During this season of Lent, these weeks leading up to the celebration of Easter and the resurrection of Jesus, we are looking at some of the words Jesus said while he was dying on the cross. We call this series, red letter day, because the words of Jesus are often in red print in a Bible, but these final words of Jesus aren’t just written in red ink on a page, they were spoken through the red blood of the cross.
Last week we talked about all that had taken place in the 12 hours leading up to these words. Jesus had been betrayed by one of his disciples, and then abandoned by all the rest. There was no one to support Him or stand with Him during His time of need. He was falsely accused by the religious leaders, and then abused by the Roman soldiers who physically tortured Jesus before His crucifixion. He was then bullied and made fun of by the crowds who gathered to watch Him die. Even strangers mocked Him as they walked by. As Jesus looks out and thinks about all of these people, and all of these different offenses, He says this:
Father forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.
To the disciple who betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver, Jesus said, Father forgive him. To his friends who ran in fear when the soldiers arrested Jesus, He said, Father forgive them. To the religious leaders who should have known who He was and celebrated His arrival as the Messiah, Jesus said, Father forgive them. To the Roman officials who crucified Him and the soldiers who beat Him, he said, Father forgive them. To the crowds who gathered or passed by to watch the spectacle of the crucifixion and mocked Him and made fun of Him, He said, Father forgive them.
There wasn’t just one person Jesus was thinking of in this moment, it wasn’t just the soldiers who nailed Him to the cross, or the crowds who made fun of Him, in many ways it was to all of creation that Jesus said this because it was all of creation that nailed Him there. Last week we heard Paul say that Jesus was crucified for our sin, so I am just as guilty of nailing Jesus to the cross as the Roman officials or religious leaders, and so it is also to me, and to you, that Jesus says, Father forgive them.
I’m thankful that each time I read God’s word I see something new or get a different take on a situation. The new thought that came to me this week is that Jesus prays for forgiveness without asking anyone to do anything in order to receive it. Jesus doesn’t say, Father forgive them if they turn and ask you for it. Or, Father, forgive them when they clean up their act, or love you with all their heart. Jesus doesn’t ask God to forgive those who deserve it, in fact He is asking God to forgive those who don’t deserve it because they don’t know what they are doing. Jesus is asking God to forgive us before we turn to Him or ask for it. This prayer shows us just how filled with love, and grace, and mercy God is. God’s love and forgiveness is truly unconditional.
This prayer is not only the desire of Jesus’ heart, He truly does want God to forgive us, but it is also the fulfillment of prophecy. Isaiah 53:12b He poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Not only is Jesus’ death on the cross a fulfillment of prophecy, pouring out His life unto death and being numbered with sinners - literally crucified in between two thieves, but so is this prayer. These red letters fulfill one of the many promises God made about the Messiah. Jesus not only takes on the sin of the world, but He asks God to forgive the world. He is interceding for them. He is interceding for us.
Jesus asks God to forgive us and we don’t deserve it, we can’t earn it, or repay it; all we can do is receive it. Our first response to these red letters of forgiveness is to say, Thank you, Jesus, for asking God to forgive me, and God, thank you for forgiving me in Jesus. Thank you for redeeming us from sin and the grave and allowing us to be in a relationship with you where we can experience the fullness and freedom of life forever. The first response to God’s forgiveness is always to receive it freely, openly, and fully, and we do that in humility, and with gratitude.
The second response is to allow God’s forgiveness to shape us. If forgiveness sets us free, then it sets us free to live differently and to love differently, and the way God calls us to live and love is by forgiving others just as God forgives us. Ephesians 4:32, Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
We pray something similar in the Lord’s Prayer when we ask God to forgive us our sins just as we forgive those who sin against us. Jesus often taught about the need to forgive and the power of forgiveness, and it was just as difficult for the disciples to think about forgiving others as it is for us today.
In Matthew 18, Peter asked Jesus, how many times do I need to forgive someone? Peter thought he would show just how faithful he was by picking a big number, so he said, 7 times? But Jesus said, no not 7 times but 70 x 7 times. While Peter is off doing the math on how many times that really is, Jesus launches into a story that teachers us so much about forgiveness. Matthew 18:23-27
The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
As we think about this story, the king would be God, and we are the man who owes his master 10,000 bags of gold. I love how Jesus makes the debt so large that there is simply no way it can be repaid, and that’s the point. The debtor can’t repay the king, and the reality is that we can’t repay God. God’s forgiveness is given out of love and grace and mercy alone.
