CROSS WORDS

SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS

“FORGIVENESS”

LUKE 23:32-34

 

WHAT WILL BE YOUR DYING WORDS?  What will be the final words you say before you pass from this life?  Have you ever thought about that?  What will you communicate to your loved ones?

 

Most of us probably have not given much, if any, thought to the last words we will speak.  Most things that people say before they die are spontaneous.  But they do reveal the heart and character of a person and what is important to them.

 

Most often the final words of a person will focus on……

• Relationships.  The relationship with one’s family.  Tell their family “I love you.”
• Regrets a person has for something they did; or a regret of not having done something they should have done
• Reconciliation- asking forgiveness of others; of God; granting forgiveness to others
• Reassurance-reaffirming their faith; making sure their family will be ok

Seeking to comfort their family in their passing

 

Today I am beginning this Easter sermon series.  Easter is one month out.  Easter Sunday is four weeks away.  On April 5^th, we’re going to celebrate the greatest day in the history of the world!  Resurrection Sunday!  Jesus is alive!

 

As we countdown to Easter Sunday, we’re going to look at Jesus’ final words.  We’re going to look at the last words Jesus ever spoke before he died.  Words he spoke from the cross.

 

Here’s why we’re going to look at Jesus’ Seven Last Words.  If we’re going to see Easter like we’ve never seen Easter before; we have to see the cross like we’ve never seen the cross before.  We don’t get to Easter Sunday without first going through Good Friday.  You can’t celebrate the empty tomb without first seeing the suffering Savior.  You don’t get to the wonder of the Resurrection without experiencing the horror of the crucifixion.

 

So, over the next month, we will be looking at the Seven Last Words of Jesus from the cross. Seven statements that convey the heart of the Savior. 

 

And I guarantee you the Seven Last Words of Jesus were not spontaneous.  They were carefully chosen.  These words are significant.  They convey important messages to you and me.

 

As we begin, I want to point out something very interesting.  It’s this.  Jesus was silent on the way to the cross.  This was the fulfillment of the prophecy recorded in Isaiah 53:7

 

“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” – Isaiah 53:7

 

Jesus did not respond to the false accusations made against him.

Jesus did not speak out or speak up when he was spit upon, slapped, beaten, mocked and whipped.

 

Peter wrote- “When they hurled insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats.  Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”

 

Jesus remained silent until they hung him on the cross.  It was when he hung on the cross that Jesus spoke.  And with his Seven Last Words Jesus spoke volumes.

 

LET’S PRAY AND THEN WE WILL LISTEN TO JESUS’ FIRST LAST WORD

PRAYER

 

Jesus’s first last word is found in……

 

1.THE PLEA FROM THE CROSS

 

Let’s read this FIRST, LAST WORD together:

 

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” -Luke 23:34

 

Sometimes, as I stated earlier, a person’s dying words will be words of forgiveness; asking to be forgiven or saying I forgive you to someone.

 

Jesus’ first, last word was a word of forgiveness.  He prayed to God that he would forgive those who do not know what they were doing.

 

For whom did Jesus make this plea?

• Pilate who signed off on Jesus’ crucifixion
• The religious leaders who demanded Jesus be executed
• The people who shouted, “Crucify him!”
• The Roman soldiers who tortured and executed him
• The thieves who cursed him
• Judas who betrayed him; Peter who denied him; the disciples who deserted him
• This was also a prayer of forgiveness for you and for me

 

This first, final word was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.  Christianity is validated by the fulfillment of prophecy.  There are over 300 Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah that came true in Jesus.

 

David prophesied that Jesus would be crucified.  David wrote that prophecy 700 years before Jesus’ crucifixion took place.  This was before crucifixion had even been invented as a means of execution.  That is amazing in its accuracy!

 

This plea of Jesus, this first final word of Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah 53:12:

 

“He poured out his life unto death and was numbered among the transgressors.  For he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.” – Isaiah 53:12

 

Intercession is another word for prayer.  From the cross Jesus prayed that God would forgive those who sinned against him.  This fulfillment of prophecy tells us that the cross was God’s plan all along.

 

Could you have prayed this prayer that Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them?” I know I couldn’t.  Our prayers for those who have hurt us, if we pray at all, probably go something like this- “God deal with them.  God pay them back.  God, I hope they hurt like they hurt me.”

 

Yet, Jesus, in his dying set an example of forgiveness for us to follow.  This is true of all seven of Jesus’ last words.  Jesus, in his death, shows us how to live.  Jesus’ dying words are words for us to live by. 

 

With this first, last word, Jesus modeled forgiveness for us.  We are to forgive people who hurt us, betray us, wrong us and reject us.  We are to offer them what Jesus offered each and every one of us: forgiveness.

 

“But, pastor, you don’t know how I’ve been hurt.  You don’t understand what someone did to me.”  You’re right.  I don’t know.  But here is what I do know.  You’ll never have to forgive anyone more than what God has already forgiven you.

