“Father, Forgive Them” -- Luke 23:33-38

The seven statements of Jesus from the cross have been preached over and about for probably as long as we have had a written version of the Bible. These seven statements show something about Jesus since the ability to speak while being crucified was very difficult. Each statement reveals a different part of Him while contributing to the whole picture of Jesus.

When a person was crucified, they essential died of suffocation. The weight of the body would press down on the person making it more and more difficult for the person to breathe. In order to speak while being crucified, it would be necessary for the person to lift themselves up in order to take in breath of air. In some crucifixions, the condemned person was tied to the cross. In Jesus’ case, He was nailed to the cross with spikes through His wrists and His shins.

When Jesus wanted to speak, He would bear His weight on the spikes in His shins. The spikes would press against nerves in the shins, and the pain would be excruciating. In this way, every breath Jesus took was filed with searing pain and agony.

The first few statements from the cross would have been relatively easy to speak, but as the ordeal continued, the pain would increase while the strength would wane. Jesus’ last few statements consisted of less than ten words, with most less than five words.

The first statement from the cross is Jesus’ request to forgive those who were crucifying Him. In speaking these words, Jesus shows us the following:

Central Truth: Jesus’ first words on the cross are a summary of His ministry and His crucifixion.

Why Jesus said what He said (34)

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (v. 34a).

It had already been a horrendous day for Jesus. He had had no sleep since the day before. He had spent the night under the thumbs of the Sanhedrin, Herod and Pilate. He had been wrongly accused, condemned, beaten and reviled. He had been abandoned by all but possibly one apostle, John. Having been scourged by the Roman soldiers, Jesus had been forced to carry His cross through the streets of Jerusalem. Too weak from the physical abuse and loss of blood to carry the crossbar, a man from the crowd, Simon of Cyrene, was forced to carry it for Jesus.

Now Jesus has been nailed to the cross, His body rudely and roughly thrown up and hung for all to see.

It was at this time that Jesus spoke the words of forgiveness. And we have to ask the question: “Why?”

The answer is that it is consistent with Who Jesus is and what Jesus was all about. From the moment Jesus agreed to surrender His glory and become a person, from the moment God so loved the world that He sent His Son, Jesus’ ministry was all about the forgiveness of sins and the salvation of people.

Having come into the world to forgive, having walked resolutely to Jerusalem, having allowed Himself to be condemned to death on a cross, why should we expect anything but “Father, forgive them” as His first words?

When Jesus taught His Model Prayer, He included the phrase, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” He went on to explain that if we do not forgive others, the Father will not forgive us. We see from these words that forgiveness is a large part of Jesus’ ministry.

When we look at Jesus’ teachings about forgiveness, we learn that He saw forgiveness as the normal response from those who received God’s grace. If we are worshipping and remember we have hurt someone or wronged someone, we are to go immediately and seek forgiveness. When others wrong us, we are to seek reconciliation. But regardless of reconciliation or not, we are called upon to forgive those who do us harm or do us wrong.

So, in saying what He said, Jesus models the forgiving spirit that He expects us to also model in our world. The Romans, the crowds, the thieves—none of them deserved God’s forgiveness. Yet Jesus lifted the prayer up anyway.

His example must be our life commitment, as well.

People don’t think about what they say or do (33, 34b)

There are all kinds of reasons people hurt us or do us wrong. The vast majority of time, people are just being people. We often time go through life oblivious to those around us, usually unaware of things we may do or say that people find offensive. And it’s at times like this that we need forgiveness and to forgive others.

Look at the soldiers who were at Jesus’ cross that day. To them, it was just another duty, another assignment that a soldier was expected to do. We have no idea how many times these particular soldiers had been on a crucifixion detail, but it wouldn’t have mattered. They had a job to do, orders to obey, and that’s just what they did.

It was the typical crucifixion for them. There was nothing special about the moment. Maybe the crowd was more animated, possibly larger than some crucifixions. Verse 34b says the soldiers, having secured Jesus and the two thieves to their respective crosses, did what soldiers always did at a crucifixion. They gambled for the condemned people’s possessions. In Jesus’ case, it was His clothing.

Had we been there at Calvary on that day, and we were able to speak with the Roman soldiers, if we had asked them what they were doing, they would have said nothing out of the ordinary. Granted, most of their days were spent doing garrison duties and patrols, making their presence known, but for the most part, the only thing different about the day was that it included a crucifixion to take care of.

