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Matthew 6:9-15 9 “Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one. 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Luke 23:33-38 33 When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” 1 And they cast lots to divide his clothing. 35 And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah 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, “This is the King of the Jews.”
Father, Forgive Them
Today we start our series for Lent, “The Seven Last Words from the Cross”. The season of Lent lasts forty days commemorating the forty days Jesus was tempted in the desert after his baptism. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Maundy Thursday. This time period contains six Sundays. Since our sermon series contains seven sermons we are starting it this Sunday even though Lent doesn’t actually start until this week on Ash Wednesday. Each week through Lent we will cover one of the seven last words Jesus spoke during the crucifixion. What are commonly called the seven last words from the cross are actually phrases or sentences. They come to us from various gospels and we do not know the actual order in which they were spoken but they are traditionally listed in the order we are going to use. Jesus spoke these words during the six hours He hung on the cross dying. Through them we hear what was on the heart and in the mind of Jesus in His final moments.
We are not going to focus on the gruesomeness of the cross, the pain and torture Jesus endured. Rather we are studying the last words of Christ to see what truths they hold for us. The final words of a person who knows he or she is facing death at any moment reveal a lot about a person’s true values, true thoughts, true viewpoints. The last words Jesus spoke from the cross were spoken with great effort; it grows increasingly difficult to speak during crucifixion. If Jesus went to the effort to speak them then they are important and it is important for us to ponder them.
We are near the end of the gospel story now, in a very dark place. Jesus has celebrated Passover with His disciples and given us the words we still use in our communion service. You will hear them today, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Jesus has gone through the anguish of Gethsemane, been arrested, falsely tried, convicted, flogged and led to the place of crucifixion.
Luke puts it very simply, “they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.” In the middle of being crucified, in agony, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” He spoke words of forgiveness to those who drove the nails into His hands and feet, those who laughed and gambled for His clothing. Words of forgiveness to the Jewish leaders who scoffed at Him. Words of forgiveness to the soldiers who mocked Him as well. Words of forgiveness to the crowds who had cried, “Crucify Him!”
These words of forgiveness are also spoken to us. No, we weren’t physically there at the cross that day yet in a certain sense all of humanity stood at the foot of that cross and received forgiveness. There is an old spiritual that asks, “Where you there when they crucified my Lord?” The answer is yes, we were there. We were there and because of it we are saved.
Jesus gives a reason why His Father should forgive them and us. “They do not know what they are doing.” This is true on many levels. Those who crucified Him did not know who He really was. They put the sign, “This is the king of the Jews” over His head not realizing that it was true. Not only was He king of the Jews but He was and is king over all of creation. He is our Lord and God. We don’t know what we are doing anymore than those at the cross did. Our sins don’t seem like that much to us, we easily overlook them. We need to remember the seriousness of all sin. Even the smallest sin is still a rebellion against God. It is a turning away from God.
That is why Jesus came to save us. We rebelled against our Father God; we were lost in sin without any ability to save ourselves. Let’s spend a moment this morning and consider what Jesus accomplished on the cross. In His dying for us we are forgiven for all our sins, we are reconciled to God. Isn’t that a wonderful word, reconciled? Brought back into relationship, into harmony. “What can take away my sin?” asks the hymn. “Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” The relationship that was broken by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is restored. We are adopted as sons and daughters of God. We become heirs to the kingdom, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.
Lent is a time to truly look at who we are and how we act. It is a time to look within and examine our hearts for the sin that is hidden from even from ourselves. It is a time to bring that sin to the foot of the cross knowing that Jesus will forgive us.
