“The First
Word: Father, Forgive Them”
Luke
23:32-34 March 1, 2009
SI: Easter is seven Sundays away.
And
we’re going to prepare for the celebration of our Lord’s resurrection,
by looking at a special portion of the
Gospels.
We’re
going to meditate on the words Jesus spoke as he was dying on the cross.
These are often called the Seven Last Words
or the Seven Words of the Cross,
because Jesus spoke seven times.
All
of Jesus’ words are important,
but isn’t often the case that we place great
stock in a person’s last words,
and we especially cherish the last words of
people we love.
So
it’s wonderful that we have the last words of our Savior recorded for all time.
I
preached the Seven Last Words seven years ago.
And
I was so blessed by my study that I told myself I would have to
preach them again some day.
It
seems like enough time has passed—seven years for seven words.
I’m
looking forward to this.
I
believe that the Lord is going to use it for good in our body.
INTRO: A few years ago a man who is not a
member of this church asked if he
could see me about a personal matter. We met and he got right to the point.
He
said: “I hate my ex-wife. My hatred is killing me. How can I forgive her?”
Went
on to tell me about the night, three years before, when he confronted his wife
about his suspicions, and she admitted she
had been unfaithful to him.
He
said that his wife walked out on the front porch and he was alone in the house:
In that moment he had an impression so
strong, almost like a voice in my head.
It said:
If you forgive her, your marriage will be saved.
He
said: I silenced that voice, because I
didn’t want to forgive her.
I wanted her to pay. I wanted her to feel the same hurt she had
done to me.
Went
on to tell me how for the past three years,
even after their divorce, he had tried to
make her pay.
Whenever
he had to deal with her about their children, he would always remind
her that she was the one who had wrecked marriage. The one with bad morals.
She was the one responsible for their children
living in broken home.
She
had two failed romances after their divorce.
When he found out she was living with each
of these men, he began to hope
that the relationship would fail and that
she would be dumped and hurt.
And
that’s exactly what happened, and he rejoiced.
He
thought, now she’s getting just a little taste of what she did to me.
But it didn’t satisfy him and he continued
to replay her unfaithfulness in his mind.
Then
he began to recognize that his hatred for her was poisoning him.
His relations with other people, his whole
outlook on life.
So
he told himself, I’m just going to forget her.
She’s nothing to me. Who cares what she does with her life.
I’m not going to think about her
anymore.
But
that didn’t work, because these grooves of hatred had worn so deep,
he just couldn’t keep his mind from going
down those paths.
So
he had come to realize that the only way he could be free from his hatred,
was to forgive her. But he had no idea how. Didn’t know where to start.
He professed to be a Christian, but didn’t
have a pastor or a church.
This
was the passage I took him to—this word from the cross—
“Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do.”
This
week I’ve conducted a little survey.
I’ve
asked a number of Christ Covenant folks what they think
about this word of Jesus, their immediate
impressions.
I
asked some individually and I hit up my Covenant Group Wednesday night.
And it was interesting that all of the
comments fell into three categories.
First
category of comments had to do with what this word tells us
about the character of God the Father. It shows the love and compassion
of the Father and his willingness to forgive
our sins.
Second
category of comments had to do with what this word tells us
about the person and work of Jesus
Christ. He’s our High Priest.
He intercedes for us. His work is our forgiveness and this word
assures
us that we are indeed forgiven.
Third
category of comments had to do with what this word tells us
about the life we’ve been called to live as
Christians.
Specifically,
how we are to imitate Jesus
and forgive the people who have wronged us
and look on them with compassion.
These
are all intertwined. Can’t have one
without the other.
But I want to focus on the third—what this
word tells us about the Christian life.
As
Christians, we ought to be experts on forgiveness.
We are forgiven people—that’s our identity.
We’ve been forgiven by God through Jesus
Christ.
So
we ought to know how to apply the forgiveness we have received from God
to the people who have wronged us.
There
may be people in your life who don’t know how to forgive.
And just like the man I told you about—the
self-pity and hatred is killing them.
You’re their lifeline. Show them Jesus and show them how to
forgive.
And
even closer to home, maybe you have been wronged.
And maybe you’re struggling to forgive and
feeling the hurt of unforgiveness.
This
word of Jesus from the cross can set you on a path of forgiveness
that will give you freedom and joy.
This
word from the cross has two parts, let’s look at each.
1.
First, “Father, forgive them” shows us that forgiveness is costly.
2.
Second, “For they do not know what doing” shows us forgiveness is
divine.
MP#1 Forgiveness is costly
Jesus
said: “Father, forgive them . . .”
His words show that forgiveness is costly.
Let’s
think for a moment about the cost of forgiveness.
Suppose
some kids are playing ball in your neighborhood—
one puts a baseball through your living room
window.
He’s
in your debt. He owes you for that
broken window.
You can make him pay—or you can forgive him.
If you forgive him, the debt doesn’t
disappear. The window still has to be
fixed.
But
you pay for it. You absorb the cost.
Let’s
go a step deeper: What if someone has
not just broken a window—
what if he has broken something much more
precious?
