March 30, 2025 • 50 mins
In the midst of his greatest suffering, Jesus offers us the most profound lessons about forgiveness. While inches away from the cross, after being mocked and beaten, Jesus shows more concern for others than for himself.
Through just three statements spoken from the cross, Jesus revolutionizes our understanding of forgiveness. His first words, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," reveal that forgiveness is something Jesus offers freely, even to those actively causing him harm. This forces us to confront uncomfortable questions: Have we truly forgiven others, or have we merely stopped thinking about them? Is there someone we claim to have forgiven while secretly maintaining a record of their wrongs?
When Jesus tells the repentant thief, "Today you will be with me in paradise," we see forgiveness practiced fully. Notice how Jesus interrupts his communion with the Father to welcome one more sinner into the kingdom. The criminal's simple request—"Jesus, remember me"—stands in stark contrast to our complicated formulas for salvation. This reveals the beautiful truth that nothing and no one is beyond God's forgiveness, challenging us to examine whether we're holding someone's past sin as greater than God's current grace.
With his final words, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit," Jesus fulfills forgiveness finally. All sin—past, present, and future—has been completely dealt with. The debt is canceled, not just deferred. This invites us to trust that our own sins are truly forgiven and to extend that same complete forgiveness to others.
Most powerfully, we see humanity's transformation through witnessing Christ's forgiveness. Our first response at the cross—"He saved others, let him save himself"—becomes "Certainly this man was innocent." When we truly encounter Christ's forgiveness, we can't help but be changed. Will you allow that transformation to reshape how you forgive others today?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Please turn in your Bibles to Luke 23, 26-35, which
is on page 884 in the Pew Bibles, and follow along as I read
God's word.
And as they led him away, theyseized one, Simon of Cyrene, who
was coming in from the country,and on him the cross, to carry
(00:24):
it behind Jesus.
And there followed him a greatmultitude of the people and of
women who were mourning andlamenting for him.
But turning to them, Jesus saidDaughters of Jerusalem, do not
weep for me, but weep foryourselves and for your children
.
For behold, the days are comingwhen they will say Blessed are
(00:44):
the barren and the wombs thatnever bore and the breasts that
never nursed.
For behold, the days are comingwhen they will say Then they
will begin to say to themountains, Fall on us and to the
hills, cover us.
For if they do these thingswhen the wood is green, what
will happen when it is dry?
Two others, who were criminals,were led away to be put to death
with him, and when they came tothe place that is called the
(01:06):
skull, there they crucified himand the criminals, one on his
right and one on his left, andJesus said Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they doand they cast lots to divide his
garments and the people stoodby watching.
But the rulers scoffed at him,saying he saved others, let him
save himself If he is the Christof God, his chosen one.
(01:29):
This is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Thank you, sarai, I appreciate it.
Yeah, you can leave it there.
One of the things that strikesme as Sarai is reading that
passage, you would have to takea look.
You guys got me right there,awesome.
You would have to take a lookat the very thing that Jesus
says in verse 28.
(01:56):
If you have it in front of you,it's also on the screen the
fact that Jesus is inches fromthe cross and he looks at the
women who are weeping,recognizing not only what is
going to happen, but what hasalready happened to Christ.
Keep in mind at this point hehas been mocked, he has been
spit on, he has been beaten, hehas been bruised, he has been
(02:18):
mistreated by the very humanitythat he came to save.
And, as he is, feet from thecross, being carried by another
because of his inability, afterthis beating, to be able to
carry his own cross, he's nolonger in his mind wondering
what the cross may look like.
He can see it, he knows what iscoming.
(02:39):
And what amazes me about Christand I feel like this sets us up
for the entire morning thatwe're going to spend in
Scripture together is that Jesus, even in this moment, is more
concerned about the peoplearound him than he is concerned
about himself, and I would justtell you, as a person with a
nature, that I so long for it tobe like Christ, but it feels so
(03:00):
far away from that.
This is a staggering thing forme to read.
I think most of what we knowfrom the cross comes later.
Daughters of Jerusalem, do notweep for me.
Weep for yourselves and yourchildren.
It is not a well-known passage.
I'm going to put a couple ofwell-known passages and kind of
quiz you guys to see how wellyou know this section of
scripture.
Don't worry, you don't have toanswer out loud when we get
(03:21):
there.
But this is not what I think ofas a primary scripture.
And yet what we find is thathere Christ is more concerned,
as he is inches from the cross,about the people around him than
his own good or his own welfare.
Let me point you to somethingthat may feel out of the blue,
(03:42):
but I don't think it is.
One of the conversations thatI've had with people over the
past two weeks has been aboutthe pollen that we are
experiencing right now in ourworld.
I thought something was burningin the woods the other day.
Okay, all right, lots of youguys are giving me this.
I thought something was burningdown, only to realize that this
(04:04):
smoke is actually an incredibleamount of pollen.
My wife, who follows theweather app fairly religiously,
but even more so, I think, aswe're getting ready to go to
Thailand said have you seen theair quality?
And I'm like I have never seenthe air quality of any place I
have ever lived in my entirelife.
But no, I have not seen the airquality.
(04:25):
She said it is abysmal.
I've never seen the air qualitythis poor before.
And, as I've talked with folks,it's all.
I can't keep my car clean.
I can barely go to sleep atnight.
I'm always rubbing my.
I am miserable.
And I was thinking.
This little season of pollen isa wonderful way for you to
(04:45):
think about the text that we'reabout to read.
Jesus looks at Peter one day andhe wants to wash Peter's feet.
All right, something is dirty,something is not the way it
ought to be, and Jesus wants towash Peter's feet.
And Peter says to him you shallnever wash my feet.
You are high, I am low.
You are Christ, I am not.
It's not going to happen.
And Jesus answered him if I donot wash you, you have no share
(05:11):
with me.
And then Peter kind of flips,he's like well, look, if I can't
have a share with you unlessI'm washed, then Lord, not my
feet, but my head, my hands like, get me real clean if it means
I can be close with you.
And I've never, I've neverforgotten the next thing that
Jesus says, because it has beena constant reminder to me for
decades of what being aChristian if you're a Christian
(05:32):
in the room today, what being aChristian in a world that is
covered in sin is actually like.
And Jesus said to him the onewho is bathed does not need to
wash.
If your soul is right with God,you do not need to get saved
again.
I got saved at a Billy Grahamcrusade.
I got saved at a DC talkconcert I need to be using air
(05:53):
quotes here, because my theologyis better than this.
I got saved at summer camp.
I got saved on the floor of mybedroom and I got saved in my
pastor's office.
Those are not all correct intimeline, but they are correct
in my experience.
Why?
Because I didn't understandthis.
I realized that there was sinin me and I thought that Christ
(06:13):
had cleaned me up.
But he must not have cleaned meup, because I'm still
struggling with these thoughts,these deeds, these actions,
these words that just keepflowing out of this jacked up
soul inside of me and I'm likewell, jesus, we got to do this
again.
I got the sinner's prayer wrong.
I didn't get it quite right.
I must not have been squeezinghard enough or praying fervent
enough.
And this has been such a giftto me, the one who has bathed.
(06:37):
If you have repented of yoursins and trusted in Christ, you
do not need to do that again.
But your feet, the parts of youthat are constantly in contact
with this world, they need to bemade clean frequently.
And as we look at this passageof scripture, what I want to
(06:59):
simply get you to wrestle withis this when it comes to
receiving forgiveness, on theone hand, and when it comes to
giving forgiveness, on the other, when it comes to you receiving
forgiveness from God or fromothers, you need to ask people
for forgiveness if you havewronged them in some way.
Category one.
Category two you need to giveforgiveness to people as you
(07:23):
have been forgiven, so you oughtto forgive.
When these two realities pressin on your soul, is there a
chance that your soul is a bitdusty here.
Is there a chance that yourreceiving or giving of
repentance is not as cleaned upas the Holy Spirit would desire
for it to be?
(07:43):
Because I believe that Godwants us to freely receive his
forgiveness day in and day out,and to freely give it as well,
but I think, as humans, it isone of the hardest things for us
to do.
So what does Jesus show us inthis?
All right now, these arepassages from the cross that
probably will be more familiarthan oh, daughters of Jerusalem,
(08:07):
do not weep for me, but weepfor yourselves.
All right, let's just see howyou do.
You can answer in your mind,you can answer out loud, you can
decide if it's pride, you candecide if it's not.
I'm not getting into that.
Okay, we're already talkingabout forgiveness.
All right, number one, father,forgive them.
Okay, good stuff, way to go.
All right.
(08:36):
Truly, I say to you today Okay,a couple fewer, but yeah, good,
good, father, into your hands.
Okay, the reason that I put thisup is we are about to walk into
a passage that many of you haveheard before.
We're getting close to Easterhere, christ is laying out his
heart for them, and I'm gonnaget William to come and read
with me.
When I was a youth pastor, oneof the things that I realized is
, if you're ever gonna read along passage of scripture, it is
(09:00):
a kindness to people to breakit up a little bit.
And so here's what we're gonnado.
We're gonna read a passage ofscripture, I'm going to do the
narrating and William is goingto read the voices that are
happening at and around thecross.
This is not us trying to do aperformance for y'all.
Okay, I told William, you donot need to have accents, you do
(09:20):
not need to like, we're both.
I really tried, did you Okay?
Yeah, he said no.
It's all going to be in Hebrew.
Someone's going to have tointerpret.
It's going to be a thing Now.
So, but what I did want was foryou to engage with this text in
a new way.
Why?
Because you know this many ofyou, by the way.
If you didn't know a singleanswer on the screen, I'm really
, really glad you're here.
(09:41):
Church is not for people whoknow the answers.
It's for people who want to cometo the one who has them, and so
what we're going to do is we'regoing to read through this
together, and I would encourageyou to do one of two things.
