Father, Forgive Them
Notes
Transcript
Luke 23:13-38
Verse 1- Nothing by the Blood
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Refrain:
O precious is the flow
that makes me white as snow;
no other fount I know;
nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Jesus is crucified
He is unjustly sentenced
Pilate finds no guilt in Him
Herod finds no guilt in Him
Yet the people demand that he be crucified, and a murderous insurrectionist be let go
He is led to Golgatha
He is forced to bear his own cross until he cannot continue, and then Simon of Cyrene is forced to carry his cross
A group of women follows closely behind him, weeping for him
He warns of the coming judgment
A group of women follows closely behind him, weeping for him
Jesus tells the women that they should not be weeping for him, but for themselves and their children
He quotes Hosea
Hosea 10:8- The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. Thorn and thistle shall grow up on their altars, and they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,” and to the hills, “Fall on us.”
Verse 31- “if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Twofold understanding-
If they treat innocent Jesus in such a way, then how much worse will it be for the guilty Jews
This is fulfilled in 70AD when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem
If this is their scornful rejection of the Son of God, then what will be their end when the Day of Judgment comes?
Revelation 6:12-17- Bible
Jesus prays
Father, forgive them
He is interceding for the very people who are wickedly putting him to death
He is not praying for God to overlook their sin or to forgive all of them, whether they place their faith in him
He is praying that He will forgive them as an act of mercy, in order that any of them who will repent and believe will receive complete forgiveness
For they know not what they do
He is not claiming that they have no moral accountability
They will give an account for their sin
He is not saying that they had insufficient information about who He is
Acts 2:22-23- Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
He is pointing to the ignorance of their hearts, which comes from their unbelief
If they had believed what He said, then they would have never crucified Him
But this was the plan of God, so in their hardened unbelief, they crucified the Lord of Glory
Acts 7:51-53- You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”
Jesus came to save
Their mocking
“Save yourself”
By the Jewish rulers- save yourself
“He saved others; let him save himself” (v.35)
By the soldiers- save yourself
“If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself” (v.36)
Jesus’ mission
He came to save sinners
1 Timothy 1:15- The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
John 3:17- For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Matthew 1:21- She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Galatians 3:13- Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
The innocent gave His life so that the guilty could be saved
2 Corinthians 5:21- For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
He forgives all who receive Him
There is noone who has sinned too much
Noone is beyond God’s forgiveness
Take the centurion as an example
He is overseeing the crucifixion of Jesus from beginning to end
But after Jesus’ death, he is given eyes to see the reality of who Jesus is
He truly is the perfect fulfillment of “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43)
Has the forgiveness of Jesus transformed your life?
Have you received forgiveness through faith in Christ alone?
Ephesians 1:7- In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
Do you walk in the forgiveness of Christ?
Doers it leave you stunned at th
Does it give you unshakable joy?
Has it changed your heart to become quick to forgive others because He has forgiven you?
Does it compel you to live as an ambassador of Christ?
2 Corinthians 5:17-21- Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.b The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Verse 4- Nothing but the Blood
This is all my hope and peace:
nothing but the blood of Jesus.
This is all my righteousness:
nothing but the blood of Jesus.
O precious is the flow
that makes me white as snow;
no other fount I know;
nothing but the blood of Jesus.
