Forgiving Ignorant People

Ignorance! What is it? According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th Edition), it defined 1) the state of being unlearned <the blight of ignorance> 2) The state of being unaware or uninformed <ignorance of the law>. Brothers ignorance is no excuse for sin. And if that is the case then ignorance is not excuse for hurting people. It is no excuse for lying and it no excuse for killing. Ignorance does not and will not remove the guilt of any wrongdoing, however, forgiveness will. And that is the example Jesus gives us today, as we witness in the Word, His forgiveness of people who are doing Him harm. This text teaches us today that Jesus forgives people who choose to ignore the truth. He forgives ignorant people. And if Jesus forgives them, then we have to forgive them too.

The Ignorant People

The chief priest, officers of the temple and elders

Peter’s denial

The men holding Jesus in custody

The council in

Pilate

Herod

Those who stood by watching

The soldiers

One of the criminals

Ignorant people come from many walks of life.

You can find them leading families

You can find them in the pulpit and pews

You can find them working at the jail

You can find them on city councils

You can them in public office

You can find them as ordinary people

You can find them in the military

You can find them a crooks.

The Ignorant Acts

The church leaders came out against Him.

They arrested him

They blasphemed against him

Peter denied Him

They mocked Him

The council doubted Him

Herod tried to humiliate Him

Pilate beat Him and turned Him over

The religious leader chose a known criminal over Him

The people who followed just stood by and watched

They cast lots for his clothes

The rulers turned their noses up at Him

The soldiers mocked Him

One of the criminals spoke so bad about Him, he tried to ruin Jesus reputation.

What have you done? Which category do you fall into.

The Forgiving Savior

Jesus our Savior forgave those who sinned against Him.

To forgive- to remove the guilt resulting from wrongdoing— to pardon. To stop blaming or taking offense into account.

They were guilty for what they had done to Jesus.

There is no reason to forgive innocent people.

But Jesus decided to remove the their guilt.

He chooses not to blame them.

He chooses not to take the offense into account anymore.

Why does He forgive them?

Jesus attributes their sin to their ignorance.

This doesn’t mean the weren’t wrong.

It means they chose to not to believe the truth concerning who Jesus was.

They didn’t believe He was the Son of God.

I don’t understand why!

He walked on water

He healed the sick

He fed over five thousand people

He turned water into wine

He made a storm go away

He gave sight to the blind

And He even raised the dead

He done so much for many us and yet we still don’t believe.

When does He forgive them?

Jesus forgive them at the time of the account.

He understands He is about to leave and understood the importance of not harboring unforgiveness.

We can learn alot from Jesus example.

As hard as it might be, you have to forgive people

People hurt you

People lie on you

People will try to kill you

But you have to forgive them anyway.

You don’t know when you might be called home.

But thank God He is a Savior one criminal was guilty

But he sought Jesus forgiveness

And Jesus promised him paradise