What
if he has broken your happiness by his betrayal or cruelty?
What if she has shattered your plans and
dreams by her lies?
What if he has hurt your good name, or hurt
people you love?
When
a person wrongs you deeply, he’s in your debt.
He owes you.
It’s
not a monetary debt, but it’s still a real debt.
It’s the price of very precious things that
often can never be recovered.
What
if a child is abused? His innocence and
happiness is broken.
There is no way to put a price on that in
dollars but there is clearly a debt owed.
What
does it mean to forgive someone who has wronged you like that?
What’s the cost that has to be paid?
Before
we answer that, let’s go one step deeper.
Our sins are a debt we owe God.
I’m
sure you’ve noticed that when some churches say the Lord’s Prayer
they say, “Forgive us our debts as we
forgive our debtors.”
Others:
“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
Presbyterians
say debts and debtors and that’s what I’m used to—but both in Bible.
Debts in Matthew, Trespasses in Luke.
Our trespasses are debts we owe God.
Jesus
paid our debt in himself on the cross.
The
debt didn’t just go away—he paid it.
When
somebody wrongs you, you can try to make him pay, or you can forgive him.
When you forgive, the debt doesn’t go away—You
pay it.
The
way you pay is through an internal struggle that is like death.
You
give up your desire for revenge,
and replace
that with a desire for God to bless the person who wronged you.
When
Jesus said: “Father, forgive them . . .”
he was giving up his right for revenge.
The
Bible says: “Vengeance is
mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Jesus Christ is Lord. As Lord he had a right to revenge.
Those
mocking him said, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
He could have done it if He had wanted
to.
He could have sent them all straight to
hell.
But
as 1 Peter says: “when they hurled their
insults at Him, He did not retaliate;
when He suffered He made no threats.”
When
someone wrongs you, it’s natural to want that person to pay.
He took something from you.
He is truly in your debt. There is no denying that.
And
the only way he can really pay is by suffering.
He has to suffer at least as much as you
have suffered,
and he has to know he is suffering because
of what he did to you.
But
when you focus on how this person deserves to suffer for what he did,
it can take control of you. You start to fantasize.
You
fantasize that he will lose his business and all his money.
You fantasize that she will fail in her new
romance and be heartbroken.
You want a punishment to fit the crime.
Maybe
you are prone to more theological fantasies.
You imagine the shock this person is going to
get when he stands before God
and has to answer for what he did to
you.
You
might not admit it, but really fantasizing about this person going to hell.
These fantasies end up poisoning your
soul.
Forgiveness
means giving up all your desires and all your claims
that the person who wronged you must
pay.
But
it’s not enough just to give up your right to revenge—
positive side of forgiveness is that you
must bless the person who wronged you.
Jesus
didn’t get revenge, instead He prayed, “Father forgive them.”
He did the very opposite of revenge. He prayed for their blessing.
And that is the cost that you must pay. Blessings for curses.
There
are so many powerful examples of this in church history—
Christians who have been deeply wronged
and who have prayed blessings instead of
curses.
Darlene
Deibler was a missionary in Indonesia.
When WWII started she and her husband were
put in prison camps by Japanese.
The
women’s camp was run by a Japanese officer name Yamaji.
He had a violent temper and would beat the
women for the slightest provocation.
Darlene
describes the brutal beating he gave one young woman
named
Elise because she had not come to roll call quickly enough.
First
he broke her wrists with his cane, and then, when she fell to the ground
he kicked her until she was temporarily
paralyzed.
This
is what Darlene wrote about her prayer that night:
“In weariness of spirit and emotionally
drained, I stretched out on my rack, reviewing what had happened, still seeing
Elise’s battered body and bruised face.
Phrases from the Gospel of Matthew were going through my mind: ‘Love
your enemies.’ ‘Do good to those who
despitefully use you.’ ‘Pray for your
enemies.’ All right, Lord, I’ll pray for
him. I sincerely don’t want the man to
be lost eternally—but I really would like it if you would curdle the food in
his stomach tonight. How very much
easier it is to be philosophical about and forgive the wrongs done to oneself
than to forgive the injustices done to the people we love. With sufficient provocation, there is within
each of us the potential to violence—but for the grace of Almighty God. With a prayer for God to have mercy on the
man, I drifted off to sleep.”
I
like the honesty of her words.
Because they show that there is a cost for
forgiveness.
It’s not easy to bless those who have
wronged you.
It’s a struggle and God sees your struggle.
C.S.
Lewis wrote:
“Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea,
until they have something to forgive.”
He
wasn’t just being clever. In a letter
near the end of his life, he commented that
he had finally forgiven a cruel
schoolteacher who had darkened his childhood
when he was a young boarding student.
Forgiveness is not easy. It takes supernatural power.
That
brings us to the second point . . .
MP#2 Forgiveness is divine
Forgiveness
requires the work of the Holy Spirit in you.
He gives you a new way of looking at person
who wronged you and at yourself.
That
new perspective—that divine perspective, empowers you to forgive.
We see this in the second part of Jesus’
word from the cross.
