Father Forgive Them

This week we start an all new series as we lead into Easter and look at the last words of Jesus on the cross. We call it, Words from the Cross. We had started looking at the week into the cross in our travels through John, but now as we get nearer to Easter we will start to look a little deeper at where Jesus’ mind was while he was on the cross.

So let us setup a little bit what we would be seeing as Jesus has gotten to this place

Let's start in Matthew 27:37, to give you context on the first words we are going to look at, Jesus on the cross. The Bible says: Above (Jesus') head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. They are mocking Him, they are saying, "Yeah, yeah, whatever; you said that and so we are making fun of you. Verse 38: Two robbers were crucified with him, one on His right and one on his left. We are going to look in detail at these two thieves, these two criminals in the weeks to come. Verse 39 says: Those who passed by hurled insults at Him, shaking their heads and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!" They were quoting what He had said earlier, basically saying; "You said you were going to do this, so now here you are, where is your God in the middle of this time? Verse 41: In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked Him. "He saved others," they said, "but He can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him." The next four words really hit the heart of their mockery when they said: "He trusts in God." They’re still mocking him here, hanging on to words that he said earlier… "Let God rescue him now if He wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'" Matthew 27:37-43.

Matthew 27:37–43 ESV

37 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. 39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”

And so here Jesus is, remember, he has been flogged, and beaten within the confines of Roman law within just inches of his life you may say, and he has been forced to carry the cross beam of his own death instrument on what is referred to as the Via Dolorosa, or the way of suffering, about 2000 feet. It may not seem like a lot, but almost half a mile and carrying a beam that historians estimate would have weighed between 70 and 90 pounds would not have been easy for a man who had been beaten as bad as he was.

And he is hanging on a cross, and this is the image I think most of us are familiar with in our minds, and there are two criminals there with him, one on each side. And as he hangs there, while people are hurling insults, while people most likely are spitting at him. He looks down and he says some of his last words written in red in the gospels.

Luke 23:34 ESV

34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

And to be sure this is a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isa 53:12

Isaiah 53:12 ESV

12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that’s where my heart would have been in that situation. I wouldn’t have been all Father, its okay, I understand please forgive them for killing me unjustly. I would have probably been Jesus commanding all the angels to take them all out kind of wrathful guy. And I think many of us could agree that we would most likely be that way as well, and the way we can know our response is because of the way we respond in every day life situations. We all who have been alive for any period of time have people who we need to forgive. We have people who have hurt us and whether they deserve it or not we need to give forgiveness to.

It may be a spouse, you had that argument years ago and you just can’t let go of what was said, and you hold on to it in your spirit. You bring it up every chance you get and remind them of the mistake they made, or the person they were.

It may be at work, it could be the co-worker the had something snarky to say to you and you’ve never been able to get over. Maybe its your boss, who passed you over for that promotion and never gave you a second thought, though you do all the work and show up early all the time.

And it isn’t just that we need to receive forgiveness, but we need to give forgiveness.

When it comes to prayer and forgiveness, there are two different responses, the Before Christ response and the After Christ Response.

THE BEFORE CHRIST RESPONSE• YOU OWE ME AND JUSTICE IS MINE.

We talked a little bit about this already, we tend to love this response to everything, even after coming to know Christ this is the fleshly nature we must fight against. Look at what Jesus told the disciples.

Matthew 5:38 ESV

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’

And this is where I think most of us find ourselves, we want justice, and instead of letting Jesus dole out justice we take it upon ourselves and think if you hurt me I am going to gibe it back to you. And it may not just be I’m going to give them back the exact same thing, but I am going to go over the top, I’ll show you I’m not a pushover. And we go out for vengeance instead of Justice

And Jesus tells us THE AFTER CHRIST RESPONSE Matt 5:39

Matthew 5:39 ESV

39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Don’t take vengeance instead go and give them the other cheek to hit too. And Jesus goes deeper and he says in the Lord’s prayer

Matthew 6:12 ESV

12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

This is a totally different level of forgiveness than what we are used to. Forgive me as I have forgiven Them? That means I must forgive people. That is some serious stuff that is not common to our nature. I think what we can see through all of this is forgiveness happens on two different levels, it is given, or it is received.

And what we know and what we have talked about is we all have someone we need to forgive and it would seem if we withhold that forgiveness that we have forced God to withhold forgiveness from us. And essentially without forgiving those who have wronged us we have doomed ourselves for eternity. And it is an amazing thing because this whole idea of forgiveness is central to the message of the Gospel, to the message of the cross, and it should not surprise us this is what is talked about by Jesus on the cross. And he is letting us know forgiveness is where all of our life with him really starts.

And when we hear Jesus message about forgiveness and how we are supposed to forgive to be forgiven our natural reaction is to become a little like Peter, and we think Matthew 18:21-22

Matthew 18:21–22 NIV

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

And I can only imagine Peter is trying to figure this math out and realizing he doesn’t have enough fingers to count that high, and before he can get too deep into really trying to lay it all out Jesus goes deeper.

Matthew 18:23–25 ESV

23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.

And we should be really grateful that we cannot be sold into slavery today when we go into debt.

Matthew 18:26 ESV

26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’

And you can hear the desperation and the passion in the plea.

Matthew 18:27 ESV

27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.

And lets just look at the story for a moment, who does the King Represent? God, and we are the servants, and we can learn some lessons from this.

Look verse 25 says he can’t pay… and that is the thing we have to remember, all too often we are waiting for people to repay us for the bad they have done to us, we want them to give us what we are owed, but scripture tells us we often times can’t get that from people. Sure, they can say they are sorry, but they cannot pay the debt for what they have done.

And we have some debts we can’t pay, whether it be with someone here we have offended, or we have the debt of our own sin we cannot pay, we cannot go back in time and make it all right… and while the debtor can’t always repay,

• THE OFFENDED CAN ALWAYS SHOW MERCY. Vs 27 said Matt 18:27

Matthew 18:27 ESV

27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.

And what often happens is people hurt us and we think they deserve pain and strife, but we forget that most times, people don’t even mean to hurt us. How many times have you hurt and person and it was not your intention at all. We seem to believe that for ourselves, but forget that when it comes to others and us. But remember Jesus said, for they know not what they do… So the servant has just been forgiven this enormous debt…millions… 3.4 billion

Matthew 18:28–31 ESV

28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.

Matthew 18:32–35 ESV

32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Why would God be so harsh, why would he say such a thing, I believe its because God knows what unforgiveness does to us. Unforgiveness can destroy all areas of your life, eats you alive like a cancer. Holding on to an offense is like sipping poison and expecting your offender to die. Here is the truth, forgiveness doesn’t help the offender as much as it helps you…. so the question is…. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN THE OFFENSE SEEMS TOO BIG?Passion: you don’t understand... how do you forgive that... beaten, verbally abused, person said be there forever...abandoned...father chose alcohol or mom chose meth.. over you. Not easy... I understand. The truth is, as we get closer to jesus and start to see his heart and what he truly did on the cross… we can realize that Jesus love for us is greater than any offense.

As hard as it is, forgiveness is a choice and Jesus was teaching us through his actions on the cross that ew need to forgive people in our lives. And the question this morning is, who do you need to forgive?

Starts with prayer... Your prayers may or may not change the other person, but they always will change you.