Luke 23:33-34

33 “When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one on His right and the other on His left. 34Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots.”

As we look closer at the first shout of the Savior: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” we discover several significant truths about Christ’s cry from the cross. The first truth we see is:

1. The fulfillment of prophecy.

In Isaiah 53 we see several significant statements about the suffering of the Savior. We need to keep in mind that these statements were prophesied by Isaiah over 700 years before Jesus was even born.

He would be despised and rejected by men (3)

He would be a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering (3)

He would be afflicted by God because of our sins (4, 8)

He would be pierced for our transgressions (5)

He would be wounded and bruised by men (7)

He would be led like a lamb to slaughter and be silent before His accusers (7)

He would be buried in a rich man’s tomb (9)

He would a guilt offering (10)

He would be numbered with the transgressors (12)

He would pray for those transgressors (12)

As Jesus prayed for the Father to forgive them, He was fulfilling a precise prophecy from Isaiah 53:12: “For He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” There are two benefits and blessings from the fulfillment of prophecy, first it helps us to see that Jesus is the promised Savior and second it helps us to believe the Bible. Next Christs cry from the cross shows us:

2. The blindness and hardness of the human heart.

Jesus prayer reveals that those who crucified Him did not really have a clue as to what they were doing. While they understood fully what they meant when they cried out, “Crucify Him. Crucify Him,” they were ignorant to the enormity of their crime. What they failed to understand was that they were crucifying Christ the king of Glory. Yet their ignorance was their own fault because all of the prophecies pointed to the truth. Also His teaching was profound and filled with words of wisdom and authority which pointing to who he was. Then there were the may miracles that should have convinced them. Or His perfect life of love that should have removed any doubt and skepticism about His identity. Just like them we also have no excuse, because we all have something in our system called sin. We may want to plead ignorance and make excuses, but ignorance is not the same thing as innocence. Romans 1:20 says, “…that men are without excuse.” We want to make excuses or justify our sin, or judge ourselves as better than others because their sin seems worse than ours. But God has a zero tolerance for sin, He doesn’t grade on a curve but on a cross. In Acts 3:17 Peter revealed that those who were responsible for the death of Christ had acted in ignorance and that while the death of Jesus had fulfilled prophecy people still needed to respond with repentance: 17 “Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. 18 But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things. 19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.” It’s not enough just to recognize our sin we need to repent of our sin. Jesus doesn’t pray “Father just forget about what they are doing” no He specifically request “forgiveness” because they were responsible for their actions and needed the Fathers forgiveness. Just like them we too are in need of forgiveness, so that we can be released from our debt to a holy God. Not only does it show us our blind and hard hearts but it reveals:

3. The seriousness of our sin

Because our hearts are blind we often fail to see the poverty and seriousness of our need. We are all sinners in need of forgiveness not just those who were involved in His crucifixion. Yet many of us don’t see ourselves as sinners, because all we can see is the sin of others. What most of us do is to castigate others for their sins while excusing our own behavior. This shows up on both a personal and national level as we refer to people in other countries as “evil” while deceiving ourselves with our own national self-righteousness. Several years ago the USA referred to Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as the “Axis of Evil,” but the truth is that the real axis of evil is really me, myself, and I. We have to stop kidding ourselves into believing that sin is out there, because the truth is it isn’t out there it’s in us. Not only does Christs cry from the cross reveal the seriousness of sin but also:

4. The identification of Jesus.

Here on the cross we see Jesus call out to the Father to forgive, which is significant because up until now He had forgiven the sins of others without asking for the Father to do so. Like in Matthew 9:2where we read the words: “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” So why does He now ask the Father to forgive their sins instead of directly pronouncing forgiveness Himself? Because Jesus as the sacrificial lamb is about to give His life as the sin substitute. His death is payment for the penalty of sin, not just a down payment, or partial payment but the full payment. So He pleads with the Father to accept the sacrifice of His blood on our behalf. When He ministered on earth He had the power and authority to forgive people their sins because He knew that on the cross their sins would be dealt with. Here on the cross we see Him interceding for hard-hearted people by pleading for the Father to accept His sacrifice blood as He lays down His life for us. The One who needed no forgiveness died so that we who are condemned without it could be forgiven. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” He not only pleaded our case, He took our punishment. So what are you going to do with your forgiveness? Are you going to hold onto it, refusing to share the Saviors sacrifice, or hold it out to others and use it to heal?

Luke 15:28-32

28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’ 31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”

Luke 23:33-34

33 “When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one on His right and the other on His left. 34Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots.”

