Old Llantrisant Hill
- Looking at 3 words this morning and evening
- The most profound words ever spoken
- "Father forgive them"
- We will see this morning how these words bring us glorious comfort and this evening a profound challenge
- Crucifixion:
- A terrible experience
- Jesus endure this death
- He plumbed the depths of suffering at Calvary
- Suffering often causes us to look within
- Yet Jesus looked beyond Himself, beyond His suffering and pain out to others
- John tells us He looked beyond Himself to His mother
- He thinks of His mother as He suffers
- Luke tells us something more remarkable - His heart went out to those who were responsible for the crucifixion
- This is mind blowing and supernatural
- Jesus did not deserve any punishment - He had done no harm but devoted His life to good, and in His last 3 years teaching and healing
- He does not plead for vengeance or vindication
- This is a continual prayer - Father forgive them
- Jesus practiced what He preached
- Why was Jesus so concerned about the people?
- The people have no understanding what they were bringing upon themselves
- They knew of the false charges and the process of crucifixion
- To crucify an ordinary man would have been inexcusable
- But they were putting the Son of God through this
- They were crucifying their only hope of salvation
- Peter refers to this [Acts 3:13]
- Consider the weight and the consequences of this
- Jesus was not asking His Father to excuse them ...
- ... but to bring them to repentance
- ... to forgive them
- What a Saviour is Jesus the Lord!
- He was filled with compassion and grieved with their plight
- What a heart has Jesus
- It makes you want to run to Him
- Jesus will make intercession for the transgressor [Isaiah 53:12]
- How could such a heinous sin be forgiven?
- The cross was done to Jesus (by His enemies) and by Him (for His enemies)
- It shows us the depth of human sin and the immensity of divine love
- The cross is staggering
- Jesus suffered for the people in order to forgive the people
- This was good news for them
- It is good news for us
- Each of us have crucified Jesus - how?
- We were not in the crowd - but we have done it in our hearts
- The crucifixion involved a rejection of Jesus
- By nature we have all done this
- To reject the call of the gospel/Jesus Christ is to reject Jesus and tell Him to go away and die
- So says the writer to the Hebrews [Hebrews 6:6]
- Quote from the Song written by Horatius Bonar
- Quote from Song written by Stuart Townend
- Before we loved Jesus, we were not neutral towards Him
- If you are not Christian - you are rejecting Jesus Christ
- Glorious Comfort
- Jesus' words to us
- Jesus pleads for our saving, pardoning, repentance and ultimately to be with Him
- Jesus does not want people to go to hell but to be showered with God's goodness
- See the enormity of what you have done and the enormity of what Christ has done
- If you are not a Christian - turn to Jesus and live
- If you are a Christian - remember what Jesus has done for us
- What about the Father's heart?
- Think of the thief on the cross - he was brought into paradise
- Think of Peter preaching at Pentecost [2 Peter 2:37-38]
- The people repented, believed and a church of some 3,000 people was born
- The Father and the Son's heart beat as one
- If you call out to God - you will be forgiven
- If we have cried out to God - we have been forgiven, because of the cross
- A warning
- Their heart is for forgiveness
- If we do not cry out to God - there will be a judgment
- In AD 70 judgment came upon Jerusalem
- The good news is there is forgiveness for those who believe but judgment for those who will not believe
- Quote from Song written by Charles Wesley