Jesus Crucified, Dead and Buried

Father, we confess before you that we flatter ourselves too much to detect or hate our own sin.

We confess before you that it could have been our hands that nailed your son's hands to the cross,

that it could have been our mouths which join with the soldiers or the priests in mocking you,

that, Father, we could very well have been these people,

and we could very well, Father, have agreed with everything they did.

So, Father, we confess before you that we flatter ourselves too much to detect or hate our own sin.

We ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would gently but deeply come upon us,

that your Holy Spirit would gently and deeply move amongst us,

that you would create within us, Father, a pliable, tender hearts

that are receptive and responsive to your word and to the moving of your Holy Spirit,

that you would create within us, Father, a desire to see just how great and full of grace Jesus is

and what he accomplished for us,

and that you would fan into flame within us a deep longing and yearning to follow him,

to obey him, to be available to him, to be more like him,

and to live to bring you glory.

Father, you know that there's things in our hearts that don't want to do any of those things,

so we ask for a mighty work of your Holy Spirit in our midst,

as we read and think about your word and think about your Son.

And this we ask in Jesus' name, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

Amen.

So, some of you know that I go to Starbucks sometimes.

And so a couple of months ago, a fellow that I've gotten to know in a Starbucks who's a Christian,

he said he wanted to talk to me about a problem that he was having.

And the problem was that about a month earlier, whatever it was,

a group of guys were together, and the guys were joking the way guys joke.

And I'll call them Andy and Bob.

And Andy, completely made up names, okay?

Andy and Bob.

It helps me to remember A and B.

That's why I chose Andy and Bob.

And so Andy, I guess, during the course of them joking around,

said a couple of things that deeply wounded Bob.

And so Bob sent an email a couple of days later.

And in the email, he told Andy that some of the things that Andy had said

had really, really, really cut him to the quick and really hurt him.

And so Andy gets the email.

And I mean, this is what he's telling me, right?

And so Andy gets the email, and he immediately fires off an email back to Bob

and apologizes for what he did.

Said he didn't mean it, didn't mean to hurt it,

but he could see now that it probably did hurt him.

And he asked, you know, he said, I'm really, really sorry.

You know, can we maybe talk about this?

Because I want to be friends.

Bob responded that he'd been hurt too deeply to forgive Andy.

And you know the way these things go.

This has probably happened to you.

Bob didn't just leave it like that.

But Bob added a couple of zingers about Andy,

about what Andy's character was like and how Andy acted.

And Andy, he got this zinger back, and he was hurt by it,

but he decided that he would just reiterate his apology

and not respond to the zingers.

And so he fired back an email again,

and once again just reiterating that he was really sorry.

He wouldn't do it again.

He hoped he'd never do it again.

Could they talk?

Bob sent back another email after a little while,

saying, no, I don't want to talk.

You've really hurt me.

I'm really angry at you still.

And then, of course, Bob added a couple of extra zingers.

And this went on for a little while.

Bob not answering the phone call, Andy leaving messages.

And so Andy asked me what he should do.

The gospel text that we just looked at,

just read a couple of moments ago,

has a lot of very interesting things to teach us

about this particular situation.

And all of us have probably been in similar types of situations.

If we're honest, sometimes we've been the Andy,

and sometimes we've been the Bob.

So it would be a great help to me if you would open your Bibles,

and let's just look at this story

and see what the story of the death of Jesus upon the cross

and his burial have to teach us about this story that I've just told you,

a true story about Andy and Bob.

And so we're going to begin reading it.

It's Luke chapter 23, if you've forgotten what the text was,

Luke 23 · chapter mention

and we're going to begin reading it, the 26th verse.

And what's just happened before,

if you remember from two weeks ago,

is three weeks ago we looked at how the Jewish leadership

did an inquiry into Jesus.

They came to the conclusion.

They already knew.

They were just looking for evidence to get him guilty of something

that would be a capital offense.

And then two weeks ago we looked at the inquiry of Pilate and Herod,

and Pilate and Herod had concluded that Jesus was innocent.

