We will be having a different speaker for each week, and today I kicked things off with a devotion on this passage, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do..."
Here is the text of that devotion...
In
Greg Laurie’s book, Finding Hope in the
Last Words of Jesus, he tells a story about Richard Versalle. Versalle was an opera tenor in the New York
City Metropolitan Opera. During a
performance at the Lincoln Center in New York City, he climbed up on a ladder
for a scene and he sang the words, “Too
bad you can only live so long.” At
that very moment, he fell ten feet off the ladder onto the stage floor, and
died on the spot. There was no way he
could have known that his last words would be “Too bad you can only live so long.” Ironic, isn’t it?
In
every life, there will come an end. We
will all have a last meal. We will all
take a last breath. And we will all give
a last statement. Some of us will know
what that last statement will be. But
for many of us, the end may come quickly, and we won’t know. No one really knows with any certainty when
the end will come. Yet so often our last
words can mean so much.
During
our Lenten Lunches, our theme will be, Statements
from the Cross. Over the next
several weeks we’ll be looking at the final words of Jesus, the seven
statements that He made from the cross, statements He made knowing His life was
about to end. I think we will find them
consistent with the way He lived His life.
And I think these seven statements will tend to summarize his message to
us.
We
read the first of these statements today.
“Father, Forgive them, for they do
not know what they are doing.” That’s
a prayer, isn’t it. The fact that Jesus’
first words from the cross were in the form of a prayer, doesn’t really
surprise us, does it? Jesus was a man of
prayer, He often taught the importance of prayer in a Christian’s life. And let’s face it, even people who never pray,
might pray in a life or death situation, facing an emergency.
So
the fact He prayed isn’t surprising. But
is this what you might have expected him to pray? I don’t know about you, but I might have
prayed, “Father, help me!” Or maybe one
of his later statements first, “My God, My God, Why have your forsaken
me?” But knowing Jesus like we do, perhaps
this was fitting. He didn’t pray for His
loved ones, or for His friends. He
prayed for His enemies.
In
the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5:44, He taught, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Jesus had once told Peter to forgive others
seventy times seven times. Jesus was
doing exactly what He taught others to do.
He was forgiving His enemies. We
can better see the importance of forgiving our enemies, knowing that Jesus
forgive His.
I
think this also shows us that no one is beyond the reach of prayer. Jesus is actually praying for the very people
who had whipped Him, beaten Him, and crucified Him. Talk about loving your enemies! You might think he would have been filled
with hatred toward these people, despising them for what they were doing. Yet, he prayed for their forgiveness.
You
may know someone who you can’t even imagine ever coming to church, ever
believing in Jesus. You may have an
enemy that has wronged you, and you think that in eternity, God will pay them
back. Jesus’ message to us is to pray
for that person, no matter how hopeless it may look. Pray for that person. Pray for those who have wronged you, for
those who have hurt you. And don’t give
up praying for them.
Perhaps
this prayer also shows that Jesus recognized the incredible weight of their
sin, even if they didn’t. He so often
looked out over the crowds and was filled with compassion. Even from the cross, He looked out over the
people, people who had beat Him, whipped him, and hung Him on this cross to die,
and He was filled with compassion for them.
It was like He said, “Father, forgive them, for they need forgiveness so
desperately… Forgive them, for they have
committed a sin that is so wicked.
Forgive them, for they have committed a sin that is pure evil, and they
don’t even realize it.
In
Acts 2:36-37, Peter is preaching to the crowd right after the Pentecost. He says, “Therefore,
let all Israel be assured of this: God
has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” When the people heard this, they were cut to
the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we
do?’”
They
were cut to the heart! The phrase means
“to pierce” or “to stab,” and it has the image of something sudden and
unexpected. Like it suddenly dawned on
them that they had been responsible for the death of the Messiah, the one they
had been waiting for for so long. The One they had longed for for centuries had
finally come. But instead of welcoming
Him and rejoicing with Him, they rejected Him and handed Him over to their
bitter and hated enemies, the Romans, to have Him executed.
As
Jesus hung on that cross, the people responsible hurled insults at Him and
mocked Him. I have to think that must
have hurt Him as much as the nails. The
people He came to save were mocking Him, insulting Him, being downright abusive
toward Him. Yet, He prayed for their forgiveness.
I
want to suggest to you today that we can be that forgiving. We can truly love our enemies. We can truly forgive others that abuse us or
treat us wrongly. We can reach out in
love to those who seem so unlovable. The
natural instinctive reaction is to give it right back to them, to harbor a
grudge, ignore, complain, and walk away with a hardened heart. But we can choose to react differently. We can love, and we can forgive those who
hurt us.
The
choice is yours. I encourage you to
follow Jesus’ example. I encourage you
to love and to forgive. I encourage you
to be a person of love and forgiveness.
That no matter what may come in the future, Jesus’ response may be your
response.
Father,
Forgive them. They really don’t
understand what they are doing.
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