Forgive Them (Pastor Greg Hudson, 02/24/24)

Amen. So in just a few moments we're gonna partake of an ordinance of

humility, a foot washing service, a Lord's Supper communion service, but both of

those things if you're reading through the Gospels, John 13 or in the other

three Gospels, those events were just a few hours before the cross. They led to

the cross. So just hours later in the moments of crucifixion, Jesus is recorded

on the cross as saying seven different things. They're kind of referred to as the

seven sayings of the cross. And so for our communion short message today and

in the future as we have communion, we're gonna kind of go through these seven

different sayings. So the first one is found in Luke chapter 23. So Luke chapter

Luke 23 · chapter mention Luke 23 · chapter mention

23. We find Jesus on the cross and this is the first saying of the cross. So I'll

read it again what we had for our Scripture time. Luke 23 and verse 32. It

says, there were also two others, criminals, led with him to be put to

death. So here we have Jesus beaten and bloodied, tired from a night of trials

as he had been taken from the Garden of Gethsemane and led from court to court.

And now he is let out as a common criminal. The Christ is a criminal. The

Savior is one who is soon to see the cross. And there's other criminals with

him and he's just one of the group, just one of those that was let out to be

executed. And then verse 33. When they had come to the place called Calvary, also

known as Golgotha or the place of the skull, it's got different things it's

known as. There they crucified him and the criminals one on the right hand and

the other on the left. It says there they crucified him. That's just one word in our

Bible. We've seen it portrayed. We've seen artists paint the pictures. We've seen

perhaps the SonRise service at Southern. We've seen it on a screen, some

retelling or some passion play of that event being portrayed, being acted out.

But for the people in that day, it was not anything being acted. It was not a

portrayal. It was something that was part of their routine. It was it was vivid

because that word crucify had images that they associated with it, had sights

and sounds, it had smells associated with it. It was torture and it involved real

life and real death. And so for anyone reading it in that day, they could

picture something that they had walked by, something that they could seen, that

they had seen for themselves. And then we come to verse 34, the first saying of

the cross. It says, then Jesus said, Father forgive them for they do not know what

they do. The very first word there is father, a term of relationship. But

perhaps even more than that, perhaps it is a term that is a reminder of Jesus's

teaching. If you remember when the disciples saw Jesus during a time of

prayer, they came to him and they said, Lord teach us to pray. And it's in

response to that question that Jesus shared with them what we know as the

Lord's Prayer, which of course we could all recite and it begins with our our

father. And so here in Jesus's painful situation, in this most awful situation,

being crucified, surrounded by criminals, Jesus is driven to pray. What do we do

when we're having our most awful day, when we're having our most awful

situation? Are we driven to pray? Are we driven perhaps away from God? In Jesus's

worst-case scenario, his action was to pray. And then there's another couple

words we see in this statement, kind of repeated, at least the idea. It says, Father

forgive them for they do not know what they do, what they are doing. Them and

they, you know, grammatically, if you think back to some English class you've had at

some point, they is third person. So it means somebody else and it's plural. So it

means a group of somebody else, a group of others. So as we read this text, we

could consider just who is in this group of others. Who is the they in

this statement? Well you can look at the scene that's there in your mind's eye.

There's soldiers and centurions, hardened men used to battle, used to death, and

they are in the act, at that moment, in the act of causing physical pain, of

causing harm to someone else. That's not a job that most people have today, but

their job, their role, was to cause pain, to even cause death. And so they were

whipping and nailing and mocking, but they were just doing their job, you could

say. But we could back that scene up a little bit. Who is the they? And we could

picture Pilate giving into a mob, giving into political pressure as they cried

out, crucify him, crucify him. But Pilate is agreeing to that, go ahead and

crucify him, but I'm gonna wash my hands of this situation. I'm not to blame for

this, that's what you are going to do. I am washing my hands of this. You could go

back a little further to an earlier scene. The leaders of the temple, the

Pharisees, trying to entrap Jesus, trying to trick him, doing everything they could

to maintain their religious power, trying to silence this radical rabbi. And then

there's a crowd of people, this crowd that's all around, who in just a few

days transitioned from Palm Sunday where they said, blessed is he who comes in the

name of the Lord. And now less than a week later, they are the ones shouting,

crucify him, crucify him. Then there's Judas, one of the 12 disciples who Jesus

had just washed his feet a little bit before, and now Judas is leading soldiers

to the garden with the jingle of 30 pieces of silver in his money bag. And

Jesus says, forgive them. It's easy to find a bunch of thems in this story, but

in reality we can't just look back to that story, but we need to look forward

from that story, look forward to our day in history, to our week in history, look

forward to our life. We can recognize that Jesus's death was not just a legal

event, it was not just a political event, but it was a spiritual act in the

conflict of this world, an act that took place because of your sin and because of

my sin. That's why Jesus was on the cross. Jesus was in pain because of me.

