In the 23rd chapter of Luke we
read the account of how Christ is brought before Pilate to be
accused and Pilate finds no fault in him. So he's then sent under
Herod and Pilate discovers that Christ is a Galilean. He sends
him to Herod and Herod questions him And Christ answers him, nothing. And the chief priests and the
scribes vehemently accuse Christ. And he's returned unto Pilate. And Pilate is of a mind to release
him, for he finds no fault in him. But the people cry out for
his crucifixion. And Pilate mindful of the custom
that they would release one unto them at the feast offers to release
Christ but they demand the release of Barabbas in his place and
say away with this man release unto us Barabbas but Pilate is
willing to release Jesus yet they cry out all the more crucify
him crucify him and in the end Pilate relents to the will of
the people and Barabbas, this murderer, is released and Christ,
in his place, is sentenced to death. They led Christ away and
they came across one Simon, a Cyrenian, who came out of the country and
on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.
In verse 27 we read, And there followed Him a great company
of people and of women, which also bewailed and lamented Him. But Jesus turning unto them said,
Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me. but weep for yourselves
and for your children for behold the days are coming in the which
they shall say blessed are the barren and the wombs that never
bear and the paps which never gave suck then shall they begin
to say to the mountains fall on us and to the hills cover
us for if they do these things in a green tree what shall be
done in the dry and there were also two other malefactors led
with him to be put to death. And when they would come to the
place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and
the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do. And they parted his
raiment and cast lots. And the people stood beholding,
and the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved
others, let him save himself, if he be Christ the chosen of
God. And the soldiers also mocked
him, coming to him and offering him vinegar, and saying, If thou
be the king of the Jews, save thyself. and a superscription
also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and
Hebrew. This is the King of the Jews. As he was hung upon this cross
between these two malefactors, sentenced to death, nailed to
a cross, lifted up above the earth to die a slow and a lingering
death as he was betrayed by the people though found not guilty
by Pilate though they found no fault in him their people cried
out crucify him crucify him away with him and here he is falsely
accused falsely charged falsely sentenced wickedly put to death
and as he's hung there, Christ says in verse 18, Father forgive
them for they know not what they do. In the midst of this scene,
in this terrible place, so wrongly accused, Jesus says, Father forgive
them for they know not what they do. Father forgive them. Oh what a thing to say at such
a time. What words for Christ to utter
regarding those who put him to death. What is your attitude to Jesus
Christ? When he comes your way in the
gospel, when you hear of him in the scriptures or in the gospel,
what does your heart say regarding Jesus Christ? Do you receive Him? Do you hear
Him? Do you want to know Him? Or does
your heart say of Him, away with this man? I don't want to know,
I'm not interested. Does your heart in essence cry
out, crucify Him, crucify Him? I'd rather He was dead. I don't
want to know. I want to go my own way. I don't want to know of this
Saviour. I don't want to know of this
Messiah. I don't want to know of this
Christ. I don't want to know the Son of God. Away with Him. Crucify Him. If you know not Christ and His
salvation, That's exactly what your heart says regarding Him. When you spend every day pursuing
your own dreams, your own desires, your own lusts, your own will
and purpose, your own ambitions, when you go your own way doing
your own things with the time and the energy and the ability
that God has given you, that Christ has given you when you
use all that he has given you for your own ends and rob him
of the time energy and ability that is his that is owed under
him that should be spent on seeking Him and worshipping Him. If you
use, if you take all that He's given you and use it for your
own ends and go off another way and choose not to hear His gospel
and not to seek Him and not to care for Him, you are in your
heart putting Him to death. Every day, every hour that you
run away from Christ, that you turn your back on him, that you
shut your ears to him, you are taking a nail and hammering it
into his feet and into his hands. You are saying crucify him, let
him be dead to me, I don't know him, I don't care for him. Away
with this man. that is exactly what your heart
does and says every waking moment you go another way that is what this people did