He was sort of very foolish and impractical, but he was innocent.

But because of utilitarian ethics, which, by the way,

is what most Canadians practice and how they understand right and wrong,

but by utilitarian ethics they decided it was a lot easier just to have Jesus die.

Pilate decided it was a lot easier for Jesus to die

than to have all the other problems.

And so that's where the story continues in verse 26.

And as they led Jesus away,

they seized one Simon of Cyrene,

who was coming in from the country,

and laid on him the cross to carry it behind Jesus.

Just sort of pause there for a very little second.

Simon's from Africa.

Just so you know, Simon's from Africa.

So it's an African who carries the cross beam for Jesus the rest of the way

to this place of the skull.

Verse 27.

And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women

who were mourning and lamenting for Jesus.

But turning to them, Jesus said,

Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me,

but weep for yourselves and for your children.

For behold, the days are coming when they will say,

Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore

and the breasts that never nursed.

Then they will begin to say to the mountains,

Fall on us and to the hills, cover us.

For if they do these things when the wood is green,

what will happen when it is dry?

And just sort of pause, keep your finger here for a second.

Some of you might, if you know the Bible very well,

you can hear echoes of the book of Revelation there,

and you can hear echoes of different Old Testament texts in there.

But the thing I just wanted to do as we pause

is that this prediction of Jesus comes true

33 to 36 years after he speaks it.

And it's 33 to 36 because it's not clear

whether Jesus is crucified in the year 30 or the year 33.

There's evidence that can go both ways.

But what we do know is that in the year 66,

the war of the Jews against the Romans began.

And it was to be interrupted, but it was to go over four years.

And the Jewish people were to lose that war very badly.

The city of Jerusalem would eventually be completely and utterly destroyed.

Over a million Jewish people would die in the war

and over 100,000 would be taken into slavery

and spread across the empire.

And so the words of Jesus are fulfilled 33 to 36 years

after he speaks them.

Now, just before we sort of keep reading,

one of the things you've already maybe noticed

is that there's, Luke seems to leave some stuff out of his gospel.

And maybe it's a little,

and I know sometimes when I talk to people in places like Starbucks

and all about the Bible,

they'll mention how the different accounts in the gospel

seem to contradict each other.

I just want to say to you that Luke does leave things out

that others talk about,

but there's actually no contradictions.

It would be another talk,

like maybe a Saturday morning or an evening exercise

to take the four different historical records

of the death of Jesus, his crucifixion,

and show you how there's different types of narratives

that all would equally put all of the verses together.

But Luke, just because of the way he's telling his story,

he chooses to bring certain things in and leave others out.

So, for instance, he leaves out that Jesus began by carrying the cross.

He leaves out that Jesus had been scourged and stuff like that.

But that's just quite normal.

Yesterday, there was about nine or ten of us who were involved,

or eleven of us, who were involved in the big give in Ottawa.

And if afterwards you were to talk to a couple of us about what happened,

we all wouldn't tell you the exact same thing.

We're all there.

None of us are lying.

None of us are hiding anything.

None of us are trying to create contradictions.

But we didn't get together and we'd just tell you different things.

Maybe the things from our perception that were the most telling

or the most interesting thing about the day.

And that's what happens here with the four historical writers.

Luke has the particular points that he wants to bring out.

And so that's why we see some differences in the different accounts.

But it's been known for 1,800, 1,900 years,

Christians have effortlessly put these different bits and pieces together

to make different types of, to make a narrative that makes sense.

So, you know, you don't have to be worried about it

because we're about to come to something that only Luke records.

All four of the historical records of the death of Jesus

all mention that he was crucified between two criminals.

But only Luke is to record what we next see in verse 39,

or sorry, verse 32.

Two others who were criminals were led away to be put to death with Jesus.

And when they came to the place that is called the skull,

there they crucified him and the criminals,

one on his right and one on his left.

And Jesus said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.

And just sort of pause there for a second.

