The Prayer of Jesus

Introduction

We began this series prior to Missions Conference, and we’ll continue it today. This series is titled ‘From the Cross Through the Tomb’, and we’re looking at what Jesus experienced in the last 18 or so hours of His natural life before He was crucified and gave up the Ghost.

The first message was titled “The Perseverance of Jesus”

Jesus Persevered in the Garden

Through the Unanswered Prayer He Prayed to His Father

Through the Unwilling Apostles who slept instead of Prayed

Jesus Persevered

Jesus Persevered Through the Gnashing

Through the Accusations, Rejection & Abuse of Others

Jesus Persevered

Jesus Persevered Unto Golgotha

Though the Way was Hard & the Cross Heavy

Jesus Persevered

Secondly, we looked (briefly) at “The Purpose of Jesus” by breaking down what Jesus said in Luk. 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Our Position (lost)

His Passion (to seek)

His Power (to save)

Aren’t you glad He did seek? Aren’t you glad He could save?

The basis for today’s message takes place as Jesus has been nailed to the Cross. He is hanging between Heaven & earth and He utters the words found in Luk. 23:34 “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.”

We’re going to examine ‘The Prayer of Jesus’ what it means & the significance of it.

The first thing that we need to examine to understand the magnitude of these words is ‘The Cruelty He Endured’

I. The Cruelty He Endured

By the Scoffers (v35b)

We’ll speak first of the rulers - given the great part in which they played in placing Jesus on the Cross.

Might I remind you - the rulers (Scribes & Pharisees), they didn’t drive one nail in the hands or feet of Jesus. They didn’t place the Crown of thorns upon His head - but they were as much responsible for the nails as the soldiers were. That being said - you didn’t drive one nail, nor place the Crown, but you’re as responsible for the Crucifixion of Jesus as anyone else!

Speaking of the rulers. Remember the wickedness that they inflicted upon Jesus, going back just a handful of hours:

They conspired against Him

They arrested Him in the garden

They tried Him illegally that night

We see their treatment of Him in: Luk. 22:63-65 “And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him. And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee? And many other things blasphemously spake they against him.”

Took Him to Pilate and demanded His Crucifixion

They rallied the people to choose Barabbas over Jesus

Now their work is done, and they are in essence taking a ‘victory lap’ mocking Jesus as He hangs upon the Cross

Jesus endured Cruelty from the Scoffers

By the Climbers (Mat. 27:44; v39a)

I’m speaking of the men mentioned in v33 - the ‘malefactors’.

There’s a particular reason I chose to call them the ‘climbers’. For when I began to consider the situation and the part they these two men played in it, I got a particular visual.

These two men were condemned. They were thieves and were on their own crosses as punishment for their crimes. They are in the same boat as Jesus physically, yet they get in on the action of mocking & railing on Jesus too!

Yes & make no mistake, both of them began this way: Mat. 27:44 “The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.”

So why am I calling them ‘Climbers’? Because they remind of of those who attempt to make themselves feel better about their life by stepping on others. They push others down to try and elevate themselves.

We have all either been a Climber, endured the Climbers or both. I have endured my fair share of climbers as whenever one preaches the way I do and stands for Christ, you are painting a target on your back at the same time. Jesus said:

Jesus endured Cruelty from the Climbers

By the Heartless (v36-37)

I’m now referring to the soldiers.

This is the best adjective that I could come up with when considering how these men treated Jesus. I mean, they have nothing in this quarrel. They were simply a third party that facilitated the punishment that the rulers demanded and that Pilate pronounced.

They didn’t treat Jesus cruelly out of anger, resentment or hatred.

They did it because they were told to.

Because it was their duty - and if they didn’t carry out that wicked duty, they might have suffered for it.

Considering what they did to Jesus, that is enough to warrant the title of ‘heartless’, but consider this...

Imagine experiencing the beating, & torturous behaviour that Jesus endured. Blood loss, exhaustion, dehydration. In prophesy, it hints at His suffering in Psa. 22:15 “My strength is dried up like a potsherd; And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; And thou hast brought me into the dust of death.” and in His distress, they offer Him mockings & vinegar.

Jesus endured Cruelty from the Heartless

By the Onlookers (v35a)

What could be considered the cruelest of them all is found at the first part of v35 - ‘And the people stood beholding’

So you have this great crowd of people who are standing there gawking at the sight of a man beaten unrecognizable, hanging naked on a Cross. The Bible says of some: Mar. 15:29 “And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days,”

So some mocked in distain, others sat and watched. ‘Well, what were they supposed to do?’ - STAND UP AND FIGHT FOR JESUS! THAT’S WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE! ‘Well, they would have been killed’, yeah, so be it! Everyone is going to die somehow, wouldn’t it be best to die for Christ?

I can’t help to think of where we are today in America.

Sin runs rampant in our nation - just as if Jesus was crucified anew daily… and we sit quietly by. Christians ought to fight for Jesus!

It’s amazing. Barabbas was condemned for inciting a riot. He was able to stir enough people up to fight against the Romans for some type of cause, yet no one chose to fight for Jesus when upon Calvary!