at this time and hour and they took him and they crucified him
and when they did that to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
What was his response? He says, Father, forgive them. Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do. What remarkable words for him
to say of those who so wrongly put him to death. those who hated
him. What remarkable words of love
and forgiveness came from the Lord Jesus Christ to those that
hated him. As he said that of you. Does he in the gospel look upon
you and your wicked rejection of Christ? your daily putting
him to death, does he look through time unto you, out of eternity
into time, into your soul, and does he say unto the father,
father forgive them, they know not what they do. He addresses the father. He addresses
the Father. What a time, what a point in
time for Him to utter these words. What a point in time for Him
to think in this way. His immediate response to them
crucifying Him and putting Him to death, to their manifestation
of hatred towards Him, to the culmination of all their opposition. to the climax, to their unbelief
and their rejection of the Saviour, when it all comes to a head,
when their opposition and hatred comes to a head and they put
Him to death, He says of them, Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do. We don't see the judgement or
the justice of God in response here. their wickedness deserved
their condemnation. He could rightly have spoken
words of condemnation against his enemies, against those that
put him to death. And he could have been completely
exonerated, completely justified in so doing. But we see the very
opposite, we see the love and the mercy and the forgiveness
of God towards these people. And just as Barabbas, that murderer
who deserved to die, is released and Christ dies instead, so these
who put Christ to death, who deserve to die, receive a prayer
for their forgiveness. And rather than they being the
ones condemned, Christ hangs nailed to the cross to suffer
not just the condemnation of man, not just the rejection of
man, but the condemnation of God against the sins of his people. He hung as the one who was guilty,
though in himself he was not guilty. He took the sins of Barabbas
and suffered the death that Barabbas should die. He suffered in the
place of his people. and he said of them, Father,
forgive them. What a time to ask this. How compassionate and how personal
that the son cries out to the father in regard of those whom
he loves and in regard of those for whom he came. he came into this world to suffer
and die for his own and though his own rejected him though they
put him to death his response to their deeds and words of hatred
is the response of compassion father forgive them for they
know not what they do father forgive them for they know not
what they do not only does Christ display
the compassion and love of God towards his people here not only
does he pray for their forgiveness but this forgiveness can only
come one way For Christ to pray for the forgiveness of these
people demands that something happens. He isn't simply asking
for a kindly response from his Father. He's not simply pleading
with his Father to be kind to them and not judge them but forgive
them. But he knows that by asking the
Father to forgive them, that the Father's justice must be
upheld. He can't ask for their forgiveness,
except their sins are judged and condemned. Then these words
of Christ are remarkable, because he's not only showing love and
compassion for those that hated him here, But in asking for that
forgiveness, in asking for that love to be shown unto them, he's
asking the Father to uphold justice and pour down that justice upon one in their place. How can that justice be upheld? How can the father forgive them
of this terrible deed? There's only one way that the
father could forgive them. And that was by laying their
crime to the charge of his only son. The father can only forgive
them and it can only forgive you of your sins if he laid their
crime to the charge of his son or if he lays your crimes, your
sin and your iniquity to the charge of his son. You can only
be forgiven if he pays the price and they could only be forgiven
if he paid the price. And this is what is so remarkable
about these words. Father forgive them, for they
know not what they do. It's not merely a plea for their
forgiveness, it's a plea that God would judge their sin, condemn
their sin, pour down his wrath, not upon them. but upon Christ
Himself. Christ is praying to His Father
to slay Christ Himself in their place for what they were doing
to Him at that very moment. He's saying, slay me, not them! Kill me, not them! Judge me not
them, forgive them by judging me. Let them go like Barabbas
went by taking and slaying me in their place. And he says this
regarding their very deed of putting him to death. Forgive
them. for they know not what they do. The very deed of taking him and
slaying him, he says, take the judgment for that wicked murder