One of the most powerful points of the passage that many of us miss it that there are actually three sons in the parable. There’s the younger son who ran away and returned. There’s the older son who responded with resentment. And then, there’s the third son, the Son of God the one who is telling the story. He is the son who left His Father’s house to come to the far country of planet earth to die for our sins. Unlike the younger son whose departure was rooted in rebellion, Jesus didn’t leave his home in heaven because he was disobedient but because He was obedient even unto death. Jesus didn’t just preach forgiveness he practiced it. In Luke 23 we see him modeling the message of forgiveness even in the face of hurt and hate. Often the last words of a dying person are the ones that are not forgotten. A person’s closing comments often reveal their pain and agony. Some enter eternity without saying anything, while others utter sentiments that disclose their values, priorities, and innermost thoughts. Here are a few of the last words of famous people:

“This is the last of Earth! I am content!” John Quincy Adams, a former president of the United States, gleefully pronounced these words on his deathbed on February 21, 1848.

“I’m going away tonight.” These were the last five words uttered by James Brown, “The Godfather of the Soul,” shortly before he died

While on the brink of death, the wife of renowned chemical scientist Michael Faraday asked him if he had ever pondered what his occupation would probably be in the next life. To which he responded with his last words “I shall be with Christ, and that is enough.”

Joan Crawford, highly regarded as one of the most spectacular movie actresses of her time, got cancer in her 70’s. The two nurses who took care of her on her last day offered a prayer beside her bed. The movie star saw them praying, and uttered “Don’t you dare ask God to help me,” then breathed her last.

When we come to the cross we hear the final cries of Christ, seven shouts of the Savior that are filled with meaning and purpose. Most of the time on the cross was spent in silence except for seven sentences that are recorded for us. These weighty words fell from His lips as His blood flowed down the cross. Because His body was wracked with pain and his throat was parched with thirst, He had no energy to waste on trivial words. No each word serves as a window that lets us look through and see the true heart of Savior and His ultimate sacrifice. These statements are linked together like the rungs on a ladder creating a mutual dependence. The first three take place from 9:00 a.m. to noon:

1. “Father, forgive them.” (Luke 23:34)
2. “Today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
3. “Dear woman, here is your son.” (John 19:26)

From noon to 3:00 p.m. darkness covered the land and then beginning at about 3:00, Jesus uttered his final words:

4. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
5. “I am thirsty.” (John 19:28
6. “It is finished.” (John 19:30)
7. “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)

Christ’s final words reveal to us the rich doctrines of Christianity: forgiveness, faith, family, the humanity of Christ and His substitutionary death, the fulfillment of Scripture, the justification of the believer, and the absolute certainty of eternity. In this blog we are only going to focus on the first cry from the cross, “Father forgive.” In order to catch his breath and be able to speak Jesus had to push up on the nail in his feet, forcing him to scrape the lacerations on his back against the rough timber of the cross. As Jesus experienced the agony of the cross he chose to use his last words to forgive. Struggling for breath with carbon dioxide accumulating in his body he spent his energy not on himself but on others. Roman historians reveal that it was common for those who were being crucified to utter blasphemies and hurl words of hate at those involved in their execution. The Roman philosopher Cicero writes that sometimes the executioners would cut out the tongues of those being crucified so that the soldiers would not have to listen to their vindictive verbiage. When it comes to how Christ responded to the crucifixion Peter provides us with this perspective, In 1 Peter 2:23: “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when He suffered, he made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.” What a contrast in how Christ responded on the cross. Jesus could have prayed for the Father to consume them and wipe them of the face of the earth and yet he prayed for the Father to forgive. When faced ridicule and rejection what is your reaction? Do you fight or forgive? Jesus faced these pains with prayer, instead of turning to anger he turned to the Almighty. Instead of responding with retribution he prayed a prayer of pardon. His request was not for Himself but for “them” for sinners just like us. Instead of focusing on the pain He pleaded in prayer for our forgiveness. When man had done his worst, Jesus prayed, not for justice, but for mercy. As amazing as all this is what really shocks me is that the tense of the verse indicates that this wasn’t just a one-time request. Jesus prayed repeatedly for their forgiveness. When the nails tore through His tendons, sending pain shearing through His body, He prayed, “Father, forgive them.” When the cross was dropped into place between the two criminals, He cried out, “Father, forgive them.” When they gambled over his only earthly possessions he exclaimed, “Father, forgive them.” As the religious rulers insulted Him He replied, “Father, forgive them.” When the soldiers mocked Him, he responded with the words, “Father, forgive them.” Jesus prayed in the pain but he didn’t just turn to prayer in the problems, His public ministry began with prayer at his baptism in Luke 3:21: “…And as He was praying, heaven was opened.” He went on to flooded heaven with His prayers during His three years of preaching, as He taught His followers to do the same. His time on earth started and ended with prayer. What about you is prayer a part of your life, does it permeated everything that you do, or is prayer something you pull out only in the problems? Instead of spending His energy fighting Jesus expended it on forgiving. When we focus on the father we focus on forgiveness. One of the reasons may of us fail to forgive is because we have a faulty focus. We are focusing on our hurts instead of the healer. Not only did Jesus intercede but he still does, as Hebrews 7:25 says, He “always lives to make intercession for us.” Today we can not only find forgiveness, we can share it. Just as Jesus forgave the unforgiveable so can we. Who do you need to forgive today?