First Baptist Church
February 10, 2002
Luke 23:32-34
"Extreme Forgiveness!"
Has anyone ever really hurt you? Obviously, we have been hurt in
our lives. But I want you to think if there are people who have
done something to you that is so terrible that forgiveness seems out
of the question. Today we are beginning a new series of sermons.
Today, and for the next 6 weeks we are going to look at what is
called the "7 Last Words of Jesus on the Cross." The first time I
heard this I looked up the last saying of Jesus and tried to make it
into 7 words. I was sorely mistaken. The 7 last words of Jesus is
better called the "7 Last Sayings of Jesus while He was on the
cross."
With virtually each of these statements by Jesus, we will gain new
insight into our Savior; and we’ll learn more about what these
statements mean in our lives and how we can apply the words of
Jesus in our everyday situations.
With that in mind, let’s look at the first saying of Jesus while He
was on the cross. In fact, I believe the first statement by Jesus
may be the absolute hardest one for us to understand. But
understand may not be the proper word — it may be more proper
to say this statement by Jesus is almost impossible for us to
comprehend.
After all, Jesus had just been beaten and whipped and punched
and mocked; He has had a crown of thorns jammed onto His
head; His robe was ripped off His beaten back and the bleeding
started again; and He had to carry the instrument of death, His
cross. After all this, Jesus, who hovers near death because of the
merciless, yet normal crucifixion beating, must be nailed onto the
cross. His wrists are tied to the cross and the nails are pounded
into the forearm side of His wrists. This way the heavy spike will
not rip through His hands. Now His feet are tied onto the post
that will support Him and the spike goes through the bones and
muscles in Jesus’ feet.
The Roman centurions carefully pick up the cross and with a thud,
it falls into place in the ground. Their work is done. Jesus hangs
on the cross, pain ripping through His body, people mocking Him,
the two criminals mocking Him, the guards casting lots for His
clothes, His beloved disciples have mostly scattered.
Jesus now looks into the crowd of people and He makes His first
proclamation, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what
they are doing." Can you imagine that statement? Let me say it
again, and let it sink in for a moment — "Father, forgive them, for
they do not know what they are doing."
Could you do that? Yea, right. Let’s go back to my first question,
‘has anyone hurt you so bad that their sin was unforgivable?’
Maybe someone slandered your name, they told stories that were
not true. It cost you your job, maybe a career, it impacted your
family life, your finances, your belief in the goodness of people.
And you knew that these same people were avid church-goers.
How could you forgive them?
Or maybe it was something someone did to you physically.
Another person took advantage of you physically, you were
raped, or abused. It has affected your relationships, it has
changed your view of yourself and intimacy. It has taken away
some of your personhood. How can you forgive those people?
A woman sat in her pastors office and said, "I think I’m going to
kill myself. I don’t have any reason to live anymore." Her friends
had desserted her, she had no job, she had no money and even
her children had abandoned her and couldn’t care less about what
happened to her. She explained that when she told her son she
was thinking about killing herself, he replied, "Mom, why don’t you
just go ahead and do it and get out of our hair."1
How do you forgive the unforgivable? If any act in history is
unforgivable, the act that occurred 2,000 years ago is the one.
What could be more unforgivable than to see the Son of God,
hanging from a cross. When you crucify the Son of God you’ve
crossed the line and have entered into the unforgivable, you have
entered what we would consider to be an act that is beyond
forgiveness.
Let’s take a quick look at that statement by Jesus, "Father, forgive
them for they do not know what they are doing?" Who was He
talking about? Who is the "THEY?"
Let’s look at some of the possibilities. First, there were the
Roman soldiers. Obviously, they knew what they were doing,
they were doing their job, crucifying someone. They knew there
was a larger than usual crowd, and people seemed more vocal.
But, that’s all they knew. If anybody really didn’t know what they
were doing, it was these soldiers.
What about Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor? Pilate knew
Jesus was called ‘the king of the Jews,’ he knew Jesus claimed to
have authority from heaven, and Pilate knew from his wife that he
should be afraid of Jesus, and have nothing to do with Him. But,
Pilate didn’t know the whole story.
What about Caiaphas and Annas, the Jewish high priests, who
interrogated Jesus? They didn’t want anything to do with Jesus.
Or Judas, who was disappointed that Jesus was not the mighty
Messiah he had expected and hoped He would be? Nobody fully
understood who Jesus was.
It is true in our lives, too, we don’t always know the depth of the
pain we have brought upon others and those who have hurt us,
don’t realize how deep that hurt goes. Yet, Jesus, when He was
on that cross looked at His Father, and basically said, "Father
forgive them because they need forgiveness more than they can
ever imagine." "Father forgive them because they are in desperate
need of forgiveness and they don’t even know it." That is what
Jesus is saying on the cross.
