t want any to be ignorant of Him.
You can know every thing about everything except Christ and you are the most ignorant person in the world.
and on the opposite you can have an education of a kindergartner and yet know Christ is your savior and you are the smartest individual in the world.
These folks knew a lot
They knew a lot about the Torah and the Temple
Some were master teachers in Isreal
And yet they were ignorant
It is possible to be intelligent and ignorant at the same time
Are you ignorant of God?
A. Man is Ignorant
B. Man is Indifferent
Those that called for the crucifying of the Son of God had no excuse for their ignorance.
It could not be defended
They had plenty of opportunities
They had the Torah or the scriptures (Told of the coming Messiah)
They The Temple or the sancturay (all the items foreshadowed the coming Messiah)
They had the servant (John the Baptist) Behold the kingdom of God is at hand
They had the Savior Himself (Taught has no other man taught)
But yet they chose to ignore it.
Why, because they were indifferent.
Sounds like today, Humanity blames their spiritual ignorance on many things, but there is non to blame but their self.
Peter calls it willful ignorance 2Pet.3:5
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
They chose to be ignorant of the truth because they are indifferent to the things of God
Jesus Christ: His Crucifixion The Defenselessness of the Peril
Today they willingly neglect reading and studying the Word of God, and they willingly choose to skip church for recreation and pleasure activities.
There are more spiritual helps available today for people to know spiritual truths than ever before.
Yet, ignorance abounds not only among the people of the world but worse among those professing Christians in our churches.
It is all utterly inexcusable.
Yesterday in Wilmington
A. Man is Ignorant
B. Man is Indifferent
C. Man is Insufficient
Man has no ability to forgive sin or even ask for forgiveness without a sacrifice
There is none good no not one
Our righteousness is as filthy rags
Christ knew that he was humanities only hope.
He know that apart from Him His people and the world would remain in sin, and condemned before God.
The Plea showed the insufficiency of man because this was a plea of mercy
He wanted them to have another opportunity for salvation.
to many it looked like all He had said and done for three and half years was for nothing.
All of it was in vain.
Nothing but a tragic end for a good man
There was no royal crown, only a crown of thorns
There was no crowd of followers, only a multitude who cried for His murder.
I am sure many in that day scoffed as Jesus pled to His Father to forgive them
They railed on Him to come down from the cross if He was the Son of God
The multitude did not care or possibly even noticed as Christ pled for their forgiveness, but I can guarantee you that heaven payed attention.
This was the High Priest of Heaven,
The Lamb slain from the foundation of the World,
the Alpha and Omega, Beginning and the Ending,
The Creator,
the Comforter,
The Son of God.
He had been faithful
He had been obedient unto death even the death of the cross.
His prayers were heard and answered
God could have wiped them all out at that very moment, but He didnt
He spared them, He gave them another opportunity
The tief
The whole book of Acts especially
Pentecost where 3000 were saved and added to the Church (Acts 3:17
And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
Christ’s Plea was Sufficient
Conclusion
Conclusion
The Plea that Christ uttered showed how sovereign He truly was.
No other man could have uttered those words under such pain and agony, but Christ did.
He was not worried about His condition just the condition of those around Him
His words were not hindered because of His position.
The Plea that Christ uttered was full of sympathy
because of the persistence of his plea
the priority that it conveyed
and the passion Christ had
Only Christ could have such sympathy
The Plea that Christ uttered over and over was sufficient
But only if you acknowledge your insufficiency
You can not claim ignorance
You are only indifferent
Dont allow another minute to pass
Forgiveness has been offered
you Just have to receive it by faith
Confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
Believe in your heart (by faith) that God has raised Him from the dead
and the bible tells us thou shalt be saved.
dont wait any longer, respond this very moment.
Yes God is longsuffering but He wont suffer long.
Your time is running out
Why do you hesitate
Why do you delay
at any moment God could cut the string that is holding you over the pit of hell
You are not guaranteed tomorrow
for today is the day of salvation!
Wont you do that today?
Saint, you can find help in this knowing that His plea was so persistent that He continues this very day.
He ever liveth to make intercessor for us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleans us from all unrightousness.
Forgiveness is availible to all
Wont you respond today and recieve it?