 

With this first word from the cross, Jesus modeled how to forgive, in two ways.  The first is that forgiveness starts with prayer.  Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them.”

 

There is a supernatural aspect to forgiveness.  Forgiveness is not natural.  Bitterness is natural.  Anger is natural.  Resentment is natural.  Retaliation is natural.

 

Forgiveness takes supernatural grace from God.  So, we pray.  Because we’re going to need God’s help to forgive those who have hurt us. 

 

Now, for some of us, prayer may be the only step of forgiveness you are able to take today.  But you need to take this first step of forgiveness.  Forgiveness begins in prayer, in praying to be able to forgive those who have offended us.  Jesus taught…..

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” -Matthew 5:44

 

Forgiveness is hard.  It’s even harder when you don’t first pray about it.  Perhaps you still haven’t forgiven someone because you’ve never prayed about it.

 

Jesus also modeled this principle of forgiveness: Forgiveness depends on you; it does not depend on the one who hurt you.

 

We have such a flawed sense of forgiveness.  Here is how we usually think about forgiveness.

• I’ll forgive them when they apologize to me.  Jesus didn’t wait for an apology
• I’ll forgive them when they pay me back and make things right between us.  Jesus didn’t wait for a payback
• I will forgive them when I feel like it.  Do you think that Jesus felt like forgiving while he was suffering on the cross?  If you wait until you feel like forgiving someone, you’ll never forgive them
• I will forgive them when they ask me to forgive them. Who asked Jesus for his forgiveness when he was dying?
• I won’t forgive because they don’t deserve my forgiveness.  Jesus didn’t wait for us to deserve forgiveness.  That’s good.  That’s grace.  Because we would never deserve his forgiveness.

 

Forgiveness does not mean that what someone said or did to you did not happen or it did not hurt.  Forgiveness does not mean it was ok.  Forgiveness does not mean that you are letting someone off the hook. 

 

Forgiveness means I’ll let God deal with them so I can be free of hatred, bitterness and resentment.  Someone said- “Forgiveness is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was me.”

 

Forgiveness does not depend on the other person.  Forgiveness depends on you.  God will bless you when you forgive.  Don’t you want the blessing of God?

 

Your hurt was real.  The emotional wounds are deep.  You have emotional scars to prove it.  But you don’t have to hold on to the hurt and continue to hurt.  You can experience healing through forgiveness.  And that, beloved, is a blessing from God.

 

This first last word demonstrates…….

 

2. THE PASSION OF THE SAVIOR

 

Have you ever wondered why God has given us so much?  And why his gifts are so good?

 

God could have left the world flat and gray.  Instead, he gave us the purple mountains majesty, golden sunrises and breath-taking sunsets and magnificent rainbows.

 

God has given every flower a fragrance.  And he gives our food taste.  And our food tastes good; except for broccoli and fruitcake!

 

God has given us so many good gifts.  And all God’s good gifts are expressions of his love for us.  But no gift reveals God’s love more than the gift of the cross.

This gift wasn’t wrapped in paper.  It was wrapped in passion. 

 

The cross demonstrates the passion of Jesus for us.  Romans 5:8 says:

 

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8

 

Jesus’ passion is to forgive.  To the paralytic, Jesus said, “your sins are forgiven you.”  To the woman caught in adultery, Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.”  To the thief on the cross, Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in paradise.

 

Jesus is all in when it comes to forgiveness.  For you and for me Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them.”  Jesus went to the cross because he is passionate about forgiving you!

 

Jesus’ first last word reveals……

 

3. THE PURPOSE OF THE CROSS

 

The purpose of the cross is forgiveness.  We’ve heard it in Jesus’ prayer. 

But exactly what does it mean to be forgiven?

 

  Forgiveness means to put behind; to send away, to dismiss; to remove.  That’s exactly what God has done to our sins because of the cross.  He’s removed them from us.

 

The Bible says that as far as the east is from the west, so far has God removed our sins from us.  The Bible says, “Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them.” 

 

Micah 7:18 & 19 says-“Who is a God like you, who pardons sins and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?  You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.  You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”

 

Paul, in Colossians 2:13-14 tell us why Jesus died:

 

“He has forgiven you all your sins: he has utterly wiped out the written evidence of broken commandments which always hung over our heads, and has completely annulled it by nailing it to the cross.” -Colossians 2:13-14

 

Paul in Colossians says that there was a list.  It was this written evidence of all the commandments of God that each of us have violated! A list of our lies and lust; our greed and our gossip. YIKES!  I don’t know about you, but my list is a rather LONG one! 

 

And Paul said that the list always hung over our heads.  Have you ever lived with guilt, shame, and regret over the things you have done?  Our list of sins can haunt us.

 

And we may be worried, what if the list somehow becomes public? What if that list comes to light for all of heaven to see?  I certainly don’t want my Mom to see my list!

 

I’ve got good news for you!  Your list will never see the light of day!  Your list has been nailed to the cross.  The list cannot be read. The blood of Jesus has bled all over your list and covered it up completely.  Your sins are blotted out by the blood of Jesus.  Your sins, your list has been completely wiped out and erased from the history books.

