The Word of Forgiveness

Luke 23:33-34

The Seven Last sayings of Jesus

Warren Wiersbe said “When our Lord was doing His greatest work He uttered some of His greatest words.”

They are uttered from the cross. No greater shame!

They are uttered by the Christ. No greater lips!

Volumes could be written on each of these statements. On the cross He gave:

Sinners forgiveness! Luke 23:34

A thief salvation! Luke 23:43

A widow a son! John 19:27

God a sacrifice! Mark 15:34; Matt. 27:45-46

Himself a drink! John 19:28-29

Christianity its birth! John 19:30

Himself a throne! Luke 23:46

These words are important because they show us Jesus view from the cross. We are used to looking up at the cross. In these messages we’ll look down from the cross. We have the perspective of Jesus as He hung tortured for our sins. We will deal with each statement in the order it occurred. No single gospel contains all of the sayings but the four gospels come together to tell the whole story.

We begin with the word of forgiveness.

I. Christ has a great passion for us to be forgiven.

A. This should surprise us.

1. Surprised because of when the prayer was prayed. “Then said Jesus” The blood wasn’t even dry yet, the wounds were still red. The rod had just left His back, the whip recently pulled from His skin, thorns from the crown still stuck in His brow, His beard still plucked with no time to grow back. The insults were still being hurled at Him and even as He prayed this prayer they were gambling at the foot of the cross for His garments. No time had passed to heal these wounds!

2. Surprised because of what the prayer asked for. The Romans certainly wouldn’t have expected that prayer. Their gods were not forgiving.

Illustration: of goddess Nemesis. She was the goddess of retribution. Narcissus was a proud an arrogant man who loved only himself. When he rejected the love of a nymph named Echo it so affected her that she faded away until all that was left of her was an echo. Nemesis avenged Echo’s death by luring Narcissus to his death. She used his obsession with himself to cause him to take his own life. The role of Nemesis among the gods was to bring revenge on any human who showed arrogance toward the gods. This was the way the Romans viewed the gods. If Christ were God, in their mind He would not ask for forgiveness of those who treated Him so shamefully.

We should be surprised that Jesus would pray this prayer as well.

3. Surprised because of the theological significance. Understand it’s not over yet. For Christ, the worst is yet to come. We’ll see it all culminate when He shouts “My God, My God…” Christ isn’t asking the Father to overlook our sins. He is saying “Forgive them” which means “Punish Me!” This prayer is actually an invitation to continue the suffering of Jesus and to plunge Jesus to a depth of suffering He hasn’t even known yet.

Jesus is saying “Forgive them! Do not rescue Me!”

B. The passion Christ has for our forgiveness should stand out to us.

1. Our forgiveness is the first thing Jesus asks for. It is His priority. This is His glory. Jesus priority is not to make us rich, happy, popular, successful.

His priority is our forgiveness because our forgiveness is His glory.

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…” 1 T. 1:15

“He was named Jesus because he would save His people from their sins”. Matt. 1:21

It pleased the Lord to bruise Him because His bruises brought us forgiveness- Isa 53:10

Because Jesus was obedient to the death of the cross the Bible says He has been highly exalted and given a Name which is above every Name and that at that Name every knee will bow and every tongue confess.

Our forgiveness is His priority because our forgiveness is His glory!

2. To be forgiven should be our priority. Nothing could keep Christ from praying for your forgiveness, what will keep you from praying for your own?

He prayed from the cross, will we remember from our couch? He prayed in suffering will we remember in prosperity?

The first prayer from the cross is the first prayer of the Christian! You are not a Christian until you pray that prayer! Forgive us Father!

C. The passion Christ has to forgive us should be celebrated by us.

1. When was this prayer answered? Look no further than verse 47. One of Jesus murderers converted by the grace of God. Go to the road of Damascus and see the enemy of Christianity forgiven and made an apostle to the Gentiles.

Let’s travel a little further. See an Ethiopian Eunuch, a jailer, a businesswoman named Lydia, a slave named Onesimus!

Follow the trail of salvation as it winds through out time and the earth. Follow it until it reaches your home! This prayer is still being answered!

2. What was Christ asking for us?

Penalty of our sin to be removed.

Righteousness to be imputed to us.

Home in heaven.

A glorified body.

An eternity of unspeakable joy!

3. We should praise God that Christ prayed this prayer. If there is rejoicing in heaven when one sinner repents then there should be rejoicing on earth when a sinner repents!

When the lost son came home the father said dress up, dine well, and rejoice!

We ought to celebrate this prayer folks!