We're going to actually spend a good part of this sermon

looking just at that verse, that little part of a verse.

But, you know, what I'm going to do,

I want us to see the whole story because, you know,

one of the things which people who have maybe been involved

in more conservative types of Christian churches,

and then they leave, maybe to just become spiritual,

I shouldn't say just, to become spiritual but not religious,

or to become part of a church which practices more a residual form of Christianity

rather than full, vibrant Christianity.

They'll often complain that Christians take things out of context.

And so what I want to do is,

even though we're going to spend a good chunk of time

meditating upon these words of Jesus upon the cross,

I want us to see the full context,

the full story of what happened,

so that when we come back and we spend some time meditating upon these few words,

Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,

we can, in a sense, grasp the full power of it

and see that I'm not going to say anything that is out of context with the text.

So we'll see that again.

Verse 34,

And Jesus said,

Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,

and they cast lots to divide his garments.

And just pause.

The implication of this text is that Jesus was crucified naked.

In other words, this picture here is wrong.

Wrong.

Jesus also probably didn't have blonde hair,

and he was probably pretty hairy.

But, you know, apart from that,

he was probably crucified naked

because part of the whole purpose of crucifixion

was not only to create a very, very horrible form of death,

but the reason it was reserved to slaves in the lowest orders in the Roman Empires

is because it was to humiliate the person as much as possible.

Verse 35,

And the people stood by watching,

but the rulers scoffed at him, saying,

He saved others.

Let him save himself,

if he is the Christ of God, his chosen one.

The soldiers also mocked him,

coming up and offering him sour wine.

In other words, they present him wine as if he's a king, you know,

and saying,

If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.

There was also an inscription over him.

This is the king of the Jews.

And you see that the Jewish leaders mock him

because he claims to be the Messiah,

and the soldiers mock him because he claims to be a king,

as if there could be any king

that can defy the emperor,

the great Caesar, who is also a god.

And we see that Jesus dies upon the cross

as the king of the Jews.

Just to reiterate something I said very briefly two weeks ago,

no Christian should ever be anti-Semitic

because a Christian has given

his or her life

to the king of the Jews.

No Christian should ever have

any anti-Semitism in their life

because we give ourselves

to the king of the Jews.

That's how he dies.

So,

we're about now to see something

as we start to read the next few verses

as we go into

verse 39.

There's some gruesome images

sort of just very, very briefly,

you know, put into the text.

It's a very, very simple word

that actually is a very gruesome image.

It's verse 39.

One of the criminals who are hanged

railed at him.

This is just reminding us

that Jesus is literally

hanging from the wood.

And he's not hanging from the wood

because he's gripping it with his hands

and hanging,

but the nails

have been put just

underneath,

sort of there.

And he's literally

hanging from the cross

because the nails

are holding him there.

So,

in the next little bit

as we,

it's part of the thing

which is so striking

about the text

is that one man

who's also hanging,

hanging by nails

and his blood is dripping down

on the ground

and all of that

and he's going to be

mocking Jesus

just as the chief priests

and just as the soldiers did.

And another man

on the other side of Jesus

who's also literally

being held up

on the cross by nails

and his blood

is dripping down

and he's going to have

a conversion.

You know,

I said to you

that there's these

different accounts

in the Gospels

and they're all,

they're four historical records

of the death

and resurrection of Jesus

and they don't all tell you

the same things

and only Luke

tells you this

particular detail.

The other three

or two of the other three

will tell you

that both thieves

mocked Jesus.

And one of the Gospels

will tell you

that Jesus was

in a sense

nailed to the cross

at around 9 a.m.

in the morning.

John's Gospel,

the time's given different

because it uses

a different time system.

It's like the difference

between those of us

who use a,

you know,

12 hours

versus a 24-hour clock.

You know,

that some people

will say it's,

you know,

1,300 hours

as opposed to

1 o'clock in the afternoon.