 

It’s like the hymn says

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul!

 

Isaiah put it this way-“Come now, let us settle the matter,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”

 

So, this first last word reveals the purpose of the cross.  It also tells us that the cross was ON PURPOSE.  The death of Jesus was intentional.  The cross was not a reaction to our sin.  The cross was carefully planned out before the creation of the world.  The cross was the deliberate plan of a loving God to forgive us and save us.

 

Could Jesus have stopped the crucifixion from happening?  Could Jesus have resisted the soldiers as they nailed him to the cross?  Sure, he could.  After all Jesus is the same God who stilled the storms and summoned the dead back to life.

 

Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane with his disciples.  He had prayed to God.  He prayed, if possible, he might escape the path of suffering.  But he prayed, “not my will but yours be done.”

 

The soldiers come to arrest Jesus.  One of the disciples, Peter, draws his sword, to fight them off, and lops off the ear of the servant of the high priest.  Peter, obviously, wasn’t much of a swordsman.  I’m sure Peter wasn’t aiming for the man’s ear.

 

But here is what Jesus said-“Put your sword back in its place.  Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?  But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

 

Jesus could have prayed that the cross be taken away from him and it would have been.  Jesus could have summoned the army of heaven to wipe out the soldiers, and the angels would have come to the rescue of their King.

When the soldier lifted the mallet to drive the spike into Jesus’ hand, Jesus’ strong hand could have swatted the soldier away as easily as you swat away a fly.

 

But he didn’t.  He didn’t pray that way.  He didn’t call upon the army of heaven.  And he didn’t resist the soldier as he drove the nails through his hands and feet.

 

  Instead, he chose the nails. He freely laid down his life.  No one took Jesus’ life from him.  Jesus deliberately, intentionally, with eternal forethought and purpose, surrendered his life.

 

Jesus couldn’t bear the thought of an eternity without you, so he chose the nails.

 

Finally, this first final word of Jesus reminds us of….

 

4.THE PROMISE OF GOD

 

With this final word, Jesus invites you to be forgiven.  And you say, “been there, done that.  I believed, got baptized, and got the T-Shirt.  I wear it often.”

 

As a Christian, I know I am forgiven.  Why then, do you still carry around guilt and shame?  Why do you think God is still keeping score of your wrong doings?

Why do you act like what Jesus did on the cross is not enough to cover what you did yesterday?

 

This first last word is an invitation to you as a Christian to be REALLY forgiven!  To know that God forgave you for what you did last night.  To know that God forgives you for that secret sin that no one knows about.  To know that God forgives you for those bad thoughts and nasty words you might have spoken before you got to church today.

 

From the pen of Paul, we hear this comforting, reassuring promise of God’s forgiveness:

 

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” – Romans 8:1

 

Have you ever seen an old dilapidate, run-down building?  It needs to be torn down.  But, before it is torn down, there is a sign that city officials have posted on the front door of the building.  It says, “Condemned.”

 

Condemned.  The bulldozers and dump trucks show up one day.  The bulldozers tear down the building, and the dump trucks haul the rubble away.

 

To condemn something means to tear it down.  That’s what sin does to us.  It condemns us.  Sin tears us down with pain, guilt, shame, and regret. 

 

But Paul reminds us of the promise of God.  There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!  Your sin will not condemn you and tear you down.

 

Here’s why.  Jesus Christ was already condemned on the cross.  They tore him down.  They beat him down on the cross.  They drove the spikes through his hands and feet.  They pierced his side.  Our sin separated Jesus from God.  Our sin condemned Jesus so that our sin doesn’t have to tear us apart any longer.

 

Whatever it is in your past that you are ashamed of

Whatever you did that you should not have done

Whatever bad choices you made

Whatever sins you have committed

Whatever amount of guilt you are overwhelmed by

 

Hear the invitation from the suffering Savior on the cross- “You don’t have to be condemned because I already was on your behalf.”  “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  Be free from the feelings of condemnation. Be forgiven.

 

“But, Dennis, you don’t know what I have done.  You don’t know how bad I have been.”  No, I don’t.  But Jesus knows.  Jesus knew when he uttered this first last word.  Jesus saw your sin and your shame.  And he simply prayed, “Father forgive them.”

 

This first final word is for you as a Christian.  It is for you, as a believer, who may still be struggling with the guilt and shame of your sin. You’re feeling condemned.  And so, maybe today, for the first time, even though you may have been a Christian for decades, you now fully know the freedom of being forgiven.

 

“Father, forgive them” is also an invitation for anyone who needs to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior for the first time.  So, as we come to this moment of invitation and commitment……

 

If you need to come receive the forgiveness of Jesus for the first time, I invite you to walk forward as we sing our commitment song.

 

If you are a Christian, I invite you to receive Jesus’ invitation of forgiveness again.

 

If today, you need to forgive someone, I invite to forgive them.  Let your forgiveness begin in prayer.