Final Words from the Cross: “Father Forgive Them...” Luke 23: 26, 33-34

Final words are meaningful. When you sit with someone who is dying or recall someone who has passed, we often hold on to the final words they shared with us. As Christians we place the same value and meaning on the final words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that he uttered before his death on the cross. Sometimes around Good Friday, when the final seven statements of Jesus are recounted, someone will ask me why there are so many final words of Jesus. We need to remember that it took six hours for Jesus to perish on the cross. During that time he would have experienced extructating pain as he suffocated, making each statement he uttered of upmost importance. We also value these statements because they have something to teach us about how we live our lives today as followers of Christ. With that mindset, we are going to spend this Lenten season looking more deeply into these final statements.

Imagine for a moment that you are Simon of Cyrene. You have traveled a great distance to celebrate the passover with your family in Jerusalem. Then one day, perhaps on your way to visit more relatives, you are stopped by a Roman solider and commanded to carry the beam of the cross for a prisoner. Would you have known about Jesus or would you wonder who this man you were carrying the weight of death for was? Would you have helped him, pitied him, or been ashamed that you were now in a procession of criminals? 

When Simon and Jesus arrived with the other criminals at the Skull, Jesus was nailed to the cross and lifted up. And as he hung there he prayed, “Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” A simple prayer from a dying man that modeled how we are to live as Christians. A prayer that was prayed for so many different people even in its brevity. For who was Jesus asking God to forgive? Who is “them”? He was praying for the guards surrounding him, mocking him. For those in the crowd who gawked at him and made a spectacle of his death. For those religious leaders who had conspired in secret to kill him and used the justice system for their own wicked means. 

But Jesus was also praying for those not gathered physically around the cross. Those not yet born. You and I. He prayed that God forgive us for our sinful nature that leads us to commit sins without thinking of the consequences. Jesus prayed for us. Its a bit of an uncomfortable thought isn’t it? For it requires us to first and foremost admit that we are sinners. Something that many of us would rather not do. We don’t want to think about how we have hurt God and others. We would rather gloss over our indiscretions. Yet here, Jesus very publicly prayers that God extend mercy and forgiveness - and we are all in need of that forgiveness for we have all sinned. 

Yes, sometimes we would rather look at someone else’s sin and point out that ours isn’t that bad. We look at this narrative of Jesus at the cross and think of all of those who harmed him - the guards, the religious leaders, the crowds - and think that we aren’t that bad, but really, we have all descended from Adam, we are all sinners. And God does not see one sin as being worse then another. Yes, we are all in need of forgiveness.

But with Jesus prayer that asks us to uncomfortably examine ourselves and see what we need to be forgiven for, there is also a resounding message of hope - that God does offer us forgiveness and mercy. That God does redeem us even for the things that we do not understand we are doing. God extends us forgiveness for our personal and corporate sins, because of the blood of the cross. 

This week I’ve spent time doing research for my project presentation for ordination. I’ve spent a lot of time reading about why young people leave the church after high school, and one answer that keeps coming up again and again is that what is being taught doesn’t have relevance for their life, doesn’t offer them hope. Friends, if the message that Jesus forgives our sin and the blood of the cross reconciles us to God isn’t life transforming then we aren’t preaching the right thing. Yes, we need to talk about sin so we realize how broken we are, but if our message stops there instead of talking about grace then Father, forgive us. If we don’t talk about how Christ has forgiven us and teaches us how to forgive us, then Father, forgive us. We have missed the mark. For even in the most brutal moment of Christ’s life, he prayed that we be forgiven. And that is what this particular season of Lent is all about, remember that we are sinners, but that we are forgiven. 

Through Christ praying this powerful prayer we are also taught how to forgiven others. Take a moment and think about the worst thing that someone has ever done to you. Think about those transgressions you just can’t forgive someone for. Was it worse then what Jesus experienced that day on Calvary? For even as those around him mocked him, struck him, spit on him, falsely accused him, and then killed him, Jesus prayed that they should be forgiven. Can you imagine how those hearing this prayer were later effected by it? Can you imagine how Simon the Cyrene’s life was changed by Jesus’ words? 

This wasn’t the first time that Jesus taught about forgiveness during his ministry, but this was a moment when the rubber hit the road and he modeled it. When he did the hard work of praying for his enemies, prayed that God’s grace enter their lives. Friends, do we pray like that for those who harm us? Do we ask God to forgive others and to teach us how to forgive as well? Because as Jesus hung from the cross it was as if he was saying to those of us who call ourselves his disciples, this, this is what forgiveness looks like. It isn’t easy. It requires hard work. And forgiving over and over. But this is what my ministry is about. Reconciling people to each other and reconciling humanity to God. Can you pray the prayer the Jesus prayed that day?

This Wednesday the season of Lent began and Christians around the world attended Ash Wednesday services to remember the frailty of their own existence as they were marked by ash and had the words, “You are dust and to dust you shall return spoken over them. But Ash Wednesday also marks the day that we enter into this intentional season of renewal, an intentional season of reconciliation with God and others. During the Ash Wednesday service at Mansfield University, as part of the prayer of confession, we prayed for the Lord to have mercy on us for the times we have not forgiven others as he has forgiven us. During this season who do you need to forgive as Jesus forgave us? What sins do you need to confess before God? Who do you need to tell about the message of hope that is found in this season - as Jesus prayed that we would be forgiven? 

These powerful words of forgiveness were given as a gift to us to build up the body of Christ. To teach us how to forgive. And to lead us to reconciliation with God. May we remember that these final words of Christ are a gift to us, as we grow in faith and practice this Lenten season. “Father, forgive them.” Amen.