John has a different way

of keeping the time

than the other

three Gospel writers

and it's clear

that in Mark

that Jesus is crucified

at 9 a.m.

and it's clear

in Mark and Matthew

that from 9 a.m.

till approximately noon

that both thieves

are going to mock Jesus.

but the Bible

doesn't tell us why

but it just tells us

that for some reason

both are hanging

from the cross,

both are dying,

both are completely

and utterly humiliated

in front of the crowd

and one man's response

to this

is to pick on Jesus

and another man's response

was to pick on Jesus

but for some reason

which we do not know,

somewhere between

9 in the morning

and noon

the second man's heart

was changed

and it's actually

a credit

to show

the historical

nature of this account

is that

Luke doesn't tell us

why he changed his mind

because how could he tell us

how he changed his mind?

He could only tell us

how he changed his mind.

Luke could only tell us

how he changed his mind

if the man survived

and then could sit down

with Luke over a glass of wine

and say,

oh yeah,

I was on the cross

and this really struck me

and this really struck me

and this really struck me

and it felt like the Holy Spirit

coming upon me

but no,

we don't know that

because as we know

sometime after this

the man after never leaving the cross

is going to die

and so nobody can ask the man

why is it that you changed?

All we can see

is that Luke records

that for some reason

that one man

seeing the same thing

that everybody else sees

and experiencing the same thing

that the other thief sees

that he has

a profound and deep change

in his life.

Listen to it here.

Verse 39.

One of the criminals

who were hanged

railed at Jesus saying,

are you not the Christ?

Save yourself and us.

But the other rebuked him saying,

do you not fear God

since you are under

the same sentence

of condemnation

and we indeed justly?

For we are receiving

the due reward

of our deeds

but this man

has done nothing wrong.

Here's this

profound act of faith.

It's one of the most

touching moments

I think

in all of the Gospels

these next couple of verses.

And the thief says,

Jesus,

remember the man

is hanging on the cross.

The blood from his back

and the blood

from his arms

and the blood

from his feet

are dripping on the ground.

And that's what Jesus

is happening to Jesus as well.

And the thief says,

Jesus,

remember me

when you come

into your kingdom.

And one of the things

which is so remarkable

about this

is that

in the original language

he just

has this trust

in Jesus

within the

Jewish religious terms

that aren't really

quite what God's

going to do

and Jesus

doesn't then say to him,

oh dear man,

you've just failed

the theology test

and your ethics

are terrible

and I wish

I had more time

to actually set you

straight on the need

of federal

incorporation

and headship

and sacramental

theology

and atonement

and I wish

you could be baptized

and have communion

first

and no Jesus,

what is Jesus?

Just to say

that stuff.

This man says,

Jesus,

when you come

into your kingdom,

in other words,

when the resurrection

happens

in the last days,

but it's your kingdom,

Jesus,

that's the great thing.

It's Jesus,

it's your kingdom,

your kingdom

and when it comes,

remember me,

remember me,

remember me.

Jesus says to him

in verse 43

and it says here in English,

truly I say to you,

today you will be with me

in paradise.

No Christian,

no matter how much

they're suffering

and they are close to death,

I should say,

every Christian,

we should remember

that when we are

close to death,

we are just moments away

from paradise.

Jesus,

by saying truly

I say to you

in the original language,

is a very,

very solemn pronouncement

and it's very,

very,

it's very,

very moving.

Now,

this is the first

of two or three

or four times

I'm going to mention

how the gospel

is very un-Canadian

and very un-American

and I'm just going

to point it out

and in some ways

it's so un-Canadian,

all I can do

is tell you

that it's very un-Canadian

and I can't necessarily

argue or prove to you

that Canadians are wrong

and the Bible is right,

but I just want to point it out

that it's very un-Canadian.

If you,

if we were to go

afterwards the service

and just walk up and down,

go to the University of Ottawa

and go up and down

King Edward

and go along Rideau Street

and we were just to have

a bit of a,

you know,

a pad with a question

and ask you

what happens when you die.