and lay it to my charge. Slay me as though I am guilty
of this wicked deed. Punish me rather than them. Punish me as though I am them. He died as their substitute. The just one died for the unjust. The elect for wicked sinners. He died for them. He exchanged places. He stood
in their place and suffered the death that they should die. And
as He suffered, He prays to the Father to judge Him and not them. Forgive them, for they know not
what they do. These three words, Father, forgive
them, imply so much more than the result of forgiveness. The forgiveness of those for
whom he prays is the consequence of an action implied by these
words. In reality he's saying, slay
me for what they've done that they might be forgiven. What remarkable prayer at a remarkable
hour. Is that his prayer for you? As he hung there upon the cross,
did he look down through time, through the generations, did
he look through the ages and see you? and see your response
unto Him, and see your response to the Gospel and the truth,
and see your response to His words and His message? Did He
see you and your wicked unbelief, and your wicked disinterest,
and your wicked crimes? Did He see your lies and your
deceit? Did He see the murder in your
heart? Did He see your adulterous, lustful
ways? Did He see all your hidden thoughts? and iniquity which flows out
of your wicked heart. Did he see you, a sinner, a guilty
sinner? Did he see you taking the sword
and thrusting it in his side? Did he see you nailing him to
the tree? Did he see you crying out away
with this man, crucify him? Did he look on you doing that
to him? And did he say of you, as you
do that to him, perhaps as you do that to him this day, does
he look upon you this day, as you cast him out, as you trample
him underfoot, as you dismiss him, does he look unto you and
say of you, Father, Forgive them. Forgive him. Forgive her. Forgive them. For they know not
what they do. Is that his response to your
unbelief? To your rejection? To your wicked heart? Father forgive them. Who was he praying for? Father forgive them. Those who
were putting him to death. Those who cried out crucify him,
crucify him. Those who mocked him and sneered
at him. those who beheld and the rulers
also with them deriding him saying he saved others let him save
himself if he be Christ the chosen of God those who put him to death
the soldiers also who mocked he looked on these that crucified
him and he says unto the father father forgive them for they
know not what they do. Forgive them for they know not
what they do. This wicked people who have put
me to death, who have pierced me, who have nailed me to the
cross, who have mocked me, who have laughed at my words, and
laugh at who I am and say away with this man. Father forgive
them. Oh what a people to show such
compassion upon. Are you like them? Have you done
the same? Do you do the same? Are you as
guilty as they are? as he prayed for you they know
not what they do they were ignorant of just what they were doing
by putting this man to death oh they knew they'd said crucify
him they knew that there was this man before them and they
knew that he was being put to death but they didn't really
know who he was They didn't know him. If they knew him, they wouldn't
have done this. They didn't know him. They didn't understand his words.
They didn't believe his words. And they didn't know the impact
of putting him to death. They thought that by killing
Jesus, they were getting rid of him, they were silencing him. They thought that by doing this,
that by responding in this way to him, they need not be troubled
by his words anymore. They thought if they could escape
his preaching, escape his witness, if they could silence him, that
would be it, they could go off in freedom. and they could go
off and live as they wished and they could go off in their own
way and he'd no longer come in the way that he had before he'd
no longer be this conscience that was ever there amongst them
they'd no longer be convicted by his message they'd get rid
of him, they'd silence him and how we do the same today we think
that if we can get away from the gospel and not listen to
it that it's not there and that it won't affect us and we won't
be convicted by it. We think that as we grow old
and we no longer have to go to the meeting or we no longer have
to read the Bible, if we can avoid reading the Bible or we
can avoid having to go along to a meeting and listen to the
message, if we can avoid this, that it's not there, that we're
out of sight, that God no longer sees us and we no longer see
him a little like the child who plays and thinks that if they
put their hands over their eyes that their parents can't see
them that because they can't see they're not seen We fool
ourselves with these silly games we play with Almighty God. We
think that if we're not listening to His Word, and if we're not
listening to the Gospel, if we don't go to the meeting, that
somehow that has separated us, that somehow we're at peace.