I want you to engage with thistext that you have probably
heard many times before.
If you want to read it, as youtypically would, feel free, read
along with us.
That'd be one way.
(10:01):
The other way would be thisdepending on if you've had a cup
of coffee or not, if you wantto close your eyes and picture
the scene, I would encourage youto do that, because I want you
to see this in your mind's eyebefore we walk through it
expositionally.
So here we go the crucifixionof Jesus.
Two others, who were criminals,were led away to be put to
(10:25):
death with him, and when theycame to the place that is called
the skull.
There they crucified him andthe criminals, one on his right
and one on his left, and Jesussaid Father, forgive them, for
they know not what they do.
And they cast lots to divide hisgarments and the people stood
by watching but the rulerscoffed at him saying he saved
(10:48):
others, let him save himself ifhe is the Christ of God, his
chosen one.
The soldiers also mocked him,coming up and offering him sour
wine and saying If you are theking of the Jews, save yourself.
There was also an inscriptionover him this is the king of the
(11:08):
Jews, one of the criminals whowere hanged, railed at him,
saying are you not the Christ?
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Save yourself and us.
But the other rebuked him,saying do you not fear God,
since you are under the samesentence of condemnation?
And we, indeed, justly, for weare receiving the due reward of
our deeds.
But this man has done nothingwrong.
And he said, jesus, remember mewhen you come into your kingdom
(11:32):
.
And Jesus said to him Truly Isay to you you will be with me
in paradise.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
It was now about the sixth hour and there was
darkness over the whole landuntil the ninth hour, while the
sun's light failed and thecurtain of the temple was torn
in two.
Then Jesus, calling out with aloud voice, said Father, into
your hands, I commit my spirit.
And having said this, hebreathed his last.
(12:00):
Now, when the centurion sawwhat had taken place, he praised
God, saying Certainly this manwas innocent.
And all the crowds that hadassembled for this spectacle,
when they had saw what had takenplace, returned home beating
their breasts, and all hisacquaintances and the women who
had followed him from Galileestood at a distance watching
(12:23):
these things.
Amen, thank you, william.
I appreciate your help withthat.
This is the scene.
I hope you can see it in yourmind.
I hope you can see that in thismoment.
You're not going to see manydisciples meandering around.
You're going to see womentrailing at a distance.
The bravest of Jesus' followerson this day are the women and
(12:45):
Jesus' own mother, john,probably tucked somewhere near
her.
But you're also going to see aman who is a part of the very
council who put Jesus here.
Look and say something is wrongwith this.
You're going to see a criminalon a cross.
Look at this and say there issomething that makes me uneasy
here.
I deserve to be here, but thisman does not.
(13:08):
You're going to look at acenturion, somebody who has seen
death time after time, somebodywho is not in his admonition,
seeking to live a godly or amoral life, and God's word is
going to say he praised God inthis day, looking at Christ and
saying surely this man wasinnocent.
(13:29):
As you look at this scene, whatI want you to realize is
everybody was so confident thatJesus needed to die until Jesus
began to die.
And when Jesus began to die,all of a sudden, lots of folks
began realizing.
There is something inside of methat feels very uneasy about
(13:50):
this.
There's something that feelsintrinsically wrong.
And it didn't matter if theywere the well-educated council
members or if they weremurderers, if they were
God-fearers or Romans who werefar from him.
When anyone saw Christ on thecross, something inside of them
screamed.
(14:10):
This is wrong, and what I wantyou to notice is that in all of
this, all of this talking, allof the pieces that William read
to you while I was narrating, Iwant you to see how much Jesus,
the greatest teacher of his andany age, the one that thousands
(14:34):
would come to listen to when heis most visible, when people are
most going to remember hiswords, I want you to see how
much Jesus said.
Here is how much Jesus said.
That's it In the gospel of Luke.
We hear more from the peoplearound Christ than we hear
(14:56):
Christ on the cross.
Three lines that end up savingan entire world, and tucked into
these three lines is the greathope for the world and
everything that Christ felt wasnecessary for you to know.
(15:19):
So what are these three linesthat saved the world?
The first line that we see isFather, forgive them, for they
know not what they do.
Jesus is actually hanging undera sign when he says this.
The sign was a little bit of adispute that arose.
This is the king of the Jews.
(15:40):
The Jewish council members, theSanhedrin, the Pharisees,
really did not like the sign.
They went and they said hey,you got a little bit of a typo
there.
Grammarly didn't pop up.
You need to fix this thing.
It should say he said he wasking of the Jews.
And they look and they're likelook, we've written what we are
going to write, and right aboveJesus, as though it is mocking
(16:03):
the very ones who mocked him.
Is this great reality?
This is what a king really is.
A king is someone who looks atthe weeping women who are
worried about him and says don'tworry about me.
Worry about what life is goingto look like for you when this
(16:24):
happens to me.
Disciples, I've told you giveyour money away, but you're
going to need to hold on to itfor a minute.
Do peace to all those aroundyou, but in this moment you're
going to need to tuck a swordinto the tent.
Hey guys, I'm telling youthings are about to get very,
very dark, both spiritually,metaphorically, and physically.
(16:48):
The very first line that a humansays, that mankind says is
right here when it says he savedothers, let him save himself.
I want you to commit that tomemory, not for the rest of your
life, although I think thatcould be beneficial.
I want you to commit it tomemory just for the next 10
(17:08):
minutes or so.
Your first line, our first lineas humanity, as Jesus is coming
to the scene, is he savedothers, let him save himself.
You know what?
If he really wants to show thathe is Messiah, if he wants to
show that he is Savior, if hewants to show that he is Christ,
if he wants to show that he isKing, this is the easiest way
(17:30):
for him to do it.
Subdue your enemies, step down.
If you have really been able toheal others, heal yourself.
The very first words that weput on Christ are prove it.
As though his life had alreadynot done that.
Wait till you see what our lastline is.
(17:51):
But in this, what we find isthat Jesus begins teaching us
the greatest lesson over one ofthe greatest realities a human
can ever learn about, and thatis forgiveness.
Forgiveness is something thatJesus offers freely.
When somebody comes to you andasks for forgiveness if you're a
(18:14):
Christian it's important thatyou know this you must forgive
them.
This is not a controversialstatement, as it relates to
scripture.
As we have been forgiven, so weought also to forgive.
That means we forgive peoplewho steal candy from our
backpacks.
It means we forgive people whocut us off in traffic.
(18:37):
It means we forgive people whocuss us out.
It means we forgive people whohave affairs against us.
It means we forgive people whoare abusive, mean and cruel.
It means we forgive people whohave perpetuated the greatest
evil you can imagine in yourmind.
We are called to forgive them.
(18:59):
Now listen.
That doesn't mean that thereare no consequences for that sin
.
It's not what I'm saying.
But what I am saying is, if youlook in your own life and
realize that somebody remainsunforgiven in yours, you are
putting yourself in a verytenuous, dangerous position
according to Scripture, becauseif we do not forgive, scripture
says he will not forgive us, andnone of us have ever been
(19:22):
sinned against more greatly thanGod has been sinned against by
us.
So the very first thing that Iwant you to see, when Jesus is
looking at those who are readyto put nails through hands,
looking at those who are readyto put nails through hands crown
of thorns on head, spear inside, as well as all of the other
stuff that happens the veryfirst thing that comes from his
(19:42):
mouth Father, forgive them, forthey know not what they do.
They're casting lots becausethey're excited about who's
going to get his clothes.
They have done all manner ofthings to wrong Jesus.
And what comes from his mouthis Father, forgive them, for
(20:02):
they know not what they do.
This is how freely Christ givesforgiveness when it comes to us
.
I wonder is there someone thatI've convinced myself I've
forgiven simply because I'vestopped thinking about them?
Forgiveness and forgetfulnessare not the same thing.
(20:25):
Just because you can putsomeone out of your mind, just
because you can come up with away to put a situation out of
the recurring rolling screen ofyour memory, does not mean that
you have forgiven them.
And I wonder how often we justsay out of sight, out of mind,
I'm moving on, I feel healthy,I'm able to worship I'm able to
(20:47):
read.
Might it simply be that youhave just tried to stop thinking
about that person?
Do I think that I have beensinned against too severely to
offer the same forgiveness thatI have received?
If you've been coming to thischurch for two months, you have
listened to numerous testimoniesin those past two months of
(21:07):
people who have been sinnedagainst in some of the most
egregious ways.
When Veronica was gettingbaptized last week, one of my
absolute favorite parts of hertestimony was as I have been
writing this testimony, I havefelt anger grow in my soul and I
have chosen to take that angerto the Lord and entrust it to
(21:32):
him.
I'm not saying that you willget to a place where that person
or that thing will ever becomeemotionally neutral for you, but
forgiveness difficult and messy, still expected.
Why?
Because the one who we modelour lives after as Christians
(21:56):
modeled it for us, christ, hasnot come back yet.
He has not said come into mykingdom, receive forgiveness.
He is in the throes of abuse.
Father, forgive them.
They know not what they do Inthe midst of the heated argument
.
Father, forgive them.
They know not what they do Inthe midst of the heated argument
.
Father, forgive them.
They know not what they do Inthe midst of being belittled,
(22:18):
name called and mistreated.
Father, forgive them, for theyknow not what they do.
That is the first thing that wesee about forgiveness in the
very few words that Jesus givesus.
Secondly, we see this Truly.
I say to you today you will bewith me in paradise.
(22:40):
What do we find in this littleline?
One of the criminals who werehanged railed at him.
You can sort of imagine Jesus.
We've all seen this picturebefore A cross in the middle and
then two on the side, one angrythief, another not, and they're
(23:03):
turning inward at Christ, onewith good things to say and one
with poor things to say.
This, by the way, is one of themost encouraging verses.
