Father Forgive Them

32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”[b] And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him,[c] “This is the King of the Jews.”

“father forgive them...”

here Jesus asks for the forgiveness of the people in the middle of killing him.

the scoffers, the executioners, all of them.

If you’ve ever wondered if you could REALLY be forgiven … well here is your answer.

Today we’re going to dig in here - but we’ll start with more broad topic of forgiveness.

Generally speaking - we all know we’re supposed to forgive sin.

We see that here and all over the Bible.

and forgiveness is not the same as the silent treatment, or subtle retaliation, or talking about them every time the opportunity presents itself, or hardening your heart, or becoming bitter against them.

BUT It is easier said than done

Yeah. I’ll take it one farther - it’s HARD TO REPENT

I have sinned - harder to say than “I love you”

requires us to think less of ourselves - miraculous humility.

and “please forgive me” is not the same as “I’m sorry...” or “I feel bad about...”

humbly submitting yourself to someone else. hard stuff.

“maybe they’ll use this against me now” “maybe this confession will come back to bite me”

Don’t worry about those things. That’s for God to sort out.

a clean conscience - the blessings of God - and removing any foothold for the Devil?

that’s worth every degree of bite-back you could receive.

But here’s the problem - it’s naturally impossible to repent.

Acts 11:18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

2 tim 2:25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,

It’s a gift! So what does that mean? We ask for it, we pray for it. For others, for ourselves.

There are those you know, from our church and fallen away, from outside, who have a great need for repentance. PRAY.

THE SAME IS TRUE ABOUT GRANTING FORGIVENESS

natural - nurse the grudge - want vengence - the silent treatment - bittnerness

or maybe you’re the victim and playing that card - our culture does worship victims right now....

But that isn’t the option the Bible gives you, Christian. - we must FORGIVE

parable - unforgiving servant.

Eph 4:27 “Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

maybe you’ve got a good reason to be angry - ok - but that doesn’t mean you nurse it. You kill it before it grows.

Forgiveness is another weapon in our arsenal against the enemy.

BUT HOW

Gandhi said only the powerful can forgive. Well, no. It’s actually the opposite.

Those who know their weakness, frailty, and depend upon the power of God. Those are the ones that can forgive.

We beg God for it. We pray.

aware of just how easily this can take root in us and make us bitter, destroying us.

And the greatest power to forgive? Realizing how much you’ve been forgiven. Think of Joseph.

How was he able to forgive his brothers? He was keenly aware of the grace of God in his life.

Think about it - if you are the reason for your success, then any sin against you or your success is a threat. And you definitely can’t just forgive those people.

but if your blessings come from the Lord and the Lord alone - then who are you to harbor any feelings of self-righteousness or unforgiveness?

AND THEN WHAT - Are things just supposed to go back to normal?

Luke 17:1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

SIN HAPPENS - it’s going to happen - at the current state of things it’s impossible for it NOT to happen.

Church should discipline - God will judge - God will take vengence if necessary - BUT WE ARE STILL COMMANDED OT FORGIVE

but this doesn’t mean that in forgiveness there won’t be consequences.

If they are a spouse that had an affair - They must be forgiven - but they might not still have a marriage covenant. It’s the right of the one sinned against to file for it, or not.

If a CPA has used his knowledge to steal from his clients - he can be forgiven - but he won’t be a CPA anymore.

If a pastor has had an affair, he can confess, he can be forgiven, but he still should resign. He’s not qualified anymore.

if he doesn’t - remember how covenantal judgement works?

AND JUST BECAUSE THERE IS FORGIVENESS - doesn’t mean reconciliation is automatic.

to be reconciled fully requires not just confession and forgiveness, but repentance and maybe even restitution.

“try to live at peace w/ all men”

but if they are perpetually sinning against you and not repenting… peace isnt’ gonna happen.

SO FOR EXAMPLE: Let’s say someone slanders your name and reputation to a bunch of people.

They come up to you and confess their sin, ask for forgiveness, you forgive. But it stops there…

“Well come on pastor, what’s the problem with that?”

Well, your reputation is destroyed with a bunch of people. - PROPER REPENTANCE would look like them going to those whom you’ve been slandered to and working to undo as much damage as possible.

confess, and retract the lies.