Look back at the verses from Luke, what has become known as the “the Lord’s prayer”. We say it in church every Sunday. “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors”. Some use trespasses and some use sins but it still amounts to the same thing. We are praying that God will forgive us as we have forgiven others. How easy it is to say this but how difficult it is to live it. We are fine with “forgive us our debts” but the conditional phrase, “as we forgive our debtors” is not so easy. Usually we glibly say it without thinking of what it means. We cannot truthfully say this prayer while we harbor any unforgiveness in our hearts. Yet, who doesn’t hold some resentment, some anger against others. Jesus went on to say, “For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your sins.” We don’t include this sentence in our prayer but it is important to remember this. I must admit this verse frightens me. God forgives me only if I forgive others. What if I can’t forgive someone? If someone killed one of my children could I forgive them?
Jesus equates our forgiveness with God’s forgiveness. I’ve heard many people say, “I cannot forgive” or “I will not forgive.” This is not an option for Christians. We forgive because Christ first forgave us.
Sometimes forgiveness is very easy, the injury is so small it is almost overlooked. Someone bumps into you, or interrupts you when speaking. The person says, “excuse me” and we say, “of course”. It happens almost without thinking. There are times when it is a bit harder to forgive. Someone has caused an accident and your car now has to be repaired. Someone says something that hurts you. It requires some thought and prayer to let go of our resentment and forgive.
Then there are the hard ones. A drunk driver kills someone you love. Your marriage is broken apart by adultery and divorce. Violence strikes against you or your loved ones. These are not times when we glibly forgive. The words do not come without struggle, sometimes years of struggle. They are still necessary. We are to forgive no matter what the circumstances. I know I have struggled to forgive in my life. It is one of the hardest things I ever did but I found that when I forgave I was the one set free from the bondage of resentment and anger.
Jesus’ instructions on how to pray follow His teaching the Beatitudes to the crowds. I’ve always imagined that day as sunny and warm. Scripture tells us when Jesus saw the crowds that were following Him, He took His disciples up the mountain and sat down and began to teach them. It is a pleasant scene in my mind, everyone gathered around to listen to Jesus, this rabbi who could heal, who spoke strange words of the coming kingdom. Jesus was admired and respected; they hung on his every word.
Now contrast that with the crucifixion. It was a dark day, perhaps the darkest day in history. We are told darkness fell on the land about noon. Jesus was mocked and beaten, stripped naked and nailed to a cross. Gone is the admiration and respect of the crowds. Despite this, Jesus spoke words of forgiveness.
In his book, What’s So Amazing About Grace, Phillip Yancey tells the story of Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway grew up in a very devout evangelical family, and yet there he never experienced the grace of Christ. He lived a libertine life that most of us would call “dissolute”… but there was no father, no parent waiting for him and he sank into the mire of a graceless depression. A short story he wrote perhaps reveals the grace that he hoped for. It is the story of a Spanish father who decided to reconcile with his son who had run away to Madrid. The father, feeling remorse, takes out this ad in a newspaper. “Paco, meet me at Hotel Montana, Noon, Tuesday… All is forgiven… Papa.” When the father arrived at the square in hopes of meeting his son, he found eight hundred Pacoes waiting to be reunited with their father. Was Paco such a popular name? Or is a father’s forgiveness the salve for every soul?
There is a song sung by Chris Tomlin, “Amazing Love How Can It Be” that speaks of God’s amazing love. It is written as what we gain from Jesus’ sacrifice. Listen: ” I’m forgiven because you were forsaken, I’m accepted you were condemned, I’m alive and well, your spirit is within me because you died and rose again. Amazing love how can it be that you my king would die for me, amazing love I know it’s true that it’s my joy to honor you.”
It is out of God’s amazing love that God offers forgiveness to each of us. God knows everything we have ever done wrong and He forgives us. God knows every sinful thought that crosses our minds and He forgives us. God even knows everything we will do wrong in the future and He forgives us. All because Jesus died on the cross to set us free from sin and death. That is indeed amazing love. Amazing love, how can it be, that you my God would die for me?
Let us pray. Heavenly father, we are amazed at your love, your love that allowed your only son to die for our sins. Help us to, in turn, forgive others.