If there's somebody in yourlife who you really want to
trust in Christ, but you haveyet to see it, in 10, 20, 30, or
40 years you can still say, hey, there was a thief on a cross
and it took him to his lastbreath, but by the grace of God
he was forgiven.
And do you know what a gift itis that Jesus gives us these
(23:26):
words?
It would have been one thing tosay I forgive you, but to go a
step further and say truly.
That whenever Jesus says truly,he's sort of saying I really,
really mean this.
It's not that Jesus ever didmean anything that he said I
doubt he had wasted words.
Hey, remember this.
Those of you who will readabout this 2,000 years later,
(23:49):
those of you who, as youapproach Easter, begin thinking
about deep things, truly, I'mtelling you this.
I'm saying this today.
You will be with me in paradise.
These two thieves could not bemore different and yet come from
the same piece of cloth.
Verse 40, the other rebuked him, saying do you not fear God?
(24:10):
You were under the samesentence of condemnation.
All three of us have gotten thedeath penalty, and we, indeed,
justly.
I know you deserve it and youknow I deserve it, but this man
has done nothing wrong.
Jesus, will you remember mewhen you come into your kingdom?
(24:30):
Can I just tell you that doesn'tfit into the prayer that I was
taught to pray with kids at camp, prayer that I was taught to
pray with kids at camp.
What I was taught to pray withkids at camp is this Okay, will
you?
Don't want to screw this up?
It's your eternal salvation.
We're going to make it veryeasy for you.
There's this bracelet withlittle beads.
Okay, it has lots of differentcolors so that you don't get
confused.
Y'all remember the bracelet.
I just need to see show ofhands.
(24:51):
Who remembers the VBS braceletwith all the beads?
If you don't know, that's okay.
They then gave us a littlebooklet with no words it was
called the wordless booklet hadthe exact same color of the
beads on the booklet.
I guess in the event that youneeded another identical
illustration.
But here's what we were taught.
When somebody recognizes this,this does not make sense for
(25:14):
Jesus, but it makes a lot ofsense for me when somebody comes
to that realization I am asinner and I need forgiveness.
A, b, c.
Admit that you're a sinner,believe that Jesus will forgive
you and then confess your sinand call on the Lord A, b and C.
It's very simple.
Gospel's not complicated, butit's heavy and it's hard to get
your soul there.
I love the fact that this man'ssinner's prayer is simply this
(25:37):
Jesus, can you not forget aboutme?
I know that there are a lot ofpeople you shepherd.
I know that there are a lot ofpeople you care for.
You must be a very busy guy tobe in charge of speaking the
universe and to be in keepingall of its parts together.
But when you do go into yourkingdom, which I believe you
will, will you just remember mewhen I show up at the gate?
(25:58):
Will you remember that I wasthe guy next to you and that I
do trust, I do believe you arewho you say you are, and for
Jesus to overlook an entire lifelived in sin and in one moment,
millennia of eternity changesimply because he says Jesus,
(26:20):
will you remember me?
What do we find aboutforgiveness here?
Forgiveness is something thatJesus practices fully.
He never takes a day off fromforgiveness.
Forgiveness is not something he, by the way, I think this is
(26:40):
important for whichever one ofyou is the emotional one in your
marriage.
If it's both of you, then bothof you put your ears up, okay.
If you're not married, but youjust know my feels, get big.
Please pay attention to this.
Jesus fully practicesforgiveness.
He doesn't just wait until it'sconvenient.
(27:01):
Do you know when it's convenientto live for Christ?
Never.
It is never convenient to livefor Christ.
It will always be compared toyour own sinfulness, nature,
desire, timeline and calendar.
Inconvenient, inconvenient foryou to go and have that
conversation.
Inconvenient for you tointerrupt your family's plans to
(27:22):
invite another person into them.
It will always be inconvenientfor your feelings to forgive and
to go and seek forgiveness, butwhat we see with Christ is
there is no waiting to go andseek forgiveness.
But what we see with Christ isthere is no waiting.
There is no time to wait.
If somebody is at the point ofseeking forgiveness, jesus says
today, you are going to be withme here.
(27:45):
They are Killing a king who isactively seeking their good,
praying for the forgiveness ofthe sinners who surround him and
mistreat him.
I'd like you to also notice onething about this second line.
Now you're going to have to paykind of close attention and I'm
(28:09):
sorry I can't make it muchbigger than that.
What is different about thesecond line Jesus gives us at
the cross than the first and thethird?
What's different?
You got to speak up, sorry,yeah.
So in the first one, father andFather.
(28:30):
Now, I always want to becareful not to stretch Scripture
and try to find stuff that'snot actually there, but to me
this stands out as quite obvious.
If you say Father, what are youin the midst of doing?
Praying, right, I mean, this ishow Jesus taught his disciples
to pray, pray like this okay,our Father, who art in heaven.
(28:53):
What I find beautiful andencouraging is that the only
thing in the gospel of Luke thatinterrupts Jesus's prayer is
him inviting a sinner to heaven.
Here Christ is in what must befor a being who is endless,
infinity before, infinity after.
(29:16):
In this moment, father, father,father, and we don't see
everything Jesus is thinking,but I have a hint as to what it
might be.
Ends, father, father, father.
But right here, in the midst ofhis prayer, when he most needs
the strength of his Father,father, father.
But right here in the midst ofhis prayer, when he most needs
the strength of his Father, theFather who would send angels to
(29:36):
strengthen him and support him,he is willing to open his eyes
and say I will interrupt thisprayer if it brings one sinner
into this kingdom.
Sinner into this kingdom.
This is the kind of king thathe is.
(29:56):
The only thing that interruptsJesus' prayer on the cross is
inviting in one more sinner.
So, when we think aboutforgiveness being something that
Jesus practices fully, a coupleof questions for you.
Am I still bitter with someoneI have forgiven?
Am I still holding blankagainst them?
Can I tell you one of myfavorite things about preaching.
(30:18):
One of my favorite things aboutpreaching is you can read
through a text and people arelike you need to talk to the
husbands and wives about that.
And then you can read throughanother text and it's like
singles ears up, ears up.
Another one, young people, kidspay attention, others, empty
nesters, look, look, look.
But do you realize that thevast majority of scripture 95%,
(30:40):
which is me just completelyshooting from the hip on this
applies to every human male,female, child, old, young, white
, black, from 2025 or from AD 25?
Do you know how fascinating itis that when I read am I still
bitter with someone I haveforgiven?
Am I still holding blankagainst them?
(31:00):
In this room, there are hundredsof answers that are filling
that blank, and it has nothingto do with how long you've
walked with the Lord.
It has nothing to do with whatyour genetic makeup is.
You are human and, as human,the likelihood that you are
bitter with somebody that youhave forgiven is quite high, and
(31:21):
the likelihood that you havebeen wronged in such a way that
you still feel that you can fillthat blank.
This is how powerful the wordof God is.
I would also just maybe atidbit on the shepherding side.
If that thing that you'refilling the blank with you've
been filling the blank with fora long time, I'd love to talk to
you.
I'd love to pray with you.
(31:43):
I would love to encourage you,I would love to help you.
So would Greg, so would Trent,so would any of the elders or
pastors in the room, so wouldMCG leaders.
We want to help you navigatethe things that are filling that
blank.
When we think about the fullnessof Christ's forgiveness, am I
viewing someone's previous sinas greater than God's current
grace?
(32:03):
This to me was Lance Ogden, whoI ran into at Chick-fil-A the
other day.
I ran into him at Chick-fil-Aand he and a handful of guys
were pulling out Bibles andsitting at the fancy or high top
table.
Y'all know what I'm talkingabout at Chick-fil-A the wood
grain.
Okay, now you've got thepicture in your mind.
They felt like they were theones in that moment.
(32:24):
I feel like it's a bit of anarrogant pull to take that table
.
I do, I can't explain it.
It always bothers me.
It always bothered me.
When people without kids sitnext to the play area, I'm like
who do you think you are?
Don't you know that's for uswith little kids we have to keep
an eye on them.
You're supposed to be on theother side.
What is wrong with you people?
Anyway, I have lots of stuff towork on, but I aged out of that
(32:46):
one.
I don't even sit near that.
I don't even want to be closeto it anymore, but nonetheless
am I viewing someone's previoussin as greater than God's
current grace?
Lance Ogden.
My senior year at Hardaway HighSchool, I was in a bunch of
theater type stuff and so duringlunch sometimes we would dip
(33:09):
out and my next class wastheater or drama, whatever it is
.
I can't remember what it was,but it was that thing.
And every single day afterlunch, lance would walk in with
a fork in his hand and I'm likeLance, why do you have a fork?
And he's like I just stealforks every day from the
cafeteria and I'm like what he'slike?
Yeah, I don't know, it's just athing I do.
I like stealing forks.
I don't know how many of youguys are public school.
(33:30):
They're not impressive.
All right, they bend if yousneeze on them, like they're
cheap things.
But he would steal these forksand I remember just thinking you
are so far from God and I couldnot for the longest time,
reconcile.
When I started going toCrosspoint, the church that
(33:51):
planted this one, he was in theband.
He was like playing bass, and Iwalked in and I was like I
don't know if I can be a part ofthis place, like 12 years had
gone by and stuck inside of mewas me looking at this bass
player who all I knew was thatdude steals forks.
(34:13):
I don't know if you know or not, I'm pretty confident he might
still be doing it.
And in that moment, one of thethings that the Holy Spirit made
very obvious to me it's a loteasier to remember a person's
(34:33):
sin than it is to forgive it andforget it.
And I do wonder are you viewingsomebody's previous sin as
greater than God's current grace?
Does sin prevent people fromdrawing near to God?
Absolutely yes, but sin isactually essential for them to
draw near to him.
If we don't recognize our sin,there's no reason to come here.
It is not the sinful, but theproud, those who feel like they
(34:53):
have their lives together, thatwe really ought to be most
concerned with.