Even in our earliest thoughts about faith, we too didn’t fully
understand who Jesus was, and even today, many of us still can’t
fully fathom the awesomeness of Jesus. There are so many people
who consider themselves Christians, and they still haven’t really
accepted the forgiveness, grace and love of Jesus. Yet, when
Jesus hung on that cross, He was asking God for forgiveness to be
granted to you and I. You see, the "THEM" in that prayer to God
was not only for them, those other people who physically,
emotionally and spiritually tortured Jesus. But that "THEM" was
also for us.
Jesus was praying for you and for me. We may not think we are
like those soldiers, government officials, religious leaders and even
His followers. We may not consider ourselves so evil and cruel,
yet do we really know what damage our words and actions have
caused to other to people. If we only knew how deep our actions
and words have wounded the souls and emotions of others, we
might better understand the call of Christ, "Father forgive them, for
they don’t know what they are doing."
It becomes personal. It is Jesus telling us that we too must be
forgivers. No, it’s not always easy to forgive. It takes time for our
wonds to heal. Some offenses can’t be forgiven the next day, it
may take time, but forgiveness not only brings healing to the one
who may seek forgiveness, but it brings healing to your spirit. If
you won’t forgive, then peace and love is replaced with a bitter,
mean spirit.
In her book, "HE’S BEEN FAITHFUL: Trusting God to Do What
Only He Can Do, Carol Cymbala wrote, "I know from personal
experience that love is not the road our flesh naturally wants to
take. Love takes humility and patience. It often involves
sacrificing what we want for the sake of someone else. It
sometimes leaves us vulnerable so that other people take
advantage of us. Still, Jesus repeatedly told us to love one
another. It was by this that men and women would know we
were his disciples. The church is to display a love that causes the
world to marvel. Is this evident among us today? In the midst of
our denominational squabbles, racial divisions, and endless church
splits, is Christ truly being reflected by his people? The world
places its values on abilities, possessions, and accomplishments.
God, however, honors what’s done out of love, no matter how big
or how small. But how do we as believers live out the kind of love
God has called us to? It’s a love that we cannot manufacture no
matter how we try. True love can only be born of the Spirit of
God."
Those are profound words from Carol Cymbala. It is only when
we accept Christ’s love that we can even begin to consider
forgiving those who have also brought hurt into our lives. When
we forgive it does not mean that we forget what has occurred.
Forgetting is for God to do. So long as we ask God for
forgiveness with a willing spirit, God erases our sins from His
memory. We can’t do that. You may have to forgive someone
over and over because that pain comes back to your mind again
and again.
Forgiveness is also not reconciliation. Reconciliation takes two
people, but an injured party can forgive an offender without
reconciliation. We can forgive someone even if they don’t ask or
even want to be forgiven. When we forgive, our soul is cleansed
and peace is ours.
Forgiveness is also not condoning or dismissing the offense. It
doesn’t mean you have to say, "What you did was bad ... but it
doesn’t really matter." Because, if something doesn’t matter, then
forgiveness isn’t needed in the first place. Forgiveness
acknowledges the act as being wrong and forgives it inspite of its
wrongness. There is a great deal of grace in the act of forgiving
someone.
Forgiveness is also not a pardon. A pardon is a legal transaction
that releases an offender from the consequences of an action. But,
as Lewis Smedes writes, "You can forgive a person and still insist
on a just punishment for the offense."
Leonardo da Vinci painted his famous fresco of "The Last Supper"
in a church in Milan. At the time that he painted this work he had
an enemy who was a fellow painter. Da Vinci had had a bitter
argument with this man and despised him. Well, when he got to the
point of painting the face of Judas Iscariot at the table with Jesus,
he decided to use the face of his enemy.
It brought him great pleasure to think that for ages to come others
would equate his enemy with Judas....the betrayer of Christ. Well
as weeks passed and he worked on the faces of the other
disciples, he would often try to paint the face of Jesus, but couldn’t
make any progress....he had sort of a "painter’s block." Da Vinci
felt frustrated and confused. But in time he realized what was
wrong. His hatred for the other painter was holding him back from
finishing the face of Jesus.
Only after making peace with his fellow painter and repainting the
face of Judas was he able to paint the face of Jesus and complete
his masterpiece. And it is only when we forgive that we can we
look God in the face, so to speak and enjoy a close walk with
Him. Forgiving others is good for us. It has psychological,
physical, relational, and especially spiritual benefits.
When it comes to understanding God’s forgiveness, the test is our
forgiving others, our following His example. This morning God
may be testing you by reminding you of someone you need to
forgive. It could be a spouse or friend or boss or fellow
employee. It could even be a church. I hope you pass this "test"
with flying colors because there are so many benefits to doing so.
For others, the test may not be to forgive, but instead to be
forgiven. If you are here and are not a Christian then your "test"
today involves whether or not you will accept the forgiveness for
your sin that only Jesus offers. I hope you will say yes to this
question and if you do will walk forward as we sing to share this
joyous decision with the church. In this time of examining
ourselves if you have other decisions to make ... such as joining
this church or rededicating your life to God in some way, I
encourage you to come forward as we stand now to sing.
1 Ray Pritchard. In the Shadow of the Cross (Broadman &
Holman, 2001), page 9.