In the story, the debtor can’t repay his debt. God doesn’t even think about us repaying Him because we can't, and in our own lives there are those who have hurt or offended us who can also never repay the debt. Think about someone who has betrayed a confidence, or wasn’t there for us in a time of need. In these situations, we can be deeply hurt or offended, but there is nothing that person can do to change the situation. They can’t repay the debt. They can’t make the offense or pain go away.
And of course sometimes we are the ones who have hurt or offended someone by what we have done or not done, and while we might feel terrible about it, we can’t repay the debt. As much as we might want to, we might find ourselves in a situation where we can’t do anything to make things right. Those who have hurt us might be feeling exactly the same way and while we might be waiting for some kind of restitution, nothing is possible or acceptable.
The debtor can’t always repay the debt - but that’s not the end. The offended can always show mercy. The king chooses to show mercy. God chooses to show mercy, and we can choose to show mercy, It is within our ability to forgive and it is God who calls us to forgive. That’s the rest of Jesus' story. Matthew 18:28 -34
But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers, until he should pay back all he owed.
The man who had been forgiven his debt of 10,000 bags of gold now goes out and refuses to forgive someone who owes him 100 silver coins. He refused to show mercy to someone else. He refused to forgive, and did you notice where that un-forgiveness landed him? In prison. Not being willing to forgive others doesn’t put them in prison, it puts us in prison. We find ourselves in a prison of emotions and feelings that bind us up and keep us from experiencing freedom, and fullness, and joy, and peace. We find ourselves in a prison that keeps us from really living life to the fullest.
When we don’t forgive someone else, it doesn’t punish them, it doesn’t lock them up, it locks us up, but we don’t have to live in prison because we have the power to show mercy. The debtor may not be able to repay the debt, but the offended can always show mercy. We can always choose to forgive.
But you don’t know what I’ve been through? You don’t know the pain I have suffered? I have been betrayed by my spouse. I have been abandoned by my family and friends. I have been unjustly treated at work and accused of things that aren’t true. I have been abused by those who were called to protect me, and bullied and made fun of by people all around me. How do I forgive all this?
I don’t know, but I do know someone who has chosen to forgive all of this, and more - Jesus. Jesus was betrayed, abandoned, falsely accused, abused, and bullied - and it all happened in the span of 12 hours, and yet His words from the cross teach us that the offended can always show mercy. It is not easy, but it can be possible because Jesus did it, and the Bible tells us that through Christ, all things are possible.
On the cross, we see that God’s love for us is so powerful that it forgives us unconditionally. If God’s love can forgive us, then God’s love can help us forgive others. The love of God is greater than any offense we have committed and it is greater than all of the offenses we cling to as well. God’s love can help us forgive.
Forgiveness is a choice we make, and here is how we can make that choice even in difficult and painful situations. Don’t think about forgiveness as forgetting, think of it as remembering. Forgiveness is
● Remembering all that God has done for us
● Remembering all the sins God has forgiven in our lives.
● Remembering that God’s love can help us do what we don’t think we can
● Remembering that the offended can always show mercy
● Remembering that God wants us to forgive so that we can be free to live and love fully.
● Remembering that if I don’t forgive, I am the one who ends up in prison, no one else.
None of this is easy, but Jesus shows us that it is possible when from the cross He said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Next Steps
Father, Forgive Them
Read Luke 23:32-43
List all the people that Jesus forgives with these words?
How does verse 43 reinforce Jesus' message of forgiveness?
Read Matthew 18:31-35
What do we learn about forgiveness from Jesus' parable?
What do you find more difficult, accepting God’s forgiveness or forgiving others? Why?
The debtor can’t always repay the debt.
When have you found yourself in a situation where you were at fault and could do nothing to set things right?
● How did not being able to repay the debt make you feel?
● How did the situation get resolved?
When has someone hurt or offended you in a way that could not be repaid or set right?
● How did you feel in that situation?
● How did the situation get resolved?
In what way can we not repay our debt to Jesus?
The offended can always show mercy.
● When have you been shown mercy in a situation?
● When have you been able to offer mercy in a situation?
● How did it feel to give and receive mercy?
What is one way you can open yourself up more fully to God’s mercy and grace? How can this help set you free?
Where do you need to give, or ask for, mercy in your relationships with others? How can forgiving others help you live with more freedom and power?