Nothing and no one is beyondthe forgiveness of God.
There were two criminals whowere crucified with Christ.
St Augustine would say One wassaved, do not despair.
One was not.
Do not despair.
One was not, do not presume.
And as we look at this realityof the forgiveness of Christ, I
(35:18):
would really encourage you withverse with line two here One of
them was saved at the end oftheir life.
Don't despair as you thinkabout adult children in your
life that are walking far fromthe Lord.
As you think about adultchildren in your life that are
walking far from the Lord.
As you think about parents orgrandparents who are walking
from the Lord.
I would encourage you not tooperate off of despair, but also
(35:40):
don't presume.
Don't presume that God is goingto send somebody else.
You might be the else andsometimes you may need to ask
people to step in.
One of my favorite prayers thatI prayed with somebody this year
was me saying I do not havefaith to pray for my dad, will
you?
They're like, yeah, I can havefaith that your dad will come to
faith.
I'm like great, who do you wantme to pray for?
And they said, well, I do nothave faith that so-and-so is
(36:03):
going to come to faith and I waslike I'll take that.
There is something about usdoing this in community and not
just navigating life solo.
Third question I would give youon Jesus's second line that
saved the world Is there someonethat I have forgiven, that I am
selfishly holding at arm'slength I underline the word
(36:24):
selfishly for a cause?
Some of you have been forgivenin such a way that you do not
need to be near that personphysically.
It would be unwise for you todo so, that there is a level of
abuse or advantage taking thathas been presumed upon you and
it would be unwise and unhealthyfor you to be near them.
You're still expected toforgive them, and for those of
(36:48):
you who that person is not aconcern of physical or emotional
harm, I do wonder are youholding them at arm's length
just because?
Or should your forgiveness lookmore like Christ's?
Let's just keep in mind that, asChrist is here and as the thief
on the cross is there, thisman's whole life has been lived
(37:10):
spitting in the eye of who Jesusis.
His whole life has been livedforcing Jesus to need to go
there.
Not one of his days, does itseem, was honoring Christ as
king.
And yet Jesus looks at him and,in this moment of forgiveness,
says today.
Today you are forgiven and youwill be with me in paradise.
(37:31):
When we look at the third line,father, into your hands I commit
my spirit.
Three lines that saved theworld, and this is the last.
I would encourage you to pleasenotice this, jesus though he
was dragged along by your sinand mine, we wrote the script in
our sinfulness that he had towalk out.
(37:52):
He remained very much incontrol.
He was a victim in one sense,but not a victim in another.
Father, if there is any way forthis cup to pass, then I pray
that it would, but if there isnot another way, then your will
be done.
And as Jesus is breathing hislast words, he, with all power
and with all authority, saysFather, I am committing my
(38:16):
spirit into your hands.
I am extinguishing my life as apayment and a ransom.
I am putting in the hand of theFather all of the payment that
is necessary to cover all of thesins that your life would
accrue.
Father, I am committing my lifeto this, I am giving my life to
(38:36):
this.
There are gonna be people 2,000years from now, early in the
spring, who need to be reminded.
I did this with my will and mydesire that they would draw near
to me Father, into your hands Icommit my spirit.
And having said this, hebreathed his last.
(38:57):
I told you a few moments ago Iwanted you to remember our first
line.
Our first line was he savedothers, let him save himself.
If he is the Christ of God, hischosen one, what is the last
word that mankind says?
Then Jesus, calling out with aloud voice, said Father, into
(39:18):
your hands I commit my spirit.
And having said this, hebreathed his last.
Now, when the centurion sawwhat had taken place there's an
awful lot that he's imagininghere he praised God Might
another man be saved.
At the edge of the cross here,just by watching and listening
(39:41):
to the three lines that Jesusuttered that saved the world,
saying certainly this man wasinnocent.
The first line that humanityclaims that it screams out is he
saved others, let him savehimself if he truly is the
Savior.
But by the time Jesus has givenus his three lines, by the time
(40:01):
we have seen him on the cross.
This is why I wanted you totake yourself there when William
and I were reading this.
Were you there, I think almostevery one of us would be here.
This man was innocent.
We have made a huge mistake.
We've made a mistake that wecannot take back.
Why would he allow this tohappen?
(40:22):
Certainly he was powerfulenough to prevent it.
Why?
Why was it that a few days ago,this seemed like the only
solution and now it seems likethe only one that was wrong?
Certainly, this man wasinnocent and yet, as Jesus is
breathing his last, he continuesto teach us about forgiveness.
(40:46):
Forgiveness is something thatJesus offers freely.
It is something that hepractices fully, and forgiveness
is something that Jesus offersfreely.
It is something that hepractices fully, and forgiveness
is something that Jesusfulfills.
Finally, this is the end of thestory.
When it comes to forgivenessInto your hands, I commit my
spirit.
Forgiveness is something Jesusfulfills.
(41:08):
Finally, and I don't mean like,oh, finally he did it, I mean
there is never more.
There is no more need ever forsomething to be done for any sin
that you have, will have, areor will commit.
Sin has been dealt with fullyand finally, god is not rubbing
(41:32):
his hands wondering how am Igoing to get people who are yet
born, that have yet to sin,right in a relationship with me?
It has been done and dealt with.
Do I trust that my sin isactually and finally dealt with.
This was something that Willstruggled with.
When he got saved for the 48thtime, I just didn't believe it.
(41:53):
It was too good to be true andmy sin just kept being produced.
But Romans 3 would remind us ofthis, for all have sinned in
their past, all fall short inthe present and are justified.
This means made right forever.
Forever, jesus' death on thecross has finality to it.
(42:17):
There's nothing else to wait on.
There's nothing to wait for.
All of the sin that you havecommitted, that you are
committing, even the sins youdon't even know that you're
going to commit, jesus has fullydealt with Through the
redemption that is in ChristJesus.
(42:38):
Am I canceling a record of debtor keeping a record of wrongs?
This will be the last questionthat I give you today.
If Jesus forgives finally andhe stamps it done, what does
your forgiveness of others looklike?
I hope that you believe that hehas fully and finally forgiven
(43:01):
you, if you have asked for it.
But are you in the business ofcanceling debts or recording
them, you who were dead in yourtrespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh?
God made alive of your flesh.
God made alive those of you whoare dead.
Through his death and hisresurrection he has made alive.
(43:26):
Now, yeah, you're walkingthrough a place that's covered
in pollen and your feet getawful dirty and you do need to
get tidied up a bit here andthere, but you are living
because God has made you alive.
Together with him, he hasforgiven us all of our
trespasses.
How?
By canceling the record of debt.
This is the way that Jesusforgives.
He doesn't remember themanymore.
(43:48):
As far as the east is, from thewest, the psalmist tells us, so
far as he removed our sins fromus.
How could a just God look atyou, remembering all of your
sins, and say welcome, come nearme.
He wouldn't be able to.
Guys, I know it is hard and itis in the human condition for us
to remember the wrongs thatpeople have done and the rights
that we have done.
But this is what we are calledto.
(44:11):
Is there somebody that, when yousee them, is carrying a record
of debt that you have said thatyou have forgiven?
Because that is not love.
Love is patient, it's kind,doesn't envy, doesn't boast,
isn't proud, doesn't dishonorothers and it's not self-seeking
, doesn't even get easilyangered.
But you know what love is.
(44:32):
It is a keeper of no record ofwrongs.
This is the reality of love,and if you look at those in your
life whom you say you love, oreven those you know that you're
supposed to love, and attach tothem as a record of wrongs that
you constantly hold them up nextto, I wonder if you have truly
(44:54):
forgiven them, becauseforgiveness is something that
Jesus fulfills.
Finally, the way that I'd likefor us to end this morning and
respond and we have lots of timeto respond this morning, so
we're not in a hurry and we'renot in a rush, but I'm going to
get you to just maybe play for amoment.
I want to put a scripture upfor you.
I told you we only get threelines on the cross, but Jesus
(45:18):
had to be thinking more thanwhat we have.
We can all agree with that.
We don't have all of Jesus'sthoughts on the cross.
We may have a clue as to whatJesus was thinking.
Why might we have a clue?
Because one of the lines comesright out of a psalm.
This was a psalm that waswritten by David before Jesus
came incarnationally in flesh,like you and me.
This was a psalm that waswritten by David before Jesus
came incarnationally in flesh,like you and me.
(45:40):
This would have been somethingthat he would have studied as a
12-year-old in the temple.
Of course, he knew it, probablybefore he walked in, but this
is a verse that Jesus knew well.
So when Jesus is on the crossand the last words that come
from his mouth are into yourhand, I commit my spirit.
He's not freewheeling, he's notcoming up with something.
(46:03):
Lord, this is going to be thelast time I pray on earth.
I really want to make it a goodone.
It looks like people arelistening.
They're going to write it down.
I don't think there was anypressure like that for Jesus.
I think he's just connectingwith the Father before he goes
(46:23):
into the darkness that lasts forthree days.
But this one line lives in apsalm.
It's a fairly long psalm, andso I didn't take all of it, but
I did take a few verses that, tome, were worth noting.
Might these be the things thatJesus was thinking when he was
on the cross, knowing that hewas thinking verse 5,.
Might he have been thinking inverse 1, about being put to
shame and needing to bedelivered?
(46:45):
Might he, in verse 3, have beenthinking about God, his rock
and fortress, that God was theone who led him here and that he
was trusting Might.
He, in verse 12 feel, feel likehe truly has become A broken
vessel.
And at the end of that psalm hesays this Be strong, let your
(47:09):
heart take Courage, all you whowait For the Lord.
I would not presume as to thefinal thoughts of Christ, but
were I to have to guess, and ifscripture were to give us a hint
, I think Jesus would have beenworking through every one of
these thoughts and ending there.
I will be strong.
(47:30):
My subjects need a king who isstrong.
