Defining Moments

Defining Moments Luke 23:43 Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” We begin the Lenten season by stationing ourselves beneath the cross and listening intently for the words of Jesus as He breathes His last breaths. Seven whispers come down to bended ears, at least a few, while the gathered crowd watches the theater of death rising before them in three acts. This day, these three hours, give or take, were a defining moment in the life of Jesus and in the lives of all people then and now and to the Eternal Day. This Good Friday was to be a tragic victory. For the next forty days we will sit here in this moment, beneath the cross of Jesus, and hear the immortal words He gives to all generations. Generations can be shaped by a defining moment – December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed, or 9/11, America was hit, for example. Have we allowed ourselves to be shaped by Good Friday, a tragic death that became a transforming victory? Jesus died. It was a small event in the day. Just another execution, a diversion for the people, entertainment for an afternoon. He died and nothing changed. It was a small victory for the Jewish authorities and the Roman rulers; one suspected revolutionary was dead. It was a sizable tragedy for His followers. At the time, His death was barely a blip, quite forgettable, quite unremarkable, quite unexceptional, not what you might describe as a generational defining moment. There have been numerous defining moments in our national history. Each event had a personal impact. Think of: the sinking of the Titanic, Hiroshima, the assassination of JFK, his brother Robert, the prophet Martin Luther King, Jr. Do you remember where you were? The Challenger explosion, Columbine, COVID, the invasion of Ukraine… these are defining moments. Tragedy always leaves scars that are profoundly personal. The generation of WWII has been called the Greatest Generation. Generations can be shaped by a defining moment or event. So what of Jesus' generation? When Jesus died, except for some women at the foot of the cross, hardly one mourned. No one knew this death was exceptional. There was no press report. No news briefing. No shocked nation. Few took notice of another Jew's execution. He did change the course of history, that, we now realize. But at the time, who knew? Who cared? The disciples didn't know. They had fled and returned to their former occupations: fishing, 2 collecting taxes, pounding nails, trying to forget, trying to blend in, trying to hide. Religious leaders didn't know time itself was changing. Many rejoiced that an agitating rabble-rouser was eliminated. They were anxious to get on with Passover. The political leaders didn't know. They just wanted to get rid of the latest troublemaker and keep peace in an unimportant Roman province. "Keep the peace" equaled "keep their jobs." The people didn't know Jesus was special. They were thoroughly disillusioned. The soldiers didn't know. They gambled for His clothes. One of the thieves beside Him didn't know. He taunted Jesus as he hung dying on the cross. Do we know? Do we understand that choosing the cross can be for us the defining moment of our spiritual lives? Have we encountered Christ in a way that affirms that Jesus was not just a good man, not just someone who showed us how to love one another, but was the Savior who died on Good Friday, at a specific time and place, and that He died for the sins of the world? His death was a terrible tragedy, a defining moment, but it was also a magnificent victory. It was a Tragic Victory that, over the centuries, has become pivotal, formative and earth changing. So we start our Lenten season with the last moments of Jesus on the cross, the last words He spoke in His life, His deathbed confession if you will, though He wasn’t favored with a bed, but a cross. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Question: who is “them?” It could be quite a list. First, what about His countrymen? Isaiah 53:3 reads, “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one, from whom people hide their faces, He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem.” Luke 17:25 reads, “He must suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.” Was He forgiving them, the generation of His day who despised and rejected Him? What about His family? Mark 3:20-23 tells the story of His family thinking Jesus was out of His mind. He had just appointed His twelve disciples and then we read, “Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that He and His disciples were not even able to eat. When His family heard about this, they went to take charge of Him, for they said, ‘He is out of His mind.’ And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons He is driving out demons.’ So Jesus called them over to Him and began to speak to them in parables: ‘How can Satan drive out Satan?’” Like, guys, how stupid is that. Speaking of the teachers of the law, they along with the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the priests 3 and scribes, the Sanhedrin, virtually all, save a few, at one time or another, sought to derail, disrupt, disqualify, or disown Jesus. Were they included in the “them?” What about His disciples? “Father, forgive them…” Were they part of the “them?” Most assuredly. They all ran from the garden when Jesus was arrested; cowards! Then we have Judas and Peter. Judas brought the authorities to the encampment and even kissed Jesus to identify Him. His act has been considered the betrayal of the ages. Is he one of the them? Jesus Himself said of Judas, "The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born" (Mark 14.21). I don’t know about Judas; it doesn’t look good for him. Peter, on the other hand, would recover from his denial of even knowing Jesus as he was called out around the campfires the night of Jesus’ arrest. His contrition and admission of wrong favored Jesus’ forgiveness. Peter would be redeemed to continue as the rock for the foundation of the church. The other disciples; they too, would come around in time and help to found the Kingdom of God. They were surely included in the “Father, forgive them…” Then we have the Roman soldiers. There was Pilate and Herod Antipas, those who beat Him, spat upon Him, whipped Him, made Him wear a crown of thrones, those who bound Him and nailed Him to the cross, those who rolled dice for His robe, those who mocked Him, the crowd who cried “Crucify Him.” Were they the them? Imagine for a moment, there’s Jesus, eight to ten feet in the air, hanging on the cross, looking out over the crowd, seeing His life pass before Him - and He has the strength of character, the grace, the love, the mercy and peace of mind and soul to say, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Who all is the them? Well, we’ll let Jesus decide. The question to us tonight is, are we one of the them? We can answer that question in the affirmative by choosing to be His follower, by saying, “Lord, forgive me of my sins”; by saying, “Thank you, Jesus, for saving my soul”; by saying, “Yes, Lord, I am yours and You are mine.” In His rising, through His holy transformation, He became our only hope, that life is more than flesh and blood. Jesus Christ, through His death and resurrection, becomes our open channel, our willing vehicle, who can and will lead us home to God, if and only if, we are willing. Unless we open our hearts, souls, minds and lives to Christ, His great victory will remain but a tragedy ... not for Him, but for us. So, say “Yes” to the Lord.