What
did Jesus mean when he said: “For they
do not know what they are doing?”
It seems like they knew exactly what they
were doing.
The
Jewish religious leaders knew what they were doing.
They plotted for three years to kill
him. They bribed Judas to betray him.
People
in the crowd knew what they were doing.
Jesus had healed their sick and fed them
bread and fish.
But
they shouted for him to be crucified.
They knew what Roman crucifixion meant for a
man.
Pontius
Pilate knew what he was going.
He knew he was executing an innocent man to
maintain his office.
That’s why he went through that whole
charade about washing his hands.
Some
of the older commentaries give this explanation:
Jesus was just praying for the Roman
soldiers.
They were the only ones who didn’t know what
they were doing.
They
were just doing their job.
All the others responsible for crucifixion
did know—Jesus not praying for them.
But
that doesn’t sound right. Jesus taught
us to “pray for those
who persecute” us and that seems to be
exactly what he was doing.
So
it’s best to understand that Jesus’ prayer included all responsible for his
death.
But
it still doesn’t answer the question—
In what sense did they not know what they
were doing?
Jesus
was looking at these people from a spiritual perspective.
He saw them as people blinded and enslaved
by sin.
They were willingly enslaved, but enslaved
none the less.
Jesus
looked at these people spiritually.
He saw people made in the image of God who
were blinded by sin.
And
Jesus didn’t hate them for that. He had
pity on them.
He
said to his Father: Look at them. They are blinded by sin.
They are in bondage. They do not know what they are doing.
Have mercy.
Father, forgive them.
Jesus
able to see his enemies that way because he was filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Bible says he was filled with the Holy
Spirit beyond measure.
As
a man completely filled by the Holy Spirit, he had a spiritual perspective.
Able to look past the outside, look past
pain inflicted and see the person,
and the enslaving power of sin.
Your
sinful nature will never let you see people that way.
When they wrong you will simply focus on
their offense and condemn them.
Then you will probably dehumanize them.
He
is just a liar and a sorry piece of trash.
She is the most stupid, worthless individual
I have ever known.
You consign that person to the garbage
heap.
That
is exactly what you will do—unless you are filled with the Holy Spirit.
Only by the Holy Spirit, ever going to be
able to look at people spiritually,
be moved with pity for their condition, even
when they are wrong you.
I
had a seminary buddy who was a touchy person, very sensitive.
I hadn’t seen him for years and then I ran
into him at General Assembly.
He
started telling me about the church he had served in for six years.
It was in a small town, and one of the
members of the church was the richest
man in town, and he liked to throw his
weight around.
This
man made life increasingly difficult for my friend and his wife.
I
found it hard not to be indignant as he was telling me these stories—
and I kept expecting to hear some bitter
condemnation come out of my friend.
But
instead he expressed an amazing compassion for the man
and he concluded the story by saying: “We’re still praying for him.”
Then he changed the subject and started
talking about his new church.
He
had a divine perspective.
The Holy Spirit had enabled him to say:
“They do not know what they are doing.”
Do
you see people as Jesus saw them? Ask
him to help you.
There
is something else that Christ’s word from the cross can teach you
but
it’s a hard lesson and you might not be ready for it.
It’s
that you are no different from the person who wronged you.
You are also a person made in God’s image
and you are a sinner,
and there are times, even as a Christian,
that you are blinded by your sin.
You
remember the old Easter song, I think it’s a Negro spiritual:
It asks a probing question: “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”
What’s
the answer to that question? Were you
there?
Yes, you were there. Your sins put Jesus on the cross.
When
Jesus prayed, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do—
he was praying for you.
You
may not like to hear that.
The
man I told you about at the beginning was angry when I told him that.
He said: I would never do what she did. I would never be unfaithful.
Maybe
that’s how you feel. I would never do
what that person did to me.
Praise God that you feel that way about
sin.
But
remember, it’s only by His grace.
If His grace was removed from your life for
a moment, you would, and worse.
And
you have wronged God deeply many times.
So
by the power of the cross you have to look at this person who wronged you
and say—He’s just like me.
He
is a person made in God’s image, made to do beautiful things.
And he is a sinner, blind and enslaved.
And that’s what I was until the grace of God
found me.
You
believe this first word from the cross.
Believe what it says about the power of sin
and the greatness of God’s grace.
And
then, with that knowledge, you take little steps of forgiveness.
This
man began to pray: Lord, help my ex-wife
to find the love and
contentment that she couldn’t find in our
marriage. Don’t let her be hurt.
Give her good relationship with our
kids. When I see her next, say a kind
word.
That
cost him. But power to do it came from
knowing that he had owed a great
debt, and been forgiven much, at great cost
to Jesus Christ.
And
that’s what you have to do—look at the cross—
hear the loving words of your Savior—pay the
price,
and move ahead with forgiveness.
This
is who we are—Forgiven people. It’s our
identity.
And the man we love so much spoke first of
forgiveness as he was dying for us.
By the power the Holy Spirit—let’s take his
words to heart.
Our
communion hymn is about the cross—about the cost he gladly paid.