We can go off in our folly and we won't be discovered. But what
fools we are, every day God's looking upon us. Every day God
sees what we are doing. Every day he knows what's in
our hearts. He sees it all. What fools we
are! We think if we hide from other
people, if we hide what we're doing from other people, we think
if we can go off in secret and continue our sin in secret and
cover our tracks and nobody ever knows what we're up to, that
somehow we've escaped and somehow we've escaped the judgment and
the conviction. Somehow we will be at peace because
they can't see us, they don't know. But what fools we are because
God knows. and God sees every day and every
hour and there's no escaping. Father forgive them for they
know not what they do. They thought they'd escape by
putting him to death, but in putting him to death they wrought
salvation. The result of this death, the
result of this crucifixion was that God took the sins of his
people and laid them upon the Saviour, and brought the Gospel
to its fulfilment. The result of His crucifixion
is that the Word of God went forth in power from this place,
from Jerusalem to the four corners of the earth. he died, he was
buried, he rose again victorious, he conquered sin, death and hell
and the message of his gospel as he ascended into glory was
sent forth by his spirit through the preachers whom he called
throughout the world. The apostles went forth and preached
and many were saved. Not only did this not silence
this Gospel, it fuelled it, it fired it up, it became more powerful. And the more that you and I resist
the Gospel, the more that we shut our ears to it, the more
we seek to put Christ to death by ignoring Him. and ignoring
the gospel, and pretending it doesn't exist, and pretending
Christianity doesn't exist, and pretending Christ doesn't exist,
and going off in our own little world, and doing our own little
thing, and pretending it's not relevant, the more it grows in
power. the more God from heaven above
will come and preach and declare His Son in power. You cannot
silence Him, and you cannot silence the Gospel. And if you're His,
He will come wherever you are. and preach Christ in the wilderness
where you've run to, there will be a still small voice crying
out, behold my son. Father forgive them for they
know not what they do. How ignorant we are of so much. How ignorant we are of the gravity
of our sins. We sin daily, easily, because
our hearts are wicked and sinful. Every deed, every thought, every
moment. All flows out from our heart. All these sins just slip out
of us. All these wicked words slip off
our tongues. All these lies just are breathed
out as easy as we breathe the air. All these things we do All
these places we go, all these things we do and say unto others,
all our sin just breathes out of us. All our unbelief of the
gospel and rejection of Christ. We don't even think about it.
We don't even think of the gravity of it. We don't even think of
the consequence. We don't consider that all we're
doing is heaping up coals of fire upon our head. We don't
consider that the end result of all this rejection of God
is death forevermore. We don't consider how grievously
we are sinning and how grievously we are offending God. We just
don't think about it. We don't know. We're ignorant. We're so puffed up in our own
pride and knowledge of the things we know and we know nothing. We know nothing of that which
matters. We know nothing of God and His
Son. We know nothing of salvation.
And we're so ignorant of the gravity of our own sins. But
this people's ignorance here, of which Christ speaks, went
far beyond that. They weren't just ignorant of
how wicked they were being. They weren't just ignorant of
how wrong they were. but they had no idea of the enormity
and the significance of the events of which they were a part. This
crucifixion of this man at this day and hour, they did not know
the enormity of what was coming to pass before their very eyes. and because of their very cries
and deeds when they cried out crucify him, crucify him they
were utterly ignorant of what was going to come to pass of
the mysterious transaction in the Godhead of what the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit would bring to pass upon that
cross of what would come about in the darkness and it was about
the sixth hour and there was a darkness over all the earth
until the ninth hour and the sun was darkened and the veil
of the temple was rent in the midst they had no idea that this
would happen and no idea what happened in the darkness as Christ
hung upon the cross They had no idea that by crucifying this
man that God would take their sins and the sins of his people
and laid them to his charge and a mysterious transaction, a mysterious
exchange would take place where he would be made sin, where he
would bear the sins of all the elect. and where they in Him
would be made the righteousness of God. He would die that His
people should live. He suffered an eternity of judgment
in hell that His people should suffer an eternity of life in
the presence of God and His Son. They had no idea of the enormity
of these events. Father forgive them for they
know not what they do. They had no idea that by putting
this man to death they were bringing about this man's will and purpose. They thought they were stopping
him when they were bringing about his promises, his purpose, his
words. Destroy this temple, and I will
rebuild it in three days. Destroy me, he prophesied, and
I will rise again in three days. I will live forevermore, and
my people will live in me forevermore. They had no idea that they were
bringing to pass the salvation of sinners. Indeed, for those for whom Christ
prayed, Father forgive them, they had no idea that by putting
him to death they were bringing about through him their own salvation. That his death under the mighty
hand of God would lead to their salvation they put him to death
and yet he in response forgave them he prays to the father that
the father should forgive them and the father heard and the
father forgave the father heard and the father forgave Luke having
written his gospel records for us the Acts of the Apostles.
