“Seven
Last Words: Father, Forgive Them”
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.” Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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