II. Christ has great sympathy for our ignorance. “they know not what they do”

A. What they did know.

1. They knew they demanded He be killed.

2. They knew He was tortured.

3. They knew they had Him crucified. The crowd cried out “His blood be upon us and our children!” (Matt. 27:25)

Why did Pilate wash his hands if there were not some guilt within him?

Why did Judas return the money if there wasn’t some sense of guilt? They knew much but they didn’t know enough!

B. What they didn’t know.

1. What they didn’t know didn’t excuse their sin. Jesus doesn’t say:

Forgive them because their good at heart

Forgive them because they’re trying

Forgive them because their sincere

They were guilty of sin even though there was an ignorance in their sin.

2. What they didn’t know was the enormity of their sin. It was far worse than they could ever imagine. This is not a simple case of injustice. This is cosmic treason. They are killing the One who:

Gives them their daily bread

Brings the rains to their crops

Protects their cities from their enemies

They are killing the Giver of Life, the Author of Scripture, Eve’s serpent crushing child, Abraham’s ram in the thicket.

3. What they didn’t know was the significance of their sin. Christ is dying for their sin. The very sin they are committing in crucifying Him, He is dying for! They had no idea of the service He was doing for them.

C. What we know.

1. We know more than they did. I’m telling you plainly this morning the One they crucified is the Son of God.

We know they laid him in the grave.

We know he rose again!

We know more than they did! If their ignorance was no excuse certainly ours is not!

2. We know they are not the only ones guilty of Jesus death. Christ died for sinners, all sinners. Listen closely to the prayer “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Does that prayer move you? If not, you know not what you do.

If this prayer doesn’t move you then you don’t get it either.

3. We know the consequences of divine unforgiveness. If we are not forgiven we are undone! Christ is sympathetic to our ignorance but will not overlook it. If our ignorance were not sin He would not have needed to pray for its forgiveness. The consequence of a life without Christ is an eternity without Him!

Thank God Jesus is sympathetic toward our ignorance. I lived until my twenties in ignorance. Because of this prayer I am saved. This world is the only place your ignorance will be overlooked. Once you enter eternity you are accountable.

III. Christ gives us a great example to follow.

A. Christ practiced what He preached.

1. It wasn’t easy. They wouldn’t even let Jesus die in peace. While on the cross insults continued. Christ suffered real temptation in the area of forgiveness.

2. He set the standard high in the Sermon on the Mount. Forgive your enemies, love your enemies, do good to those who do evil to you.

3. He practiced what he preached. He preached it in the Sermon on the Mount but He practiced it on the Hill of Calvary.

B. A great example for the Christian.

1. Most were at the cross to see revenge.

Pharisees, Sadducees sick of being embarrassed by Christ. Romans wanted to show what happened to anyone who claimed to be a King.

The people were there because they thought He was a false teacher. If He had been the Messiah, He would have delivered them from Rome.

Most people desire to see revenge over forgiveness. What we see at the cross is pure forgiveness. Not out of weakness, but out of love.

2. We learn forgiveness through Christ. Some have noticed the similarities between this prayer and Stephen’s prayer in Acts 7.

Stephen is stoned to death for his faith. There is a difference. Stephen prays for himself first and the others last. Jesus prays for others first and Himself last.

Christ is greater than Stephen in His forgiveness. Many martyrs have prayed for their executioners’ forgiveness throughout history. But I like what Spurgeon says. He said “Every martyr learned this prayer from Christ!” Amen!

3. We practice forgiveness through the power of Christ. The indwelling Christ moves us to forgive. When His mind could have been on revenge it was on redemption. The mind of Christ in the life of the believer is set on redemption, forgiveness. We are convinced that since Christ forgave the awful sins committed against Him then we can forgive the sins committed against us.

C. A great example for the church.

1. This is a great missional prayer! We are not to be angry at the lost. We are to be broken over the lost. This is an invitational prayer, this is an open prayer. It says “Come, be forgiven!” No one name is mentioned. Forgive THEM!

Forgive the:

Rich

Poor

Black

White

Educated

Uneducated

Rednecks

Preps

Jocks

Bros

Stoners

Hipsters

Techies

Goths

Whosoevers

It says THEM because there isn’t room enough to list all included!

2. This is a great model prayer! I read a quote once that shook me to my soul. It read “The church ought not meet once without praying for a soul!”

Pray for the hard to reach, pray for the hard hearted, pray for those who have heard, pray for those who haven’t heard. But let us pray by name, pray out loud and pray with the passion of Christ!