Christ having died and risen again in Acts chapter one meets
with his people and ascends into glory. And then in Acts chapter
two we read of the fulfilment of Jesus' prayer for this people. On the day of Pentecost Peter
stands up and says, you men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know,
him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain,
whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death. because
it was not possible that he should be holding of it. For David,
speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face,
for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore
did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also
my flesh shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see
corruption. Thou hast made known to me the
ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy
with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely
speak unto you of the patriarch David. that he is both dead and
buried and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore being
a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him
that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh he would
raise up Christ to sit on his throne, he seeing this before
spake of the resurrection of Christ. that his soul was not
left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus
have God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore,
being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received
of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed
forth this which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended
into the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord saith unto
my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy
footstool. Therefore let all the house of
Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom
ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard
this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and
to the rest of the apostles, Men and Brethren, what shall
we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent,
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you and
to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as
the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did
he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward
generation. What a message preached by Peter
on that day. This same Peter that was with
Christ when he was betrayed. This same Peter that saw Christ
taken away. from the garden, this same Peter
that saw him taken to Pilate and to Herod, this same Peter
that saw the people cry out crucify him, crucify him, this same Peter
that saw Christ die upon the cross, this same Peter that stood
and saw the darkness come down upon the earth as Christ bore
the sins of his people and suffered the wrath of God for those sins.
This same Peter that saw Christ taken down and laid in the grave. This same Peter that found the
grave empty. This same Peter that saw the
risen Lord. Soon after, goes into Jerusalem
and stands before this same people that crucified his Saviour this
people that put Christ to death and Peter knew that they could
put him to death too and he stands up in the boldness of the Lord
with the faith that God gave him and he says unto that people,
that guilty people that this Jesus of Nazareth a man approved of God among you
by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst
of you as ye yourselves also know him being delivered by the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God ye have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death. He tells them what they have
done and he tells them the consequence. You put him to death and God
has raised him up, he's alive. and he's the saviour of whom
David prophesied he's alive today and he's brought salvation he's
borne the sins of his people he's taken the judgment away
he's brought in the forgiveness of God through his shed blood
he's alive but you put him to death and these people that hurt were
pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and the rest of the
apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? And he says, repent
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins. And ye shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost. Jesus, when they nailed him to
the cross, prayed, Father, forgive them. And having died, Having
risen, having ascended, he then sent forth Peter with this message
to that people for whom he prayed. And Peter says unto them, you
crucified him with wicked hands. And he is risen. Believe on him. Repent. And they believed. And they were saved. 3,000 in
one day. The prayer of Christ for this
people who crucified him was answered. Father forgive them,
for they know not what they do. And the father heard his son,
and the father forgave them. taking the blood of his own son,
the sacrifice offered in their place, and sprinkling it upon
the mercy seat, sprinkling it in their hearts, washing them
clean, he forgives them. he took their sin and he laid
it upon a sacrifice he laid it upon the substitute he laid it
upon his son that son that prayed for them he slew and he took
that son and he took his blood and he washed them in that blood
and they took that son and he raised him from the dead And
he rose, and that son that died for them, that loved them, that
gave himself for them, that prayed for their forgiveness, from heaven
on high, having ascended, preaches his gospel by the Spirit of God
through Peter, whom he sends, and he sends Peter to that people,
and he says to that people, I am risen. You crucified me, but
I am risen. repent and believe the gospel. And Christ today, having died
for sinners like them, having died for those that crucified
him, either physically or in their heart, having died for
sinners like you and I, Christ today in ascending glory continues
to preach his gospel. and continues to send preachers
with that gospel to stand before a wicked people who don't want
to know, who put Christ to death, who's saying their hearts away
with this man. He says unto you and I, Christ died for sinners. The Son is risen. He has conquered
death. He has conquered hell. And he
says unto you this day, repent and believe in the name of Jesus
Christ. Has he prayed for you in particular? Father, forgive him. He knows
not what he does. Father, forgive her. She knows
not what she's done. Has he prayed for you in particular
and has the Father heard that prayer and does he answer that
prayer by coming to you in the gospel, maybe today, by coming
to you in the gospel and saying, my son's blood was shed for your
sins. My son was slain because of your
unbelief. My son died that you should live. Repent. and be baptized, every
one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of
sins. And ye shall receive the Holy
Ghost. Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do. Amen.