Father, Forgive Them!

Socially Separated

Social distancing is a public health practice that aims to prevent sick people from coming in close contact with healthy people in order to reduce opportunities for disease transmission.

The coronavirus has been called the invisible enemy. The COVID 19 Pandemic has caused us to implement social distancing protocols. I stand today, before empty pews. I never thought I would see the doors of our churches shut to public worship. We all are feeling the effects of pandemic, whether or not we are sick.

Today I want to talk to you about another invisible enemy. Sin is an invisible enemy that causes social separation. Sin causes separation between us and God. Sin also causes us to socially distance ourselvers from one another. God is holy. He is immune to the affect of sin, because God is just, he cannot allow sin to infect his kingdom or his people.

As sinners, we are socially separted from God.

Isaiah 59:2 NASB95

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

The good news is God is never too far away that he cannot remove the barriers of our separation.

Isaiah 59:1 NASB95

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear.

Today Luke 23:33–34 reminds us that:

God Forgives; therefore, the as the forgiven we should forgive

The Forgiven Forgive. The cure for social distancing is forgiveness.

Has anyone ever hurt you? Have you ever been betrayed by a friend or family member? Has someone abandoned you? Maybe someone promised to always in your corner, but when the the going got tough the selfish got going.

Has someone hurt you physically, financially, or maybe someone is constantly verbally abusing you.

Human contact, Relationships, interaction with strangers and acquaintances all risk the chance of be injured either emotionally, physically, mentally, or relationally.

We can regularly hurt those close to us, just as we can be hurt by those whom we come in contact with hurt us.

The Question is not whether not someone will get hurt, but what will we do when we get hurt. Why can easily hurt one another, but we find it hard to forgive one another.

Luke 22:33–34 tells us how to learn to forgive.

Jesus teaches his disciples how to forgive; so they could teach others to forgive.

The next time you ask yourself, how can I forgive, say out loud:

I Heard My Savior Pray

Read with me

Luke 23:33–34 NASB95

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. But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.

Pray

In these two verses Jesus teaches us the remedy for social separation. We must have respect for God’s plan, request God’s forgiveness, acknowledge the reason for forgiveness, examine the response, and live with the result.

We must respect for God’s plan of forgiveness.

Quintilian wrote: “Whenever we crucify the condemned, the most crowded roads are chosen, where the most people can see and be moved by this terror. For the penalties relate not so much to retribution as their exemplary effect.”[i] The authorities approved the crucifixion of wrongdoers to be hung in the place which they used to haunt, so that by the spectacle others may be deterred from the same crimes, and so that it may, when the penalty has been carried out, bring comfort to the relatives and friends of the victims, who were harmed or killed by the wrongdoers. ([David E. Garland, Luke, Zondervan ECNT, 921.)

Forgiveness does not forgive the event of wrong doing. Act act was committed, the wrong and the hurt are real. Forgiveness pardons the guilt of the wrongdoer. Forgiveness does not forget the wrong, instead forgiveness cancels the debt of guilt incurred fro the sin.

Jesus didn’t forget our sin, Jesus forgive our sin. God’s plan of forgiveness is unique, in that his Holiness is separated from our sin and his justice removes our guilt, so that we are no longer socially distanced from a relationship with him.

We must request forgiveness.

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 40.8 ἀφίημι; ἄφεσις, εως; ἀπολύω

It is extremely important to note that the focus in the meanings of ἀφίημιf, ἄφεσιςa, and ἀπολύωe is upon the guilt of the wrongdoer and not upon the wrongdoing itself. The event of wrongdoing is not undone, but the guilt resulting from such an event is pardoned. To forgive, therefore, means essentially to remove the guilt resulting from wrongdoing.

Some languages make a clear distinction between guilt and sin, and terms for forgiveness are therefore related to guilt and not to the wrongdoing. Therefore, ‘to forgive sins’ is literally ‘to forgive guilt.’ Though terms for ‘forgiveness’ are often literally ‘to wipe out,’ ‘to blot out,’ or ‘to do away with,’ it is obviously not possible to blot out or to wipe out an event, but it is possible to remove or obliterate the guilt.

Jesus was innocent, yet he died in our stead.

Jesus is our mediator, standing between God and us.

We must acknowledge the reason for our request.

They would not have known the Law and the Prophets and probably lacked any information about his ministry (Zondervan, ECNT).

We must examine our response.

The wrong done has been cancelled, but it does not guarantee that the wrongdoers will respond with repentance and glorifying God. Some will; others will not (Zondervan, ECNT).

We can gamble for Jesus’ earthly possessions.

We can pity Jesus’ suffering.

We can reject God’s Plan and Jesus’ sacrifice.

We can Hear our Savior pray, repent, accept Jesus’ rule over our lives, and possess eternal forgiveness.

We must live with the result.

Condemned or reconciled. Earthly gain, or eternal gratitude.

God desires to forgive.

2 Chronicles 7:14 NASB95

and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Psalm 103:8–12 NASB95

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Do not harbor resentment toward those who have sinned against you. It has been said that “Resentment is like pouring a glass of poison, drinking it, and then sitting down waiting for you enemy to die.”

We should forgive others as often as necessary:

Luke 17:3–4 NASB95

“Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. “And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

Jesus made forgiveness available