If you would turn with me to
the Gospel of Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23. This week I was reading here
in the book of Luke concerning the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus
Christ, our beloved substitute. And I ran across these familiar
words of our Lord on the cross and found myself pondering on
them, considering them. Couldn't get them off my mind
for several days. And I think of these words often
as they came forth from His dying lips. In verse 34, "...then said
Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Oh, what amazing love. The prophet Isaiah had written
some 600 years before, he made intercession for the transgressors. And here in our text, that prophecy
is fulfilled. God's beloved son pleads to his
father for his murderers. Father, forgive them. And he
being completely innocent, the one whom scripture says knew
no sin, he could have justly prayed for their condemnation. But this blessed man of sorrows,
being the compassionate and loving God man, prays for their forgiveness. Now I'll be honest with you,
unless God would give me a super abounding amount of grace, this
is something that I could have never done. He had been betrayed. by one that he called friend. One that he had walked with for
almost three years. He had been taken into the justice
system by the religious leaders of that day and mocked and made
fun of, beaten beyond recognition. So much so that he didn't resemble
a man. He was spit upon. He had a crown
of thorns put on his head, which dug deep into his brow and his
forehead. And he was stripped naked in
total humiliation. Let's not forget who this is.
This is God in the flesh. His own people, the Jews, had
chosen a notorious criminal by the name of Barabbas to be released
while yelling at the top of their lungs for the innocent son of
God to be crucified. Crucify him, they said. crucify. And after all this he had been
made to carry his own cross up Galgotha's hill. And there large
spikes were driven into his hands and his feet and the cross was
dropped in the ground with a horrific force that caused his hands and
feet to tear in piercing agony and dislocate his bones out of
joint. The prophecy in Psalm 22 14 says,
I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint.
He hung between two malefactors, the worst of criminals. I know
that because they wouldn't have been crucified if they hadn't
been. And he was put in the middle
of the two, which gave the impression to all that looked upon him that
he was the worst of the three. But there's no prayer against
him. He doesn't utter a single word of rebuke. He doesn't say,
why do you pierce the hands that fed you? He doesn't ask, why
do you nail the feet that followed after you in mercy? Why do you
mock the man who loved to bless you? No, he simply utters the
words, Father, forgive them." Now notice that he doesn't say,
I forgive them. That's important. You see, for
he laid aside his divine majesty and he takes the humble position
of a pleader. One who pleads to God for the
cause of another, rather than taking the lofty place of one
who had the power to forgive. And he did. And beloved, I know
that you and I were not there when they crucified the Lord
of glory. But the truth is, if we had have
been, we would have done the same thing. So therefore, his
prayer is for us also. Father, forgive them, for they
know not. what they do. Now I find these
words by experience to be very appropriate. To those of you
who now find yourselves pardoned and forgiven of sin by the blood
of the Lamb will agree that we once sinned in great measure
in ignorance. Many of you have been shown and
taught the truth that sin is what we are. We are sinners. We sin because of what we are. The result of our sinning is
what we are. Yet as I lived my life, I thought
about this, as I lived my life in sin, I did so ignorantly. I want to say that in a way that
is not misunderstood. You see, my sin and what I did
just came natural to me. I did what sinners do, they sin.
And that's why our Lord says they know not what they do. Yes, it's true that we lived
under the dominion of Satan, but there was ignorance in it. Until the Lord showed me, I really
did not know what sin was. As a young man, I sinned. As
I grew older, it seemed my wickedness grew greater. I knew it was wrong. My conscience told me it was
wrong. But it did not appear to me that
it was rebellion against God. I didn't know that my sin was
against Him and Him only. Like David said in Psalm 54,
verse 4, I now see that against Thee and Thee only have I sinned
and done this evil in Thy sight. I see that now, but I was ignorant
of it at the time. I was ignorant that it was a
determined defiance against God. I was just doing what came natural. I knew my sin was wrong, but
it never dawned on me that it was rebellion against my Sovereign
Maker. I was to some measure ignorant
of the tremendous crimes that I committed when I dared to live
in rebellion against God. And at the time, I had no idea
that He had chosen me to be His child before the foundation of
the world. I was ignorant. Ignorant of the
wonderful truth that God loved me before the foundation of the
world. I didn't understand that Christ
was a lamb slain before the foundation of the world. And that He had
been appointed by God to be my substitute. I knew nothing of
the love of God in Christ. I didn't understand that I was
sinning against distinguishing love. That God had fixed on me
from eternity. I didn't know. No, I just did,
as I said, what came natural to me. I sinned and found some
degree of pleasure in it. There is pleasure in sin for
a season according to Hebrews 11.25. And friends, I was hardened
without God, without Christ, and without hope in this world.