My heart will not be troubled.
It will take courage.
This is something that wasnecessary and I will wait for
the Lord.
It'll only be a few days andthings will be tidied right up.
I leave this for you to reflecton and worship team.
(47:53):
When you're ready to call usinto worship, feel free to do so
.
If you want to celebratesomething God's doing in your
life, if you need help forgiving, if there's something that's
been filled into that blank thatyou need to walk through, greg,
if you don't mind taking thatside, I'll be over here.
If you want to just sit alone,take the back porch.
It's a little bit yellow backthere, but it's all right, we've
navigated how to work throughthat already.
(48:15):
Stand and sing.
If that is something that youwant to do proclaiming these
great truths and if you want totalk with somebody, we would be
happy to talk with you on theback porch, but respond as you
feel led to do so.
Please turn in your Bibles to Luke 23, 26-35, which
is on page 884 in the Pew Bibles, and follow along as I read
God's word.
And as they led him away, theyseized one, Simon of Cyrene, who
was coming in from the country,and on him the cross, to carry
(00:24):
it behind Jesus.
And there followed him a greatmultitude of the people and of
women who were mourning andlamenting for him.
But turning to them, Jesus saidDaughters of Jerusalem, do not
weep for me, but weep foryourselves and for your children
.
For behold, the days are comingwhen they will say Blessed are
(00:44):
the barren and the wombs thatnever bore and the breasts that
never nursed.
For behold, the days are comingwhen they will say Then they
will begin to say to themountains, Fall on us and to the
hills, cover us.
For if they do these thingswhen the wood is green, what
will happen when it is dry?
Two others, who were criminals,were led away to be put to death
with him, and when they came tothe place that is called the
(01:06):
skull, there they crucified himand the criminals, one on his
right and one on his left, andJesus said Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they doand they cast lots to divide his
garments and the people stoodby watching.
But the rulers scoffed at him,saying he saved others, let him
save himself If he is the Christof God, his chosen one.
(01:29):
This is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Thank you, sarai, I appreciate it.
Yeah, you can leave it there.
One of the things that strikesme as Sarai is reading that
passage, you would have to takea look.
You guys got me right there,awesome.
You would have to take a lookat the very thing that Jesus
says in verse 28.
(01:56):
If you have it in front of you,it's also on the screen the
fact that Jesus is inches fromthe cross and he looks at the
women who are weeping,recognizing not only what is
going to happen, but what hasalready happened to Christ.
Keep in mind at this point hehas been mocked, he has been
spit on, he has been beaten, hehas been bruised, he has been
(02:18):
mistreated by the very humanitythat he came to save.
And, as he is, feet from thecross, being carried by another
because of his inability, afterthis beating, to be able to
carry his own cross, he's nolonger in his mind wondering
what the cross may look like.
He can see it, he knows what iscoming.
(02:39):
And what amazes me about Christand I feel like this sets us up
for the entire morning thatwe're going to spend in
Scripture together is that Jesus, even in this moment, is more
concerned about the peoplearound him than he is concerned
about himself, and I would justtell you, as a person with a
nature, that I so long for it tobe like Christ, but it feels so
(03:00):
far away from that.
This is a staggering thing forme to read.
I think most of what we knowfrom the cross comes later.
Daughters of Jerusalem, do notweep for me.
Weep for yourselves and yourchildren.
It is not a well-known passage.
I'm going to put a couple ofwell-known passages and kind of
quiz you guys to see how wellyou know this section of
scripture.
Don't worry, you don't have toanswer out loud when we get
(03:21):
there.
But this is not what I think ofas a primary scripture.
And yet what we find is thathere Christ is more concerned,
as he is inches from the cross,about the people around him than
his own good or his own welfare.
Let me point you to somethingthat may feel out of the blue,
(03:42):
but I don't think it is.
One of the conversations thatI've had with people over the
past two weeks has been aboutthe pollen that we are
experiencing right now in ourworld.
I thought something was burningin the woods the other day.
Okay, all right, lots of youguys are giving me this.
I thought something was burningdown, only to realize that this
(04:04):
smoke is actually an incredibleamount of pollen.
My wife, who follows theweather app fairly religiously,
but even more so, I think, aswe're getting ready to go to
Thailand said have you seen theair quality?
And I'm like I have never seenthe air quality of any place I
have ever lived in my entirelife.
But no, I have not seen the airquality.
(04:25):
She said it is abysmal.
I've never seen the air qualitythis poor before.
And, as I've talked with folks,it's all.
I can't keep my car clean.
I can barely go to sleep atnight.
I'm always rubbing my.
I am miserable.
And I was thinking.
This little season of pollen isa wonderful way for you to
(04:45):
think about the text that we'reabout to read.
Jesus looks at Peter one day andhe wants to wash Peter's feet.
All right, something is dirty,something is not the way it
ought to be, and Jesus wants towash Peter's feet.
And Peter says to him you shallnever wash my feet.
You are high, I am low.
You are Christ, I am not.
It's not going to happen.
And Jesus answered him if I donot wash you, you have no share
(05:11):
with me.
And then Peter kind of flips,he's like well, look, if I can't
have a share with you unlessI'm washed, then Lord, not my
feet, but my head, my hands like, get me real clean if it means
I can be close with you.
And I've never, I've neverforgotten the next thing that
Jesus says, because it has beena constant reminder to me for
decades of what being aChristian if you're a Christian
(05:32):
in the room today, what being aChristian in a world that is
covered in sin is actually like.
And Jesus said to him the onewho is bathed does not need to
wash.
If your soul is right with God,you do not need to get saved
again.
I got saved at a Billy Grahamcrusade.
I got saved at a DC talkconcert I need to be using air
(05:53):
quotes here, because my theologyis better than this.
I got saved at summer camp.
I got saved on the floor of mybedroom and I got saved in my
pastor's office.
Those are not all correct intimeline, but they are correct
in my experience.
Why?
Because I didn't understandthis.
I realized that there was sinin me and I thought that Christ
(06:13):
had cleaned me up.
But he must not have cleaned meup, because I'm still
struggling with these thoughts,these deeds, these actions,
these words that just keepflowing out of this jacked up
soul inside of me and I'm likewell, jesus, we got to do this
again.
I got the sinner's prayer wrong.
I didn't get it quite right.
I must not have been squeezinghard enough or praying fervent
enough.
And this has been such a giftto me, the one who has bathed.
(06:37):
If you have repented of yoursins and trusted in Christ, you
do not need to do that again.
But your feet, the parts of youthat are constantly in contact
with this world, they need to bemade clean frequently.
And as we look at this passageof scripture, what I want to
(06:59):
simply get you to wrestle withis this when it comes to
receiving forgiveness, on theone hand, and when it comes to
giving forgiveness, on the other, when it comes to you receiving
forgiveness from God or fromothers, you need to ask people
for forgiveness if you havewronged them in some way.
Category one.
Category two you need to giveforgiveness to people as you
(07:23):
have been forgiven, so you oughtto forgive.
When these two realities pressin on your soul, is there a
chance that your soul is a bitdusty here.
Is there a chance that yourreceiving or giving of
repentance is not as cleaned upas the Holy Spirit would desire
for it to be?
(07:43):
Because I believe that Godwants us to freely receive his
forgiveness day in and day out,and to freely give it as well,
but I think, as humans, it isone of the hardest things for us
to do.
So what does Jesus show us inthis?
All right now, these arepassages from the cross that
probably will be more familiarthan oh, daughters of Jerusalem,
(08:07):
do not weep for me, but weepfor yourselves.
All right, let's just see howyou do.
You can answer in your mind,you can answer out loud, you can
decide if it's pride, you candecide if it's not.
I'm not getting into that.
Okay, we're already talkingabout forgiveness.
All right, number one, father,forgive them.
Okay, good stuff, way to go.
All right.
(08:36):
Truly, I say to you today Okay,a couple fewer, but yeah, good,
good, father, into your hands.
Okay, the reason that I put thisup is we are about to walk into
a passage that many of you haveheard before.
We're getting close to Easterhere, christ is laying out his
heart for them, and I'm gonnaget William to come and read
with me.
When I was a youth pastor, oneof the things that I realized is
, if you're ever gonna read along passage of scripture, it is
(09:00):
a kindness to people to breakit up a little bit.
And so here's what we're gonnado.
We're gonna read a passage ofscripture, I'm going to do the
narrating and William is goingto read the voices that are
happening at and around thecross.
This is not us trying to do aperformance for y'all.
Okay, I told William, you donot need to have accents, you do
(09:20):
not need to like, we're both.
I really tried, did you Okay?
Yeah, he said no.
It's all going to be in Hebrew.
Someone's going to have tointerpret.
It's going to be a thing Now.
So, but what I did want was foryou to engage with this text in
a new way.
Why?
Because you know this many ofyou, by the way.
If you didn't know a singleanswer on the screen, I'm really
, really glad you're here.
(09:41):
Church is not for people whoknow the answers.
It's for people who want to cometo the one who has them, and so
what we're going to do is we'regoing to read through this
together, and I would encourageyou to do one of two things.
I want you to engage with thistext that you have probably
heard many times before.
If you want to read it, as youtypically would, feel free, read
along with us.
That'd be one way.
(10:01):
The other way would be thisdepending on if you've had a cup
of coffee or not, if you wantto close your eyes and picture
the scene, I would encourage youto do that, because I want you
to see this in your mind's eyebefore we walk through it
expositionally.
So here we go the crucifixionof Jesus.
Two others, who were criminals,were led away to be put to
(10:25):
death with him, and when theycame to the place that is called
the skull.
There they crucified him andthe criminals, one on his right
and one on his left, and Jesussaid Father, forgive them, for
they know not what they do.
And they cast lots to divide hisgarments and the people stood
by watching but the rulerscoffed at him saying he saved
(10:48):
others, let him save himself ifhe is the Christ of God, his
chosen one.