To them, it was just an ordinary day doing ordinary things that was expected of a Roman soldier. Had we asked them what they thought about Jesus, they would probably have said they had never heard of Him. If they had, they probably didn’t really have an opinion about Him. To them, He was just some guy unlucky enough to have been condemned to be crucified. It’s sad, but it’s what happens.

People doing ordinary things and, somehow, causing harm. Recently, the news has had coverage of a scandal in Virginia involving blackface makeup. If we were to sit with the politicians who had been involved in that, and if we had asked them at the time they were putting on the blackface, the odds were they would have said they hadn’t really thought about it, it was just something they were doing. They never would have dreamed that they would have had a profound experience because of some silly thing they did in the past.

And yet, here they are. Ordinary people doing what they assume are ordinary things can hurt others. It is our task and our responsibility to forgive those who hurt us without thinking.

Some people deliberately want to hurt us (35-37)

Verses 35-37 speak about the deliberate abuse Jesus took while on the cross. The soldiers mocked Him. The religious leaders taunted Him. At least one of the thieves hurled insults at Jesus. As much as Jesus’ prayer was meant for the soldiers who nailed Him to the cross, so, too, did it apply to these people who deliberately set out to hurt Him.

The truth is there are people in our world who do want to harm us. There are some in our world who find value in belittling, taunting and ridiculing others. Why do we think there are bullies in the world?

When someone deliberately hurts us, when they go out of their way to destroy us, what should we do?

Our first response is to get even or to fight back. The idea of turning the other cheek is not natural. But turning the other cheek and forgiving those who deliberately want to hurt us is precisely what the Gospel is all about. The Gospel is the radical idea that God’s love is so much greater than any one’s sins that the love can overcome the sin. The love of God can forgive even the greatest of sins, and so it is that we must also learn to forgive, to turn the other cheek.

Even when people mean to hurt us, we must follow Jesus’ example, and forgive those who hurt us.

Some people use us to get at other people (38)

“There was a written notice above Him, which read: This is the King of the Jews” (v.38).

Why do you suppose Pilate ordered the notice placed over Jesus as He hung on the cross? If we could ask Pilate, he would probably have said that he wanted the public to know the reason for Jesus’ crucifixion. But notice there is no mention of a notice above the thieves.

When we look at the relationship between Pilate and the religious leaders, we come to the very quick awareness that they did not like each other. Both Pilate and the religious leaders had power, and both wanted more power. This power struggle inevitably lead to power struggles and resentments.

As Jesus stood before Pilate, Pilate’s attitude is made apparent when he asked why Jesus was brought to him in the first place. As Pilate questions Jesus, it becomes clear to Pilate that this is a dispute between Jesus and the others. He realizes Jesus really has done nothing illegal, only taught a way of life that was at odds with the official religion of the region. Numerous times, Pilate tried to release Jesus. He told the Sanhedrin and their followers he had no reason to condemn Jesus. He offered to release Jesus as a gesture of compassion. He did his best to keep from crucifying Jesus, but Pilate could not let Jesus go. He was forced by the religious leaders to crucify Jesus.

The sign was Pilate’s way of digging at the Jewish leaders. The sign read, “This is the king of the Jews.” The Sanhedrin wanted it changed to “He said He was the king of the Jews.” Pilate’s response was to leave it exactly as it was written. He wanted to use this as a way of getting back at the religious leaders.

Sometimes, people will use us to get their way. It’s painful when people we think were our friends turn out to be nothing of the sort. It hurts to be used by people for their own aims and purposes. No one likes to be used. And when we are used, we don’t want to forgive such actions.

But Jesus knew what was going on. He knew of Pilate’s conflict with the Sanhedrin. He knew Pilate had lost that fight. He knew what the sign said. And Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

When people use us for whatever reason, it is not our duty to condemn them. It is our responsibility to forgive them.

Conclusion

Life would be a lot easier if people did exactly what we wanted them to do. But they don’t, and that’s what makes life hard. We meet thoughtless people, mean people and manipulative people, every day and at all hours. There are times we may want to scream. We may want to wash our hands of them all.

When we are ready to scream, let us go back to Calvary. Let us stand at that cross and let us hear once again those words: “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.”

If anyone had the right to hurl curses, it was Jesus. He did not. He forgave.

How can we do any thing less?