When confronted by those who knew Christ, I gave stupid excuses. Like, well, I'll consider these
things when I'm a little older, after I've seen and experienced
a little more of the world. Did you not give similar excuses
when confronted with the Gospel? The truth of the matter is, I
was refusing Christ and choosing the pleasures of sin instead
of Him. And every hour, every single
hour of delay was an hour of crucifying Christ. grieving his
spirit and choosing this present evil world and the place of the
lovely and beloved Son of God. I must confess at the time I
didn't know that. I didn't know the meaning of
self-righteousness, though I was full of it. I used to think I
had a righteousness of my own. I went to church only because
my parents made me and then at the very same time I took pride
in the fact that I went. Self-righteousness. I thought
I was about as good as I could be. And I knew I was better than
others thought I was. But I was deceived and I did
not know that my heart was desperately wicked and deceitful above all
things. I didn't know it. I didn't know
that Christ came into the world to save sinners. No one had told
me that. I was ignorant of that blessed
truth. The church that I went to never taught me that. Oh,
they told me to straighten up and fly a ride and be good and
I couldn't do that no matter How hard I tried. And I tried.
How many times did I do something and then promise God I wouldn't
do it again, only to do it immediately? They told me to try Jesus. I
used to sing a song called, Try the Man of Galilee. Try Him. Try Jesus. Love that's like pure
gold, a friend that ne'er grows old. Try the Man of Galilee. Friends, Christ is not a car
that you test drive. You don't test drive Christ to
see if you like it. He's God. I was taught by a man
that after I tried him, then like that car, I would have to
decide if I wanted him or not. That's a lie from the pits of
hell. He said it was my free will decision,
but thanks be to God that one day, God in sovereign love and
mercy and grace crossed my path with the true message by a true
messenger of the gospel and showed me that I was dead, dead in trespasses
and sin. I'd been ignorant of this. Christ
said, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. But
friends, ignorance is no excuse. Ignorance is no excuse, even
in our own laws of the land. A man and a woman is supposed
to know what the law is. And if we break it, it is no
excuse, nor should we expect any mercy to plead because we
didn't know it. You run a red light, you go before
the judge. He says, how do you plead? You
say, I plead ignorant. I didn't know that red meant
stop. That's a $100 fine. Pay it right now. Ignorance is
no excuse. God gives men and women His holy
law and we're commanded to keep it. Men preach today a mamsy-pamsy
God that says, here's my law, do your best to keep it. That's
not true. God commands that we keep His
law. But because of our sin, we don't
know it. Because we would not know it.
To those who are still lost without Christ, God gives the preaching
of the gospel. But men and women will not hear
it. God has given his word in this book that we call the Bible. Right there on the front. Holy
Bible. It is. The words are from a holy God. written by men under the inspiration
of God, but nonetheless God's Word to us. And it's been made
available to the whole world. It's in most every home, most
of the time it sits on a coffee table, never opened. You can't
go to a motel room. Even the little cabin we stayed
in in our little vacation had a Bible in the drawer. There
have been more copies of the Bible sold than any other book
ever written. Every year it is the number one
selling book. But men and women will not read
it. They just won't read it. There's
no interest. And neither would I until God
gave me an interest. My interest came because in mercy
He showed me who and what I was. He showed me and He taught me
by His infinite grace that I must have Christ as my substitute
Or I would die in my sin. The wages of sin is death. The
soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. And when I finally, by His
mercy and grace, saw these things, I cried out like an old blind
Bartimaeus who begged by the wayside and said, Lord, have
mercy on me. Do you need mercy? Do you desire
grace? Then cry for it. Cry for it.