The soldiers also mocked him,coming up and offering him sour
wine and saying If you are theking of the Jews, save yourself.
There was also an inscriptionover him this is the king of the
(11:08):
Jews, one of the criminals whowere hanged, railed at him,
saying are you not the Christ?
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Save yourself and us.
But the other rebuked him,saying do you not fear God,
since you are under the samesentence of condemnation?
And we, indeed, justly, for weare receiving the due reward of
our deeds.
But this man has done nothingwrong.
And he said, jesus, remember mewhen you come into your kingdom
(11:32):
.
And Jesus said to him Truly Isay to you you will be with me
in paradise.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
It was now about the sixth hour and there was
darkness over the whole landuntil the ninth hour, while the
sun's light failed and thecurtain of the temple was torn
in two.
Then Jesus, calling out with aloud voice, said Father, into
your hands, I commit my spirit.
And having said this, hebreathed his last.
(12:00):
Now, when the centurion sawwhat had taken place, he praised
God, saying Certainly this manwas innocent.
And all the crowds that hadassembled for this spectacle,
when they had saw what had takenplace, returned home beating
their breasts, and all hisacquaintances and the women who
had followed him from Galileestood at a distance watching
(12:23):
these things.
Amen, thank you, william.
I appreciate your help withthat.
This is the scene.
I hope you can see it in yourmind.
I hope you can see that in thismoment.
You're not going to see manydisciples meandering around.
You're going to see womentrailing at a distance.
The bravest of Jesus' followerson this day are the women and
(12:45):
Jesus' own mother, john,probably tucked somewhere near
her.
But you're also going to see aman who is a part of the very
council who put Jesus here.
Look and say something is wrongwith this.
You're going to see a criminalon a cross.
Look at this and say there issomething that makes me uneasy
here.
I deserve to be here, but thisman does not.
(13:08):
You're going to look at acenturion, somebody who has seen
death time after time, somebodywho is not in his admonition,
seeking to live a godly or amoral life, and God's word is
going to say he praised God inthis day, looking at Christ and
saying surely this man wasinnocent.
(13:29):
As you look at this scene, whatI want you to realize is
everybody was so confident thatJesus needed to die until Jesus
began to die.
And when Jesus began to die,all of a sudden, lots of folks
began realizing.
There is something inside of methat feels very uneasy about
(13:50):
this.
There's something that feelsintrinsically wrong.
And it didn't matter if theywere the well-educated council
members or if they weremurderers, if they were
God-fearers or Romans who werefar from him.
When anyone saw Christ on thecross, something inside of them
screamed.
(14:10):
This is wrong, and what I wantyou to notice is that in all of
this, all of this talking, allof the pieces that William read
to you while I was narrating, Iwant you to see how much Jesus,
the greatest teacher of his andany age, the one that thousands
(14:34):
would come to listen to when heis most visible, when people are
most going to remember hiswords, I want you to see how
much Jesus said.
Here is how much Jesus said.
That's it In the gospel of Luke.
We hear more from the peoplearound Christ than we hear
(14:56):
Christ on the cross.
Three lines that end up savingan entire world, and tucked into
these three lines is the greathope for the world and
everything that Christ felt wasnecessary for you to know.
(15:19):
So what are these three linesthat saved the world?
The first line that we see isFather, forgive them, for they
know not what they do.
Jesus is actually hanging undera sign when he says this.
The sign was a little bit of adispute that arose.
This is the king of the Jews.
(15:40):
The Jewish council members, theSanhedrin, the Pharisees,
really did not like the sign.
They went and they said hey,you got a little bit of a typo
there.
Grammarly didn't pop up.
You need to fix this thing.
It should say he said he wasking of the Jews.
And they look and they're likelook, we've written what we are
going to write, and right aboveJesus, as though it is mocking
(16:03):
the very ones who mocked him.
Is this great reality?
This is what a king really is.
A king is someone who looks atthe weeping women who are
worried about him and says don'tworry about me.
Worry about what life is goingto look like for you when this
(16:24):
happens to me.
Disciples, I've told you giveyour money away, but you're
going to need to hold on to itfor a minute.
Do peace to all those aroundyou, but in this moment you're
going to need to tuck a swordinto the tent.
Hey guys, I'm telling youthings are about to get very,
very dark, both spiritually,metaphorically, and physically.
(16:48):
The very first line that a humansays, that mankind says is
right here when it says he savedothers, let him save himself.
I want you to commit that tomemory, not for the rest of your
life, although I think thatcould be beneficial.
I want you to commit it tomemory just for the next 10
(17:08):
minutes or so.
Your first line, our first lineas humanity, as Jesus is coming
to the scene, is he savedothers, let him save himself.
You know what?
If he really wants to show thathe is Messiah, if he wants to
show that he is Savior, if hewants to show that he is Christ,
if he wants to show that he isKing, this is the easiest way
(17:30):
for him to do it.
Subdue your enemies, step down.
If you have really been able toheal others, heal yourself.
The very first words that weput on Christ are prove it.
As though his life had alreadynot done that.
Wait till you see what our lastline is.
(17:51):
But in this, what we find isthat Jesus begins teaching us
the greatest lesson over one ofthe greatest realities a human
can ever learn about, and thatis forgiveness.
Forgiveness is something thatJesus offers freely.
When somebody comes to you andasks for forgiveness if you're a
(18:14):
Christian it's important thatyou know this you must forgive
them.
This is not a controversialstatement, as it relates to
scripture.
As we have been forgiven, so weought also to forgive.
That means we forgive peoplewho steal candy from our
backpacks.
It means we forgive people whocut us off in traffic.
(18:37):
It means we forgive people whocuss us out.
It means we forgive people whohave affairs against us.
It means we forgive people whoare abusive, mean and cruel.
It means we forgive people whohave perpetuated the greatest
evil you can imagine in yourmind.
We are called to forgive them.
(18:59):
Now listen.
That doesn't mean that thereare no consequences for that sin
.
It's not what I'm saying.
But what I am saying is, if youlook in your own life and
realize that somebody remainsunforgiven in yours, you are
putting yourself in a verytenuous, dangerous position
according to Scripture, becauseif we do not forgive, scripture
says he will not forgive us, andnone of us have ever been
(19:22):
sinned against more greatly thanGod has been sinned against by
us.
So the very first thing that Iwant you to see, when Jesus is
looking at those who are readyto put nails through hands,
looking at those who are readyto put nails through hands crown
of thorns on head, spear inside, as well as all of the other
stuff that happens the veryfirst thing that comes from his
(19:42):
mouth Father, forgive them, forthey know not what they do.
They're casting lots becausethey're excited about who's
going to get his clothes.
They have done all manner ofthings to wrong Jesus.
And what comes from his mouthis Father, forgive them, for
(20:02):
they know not what they do.
This is how freely Christ givesforgiveness when it comes to us
.
I wonder is there someone thatI've convinced myself I've
forgiven simply because I'vestopped thinking about them?
Forgiveness and forgetfulnessare not the same thing.
(20:25):
Just because you can putsomeone out of your mind, just
because you can come up with away to put a situation out of
the recurring rolling screen ofyour memory, does not mean that
you have forgiven them.
And I wonder how often we justsay out of sight, out of mind,
I'm moving on, I feel healthy,I'm able to worship I'm able to
(20:47):
read.
Might it simply be that youhave just tried to stop thinking
about that person?
Do I think that I have beensinned against too severely to
offer the same forgiveness thatI have received?
If you've been coming to thischurch for two months, you have
listened to numerous testimoniesin those past two months of
(21:07):
people who have been sinnedagainst in some of the most
egregious ways.
When Veronica was gettingbaptized last week, one of my
absolute favorite parts of hertestimony was as I have been
writing this testimony, I havefelt anger grow in my soul and I
have chosen to take that angerto the Lord and entrust it to
(21:32):
him.
I'm not saying that you willget to a place where that person
or that thing will ever becomeemotionally neutral for you, but
forgiveness difficult and messy, still expected.
Why?
Because the one who we modelour lives after as Christians
(21:56):
modeled it for us, christ, hasnot come back yet.
He has not said come into mykingdom, receive forgiveness.
He is in the throes of abuse.
Father, forgive them.
They know not what they do Inthe midst of the heated argument
.
Father, forgive them.
They know not what they do Inthe midst of the heated argument
.
Father, forgive them.
They know not what they do Inthe midst of being belittled,
(22:18):
name called and mistreated.
Father, forgive them, for theyknow not what they do.
That is the first thing that wesee about forgiveness in the
very few words that Jesus givesus.
Secondly, we see this Truly.
I say to you today you will bewith me in paradise.
(22:40):
What do we find in this littleline?
One of the criminals who werehanged railed at him.
You can sort of imagine Jesus.
We've all seen this picturebefore A cross in the middle and
then two on the side, one angrythief, another not, and they're
(23:03):
turning inward at Christ, onewith good things to say and one
with poor things to say.
This, by the way, is one of themost encouraging verses.
If there's somebody in yourlife who you really want to
trust in Christ, but you haveyet to see it, in 10, 20, 30, or
40 years you can still say, hey, there was a thief on a cross
and it took him to his lastbreath, but by the grace of God
he was forgiven.
And do you know what a gift itis that Jesus gives us these
(23:26):
words?
It would have been one thing tosay I forgive you, but to go a
step further and say truly.
That whenever Jesus says truly,he's sort of saying I really,
really mean this.
It's not that Jesus ever didmean anything that he said I
doubt he had wasted words.
Hey, remember this.
Those of you who will readabout this 2,000 years later,
(23:49):
those of you who, as youapproach Easter, begin thinking
about deep things, truly, I'mtelling you this.
I'm saying this today.
You will be with me in paradise.
These two thieves could not bemore different and yet come from
the same piece of cloth.
Verse 40, the other rebuked him, saying do you not fear God?
