(I wish to thank God for the inspirational writing of A. W. Pink’s book, The Seven Sayings of the Savior on the Cross, which guided me in the writing of this sermon.)
The First word of Christ.......
Father forgive them for they know not what they do..
Text....Luke 23: 34
Introduction:
This cross on whom Jesus died remains the center symbol of my faith. Because I know my Savior died for me.
I know he took upon Himself all of my sin.
If we can close our eyes and see the horrid scene of my Jesus hanging there. Pain fills His blood-stained face. The crowd yells and calls out words that cut him to His heart.
And yet in the midst of that horrific scene, is how he hangs and looks at those who kill Him, how He looks at me and you - because we too would probably have been in that crowd, because at one time we also denied Him...
He sees how pitiful we really are and so He pulls His head up and looks up to His Father and says "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." But I raise the question, of how, how can Jesus ask God to forgive them while they are still in the act of sinning against Him and afflicting great pain on Him?
I don’t envision how moral we are ,
Those words are etched in our minds simply because they are so hard to understand. Today we begin to look at some of the words that Jesus spoke while he was on the cross - amongst the most important words in Scripture.
According to Luke these are first words Jesus spoke after He was placed on the cross
When we come to the cross and the crucifixion of Christ, we find that His death was just as much a miracle as His birth or resurrection.
It can truly be said of His death that it was natural, unnatural, and supernatural.
It was natural because He really died. His death was a natural one.
It was unnatural in that He should not have died. The wages of sin in death. He had no sin, yet He died. It was unnatural that He who was perfectly holy should die.
It was also supernatural in that He laid down His life. NO one took it from him.
While on the cross, Jesus made seven utterances or statements. My task and purpose today is to preach on the fires of just one of those statements.
" Father forgive them for they know not what they do..
I. THIS CRY WAS A FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY
The cry is, "Father forgive them..." The prophecy is found in Isaiah 53:12
Isaiah 53:12 ". . . and made intercession for the transgressors." Here it is in the wonderful prophecies of Isaiah! Hear we have a prophecy written 745 years before the event!
II. THIS CRY IDENTIFIED HIM WITH HIS PEOPLE
Luke 23:34 "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Only on this occasion did Jesus every pray like this.
Jesus never called on His father to forgive sins. He, himself demonstrated the Had power, while on earth, to forgive sins.
Matthew 9:2 "And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee."
Luke 7:48 "And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven." Only God can forgive sins and the Jewish leaders knew that. Mark 2:7 "Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?"
When Jesus forgave sins, He identified with His people and addressed God as His Father and requested the He forgive their sins.
III. THIS CRY SHOW THE IGNORANCE OF THE HUMAN HEART
Luke 23:34 "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." They were aware that Jesus of Nazareth was being crucified. That much they knew.
The emphases here should be on ‘they know not what they do.’
Jesus was their Messiah. He was their only means of salvation. Only through Him would and could the promises of God be fulfilled. But they knew not what they were doing.
And what they actually doing, was that they were murdering Deity they murdered God, .
Peter says in Acts 3:15: "And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses."
THIS CRY SHOWS MAN’S GREATEST NEED
Luke 23:34 "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."
Notice what Jesus prayed for.
He did not pray for their wealth.
He did not pray for prosperity for the nation.
He did not pray for the hungry and the homeless.
One must put first things first and the greatest need of man is forgiveness. He has transgressed against a Holy God. Without forgiveness, one must forever be lost cannot enter into eternal life.
Jesus prayed for their forgiveness.
He hoped they would repent of their sin and be saved. One can only be saved when he acknowledges his sin. The prodigal knew that he had sinned against the father and knew that his greatest need was confession and forgiveness.
He said, "I have sinned..." He needed forgiveness most of all. Jesus knows man’s greatest need.
V. THIS CRY SHOWS THE GREAT LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST FOR SINNERS
Luke 23:34 "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." The emphases here should be on the word, then. It was when man was at his worst that Jesus prayed for his forgiveness.
What would we do in the hour of man’s worst treatment of us? Would we pray for their forgiveness or would we curse them and ask God to destroy them?
This brings us to the sober reality of His deity. Only God could love like this.
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 5:20 "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:"
John 15:13 "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
Samson in his dying hour destroyed his enemies. Christ in His dying hour prayed for His.