EXAMPLE: If money has been stolen or lost through negligence, you pay it back.

Reconciliation takes time. But it’s worth it.

Now, let’s start to bring this to a point...

MATT 6:12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Here - Jesus is ref. the year of Jubilee - all debts canceled.

Israel was freed from slavery and they were never to enter it again. Nor were they to make one another bondservants for life either.

Israel was a free people.

Jesus is showing us here that the Jubilee was a sign - pointing forward to now - God makes people free. “Whom the son has set free is free indeed.”

and not just some invisible spiritual freedom. A real, actual, literal freedom.

Don’t do long term loans - 6 years?)

Don’t loan anybody money that you aren’t ready to not get back. That you aren’t ready to forgive.

And even more specific...

Matt 6:14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Here’s the thing. You can live your life in such a way that you just never owe nor are owed anything.

so Jesus gets even more specific - with the trespass.

Many times we’ve read this I’m sure and we just translate that word as “sin” - but that’s not what it says… and it’s not the same word in the original either… so what’s happening here.

A tresspass is something different. And if you dig around you can find the def. I’ve got it for you here:

“a false step, a blunder, a fall beside”

Jesus did this so often. He actually raises the requirements of the law. MURDER? Hate. ADULTRY? Lust. SIN? Tresspas.

We don’t go around necessarily stealing or having affairs or killing each other very often - granted it does happen - but we do trespass.

We operate in a thoughtless, selfish way with one another.

Think about it - how many times have you been trespassed against? A quick comment, an aside, that digs into your skin quite a bit.

not necessarily a sin, just the other person was being thoughtless.

Happens quite a bit doesn’t it? Imagine how much you do it to others. See? This is the real problem in relationships/

We must have open willingness to forgive, to cover these things.

If not...

Proverbs 10:12, “Hatred stirreth up strife, but love covereth all sins.”

Proverbs 17:9 Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.

the opposite of covering is stirring it up - hatred.

broadcasting them - fanning them into flames - “do you know what these people did to me?”

(THIS DOESNT MEAN - we cover over adultry or murder or serious theft… that’s different)

but it does mean we look for opportunity ...

But what about those of us? The ones who have been truly and deeply sinned against?

like Jesus - who was crucified unjustly?

“Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Well, was everyone present forgiven? No. We know that because it didn’t say that all of Jerusalem because a Christian, in fact that was one of the more difficult areas for the Gospel.

So what is goign on here?

Forgiveness is transactional - Judicial.

a price must be paid - OT sacrificial signs point forward to this moment of Jesus on the cross - dying for all.

so the price is being paid - but there is still confession, faith, and restitution if needed.

So what is Jesus doing here? paying the debt, but what does his prayer mean?

He’s asking God to hold off. To stay his hand. To forgive them, eventually. And in the mean time not to pour out his hot wrath.

He’s asking for mercy.

And this is our pattern. Jesus is ready to forgive in that moment, he’s just awaiting the other party to bring it to completion.

When you are greviously sinned against, this is the disposition we ought take. To be READY to forgive. To do all the work necessary to bring yourself to that place.

And maybe even let the other party know you’re ready.

personal anecdote.

You see - weve turned forgiveness into this vague invisible spiritual thing, when that’s not what it is. It’s an actualy judicial, transactional process.

we confess, we repent, we are forgiven, we are restored.

And if the perfect judge can defer wrath in order to hope for forgiveness....

We see this in the two criminals

one confessed - the other didn’t - both were spared God’s hot immediate wrath, but only one went to paradise with Christ.

And we see forgiveness for many who were present on the day of pentecost:

Acts 2:22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus,[c] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up,....37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

The entire city deserved wrath - but it was deferred - so that some would repent.

and they and their children for generations, reaped the benefit of that mercy.

You’re here because of that mercy. Your children are here because of it. And generations before and after you as well.

And because of this mercy that we and our children have received - we can be SO merciful to others.

rather than exacting vengence, we can prayerfully work for restoration, we can hold off on wrath, and apply mercy.

Because that’s exactly what the Lord has done for us.