Father, Forgive Them

“Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”  Luke 23:34

More than 40 years ago, the pastor of the church of which I was a member preached a series of sermons on the seven utterances spoken by Jesus as He hung on the cross of Calvary to pay the penalty for the sins of men and women.  I wish I could remember some of the things that the pastor said, but that was a long time ago, humanly speaking, and it was prior to the church having recording equipment.  That is one of the advantages that we have today is to be able to go back and listen to sermons, songs, and testimonies that have helped us along life’s pathway.  (As a point of clarification, the utterances by Jesus and the order of events as I have them may not be chronologically listed in the right order because the order is different in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and not every saying from the cross is recorded by all four gospel writers.  Nevertheless, it is not the order, but the substance of each saying that we are to remember.)

Those who are familiar with scripture know that Jesus was born to be the sacrifice for the sins of all people in order to satisfy the sin debt that each person holds.  The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America tells us that “all men are created equal”.  The first man and woman, Adam and Eve, were created as innocent human beings, but they chose to sin, which caused all people after them to be born with a sin nature.  Sin separates humans from their Creator God.  The only way that God could be reconciled to sinful men and women is for a sinless sacrifice to be made to satisfy the penalty for sin for the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).  Thus all people are equally sinful, although some might dispute that because there are those who, according to human standards, commit more sin than others, but sin is still sin in God’s eyes.  Sin is not only violating the standards which God has set forth, but also “missing the mark”, that is, not living up to God’s standard of righteousness perfectly.  Only One could do that, Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, the sinless, perfect Sacrifice.

When Jesus was crucified, His cross was placed between two thieves, an indication of the contempt that the people who demanded His execution had for Him.  The soldiers who had nailed Jesus to the cross or who were part of the Roman company of soldiers were down on the ground gambling for Jesus’ clothes.  When they hung Jesus on the cross, they had stripped Him of the garments that He was wearing, and He hung naked, not only in excruciating pain, but in humiliation before the crowd who was watching.  These bloodthirsty people were mocking Jesus, calling on Him to save Himself if He was truly the King of the Jews, the chosen of God (Matthew 27:39-43).  It would be very difficult for even the best of men to even think about forgiving those who were acting in such a horrible and cruel way.

However, Jesus was certainly One who practiced what He preached.  In His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:44), He urged the multitudes to love their enemies which also means to forgive one’s enemies for wrongs done against them.  Jesus had no hate in His heart for those who were responsible for His immense suffering.  When He asked His Father to forgive them, His request was a fulfillment of Isaiah 53:12:  Jesus…”made intercession for the transgressors”.  This is what Jesus came to do–to intercede for sinners, like you and me, who previously had not a “ghost of a chance” of becoming clean and pure before the Father.  I believe that Jesus wasn’t just praying for the soldiers who so viciously nailed Him to the cross and gambled for His clothes, for the Jews who had so unmercifully convicted Him and cried out for His death, but He was including every person who was responsible for His sacrifice, and that includes every person who has ever been born.

The Roman soldiers were truly unaware of what they were doing; they were just following orders.  They were likely idol worshippers and completely unfamiliar with anything related to the God of Israel.  The Jews were completely unaware that their rejection of Jesus, the Messiah, would actually benefit the Gentiles, those whom the Jews called “dogs”, and that it would bring persecution of Israel for generations.  All who reject and deny Christ today are not truly aware of the consequences of their decisions.  They have chosen to remain spiritually ignorant.  Even as the gospel is preached around the world, millions of people still choose to ignore the life-saving, life-giving message of Jesus Christ.  However, just as Jesus asked His Father to forgive those that day of His death, He still intercedes for all those who will repent and place their faith in Him.

Tomorrow:  “Woman, Behold Thy Son”