I don't know what,

maybe 80,

90% of the people

that we would talk to

would say

I will go to a better place

and maybe some will just say

when you die,

that's it,

but probably everybody

would say

I go to a better place

and this,

these next few verses

just are very,

very,

very,

very un-Canadian

because Canadians

believe that we're just

going to go to a better place

it's not necessarily

a place where God is

but if there is a God

he's a wimpy type of God,

a distant God

who basically

will now

in the better place

just cater to our needs

and we might mock

Muslims

for thinking

that they're going to

go and spend time

with virgins

but the fact of the matter

is that the Canadians

while we might not have

a crudely sexual

type of an image of it

that in fact

we have a crudely

self-centered

materialistic image

of it

that we just go to

a better place

where God

will cater to

wherever he needs

and the average Canadian

they have no type

of basis

as to why

that might be true

or why

I mean really

it's just

it's both on one hand

an intuition

of life is more

there's something

more than life

but it's also

a great sign

of the great

overwhelming

and I don't mean

to offend

if you're a guest

but it's a great

type of presumption

actually

that just

because I'm me

when I die

I go to a better

place

and these next

few verses

are going to

really show us

that the Bible's

view of God

and what happens

is very

very

very

very

very

un-Canadian

and very different

verse 44

it was now

about the sixth hour

and that means

around noon

and we're going to

see here

that there's two

miracles that happen

they're just miracles

they're just

God does something

God is revealed

not as being

distant and absent

but God shows up

and does something

it was about

the sixth hour

and there was

darkness

over the whole land

until the ninth hour

three o'clock

in the afternoon

the brightest time

of the day

and while the sun's

light failed

and the curtain

of the temple

was torn

in two

the religious

leaders

and the Romans

had been

mocking Jesus

God now

shows up

and performs

two miracles

and his miracles

in a sense

are both

a mocking

of the pretensions

of the soldiers

in the Roman Empire

and it is a mocking

of the pretensions

of the chief priests

and the Jewish

religious leaders

it is both

a mocking

and it's

a warning

in other words

the true

and living God

is not a tame

God

is not a wimpy God

is not a distant

God

he's not a God

that we can just

take lightly

and pretend

that he is

exactly a God

who will only

fulfill our needs

and wishes

because ultimately

we are the center

of the universe

I am the center

of the universe

the God

who truly does exist

the God

who's revealed

here in the scriptures

he now

mocks and warns

the Romans

first the Romans

and then the Jewish people

how does he do that?