For our God is a God whose mercy endureth forever. Our God delights
to show mercy, this book says. He's never turned down, never
ever once turned down a true seeking sinner. Never once. In the book of Micah, chapter
7, verse 18, let me read it to you. Who is a God like unto thee? There's no God like the true
God. "...that pardoneth iniquity,
and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage,
he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in
mercy." Those of you without Christ, do you linger far from
His love because of fear of rejection? You know, there's a lot of people
in this world that never attempt to do certain things because
of fear of rejection. Oh, I just, I don't think I could
do that. I'm really, I just fear that
they'll tell me no. Put away that thought and say
with that old humble leper that came to the Lord Jesus Christ,
Lord, if you will, not if you can, if you will, you can make
me whole. And his answer is always the
same. Always the same. Two words. I will. Oh, have no fear of rejection,
dear friends, if you come to Christ. As this leper came, falling
at his feet, acknowledging who he was, saying, Lord, I know
you can do anything and everything, and you surely can make this
old leper whole. if you will. And the Son of Glory
says, I will. And he immediately was made whole. Notice again where it is that
our Lord pleads for us. He doesn't plead to us. Don't a lot of men think that. Oh, Jesus is softly and tenderly
calling. He's wringing his hands in heaven,
looking down, going, won't somebody love me? Won't somebody believe
me? Don't believe that garbage. He doesn't plead to us. That's
what many think. He pleads for us. Father forgive them. They don't
know. It's on the cross that he pleads
our case. He is not on his throne. Like
I said, wringing his hands with worry and concern, hoping that
somebody will let them save him. No, no, no. He's on the cross. He's paying for all the sin of
all the elect throughout all time. And instead of a cry or
a groan in such agony and pain, his words are, Father, forgive
them for they don't know what they do. Oh, how those words
ring true in my heart. None there that day asked for
forgiveness themselves. While most of them stood gawking
upon the Son of God, hanging on the cross, saying things like,
He saved others, can He save Himself? None asked for forgiveness. It was the Lord Jesus Christ
who asked forgiveness for them. There's always a work of grace
done in the heart before the sinner asks for forgiveness. If you have a desire in your
heart this morning for God to forgive you, God's already done
a work of grace there. Because you're dead in trespasses
and sin. God's already given life or you
would have no interest. and the things of God. It's always
Christ first who asks God to forgive us. Not us. Not us. And here they are with
His blood upon their hands. And it was then that He prayed
and asked His Father to forgive them. Oh, what love. What amazing
love. May God enable us to seriously
ponder as I have this week on the marvelous thought that the
great love wherewith he loved us came even while we were yet
sinners. Part of the angry mob that cried
crucify, that mocked him, that beat him, and spit upon him. Even when we rioted in sin, even
as we drank iniquity down as cold water on a hot day, even
then He prayed for us. What a God! What a Savior. The Scripture says, while we
were yet without strength and due time, Christ died for the
good? No, for the ungodly. Bless His Holy Name. He prayed
for you when you did not pray for yourself. He prayed for you
when you were crucifying Him. One of the old writers said,
He pleads His Sonship. He says, Father, See who he's
talking to? Father, forgive them. He was
a son of God. He seems to say, Father, I'm
your son. In another place, he said, He
always hears me. I thank you, Lord, that you always
hear me. Father, I'm your son. Grant me
this request. Pardon these rebels. Father,
forgive them. Forgive them. The blessed Son
of the highest, very God of very God, the second person in the
Divine Trinity says, Father, forgive them. And all the power
of that word from the Son's lips, when He's wounded, when He's
in agony, when He's dying, all the efficacy in that word, those
words, Father, forgive them. He doesn't say, Father, forgive
the soldiers who had nailed him to the tree. He doesn't say,
Father, forgive sinners in the ages to come who will sin against
me. He simply says, Father, forgive
them. Forgive them. Now, that little pronoun, them,
I feel that by God's grace I can crawl in there. I can crawl in
there. Can you get in there? Father,
forgive them. Don't punish them, forgive them.
Don't remember their sin, forgive it. Forget it, blot it out, throw
it into the depths of the sea, is what he's saying. Father,
forgive them. Father, forgive them. Oh, what
a blessed prayer! For the forgiveness of God is
broad and deep. And let's just be honest, when
man forgives, he remembers the wrong. I can remember things
that happened to me in grade school that I have said, I forgave
that person, but I haven't forgotten it. I haven't forgotten it. I
can't forget it. Why? Because I'm still plagued
with sin. But when God pardons, He says,
I'll forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no
more. No more. It is this that Christ
asked for His elect long before we had any repentance, long before
we had any faith. And in answer to that prayer,
His people are brought to feel their sin, see their sin, know
that sin is what they are. They're brought to confess it.
They fall before the feet of the Lord and Savior of heaven
and earth and say, guilty. They take sides with God against
themselves. It takes a miracle of grace to
do that. And we believe in and on Him
and now we can worship Him for He pleaded for us. And He obtained
the forgiveness of all our sins. He did. All the sins of all His
people throughout all time. Not one shall perish. All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me." You know why? Because
he prayed that simple prayer. Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do. May God add His blessings to
the preaching of His Word.