Even Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian faith, failed to fully follow Christ’s example. Stephen’s first thought was of himself, and then he prayed for those killing him. While his enemies were stoning him,
Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7:59,60). But with Christ the order was reversed: He prayed first for His enemies, and then for Himself.
Our Lord is upon the cross. And there He hangs — silent.
But then His pain-lined lips are seen to move.
Is He crying out in pain? No.
Is He asking for pity? No.
Is He pronouncing a curse upon those who crucified Him? No.
What then? He is praying — for His enemies! "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
I...Our Lord Prays A Our Lord is upon the cross. He is praying. How significant! How instructive! Christ’s public ministry opened with prayer (Lk 3:21), and here we see it closing in prayer.
Our Lord is upon the cross.
No longer can His hands minister to the sick, for they are nailed to the tree.
No longer can His feet carry Him on errands of mercy, for they are fastened to the wood.
No longer can He instruct His disciples, for they have forsaken Him and fled.
But one thing He can do, and does — the ministry of prayer!
Perhaps there are some here this morning who think they have nothing to offer and no purpose in living.
But like the Lord there is one thing you can still do —even in the last hours of life — and that is to engage in the ministry of prayer.
Perhaps God may use your ministry of prayer to accomplish more for His church and kingdom than was accomplished by all your past service.
B... Our Lord is upon the cross. He prays for His murderers. In doing this, He shows us, He teaches us, that no one is ever beyond the reach of prayer.
He shows us, He teaches us, to never give up, to never abandon hope, to keep on praying. Does it seem to you a waste of time to keep praying for that man, that woman, that wayward child or grandchild of yours?
Does it ever seem to you as if they are beyond the reach of God’s mercy?
Does their case seem to get more and more hopeless every passing day? In such times of discouragement think of the cross. Remember that Christ prayed for His enemies, for those who made Him suffer the agony and torment of the cross.
C.. We should never look at this first word of the cross, this prayer for Christ’s enemies, without also looking at its answer on Pentecost.
Remember what happened then? The Spirit was poured out, Peter preached a powerful sermon, and three thousand were saved. Who are these three thousand? Peter clearly identifies them as those who put Jesus to death by nailing Him to the cross (Acts 2:23b,37; cf 3:13-15,17 and the 5,000 of 4:4).
What we are to realize, congregation, is that the prayer of Christ on the cross for His enemies was given a most definite answer. The answer is seen in the conversion of the three thousand souls on the Day of Pentecost.
We are being taught here, aren’t we, about the power of prayer. As James tells us, "the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16b).
So pray, congregation. Pray for those loved ones who seem to you to be outside the kingdom of Christ.
Pray for these wayward ones, knowing that no one — not even those who crucified our Lord — are beyond the reach and power of prayer.
"Father, forgive them ..." said Jesus out of love. "Forgive" is a word borrowed from the world of commerce and finance. It is a money word. In the secular Greek world it meant the cancellation of a debt, the pardoning of a loan..
Jesus prays for forgiveness. He prays for the cancellation of a debt, the pardoning of a loan. He prays for the cancellation of the debt of sin. Jesus acts and speaks out of love. "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
V. Jesus prays for His Enemies
A. Who is the "them" Jesus is praying for? He is praying for Judas who betrayed Him. He is praying for the Jewish leaders who had Him falsely arrested, who hit Him, spit on Him, and said lies about Him. Jesus is praying for the crowd who yelled, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
Jesus is praying for Pilate who found Him innocent yet still gave Him up to be crucified. Jesus is praying for the soldiers who whipped Him, mocked Him, spit on Him, and nailed Him to the cross. Jesus is praying for all of these: "Father, forgive them ..."
B. Jesus is also praying for you and me and every other sinner. Don’t forget, He is upon the cross as our — as your and my — representative. He is there as one of us, one with us. He is there because of our sins. There is a song we sing which expresses this so very clearly:
So for us too Jesus prays, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." VI The Need for Forgiveness A What is it that Jesus is praying for? This first word of the cross, this prayer for forgiveness, is clearly about sins of ignorance: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
So Jesus prays, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
We are given a glimpse here of the blindness of the human heart, the total depravity of the human will, and the corruption of the human mind.
In this first word of the cross Jesus prays for the forgiveness of those who act in ignorance or unbelief —even if they ought to have known better.
Again we see the extent of His grace and love. "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." So upon the cross, suffering in body and soul the anguish and torment of hell, Jesus prays for grace, for forgiveness. What love! What wondrous, matchless love. "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
AMEN...................AMEN......................AMEN