the Romans

believed in omens

and so

every emperor

the death

of an emperor

the ascension

of an emperor

was marked

with omens

and

you know

those were made up

they were made up

or they'd find something

and say

oh that's the omen

you know

but they're looking for it

because it has to be there

but most of the time

it's just

it's just made up

it's just invented

and these Roman soldiers

are standing there

and they

maybe they believe

the made up stuff

but what they

and maybe they don't

maybe they know

it's just made up

but they're there

and an omen

happens

it's eleven o'clock

eleven fifteen

eleven thirty

eleven forty five

and then somewhere around noon

the sun's light

fails

and it fails

for three hours

and as the sun's light

returns

Jesus died

Jesus actually

dies

on the cross

and then moments

after he dies

the light returns

and good grief

if you are a Roman soldier

this is not

a made up

omen

the skies

changed

the light

of the sun

failed

all of our

beliefs

about emperors

being gods

and these purported

signs and omens

in the skies

and they're just

really just made up

the sky

changes

the Jewish religious

leaders

who believe

that they guard

the rituals

and God is in their

pocket

and God is tame

and they know how to do

the ceremonies

and they know how to

control the people

and they know how to

control the interpretation

of the word

and they can control

all of these things

and as the son of man

God himself

is dying upon the cross

the veil

that separates

the holy of holies

that only a priest

can enter

once in a year

after many sacrifices

that is ripped

from top

to bottom

God

shows up

and the holy

of holies

is open

for all

to view

and God

mocks

and warns

God is not

like most Canadians

believe him to be

according to the Bible

I can't prove

that that's true

but I can point out

that that's the case

I think ultimately

the resurrection

of Jesus

is strong

belief

and there's other things

that we can say

but it just needs

to be strongly grasped

verse 46

then Jesus calling out

with a loud voice

said

father into your hands

I commit my spirit

and having said this

he breathed his last

and it's not very obvious

here in the English

but it's obvious

in the original language

that what happens

here to Jesus

is quite remarkable

and I don't mean

to depress you

but really

one way we can image

what's happening

with this

is that what happens

with us

with us human beings

is that as I walk

through my life

what you can really

imagine is that

the grim reaper

death himself

follows behind me

and as my day

goes on

I always stay

a couple of steps

above

in front of the grim reaper

but when my time

is up

death itself

overtakes me

and I succumb

to death

and I have no choice

over succumbing

to death

because when death

comes

I will succumb

I am powerless

against death

as are every single

one of you

but the image here

is not of death

finally catching up

to Jesus

and overwhelming

Jesus

because Jesus

is weaker than death

what is portrayed

here

is that death

always had to keep

its distance

from Jesus

John tells us

that Jesus

is life itself

he doesn't have life

he is life

and it's as if

death itself

is always

at more than

arm's length

from him

and that on the cross

as Jesus

the final word

that he says

from the cross

is that

father into my hands

I commit your spirit

and death

is the separation

of the spirit

from the body

and Jesus

gives himself

to the father

and with that

he enters death

he enters death

he's in control

and he

enters death

and it's beyond this

we're going to look at it

next Sunday

we see that as he

enters death

and he will eventually

defeat death

and death itself

is changed

death

where is your victory

where is your sting

that Jesus

life himself

life itself

entering death

will change death

and those

who put their faith

and trust

in life itself

will share

in life itself

and death

is but a passing

into

paradise

with the untamed

good

and living God

for the lowliest

disciple

verse 47

now when the centurion

saw what had taken place

he praised God

saying certainly

this man was innocent

and Luke just records

one thing

that the centurion

said

he said other things

that others record

but Luke wants to really

deeply emphasize

in his account

the innocence of Jesus

and I won't read it now

but the rest of it

you can read it later on

48 to the end

time after time

after time

it just wants to emphasize

that Jesus is dead

Jesus is dead

Jesus is dead

Jesus is dead

Jesus is dead

nobody expected him

to come again to life

he is dead

he is dead

he will stay dead

and that's what

the other verses

want to communicate

to us

now

some of you might say

okay George

that's a

you've given the context

of the text

what about Bob

and Andy

what about Bob

I wanted to say that

because I really like

that Bill Murray movie

what about Bob

so actually

what about Andy and Bob

Andrew if you could

put the verse up

or

there we go

could you say this

with me

and Jesus said

father forgive them

for they know not

