Jesus on the Cross Forgives
Jesus on the Cross • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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We are approaching Easter Sunday in a little over a month. The last few years leading up to Easter, we explored what Jesus did and said leading up to the cross. This year, we are going to spend a few weeks looking at Jesus’ time on the cross. Those last 6 hours of His life were well lived. He spoke to forgiveness and relationship. He talked about eternity and paradise. 6 hours. So much ministry.
All four Gospels retell the events on that hill, with each having a slightly different perspective on what happened. What they all agree on is that what Jesus did on the cross fulfilled Old Testament prophecy. As we look at Jesus’ time on the cross, we’ll take a look back at those prophetic words.
Next, we’ll dig into the character of Jesus and therefore the character of God as it relates to His creation. It’s not enough to know the facts of what happened, we need to know the why. Why did Jesus go to the cross and why did he say the things he said while he was on the cross.
Lastly, I hope our time each week ends in reflection of what Jesus did and what our response might be.
Turn with me to Luke 23:32-38
Matthew 27, Mark 15 and John 19 are the other Gospel chapters that tell of the crucifixion. As we approach Easter, we will examine each of those accounts. Let’s read in Luke 23:32-38
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.
33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.
The place called the Skull was likely a hill where the rock formation looked somewhat like a skull. In Aramaic, the word for skull is Golgotha, in Greek Kranion and in Latin, Calvariae or Calvary.
It was not uncommon to crucify more than one at a time. We’ll read more about these 2 “criminals” next week, but there is a reference to these guys in Isaiah 53:12
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
This prophecy in Isaiah 53 is all about the death of the Messiah. This particular verse tells us that He would not die alone, but would be numbered with the transgressors - he would die like one. His hanging on the cross was a message to the Roman world that the He like the two men hanging with him had done something wrong.
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
I want to come back to what Jesus said here in a moment, but first I want to continue looking at Old Testament prophecies and this dividing of his clothes by lots was spoken of in Psalm 22:
16 Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. 17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.
This entire Psalm, written by David, speaks of the execution of a righteous man. And here in this verse, we hear that during this execution, the clothes would be divided amongst those there. Typically, the clothing of the executed would be torn and damaged so much that they were not of much use. That was not the case here.
Let’s keep reading in Luke...
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
We just read in Psalm 22:17, that the people there would stare and gloat...
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
Looking at another passage in Psalm 22:
7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
Then the offering of wine vinegar is mentioned in Psalm 69:
21 They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.
All of these prophecies tie together and create an event that has been anticipated for hundreds of years.
38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.
This was the entirety of the accusation against Jesus. It was a political execution. Generally each person when crucified would have a written notice about their crime. The gruesomeness of the execution coupled with the reason for the execution was to be a sign for any who had any bright ideas. It was a very effective tool to keep the populous in line.
This too references a prophecy about Jesus. We look at this prophecy at Christmas when we celebrate his birth, but it is relevant here:
5 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
As the Magi (or wise men) came after the birth of Jesus, they went to King Herod and asked:
2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
Now at the crucifixion of Jesus, we have that same label - THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
We’ve looked at the prophecy fulfilled in just this very short passage of scripture: Jesus died between criminals, His garments were divided by lot, He was mocked and He was called the King of the Jews in fulfillment of scripture.
There are those that have said that these things didn’t happen, but that Luke and others wrote the story in a way to fulfill prophecy. What is more likely to have happened is that as they reflected upon the events AND read scripture, the words written hundreds of years prior jumped out at them and their confidence in Jesus as Messiah strengthened.
Let’s take a look at the character of Jesus and therefore the character of God from this passage. We’ll look at that verse we mostly skipped over:
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
There is so much in this short prayer by Jesus. The “them” and “they” reference not just those that were in the midst, but also those who had any part in executing him.
The hatred and anger directed toward Jesus was meant to hurt him and get rid of him. What they didn’t realize is that they were playing their part in the fulfillment of God’s great plan of redemption. Jesus death of the cross was not just for those that didn’t put him there - he died for all.
Peter says this of those folks:
17 “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer.
And Paul said this:
27 The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.
Imagine for a moment you were one of these guys and then you realized later in life…Paul did just that. Here is what he said about his actions:
13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.
Jesus may have been praying in that moment for those that crucified him, but this prayer reveals something about God’s love and mercy for all of us. For the Paul’s of the world who would devote their life to suppressing all things Jesus:
9 “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus prays for them: “Father forgive them, because they know not what they do.”
Jesus prays for you the same way. We can all get blinded about our sin and about our intentions and goals, that we aren’t able to see Jesus right there in front of us.
Jesus is interceding for those right now who look back on their life and think they are too far gone. If Jesus can be hanging on the cross and look the man who put him there in the eye and say Father forgive them, because they know not what they do, then he can say that to them as well. He can say it to you. It is never too late and we are never too far gone as long as we have breath.
Jesus prayed forgiveness for the enemy right in front of him. In Matthew 6 where Jesus gives us a model for prayer, he says:
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Forgive us, like we forgive. Do you want to be forgiven like you forgive or does it seem like we’d be a little short on the forgiveness we need?
That’s where I want to leave us reflecting this week. How do we respond to what Jesus did? How do we respond to what we’ve heard about what Jesus did?
First, I hope you respond by receiving the forgiveness offered by Jesus by what He did.
Second, I hope you realize that the forgiveness offered is not just for you, but is for you to give away. Unforgiveness toward others causes such turmoil and pain within a person. Jesus modeled how we are to react to pain caused by others. Our instinct to want the other person to get what they have coming to them, but Jesus prayed that God would forgive them.
Are you harboring an unforgiveness? Who do you need to forgive?