Luke 23.26-38


As I look back over my days there are some people who stand out. These are
the relatively few people who, in my experience, have set themselves apart.
The qualities that they exhibited made a difference in my life. And though
their interaction with me was something that happened long ago, I still
remember them. I'm still impressed with the kind of people that they were to
me. I can't help but think that there are certain people who have stood out
in your life as well, people who caused you to be at least a little amazed.
And as we've been impressed with these special people we've seen a desire
growing in ourselves to be like them, at least in some ways. They were,
after all, very impressive people. We need to add another name to that short
list of people. We need to add the name of Jesus. Most of us don't consider
Him as a part of that list. Our tendency is to put Him in a different
category. We acknowledge the ancient truth that He was and is truly man as
well as truly God, but for us, in reality, He is something other than a man,
something more than a man. And so, we are not impressed with Him. Unlike the
people on our list, He isn't really one of us. And so, what He does is, in a
way, to be expected. After all, He is God. One of my goals today is to help
you look at Jesus as a man, the man that He was and is, to look at Him and
be impressed with Him. I want you to consider our text and realize that what
He did, He did as a man. What He did, He did as one of us. I want you to see
that so that you will be impressed with this man, Jesus. I want Him to be at
the top of that short list of people who have stood out for you. I want you
to feel that growing desire to be like Him. That isn't all that I'm aiming
at. My other goal for this morning is to have you take another look at
forgiveness, the call of God for us to forgive others. There is more there
for you to see. God willing, we all will be changed a little bit this
morning as a result of hearing from the Spirit.

In our text, Jesus provides us with an example of what it means to forgive.
If you are going to understand this forgiveness that Jesus prayed for, the
forgiveness that you are expected to express to others, you need to have
some sense of the enormity of the injustice committed against Jesus. So, let
me remind you of what really happened on that day when Jesus died. Our text
describes a lynching. They took a man who was completely innocent and
murdered Him. Now, it would be bad enough if, some dark night, someone
ambushed Jesus and stabbed Him again and again until he was sure He was
dead. That would still be horrible, but at least it would be quick. But that
isn't what happened. Jesus died slowly and painfully. He was whipped with a
cat o' nine tails until His flesh was ripped to shreds. Then they marched
Him out of the city. Ordinarily, you would carry your own cross. But Jesus,
evidently, was too weak to do that. Then, at the place of execution, they
stripped Him naked for all to see, and then they drove these spikes into the
bones of His ankles and wrists so that He would be affixed to that cross.
They lifted up the cross and slammed it into a hole. And then they watched
Him writhe in pain. But even that wasn't enough. They ridiculed Him.
Imagine, mocking someone in the midst of such suffering. And Jesus died –
slowly. But before He did, while still in the throes of death, He asked that
these people, the very people who brought such suffering upon Him, might be
forgiven. What He did, He did as a man, as one of us. If you hear nothing
else this morning, I hope that you have heard this. Look at Jesus and
consider what He did.

All too often, the Gospel teaching on forgiveness is confused with what is
merely proper social etiquette. Anyone can forgive some oversight, some faux
pas, some misstep. And so, when someone does something like that and says,
'I'm sorry', it makes sense that we say, 'Oh, it was nothing.' After all, it
really was nothing. And all it takes to deal with that is good upbringing.
But that is not what the Gospel is talking about when it calls us to forgive
others. Gospel forgiveness includes dealing with horrific sins against you.
It includes dealing with enormous injustices. It requires much more than
just good upbringing. It makes sense, then, that when real forgiveness is
happening, the right language isn't a mere, 'I'm sorry' or even 'I
apologize'. The right language shows that the person asking for forgiveness
understands what is being requested and says, 'I have no excuse. Would you
please forgive me for what I have done against you?' And the answer to that
isn't, 'Oh, it was nothing', because it wasn't nothing. The right answer is
the promise, 'Yes, I forgive you.' People who don't see this can let little
slights go but can't forgive something that really hurts. Gospel forgiveness
is about dealing with real hurts, deep wounds, serious suffering.