what they do

let's say it again

and Jesus said

father forgive them

for they know not

what they do

here's the

here's the thing

remember Andy and Bob

and Andy did something wrong

Bob tells him

Andy apologizes

and then

as these things go

it just goes south

and Andy's asking me

what he should do

because he really wants

to be reconciled

to Bob

and here's the first point

if you could put it up

which is part of what I told him

one person alone

can forgive

but two

are needed

for reconciliation

one person alone

can forgive

but two

are needed

for reconciliation

Andy

was

battered

by this whole event

the several weeks

of conversation

before he talked to me

he was

he'd been really good

friends with Bob

he was really bothered

that Bob didn't want

to see him

he was really bothered

that Bob had been

saying bad things

about him

to his mutual friends

and had really

had really just

had was actually

become very vindictive

and vengeful

and Andy

on one hand

he's caught

because he wants

to be reconciled

he felt he's forgiven

and to be honest

when I'm talking

to Andy

you could see

at times

his fists would clench

and you could

actually almost

see that

he's a strong guy

you could see

like his muscles

tensing

and I knew

that he actually

wanted to pound Bob

and if not

pound him physically

pound him verbally

and launch

a full scale

offensive

and what

Bob

was saying

to him

was eating

him up

in my previous

church

I was the pastor

of some

four little

country churches

and in four

these country churches

when there's a death

and I do a funeral

I would do the funeral

with the church

the ladies

of the church

would gather

and they would

make a lunch

it didn't matter

if you had it

in the morning

or the afternoon

it was always called

a lunch

for some reason

and one time

there was this

big funeral

and a big lunch

and afterwards

shortly after

the funeral

was over

I was really

sick

and I discovered

that a couple

of my kids

were sick

and I discovered

that there were

a lot of people

in the church

who were sick

and we realized

we figured it out

but one particular

person's

multiple trays

of egg salad

sandwiches

gave us food

poisoning

and we of course

never told people

we never told

that person

that do you realize

that your three trays

of sandwiches

of egg salad

sandwiches

gave us all

food poisoning

that would be

devastating

especially

in a rural

community

person would

never live it

down

but here's

the thing

here's the thing

about how one

person alone

can forgive

and people

need to forgive

to not forgive

for by Andy

not forgiving

Bob

what he was doing

was that every day

he would think

about Bob

and it would be

like him taking

one of those

egg salad sandwiches

and eating

an egg salad sandwich

saying I sure hope

this makes Bob

sick

and all it does

is make Andy

sick

Bob's having

a great time

luxuriating

in his accusations

and his slander

and Andy's

getting eaten up

taking another

one of those

food poison

egg salad sandwiches

eating it

hoping that Bob

gets sick

and only Andy's

getting sick

and one of the

things I said

to Andy

is that

whether or not

he's able to

eventually reconcile

with Bob

that's

that's

maybe that'll

happen

but what he

needs to do

is he needs

to forgive

Bob

he needs

to forgive

Bob

and here's

the thing

one person

alone

can forgive

but two

are needed

for reconciliation

if you could

put the verse

up again

you want to

say this verse

with me

again

say it with me

and Jesus

said

father

forgive them

for they know

not what they

do

let's say it

again

and Jesus

said

father

forgive them

for they

know not

what they

do

here's the

second thing

if you could

put it up

Rebecca

I cannot

forgive another

person

without personally

paying a price

I cannot

forgive another

person

without personally

paying a price

Andy would

talk to me

about this

I could see

his fists

at time

clenching

as I said

you could see

his arms

you could

see the

muscles

in his

you know

the bit

of the

biceps

you could

see in

his wrist

you could

see them

tensing

and flexing

you could

see the

emotion

you could

see the

hurt

about his

reputation

you know

listen

we all

when you

think about

it for a

second

he's eating

these poison

egg salad

sandwiches

all it's

doing is

making him

sick

and on

one hand

to forgive

that other

person

means that

you have

to

pay a

price

for that

but the

price is

worth it

how does

he have to

pay a

price

he has to

pay a

price

he's not

going to

get revenge

he has to

pay a

price

because it

might be

that the

friends

that Bob

has slandered

about Andy

that Andy

will never

get to set

the record

straight

he might

just have

to pay

that price

he might

have to

pay a

price

in terms

of

his

pride

and

he has

to pay

a price

of just

being able

to sense

to swallow

that anger

and forgiveness

is a miracle

you know

it's a

common grace

it's a miracle

every time

somebody forgives

and it's not

just something

that only

Christians do

because we all

