Return to Sermons | Home

Seven Last Words: Father, Forgive Them”
Luke 23:34

 

Click for Audio


Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas

Ash Wednesday—March 5, 2014

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

In our Lenten sermon series this year we are meditating on “The Seven Last Words of Jesus,” the final words which our Lord uttered from the cross during the traumatic hours of Good Friday.  We begin with the first of the “The Seven Last Words,” spoken by our Lord at the beginning of his crucifixion, about 9:00am the morning of Good Friday: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

One commentator vividly describes the very moment these words were spoken:

“The upright was placed on the ground, and the cross beam was fastened to it. The condemned person then was laid on the cross, his arms and legs were jerked out of joint so that he was entirely helpless. . .  Now came the most cruel part: nails were driven through the hands and . . .  The nailing completed, the cross was raised . . .  to make him conspicuous.  If one adds that the crucified person was entirely naked, the indescribable pain and disgrace of the punishment will become evident.  Soon fever would begin to rack the body, every nerve would be aroused, and intense thirst would set in.  The wounds, not severe enough to cause a quick death, but sufficient to cause extreme torture, would become more intolerable all the time till finally, from exhaustion, exposure, loss of blood, and the raging fever, the heart would cease to function, and death would set in. . .  The punishment was so terrible that in Rome it was inflicted only on slaves; no Roman citizen could be crucified.   This was the treatment accorded the innocent, the holy Son of God.”

The last decade we have heard a lot about U.S. Special Forces and their heroic exploits, such as capturing Osama bin Laden.  Roman soldiers were like the special forces of the ancient world.  They were the toughest, fiercest fighting men, perhaps in the whole history of the world. 

Part of a Roman soldier’s duty was to take regular rotations on crucifixion detail.  The soldiers who were crucifying Jesus along with the two thieves that morning had probably performed dozens of crucifixions.  One reason the Roman Empire had their soldiers carry out these executions was to toughen them and desensitize them toward killing and death. 

These soldiers had heard the dying words of so many condemned men.  They thought they had heard it all.  The tormented cries of pain and agony.  The desperate, final pleas of innocence.  Begging in vain for mercy, which the soldiers could not give.  Or, history records, some crucifixion victims, especially those dying for a cause like rebellion against Rome, were defiant to the end, from the cross cursing the Roman Empire and the soldiers who were executing them. 

That was the one thing about crucifixion detail that the soldiers could never become desensitized to, those awful curses from the cross.  Romans, and Roman soldiers in particular, where a superstitious lot.  They would go to great lengths to avoid anything that might be a bad omen, or bring them bad luck.  And to be cursed by a dying man, even if he was a criminal or a slave or an enemy of Rome, to be cursed by a dying man, that was one of the worst omens of all, that was the one thing they dreaded most about crucifixion detail.  That’s probably what they expected to hear from Jesus’ lips, because the sign above him indicated that he was being executed as a Jewish rebel leader, for the crime of declaring himself a king in opposition to Caesar: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

Yes, those soldiers had heard it all—until that day, that day they would never forget, that day we now call Good Friday.  For, never before had a condemned man said anything like this.  At the very moment they are actually nailing him to the cross, Jesus of Nazareth cries out, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

Jesus preached, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”  Jesus practiced what he preached.   There can be no greater example of his command to “bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” than his own prayer as he was nailed to the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

It was not just the soldiers carrying out his crucifixion for whom Jesus prayed.  Because, no one believed in him, no one had faith in him as the Savior of the world.  His disciples deserted him; Judas betrayed him; Peter denied him; his own people rejected him; Pontius Pilate falsely condemned him; the soldiers executed him; no one believed him.

And don’t think that you and I are innocent.  For we also deny and reject and betray him daily with our sinful lives.  So, take to heart the cry from the cross “Father, forgive them.”  Jesus is pleading for you.  He is pleading with God the Father to forgive you all your sins.  To forgive you because he suffered and died to pay the price for you.

St. Paul says in Ephesians, “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as an offering and sacrifice to God.”  When Jesus prayed “Father, forgive them” he was actually praying, “Father, condemn me; Father, convict me; Father, punish me for their sin, in their place.”  St. John says, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. . . and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from every sin.”  Jesus was dying for you and me and the sins of the whole world on that cross.  

That is the message of Ash Wednesday; that is the message of Lent; that is the message of the Bible and the Christian Church.  At Calvary, God himself paid the penalty for human sin by the sacrifice of his own Son.  St. Paul puts it this way in Colossians: “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.  Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.  But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  On account of his sacrifice, you are fully forgiven, you are, right now, holy in God’s sight, without blemish and free from accusation, because the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses YOU from every sin. 

Jesus once told the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, who was forgiven a great debt by his master, but then refused to forgive his fellow servant’s debt.  Are you an unforgiving servant?  You, who have been forgiven so much by your Lord and Master, are you holding a grudge against someone else?  Someone at work?  Someone at school?  A member of your family?  Even a member of your church? 

St. Paul says in Colossians, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”   To forgive “as the Lord forgave you” means that you forgive fully, completely, not because the other person has earned it or deserves it, but on account of Christ, because he earned forgiveness for them.

Jesus preached: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”  Jesus practiced what he preached.  Even as he was being nailed to the cross he pleaded, “Father, forgive them.”  So you and I will also forgive and love one another.  We will forgive and love even those who hate us and curse us and mistreat us.

The First Epistle of St. Peter is thought to be one of the earliest Christian sermons.  St. Peter explains how the example of Christ pleading for our forgiveness even as he is nailed to the cross will change how you relate to others in your everyday life:

“Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. . .  When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he did not make threats. . .  In the same way . . .  live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love each other, be compassionate and humble.  Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called . . .  love one another deeply.”

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”   Those extraordinary words from the cross still echo across the centuries.  Those words bring peace to your heart, for your Savior is praying for you.  And those words bring a change in your life and your relationships with others.  “Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. . .  Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. . .  Father, forgive them.”  Amen.

  Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office