Now we're ready to take a look at Jesus' words. 'Father, forgive them...'.
Please note that He is not offering His own forgiveness. What we see is a
fruit of His own forgiveness. He is praying that the Father would forgive
them. By the time that Jesus utters this prayer, He has already forgiven.
How else could He have offered such a prayer? But consider what is reflected
in this prayer. Jesus is so far from hating His murderers that He is
actually praying for them. 'Father, forgive them...' Real forgiveness
results in love – not just tolerance, but love – for those who have sinned
against you. That is a sign that real forgiveness has occurred in your soul.
You aren't focused on how this other person has hurt you. You aren't still
licking your wounds though you have already muttered the right words. Real
forgiveness yields concern for the other – the offender. But let's take this
a little further. Jesus asks the Father to forgive these people their
enormous sin. How can God do that? He isn't going to just sweep it under the
rug. Someone has to pay for their sin. And we know who that is. Jesus will
pay for it. Understand what that means. Jesus is willing to suffer for the
sake of His murderers. He prays on their behalf aware of what that prayer
requires. Do you see what that means for you? Forgiveness includes a
willingness to suffer for the sake of the other. You cannot say that you
will forgive someone only when their sin stops hurting. You are called to
forgive even though it still hurts, even though you know that it will
continue to hurt for quite a while. Forgiveness is the promise not to react
against the other even though the pain has not gone away. It is a
willingness to suffer.

Some may think that such forgiveness is more than what they care to pursue.
They decide that they'll just opt out of this part of the Gospel's
requirements. But consider what happens when you refuse to forgive. Refusing
to forgive means that you are holding on to your anger against their sin.
There is a place for anger. But anger that is not properly handled, anger
that is not canceled by forgiveness, becomes corrosive. When someone refuses
to forgive, the anger within churns and boils. It eats away at your soul.
And it becomes something else. It becomes bitterness. While anger can be a
virtue when used correctly, there is nothing virtuous about bitterness. It
only destroys. If not dealt with, it will kill. There are other problems for
those who refuse to forgive. Listen to Jesus. 'And whenever you stand
praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father
also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.' [Mark 11:25-26]
Those who refuse to forgive will have problems with their prayers. Will the
Father listen to such people? No, He will not. But even worse than that,
those who refuse to forgive will not be forgiven. At the end of the parable
of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18, the king reverses his decision to
forgive that unforgiving servant. Instead, he 'delivered him to the
torturers'. Jesus closes that parable with these words. 'So also my heavenly
Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from
your heart.' [Matthew 18:35] The refusal to forgive carries a great cost.

It's at this point that I'm supposed to tell you that you had better
forgive, that you must forgive, that it is commanded that you forgive. Well,
it is a command, but one that is best understood this way. Consider Jesus.
Think about what was going on as He offered that prayer from the cross. Be
amazed as you put side by side the enormity of the injustice committed
against Him and His willingness to forgive – really forgive – all of that.
As you let that seep into your soul the question is no longer, 'Do I have to
forgive?' The question becomes, 'Do you really think that I could ever
forgive like that?' Jesus' example is stunning. As we look at Him and then
at ourselves the difference is crushing. And yet, what is the Gospel all
about? What is God's goal in this Gospel? That you might be conformed to the
image of His Son. [Romans 8.29] That you would become like Jesus. Imagine
being the kind of person who, though seriously sinned against, is able to
truly forgive! Jesus did that. But it wasn't because of His deity. Consider
something back at the beginning of Luke's Gospel. 'And Jesus, full of the
Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan ...' [Luke 4:1] What Jesus did in that
prayer from the cross He did as a man, a man who had the power of the
Spirit. But don't you also have the power of that same Spirit? Isn't that
one of the benefits of the Gospel that all who believe receive? So, don't
think, 'Do I have to forgive?' Change it around. See it in the right light
and then ask, 'Is it possible that I could become the kind of person who
forgives like Jesus?' The Gospel says, 'Yes'. Do you believe it?

There is more to this than the good that you can experience, the change that
you can enjoy. Imagine Christians like us being changed so that, in this and
other ways, we become more and more like Jesus. Imagine our becoming a
forgiving people like He is. In this we do not minimize the seriousness of
the sins committed against us. We don't say, 'Oh, it was nothing.' But we
have such a spirit about us that, notwithstanding how awful we are sinned
against, we are able to really forgive. As we become more like Jesus, our
neighbors – people who cannot forgive real offenses – will notice. Pursuing
Christlikeness becomes a major means of drawing others to the Jesus whom we
know to be so amazing.

I love reading my Bible, all of it. But there are parts of the Bible that
have become more precious to me over the years: the Psalms and the Gospels.
The Gospels, though, have the edge because in the Gospels I find myself
amazed as I watch this man, Jesus. When I grow up, I want to be like Him.
And I am so bold as to think that God has promised me that one day I will
be. What about you?