know non-Christians

who forgive

in fact we know

lots of Christians

who maybe

desperately need

to forgive

and non-Christians

who are very

good at forgiving

it's just part

of God's

common grace

that there's

this type

of price

that we pay

for forgiving

the other person

but we realize

that it's just

so worth it

because on the

other side

of it

there's a basic

there's not

forgetting

but there's

freedom

because who

wants to eat

food poison

egg salad

sandwiches

every day

and be sick

it's so much

better just

to be free

just to be

free

but a price

has to be

paid

a price

has to be

paid

could you put

the verse up

again for us

Rebecca

let's say it

together

and Jesus

said

father forgive

them for they

know not what

they do

here's the third

point if you could

put it up

Rebecca

on the cross

Jesus paid

the price

of God

forgiving me

and he's

going to

forgive Bob

he has to

pay a price

see here's

the thing

which makes

Christian faith

in the gospel

so Islam

has nothing

for forgiveness

it's just a

mere act

of just a

mere

you go to

the good

place

you go to

the bad

place

you go to

the good

place

bad

bad

bad

good

bad

bad

just pure

it doesn't

make any

psychological

emotional

sense

the Christian

faith

makes so

much sense

and provides

so much

hope

and this

sentence

looks a bit

odd

and I tried

to figure a

way to put

it in

but this

was just

so much

more punchy

but really

you have to

remember

that I

wanted to

try to say

something like

on the cross

Jesus paid

the price

of God

the Father

God

the Son

God

the Holy

Spirit

three persons

one God

forever and

ever and

ever forgiving

me

but that's

what happens

if you wanted

to string it

out it's not

not as catchy

but on the

cross Jesus

paid the

price of

God

the Father

God

the Son

God

the Holy

Spirit

three persons

one God

forever and

ever world

without end

forgiving me

and on the

cross

you notice

that little

line about

you know

forgive them

for they know

not what they

do

this isn't

just saying

because they're

not very

smart

forgive them

that's not

it's showing

that forgiveness

is not the

same thing

as forgetting

it shows

that Jesus

knows what's

going on

in their

hearts

you see

that's the

part of

the great

confidence

that I

can have

that when

I understand

that every

single wrong

I've done

and every

wrong that's

a wrong

because I

should have

done something

and I

didn't do

something

the good

that I

should have

done

and I

didn't do

and that's

a type

of wrong

and the

actual wrong

I did

and Jesus

knows it

all about

me

all about

me

and Jesus

is dying

on the

cross

is God

absorbing

into

himself

the price

that has

to be

paid

for God

to forgive

me

Rebecca

could you

put up the

verse again

could you

all join

me in saying

it this is

the last

time we'll

all say

it together

and Jesus

said

father

forgive them

for they

know not

what they

do

let's say

it again

father

forgive them

for they

know not

what I

do

here's the

fourth point

if you could

put it up

Rebecca

every wrong

I do

is an

offense

against

another

person

or creation

and

against

God

himself

every

wrong

I do

is an

offense

against

another

person

or creation

and

against

God

himself

this is

very

very

un-Canadian

see

if Jesus

is on the

cross

saying

father

forgive

them

for they

know not

what they

do

God's

not

where's

God

being

wrong

against

Jesus

but you

see

the

Christian

understanding

of right

and wrong

is not

utilitarian

it's not

consequentialist

it's

that

there's

that

ultimately

right

and wrong

just

reveal

the

good

reflects

the

character

of God

and wrong

is some

bending

or rejection

or breaking

of that

which is

good

and that

there is

it can be

hard to

always

understand

it

and we're

bent

and broken

ourselves

and all

but there's

this moral

order that

actually exists

and that

every wrong

act I do

against another

person

or against

the created

order

I try to

put that

in

because we

can wrong

our dog

we can

wrong

our donkey

we can

wrong the

rivers and

the lakes

and the sky

and every

wrong we

do is

also a

wrong

against

God

and that's

why Jesus

in his

death upon

the cross

he is

paying

the price

for God

to forgive

me

now some

of you

might be

saying

okay George

I'm a little

just so

make this

clear

okay so

you're telling

Andy that

he has to

forgive

Bob

okay remember

my first

point was

that

one person

alone can

forgive but

two are

needed for

reconciliation

and

you know

part you

can't really

have

this is one

of the things

about this

truth and

reconciliation

commission

I don't want

to be political

about it but

without forgiveness

there can't

really be

reconciliation

and you

can't force

somebody to

forgive but

gosh for

life why

go through

life eating

food poisoned

egg salad

sandwiches hoping

the other

person will

die a lot

better to

forgive

and

but

so Andy

has to

forgive

Bob

but Bob

has to

still do

something if

there's going