Jesus said they don't know what they are doing. There's a group of soldiers just

doing their job. There's a group of priests protecting their turf. There's

Pilate making a political choice. There's a mob that's just kind of following the

crowd, and then there's today, and we make mistakes. And often we choose

something away from the right choice, and sometimes even we choose something that

that we know is wrong as we give in to the temptations of this world, as we give

into the addictions of life and the power of pleasure. But thankfully there's

another word here, and it's the most powerful word in this first saying of

Jesus on the cross because Jesus is not just praying, he's not just talking about

a group of others, but he's asking for something. He says forgive them. If you

were to look up that word forgive in the dictionary, it would say something like

to cease to feel resentment towards, or to pardon, or to cancel a debt. And so

Jesus says, Father forgive them. Forgive this group of people that is causing me

physical pain because I am enduring this physical pain so that I can bear their

spiritual sin so that they can be forgiven. And there's verse after verse

that we could look at, but just a few to remind ourselves. Romans 6

Romans 6:23

verse 23, it says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God, the free

gift of God, is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. 1st John 1 9,

another one that you've likely memorized at some point in your life, 1st John 1

9, if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and

to to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's why Jesus is on the

cross. That's why Jesus says forgive them because if we confess his response is to

forgive and to cleanse. And then I want to look at one more in Romans chapter 5.

Romans 5 · chapter mention

Romans chapter 5 verse 8, you could have learned this one but I want to read it.

Romans 5:8

Romans 5 verse 8, it says but God demonstrates his own love toward us. This

Romans 5:8

is how God shows how much he loves us. God demonstrates his own love toward us

in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Jesus didn't say if

you make it to this goal then I'll think about loving you. If you cross this

finish line then I'll forgive you. It says while we were still sinners Christ

died for us. As Jesus was being crucified, in the act of being crucified, he said

forgive them for they don't know what they're doing. Jesus forgave that group

of them and we can know that that includes us as well as those that were

causing the cross, causing Jesus to die on that cross. And that's what communion

is all about. To remember a sacrifice that was made as Jesus took a Passover

supper and he injected new meaning into it and he took some bread and he broke

it and said this is my body that's broken for you and he took some juice

and he poured it out and said this is my this is my blood that's poured out for

you and he he injected new meaning into those symbols and so we are able to

participate in that today. In John chapter 13 Jesus took a basin and he took

John 13 · chapter mention

a towel and he washed the feet of his disciples. And you remember this story

that was the servants job they're walking on dirty roads they're dirty and

Jesus got down in the role of a servant and begun to do that. And at least one of

the disciples Peter said whoa no no no no no no Jesus you can't you can't do

that and Jesus said if I don't do this then you don't have a part with me and

so Peter said well in that case pour it on me don't you know cleanse me dump it

on me wash me all the way and Jesus said well we don't need to do that because

you've already been cleansed you've already been baptized you've already

accepted a Savior that's coming and so I only need to do this and that's where

Jesus said you should do speaking to his disciples you should do as I have done

for you and that's why every so often as a church we go through this there's

nothing magical about bread and juice there's nothing magical about water

that's washing the feet but it's a symbol that Jesus has asked us to

participate in. And so in just a moment we're gonna we're gonna break off into

different places and so you need to correct me if I'm if I get this wrong

but I think that the men are going up to the fellowship hall ladies are gonna

go to the youth room and then if you would like to participate as a couple

you can go to the primary room I think I got that correct at least that's what I

wrote down and so we will go and participate in that and and just

remember Jesus is the creator of the world and he was willing to humble

himself and be a servant and that's what that is about just serving someone else

in the way that Jesus has served us. Let's bow our heads for a prayer. Dear God

as you were on that cross enduring pain bearing our sins you said father forgive

them you've given us an example you've given us a way to remember that beyond

just hearing words being spoken you've given us a physical action that can help

instill your grace into our mind. So Lord be with us as we go from this room as we

return and just a little bit and and help this to be a meaningful worship

time as we remember all the blessings you have poured out in your name we pray

amen. I do want to say as Seventh-day Adventists we practice what we would

call open communion so anyone who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior

is invited to participate with us and so men may go upstairs women to the youth

room and couples if you would like to participate together may go to the

primary room so we'll be back here in just a few moments. So it was a Passover

night as they had done for hundreds of years and thousands of years the people

of Israel ate a meal to remember a deliverance to remember a time when they

were captives in Egypt and by the miracles of God they were set free and

year by year they remembered that but on this particular Passover night as Jesus

and his disciples gathered together Jesus took that meal and instead of

looking back to a Passover deliverance event a thousand years before he

proclaimed he declared that in the future we would be looking back to the

ultimate deliverance event the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and so that's what

we are gathered here today to remember the broken body of Jesus the spilled

out blood of Jesus and we're told in Isaiah that by his wounds we are healed

as Jesus said father forgive them he's proclaiming that each one of us are

forgiven that were cleansed by the blood of Jesus and so I just invite you guys

to in just a moment to remain seated and we will kneel for prayer but I want to

read from 1st Corinthians chapter 11 where it says Paul writes he says for I

have received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you that the Lord

Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had

given thanks he broke it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for

you do this in remembrance of me in the same manner he also took the cup after

supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood this do as often as

you drink it in remembrance of me but please remain seated and we will kneel

and pray at this time

dear Lord heavenly father we thank you for this opportunity to take part in

this communion service dear Lord we ask you to please bless and sacrifice this

bread that that we're about to take dear Lord and help us to take this in

remembrance of your body dear Lord and that you are the bread of life and we do

this in the name of the Son amen dear Lord we know that greater love has no

man than this then to lay down his life for another we see in your sacrifice in

the unending love that is symbolized in the wine and so let us let that not be

lost on us as we partake in this in this symbol today in Jesus name we pray amen