(24:10):
You were under the samesentence of condemnation.
All three of us have gotten thedeath penalty, and we, indeed,
justly.
I know you deserve it and youknow I deserve it, but this man
has done nothing wrong.
Jesus, will you remember mewhen you come into your kingdom?
(24:30):
Can I just tell you that doesn'tfit into the prayer that I was
taught to pray with kids at camp, prayer that I was taught to
pray with kids at camp.
What I was taught to pray withkids at camp is this Okay, will
you?
Don't want to screw this up?
It's your eternal salvation.
We're going to make it veryeasy for you.
There's this bracelet withlittle beads.
Okay, it has lots of differentcolors so that you don't get
confused.
Y'all remember the bracelet.
I just need to see show ofhands.
(24:51):
Who remembers the VBS braceletwith all the beads?
If you don't know, that's okay.
They then gave us a littlebooklet with no words it was
called the wordless booklet hadthe exact same color of the
beads on the booklet.
I guess in the event that youneeded another identical
illustration.
But here's what we were taught.
When somebody recognizes this,this does not make sense for
(25:14):
Jesus, but it makes a lot ofsense for me when somebody comes
to that realization I am asinner and I need forgiveness.
A, b, c.
Admit that you're a sinner,believe that Jesus will forgive
you and then confess your sinand call on the Lord A, b and C.
It's very simple.
Gospel's not complicated, butit's heavy and it's hard to get
your soul there.
I love the fact that this man'ssinner's prayer is simply this
(25:37):
Jesus, can you not forget aboutme?
I know that there are a lot ofpeople you shepherd.
I know that there are a lot ofpeople you care for.
You must be a very busy guy tobe in charge of speaking the
universe and to be in keepingall of its parts together.
But when you do go into yourkingdom, which I believe you
will, will you just remember mewhen I show up at the gate?
(25:58):
Will you remember that I wasthe guy next to you and that I
do trust, I do believe you arewho you say you are, and for
Jesus to overlook an entire lifelived in sin and in one moment,
millennia of eternity changesimply because he says Jesus,
(26:20):
will you remember me?
What do we find aboutforgiveness here?
Forgiveness is something thatJesus practices fully.
He never takes a day off fromforgiveness.
Forgiveness is not something he, by the way, I think this is
(26:40):
important for whichever one ofyou is the emotional one in your
marriage.
If it's both of you, then bothof you put your ears up, okay.
If you're not married, but youjust know my feels, get big.
Please pay attention to this.
Jesus fully practicesforgiveness.
He doesn't just wait until it'sconvenient.
(27:01):
Do you know when it's convenientto live for Christ?
Never.
It is never convenient to livefor Christ.
It will always be compared toyour own sinfulness, nature,
desire, timeline and calendar.
Inconvenient, inconvenient foryou to go and have that
conversation.
Inconvenient for you tointerrupt your family's plans to
(27:22):
invite another person into them.
It will always be inconvenientfor your feelings to forgive and
to go and seek forgiveness, butwhat we see with Christ is
there is no waiting to go andseek forgiveness.
But what we see with Christ isthere is no waiting.
There is no time to wait.
If somebody is at the point ofseeking forgiveness, jesus says
today, you are going to be withme here.
(27:45):
They are Killing a king who isactively seeking their good,
praying for the forgiveness ofthe sinners who surround him and
mistreat him.
I'd like you to also notice onething about this second line.
Now you're going to have to paykind of close attention and I'm
(28:09):
sorry I can't make it muchbigger than that.
What is different about thesecond line Jesus gives us at
the cross than the first and thethird?
What's different?
You got to speak up, sorry,yeah.
So in the first one, father andFather.
(28:30):
Now, I always want to becareful not to stretch Scripture
and try to find stuff that'snot actually there, but to me
this stands out as quite obvious.
If you say Father, what are youin the midst of doing?
Praying, right, I mean, this ishow Jesus taught his disciples
to pray, pray like this okay,our Father, who art in heaven.
(28:53):
What I find beautiful andencouraging is that the only
thing in the gospel of Luke thatinterrupts Jesus's prayer is
him inviting a sinner to heaven.
Here Christ is in what must befor a being who is endless,
infinity before, infinity after.
(29:16):
In this moment, father, father,father, and we don't see
everything Jesus is thinking,but I have a hint as to what it
might be.
Ends, father, father, father.
But right here, in the midst ofhis prayer, when he most needs
the strength of his Father,father, father.
But right here in the midst ofhis prayer, when he most needs
the strength of his Father, theFather who would send angels to
(29:36):
strengthen him and support him,he is willing to open his eyes
and say I will interrupt thisprayer if it brings one sinner
into this kingdom.
Sinner into this kingdom.
This is the kind of king thathe is.
(29:56):
The only thing that interruptsJesus' prayer on the cross is
inviting in one more sinner.
So, when we think aboutforgiveness being something that
Jesus practices fully, a coupleof questions for you.
Am I still bitter with someoneI have forgiven?
Am I still holding blankagainst them?
Can I tell you one of myfavorite things about preaching.
(30:18):
One of my favorite things aboutpreaching is you can read
through a text and people arelike you need to talk to the
husbands and wives about that.
And then you can read throughanother text and it's like
singles ears up, ears up.
Another one, young people, kidspay attention, others, empty
nesters, look, look, look.
But do you realize that thevast majority of scripture 95%,
(30:40):
which is me just completelyshooting from the hip on this
applies to every human male,female, child, old, young, white
, black, from 2025 or from AD 25?
Do you know how fascinating itis that when I read am I still
bitter with someone I haveforgiven?
Am I still holding blankagainst them?
(31:00):
In this room, there are hundredsof answers that are filling
that blank, and it has nothingto do with how long you've
walked with the Lord.
It has nothing to do with whatyour genetic makeup is.
You are human and, as human,the likelihood that you are
bitter with somebody that youhave forgiven is quite high, and
(31:21):
the likelihood that you havebeen wronged in such a way that
you still feel that you can fillthat blank.
This is how powerful the wordof God is.
I would also just maybe atidbit on the shepherding side.
If that thing that you'refilling the blank with you've
been filling the blank with fora long time, I'd love to talk to
you.
I'd love to pray with you.
(31:43):
I would love to encourage you,I would love to help you.
So would Greg, so would Trent,so would any of the elders or
pastors in the room, so wouldMCG leaders.
We want to help you navigatethe things that are filling that
blank.
When we think about the fullnessof Christ's forgiveness, am I
viewing someone's previous sinas greater than God's current
grace?
(32:03):
This to me was Lance Ogden, whoI ran into at Chick-fil-A the
other day.
I ran into him at Chick-fil-Aand he and a handful of guys
were pulling out Bibles andsitting at the fancy or high top
table.
Y'all know what I'm talkingabout at Chick-fil-A the wood
grain.
Okay, now you've got thepicture in your mind.
They felt like they were theones in that moment.
(32:24):
I feel like it's a bit of anarrogant pull to take that table
.
I do, I can't explain it.
It always bothers me.
It always bothered me.
When people without kids sitnext to the play area, I'm like
who do you think you are?
Don't you know that's for uswith little kids we have to keep
an eye on them.
You're supposed to be on theother side.
What is wrong with you people?
Anyway, I have lots of stuff towork on, but I aged out of that
(32:46):
one.
I don't even sit near that.
I don't even want to be closeto it anymore, but nonetheless
am I viewing someone's previoussin as greater than God's
current grace?
Lance Ogden.
My senior year at Hardaway HighSchool, I was in a bunch of
theater type stuff and so duringlunch sometimes we would dip
(33:09):
out and my next class wastheater or drama, whatever it is
.
I can't remember what it was,but it was that thing.
And every single day afterlunch, lance would walk in with
a fork in his hand and I'm likeLance, why do you have a fork?
And he's like I just stealforks every day from the
cafeteria and I'm like what he'slike?
Yeah, I don't know, it's just athing I do.
I like stealing forks.
I don't know how many of youguys are public school.
(33:30):
They're not impressive.
All right, they bend if yousneeze on them, like they're
cheap things.
But he would steal these forksand I remember just thinking you
are so far from God and I couldnot for the longest time,
reconcile.
When I started going toCrosspoint, the church that
(33:51):
planted this one, he was in theband.
He was like playing bass, and Iwalked in and I was like I
don't know if I can be a part ofthis place, like 12 years had
gone by and stuck inside of mewas me looking at this bass
player who all I knew was thatdude steals forks.
(34:13):
I don't know if you know or not, I'm pretty confident he might
still be doing it.
And in that moment, one of thethings that the Holy Spirit made
very obvious to me it's a loteasier to remember a person's
(34:33):
sin than it is to forgive it andforget it.
And I do wonder are you viewingsomebody's previous sin as
greater than God's current grace?
Does sin prevent people fromdrawing near to God?
Absolutely yes, but sin isactually essential for them to
draw near to him.
If we don't recognize our sin,there's no reason to come here.
It is not the sinful, but theproud, those who feel like they
(34:53):
have their lives together, thatwe really ought to be most
concerned with.
Nothing and no one is beyondthe forgiveness of God.
There were two criminals whowere crucified with Christ.
St Augustine would say One wassaved, do not despair.
One was not.
Do not despair.
One was not, do not presume.
And as we look at this realityof the forgiveness of Christ, I
(35:18):
would really encourage you withverse with line two here One of
them was saved at the end oftheir life.
Don't despair as you thinkabout adult children in your
life that are walking far fromthe Lord.
As you think about adultchildren in your life that are
walking far from the Lord.
As you think about parents orgrandparents who are walking
from the Lord.
I would encourage you not tooperate off of despair, but also
(35:40):
don't presume.
Don't presume that God is goingto send somebody else.
You might be the else andsometimes you may need to ask
people to step in.