Jesus endured Cruelty from the Onlookers

We see the Cruelty Jesus Endured. This is important as we look at His reaction - found in the prayer that He uttered. Next we see the Compassion He Displayed

II. The Compassion He Displayed

The Meaning of Grace

What we see in this prayer is Amazing Grace displayed.

Grace (def) Unmerited Favor

Though they railed on Him - He prayed for them!

Though they mocked Him - He prayed for them!

Though they sat by and did nothing - He prayed for them!

Though they rejected Him - He prayed for them!

That’s GRACE!

Grace is:

Something that cannot be bought

Something that cannot be earned

These people that we have spoken of were Cruel to Jesus - yet Jesus displayed Grace unto them - for He treated them with lovingkindness.

And there’s one thing that we need to understand - the Salvation of God that is spoken of in Scripture comes by God’s Grace, or it doesn’t come at all! Eph. 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Anybody who tells you that Salvation is anything other than God’s Grace completely, is preaching a false Gospel.

That’s the meaning of Grace - and Grace is what Christ demonstrated in His prayer

The Measure of Grace

In other words - how Great is this Grace?

We examined those different groups of people mentioned earlier, and we read what He said (‘Father forgive them…)

What we didn’t hear was:

Father forgive the onlookers, but not the heartless, or

Father forgive the climbers, but send those Scoffers to Hell!

No, Jesus said ‘Father forgive them...’ Jesus had Grace enough for EVERYBODY!

Grace, grace - God’s Grace!

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within

Grace, grace - God’s Grace!

Grace that is greater than all our sins!

God’s Grace is sufficient to cleanse the deepest & darkest of sins! Aren’t you glad for that!

Eph. 2:1-7 “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

There is no soul beyond the saving power of the Grace of Jesus!

We see the Measure of His Grace

We’ve looked at the Cruelty He Endured, then the Compassion that He showed. Next, I want to look at the Cause for Which He Prayed - Why did Jesus act in that manner?

III. The Cause for Which He Prayed

Why did Jesus utter those words?

They Lacked Understanding

‘Father forgive them FOR… they know not what they do’. In other words, they were ignorant of what they were doing to some degree.

The soldiers were ignorant about Jesus and His purpose because the Jews failed to be the light to the world that God intended for them to be!

The Jews were ignorant about Jesus because they thought more of their earthly heritage in Abraham, than the God who delivered Abraham!

The gentiles were blind because they had no one told them

The Jews were blind because they kept their eyes closed to the truth

They lacked understanding

Church, there’s a lot of people today who lack understanding

There’s people in the Philippines, United Kingdom, California, Chile, Mongolia.

There’s also people on Pearl St. & Henry Camp Rd. - Green’s Run, Cherry St. & Riverside Dr.

There’s people in your family - people you work or go to school with.

And we need to be like Jesus and do what we can to reach them!

We can learn a lot from Jesus’ example, but just in this little point we see that:

Jesus prayed for them

We need to be praying for them

Jesus sacrificed for them

We need to sacrifice some things to reach them

Jesus showed them Grace

We need to demonstrate Grace!

Jesus prayed because they lacked Understanding

Jesus Loved Them

Joh. 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

2Pet. 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Jesus loved them - that’s why He prayed as He prayed! That’s why He gave as He gave! That’s why He displayed the Grace He did! Jesus loved them!

The Bible tells us: 1Jo. 3:16 “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

If we’re to be like Christ, we must be willing to Sacrifice for others as well. BY GRACE!

Jesus did what He did - because He loved them

We’ve looked at the Cruelty He Endured, then the Compassion that He showed & the Cause for Which He Prayed - Lastly, we see the Culmination of that Prayer

IV. The Culmination of that Prayer

It made a difference in a thief (v42-43)

As we see - the prayer of Jesus changed the heart of one of the thieves!

This was not a good man

This was not a man with good works

This was not a man baptized in the water

But Jesus said ‘Today shalt thou be with me in paradise’!

Jesus made a difference in a thief

It made a difference in a soldier (v47)

As we read on down - the prayer, the character and the sacrifice of Jesus made a difference in that hard-hearted soldier!

Jesus made a difference in a soldier

It made a difference in me

Time & good sense would prevent me from telling you the sin which bound me some 20+ years ago. But then I met Jesus! And whether you know it or not, I’m telling you Jesus made a change in me! Jesus has made a difference in my life!

Jesus has given me a purpose for my life

Jesus has given me a passion for righteousness rather than wickedness

Jesus given me hope!

Jesus has been my help!

Jesus has been a friend when others have forsaken me!

Jesus has made a difference in me - and Jesus can make a difference in you

It can make a different in you

Sinner friend hear me - your sin separates you from God, and to die in that state leads you to a place called Hell. Jesus is praying you open your eyes today to the truth that your sins condemn you, but He was crucified, buried and rose again to atone for your sins so that you can have a home in Heaven!

Saint - where are you at in your walk with the LORD? Are you sold out unto Him, or are you selling Him our for a little bit of silver? Jesus is praying for you.

What will you do with the message today?

Conclusion

Faith Promise Missions Collection

Between you and God - the commitment and the keeping thereof

It’s a commitment to help reach the Lost

It’s a commitment that reaps rewards

You’ll never make as good an investment than investing in the work of the LORD