One of my favorite prayers thatI prayed with somebody this year
was me saying I do not havefaith to pray for my dad, will
you?
They're like, yeah, I can havefaith that your dad will come to
faith.
I'm like great, who do you wantme to pray for?
And they said, well, I do nothave faith that so-and-so is
(36:03):
going to come to faith and I waslike I'll take that.
There is something about usdoing this in community and not
just navigating life solo.
Third question I would give youon Jesus's second line that
saved the world Is there someonethat I have forgiven, that I am
selfishly holding at arm'slength I underline the word
(36:24):
selfishly for a cause?
Some of you have been forgivenin such a way that you do not
need to be near that personphysically.
It would be unwise for you todo so, that there is a level of
abuse or advantage taking thathas been presumed upon you and
it would be unwise and unhealthyfor you to be near them.
You're still expected toforgive them, and for those of
(36:48):
you who that person is not aconcern of physical or emotional
harm, I do wonder are youholding them at arm's length
just because?
Or should your forgiveness lookmore like Christ's?
Let's just keep in mind that, asChrist is here and as the thief
on the cross is there, thisman's whole life has been lived
(37:10):
spitting in the eye of who Jesusis.
His whole life has been livedforcing Jesus to need to go
there.
Not one of his days, does itseem, was honoring Christ as
king.
And yet Jesus looks at him and,in this moment of forgiveness,
says today.
Today you are forgiven and youwill be with me in paradise.
(37:31):
When we look at the third line,father, into your hands I commit
my spirit.
Three lines that saved theworld, and this is the last.
I would encourage you to pleasenotice this, jesus though he
was dragged along by your sinand mine, we wrote the script in
our sinfulness that he had towalk out.
(37:52):
He remained very much incontrol.
He was a victim in one sense,but not a victim in another.
Father, if there is any way forthis cup to pass, then I pray
that it would, but if there isnot another way, then your will
be done.
And as Jesus is breathing hislast words, he, with all power
and with all authority, saysFather, I am committing my
(38:16):
spirit into your hands.
I am extinguishing my life as apayment and a ransom.
I am putting in the hand of theFather all of the payment that
is necessary to cover all of thesins that your life would
accrue.
Father, I am committing my lifeto this, I am giving my life to
(38:36):
this.
There are gonna be people 2,000years from now, early in the
spring, who need to be reminded.
I did this with my will and mydesire that they would draw near
to me Father, into your hands Icommit my spirit.
And having said this, hebreathed his last.
(38:57):
I told you a few moments ago Iwanted you to remember our first
line.
Our first line was he savedothers, let him save himself.
If he is the Christ of God, hischosen one, what is the last
word that mankind says?
Then Jesus, calling out with aloud voice, said Father, into
(39:18):
your hands I commit my spirit.
And having said this, hebreathed his last.
Now, when the centurion sawwhat had taken place there's an
awful lot that he's imagininghere he praised God Might
another man be saved.
At the edge of the cross here,just by watching and listening
(39:41):
to the three lines that Jesusuttered that saved the world,
saying certainly this man wasinnocent.
The first line that humanityclaims that it screams out is he
saved others, let him savehimself if he truly is the
Savior.
But by the time Jesus has givenus his three lines, by the time
(40:01):
we have seen him on the cross.
This is why I wanted you totake yourself there when William
and I were reading this.
Were you there, I think almostevery one of us would be here.
This man was innocent.
We have made a huge mistake.
We've made a mistake that wecannot take back.
Why would he allow this tohappen?
(40:22):
Certainly he was powerfulenough to prevent it.
Why?
Why was it that a few days ago,this seemed like the only
solution and now it seems likethe only one that was wrong?
Certainly, this man wasinnocent and yet, as Jesus is
breathing his last, he continuesto teach us about forgiveness.
(40:46):
Forgiveness is something thatJesus offers freely.
It is something that hepractices fully, and forgiveness
is something that Jesus offersfreely.
It is something that hepractices fully, and forgiveness
is something that Jesusfulfills.
Finally, this is the end of thestory.
When it comes to forgivenessInto your hands, I commit my
spirit.
Forgiveness is something Jesusfulfills.
(41:08):
Finally, and I don't mean like,oh, finally he did it, I mean
there is never more.
There is no more need ever forsomething to be done for any sin
that you have, will have, areor will commit.
Sin has been dealt with fullyand finally, god is not rubbing
(41:32):
his hands wondering how am Igoing to get people who are yet
born, that have yet to sin,right in a relationship with me?
It has been done and dealt with.
Do I trust that my sin isactually and finally dealt with.
This was something that Willstruggled with.
When he got saved for the 48thtime, I just didn't believe it.
(41:53):
It was too good to be true andmy sin just kept being produced.
But Romans 3 would remind us ofthis, for all have sinned in
their past, all fall short inthe present and are justified.
This means made right forever.
Forever, jesus' death on thecross has finality to it.
(42:17):
There's nothing else to wait on.
There's nothing to wait for.
All of the sin that you havecommitted, that you are
committing, even the sins youdon't even know that you're
going to commit, jesus has fullydealt with Through the
redemption that is in ChristJesus.
(42:38):
Am I canceling a record of debtor keeping a record of wrongs?
This will be the last questionthat I give you today.
If Jesus forgives finally andhe stamps it done, what does
your forgiveness of others looklike?
I hope that you believe that hehas fully and finally forgiven
(43:01):
you, if you have asked for it.
But are you in the business ofcanceling debts or recording
them, you who were dead in yourtrespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh?
God made alive of your flesh.
God made alive those of you whoare dead.
Through his death and hisresurrection he has made alive.
(43:26):
Now, yeah, you're walkingthrough a place that's covered
in pollen and your feet getawful dirty and you do need to
get tidied up a bit here andthere, but you are living
because God has made you alive.
Together with him, he hasforgiven us all of our
trespasses.
How?
By canceling the record of debt.
This is the way that Jesusforgives.
He doesn't remember themanymore.
(43:48):
As far as the east is, from thewest, the psalmist tells us, so
far as he removed our sins fromus.
How could a just God look atyou, remembering all of your
sins, and say welcome, come nearme.
He wouldn't be able to.
Guys, I know it is hard and itis in the human condition for us
to remember the wrongs thatpeople have done and the rights
that we have done.
But this is what we are calledto.
(44:11):
Is there somebody that, when yousee them, is carrying a record
of debt that you have said thatyou have forgiven?
Because that is not love.
Love is patient, it's kind,doesn't envy, doesn't boast,
isn't proud, doesn't dishonorothers and it's not self-seeking
, doesn't even get easilyangered.
But you know what love is.
(44:32):
It is a keeper of no record ofwrongs.
This is the reality of love,and if you look at those in your
life whom you say you love, oreven those you know that you're
supposed to love, and attach tothem as a record of wrongs that
you constantly hold them up nextto, I wonder if you have truly
(44:54):
forgiven them, becauseforgiveness is something that
Jesus fulfills.
Finally, the way that I'd likefor us to end this morning and
respond and we have lots of timeto respond this morning, so
we're not in a hurry and we'renot in a rush, but I'm going to
get you to just maybe play for amoment.
I want to put a scripture upfor you.
I told you we only get threelines on the cross, but Jesus
(45:18):
had to be thinking more thanwhat we have.
We can all agree with that.
We don't have all of Jesus'sthoughts on the cross.
We may have a clue as to whatJesus was thinking.
Why might we have a clue?
Because one of the lines comesright out of a psalm.
This was a psalm that waswritten by David before Jesus
came incarnationally in flesh,like you and me.
This was a psalm that waswritten by David before Jesus
came incarnationally in flesh,like you and me.
(45:40):
This would have been somethingthat he would have studied as a
12-year-old in the temple.
Of course, he knew it, probablybefore he walked in, but this
is a verse that Jesus knew well.
So when Jesus is on the crossand the last words that come
from his mouth are into yourhand, I commit my spirit.
He's not freewheeling, he's notcoming up with something.
(46:03):
Lord, this is going to be thelast time I pray on earth.
I really want to make it a goodone.
It looks like people arelistening.
They're going to write it down.
I don't think there was anypressure like that for Jesus.
I think he's just connectingwith the Father before he goes
(46:23):
into the darkness that lasts forthree days.
But this one line lives in apsalm.
It's a fairly long psalm, andso I didn't take all of it, but
I did take a few verses that, tome, were worth noting.
Might these be the things thatJesus was thinking when he was
on the cross, knowing that hewas thinking verse 5,.
Might he have been thinking inverse 1, about being put to
shame and needing to bedelivered?
(46:45):
Might he, in verse 3, have beenthinking about God, his rock
and fortress, that God was theone who led him here and that he
was trusting Might.
He, in verse 12 feel, feel likehe truly has become A broken
vessel.
And at the end of that psalm hesays this Be strong, let your
(47:09):
heart take Courage, all you whowait For the Lord.
I would not presume as to thefinal thoughts of Christ, but
were I to have to guess, and ifscripture were to give us a hint
, I think Jesus would have beenworking through every one of
these thoughts and ending there.
I will be strong.
(47:30):
My subjects need a king who isstrong.
My heart will not be troubled.
It will take courage.
This is something that wasnecessary and I will wait for
the Lord.
It'll only be a few days andthings will be tidied right up.
I leave this for you to reflecton and worship team.
(47:53):
When you're ready to call usinto worship, feel free to do so
.
If you want to celebratesomething God's doing in your
life, if you need help forgiving, if there's something that's
been filled into that blank thatyou need to walk through, greg,
if you don't mind taking thatside, I'll be over here.
If you want to just sit alone,take the back porch.
It's a little bit yellow backthere, but it's all right, we've
navigated how to work throughthat already.
(48:15):
Stand and sing.
If that is something that youwant to do proclaiming these
great truths and if you want totalk with somebody, we would be
happy to talk with you on theback porch, but respond as you
feel led to do so.
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