Jonah Albrecht

Midweek 5 April 2nd, 2025

Luke 23:33-34

On the Road to Easter Jesus Forgives His Enemies

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. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. (Lk. 23:33 ESV)

INJ Whose heart was filled with compassion for fallen mankind, DFR:

In 2022, Lifeway Research did a survey of over 3000 Americans to find where Americans stand on many religious issues. Statement 17 of this survey was: Even the smallest sin deserves eternal damnation. Of the 3011 responses, 58% strongly disagree with that statement; 11% somewhat disagree; and 6% are unsure. Only 25% agree with that statement.

In the early 2000s, Barna research group conducted a survey that found 32% of people felt that some sins God would not forgive. This shows how drastically Satan has changed his attacks against God’s Church.

Maybe you have found yourself in one of these two camps, or maybe in both. When you look back on your life and your sins, you wonder whether some of them are beyond God’s willingness or ability to forgive. Or, there are sins that became so commonplace in your life that they begin to look a lot less like damnation-inducing sin and more like “it’s just life.”

But if either one is true, then the Christian church is a fraud.  Then the Scriptures are not accurate and the cross is just theatrics and only partially effective, or it is unnecessary.  If there are sins that God cannot forgive, then some of us cannot enter heaven. And if there are sins that don’t deserve damnation, then why do we need a Savior in the first place?

Our text tonight shows that both parties are wrong. When the Bible says, “The wages of sin is death,” it means all sin, no matter how big or small. And When the Bible says, “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from ALL sin.” it is true.  Our text this evening should leave no doubts in your mind.  Tonight, on the Road to Easter, Jesus Forgave His Enemies.  This is a reminder that 1. Jesus never stops forgiving us for every sin. 3. We ought never stop forgiving our neighbor.

It was about nine o’clock in the morning on Good Friday. Jesus of Nazareth had been sentenced and led out of the city of Jerusalem to a place appropriately called, “The skull.” Who of us doesn’t have a mental picture of Jesus as He makes His way up the hill?  It is a pitiful sight.  His body has been beaten.  His back is red and torn by the lashes of the scourge.  His robe is drenched with blood.  His eyes and face are discolored and swollen.  His scalp [ has been pierced with a crown of thorns.  His blood mingles with the sweat on His body.

Luke tells us, ” 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 ” The innocent Son of God is subjected to one of the most cruel and humiliating forms of capital punishment and torture ever invented.  He hangs nailed to the beams of His cross and listens to the mockery and laughter of the crowd beneath it.  He sees soldiers gambling for the few possessions He ever owned.  He hears His own people, the sons and daughters of Abraham, shouting their hatred and contempt.  And yet, in spite of all this, He prays, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Under the circumstances, that is a most unusual prayer.  We might expect a man in this situation to pray for strength or help. “Please, Lord don’t let the suffering be too long or too intense.”  We might expect Him to pray for an instant death.  But especially, we would expect someone in this situation to pray that those responsible would get what’s coming to them.

Who of us would blame Jesus if He wanted revenge?  Who would say that He wasn’t justified if He asked God to damn them rather than forgive them?  Who could fault Him if He showed an unforgiving spirit?  He was innocent.  He had been framed.  The injustices He endured were mind-boggling.  The price He paid and would continue to pay is beyond comprehension.  The trials, the beatings, the crown of thorns, the ridicule and humiliation, the horror of the cross — He deserved none of these. Who would question it if He had used His power to retaliate — to seek revenge — to even the score?

But it is just at this point where we see what Jesus is all about. Here you can look directly into the heart of our Savior:  “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Don’t condemn them for their sins, but forgive them. Don’t annihilate them for their disobedience, but give them what they so desperately need: Your complete and total forgiveness.

Whom was Jesus praying for? Most obviously, it was a contingent of Roman soldiers who had just nailed Him to the cross. In a sense, they didn’t really know what they were doing. They were merely following orders. How about the people who stood by insulting Him? Many of them were Jews.  They SHOULD have known better…but on Pentecost Peter told them, “You killed the Prince of Life…and now brethren, I know that you did it through ignorance.” Go back to the courts of the Romans and Jews.  Pilate and Herod were guilty; so were Annas and Caiaphas. So were the soldiers who took Him captive in the Garden; so were the disciples who fled from His side and so were all who lived before or after Him.

In one sense, we really don’t know what we are doing when we sin, either.  By nature, none of us can see the true severity of our misdeeds.  The men who nailed Jesus to the cross were not aware that they were crucifying the Son of God — not just with their hands, but also with their sins.  Today let’s confess that we too fail to see our sins for what they are in God’s sight.  We lie and pass it off as though it doesn’t really matter.  We skip church and say that we’re too busy or we’ve got other obligations — never realizing that God doesn’t place His Word second to anything in this world.  We go through life angry or bitter or unhappy…. never stopping to think of what an insult that is to our gracious God Who watches over us from day to day. We let the look of sinful desire slip by, the bitter animosity toward a friend, coworker, or classmate on the playground be justified, the little white lie whether it was meant for good or not be innocent. We forget that every sin is a transgression that grieves God and calls for His justice. And yet that didn’t stop Jesus from interceding on behalf of every sinner and praying “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

There is no better mirror to see the reality of our sin than that of Jesus dying on the cross. It reminds us how badly we need His forgiveness for every one of our sins. It also reminds us that Jesus never stops forgiving us for every sin. He traded His innocent life for yours so that whenever you fall into sin, you would have an advocate in Heaven saying, “Father forgive them.”

It’s amazing forgiveness.  It comes with no strings attached.  It isn’t, “Forgive them if they are sorry enough…” or “If they promise to change…” but simply: “Forgive them!”  What He prayed He fulfilled.  His prayer has been answered.  Our sins have been taken away.  There is not one left to your account.  If God came before our service ended this evening, you could stand before Him without fear.  Jesus never stops forgiving us — where our sin abounds, His grace abounds even more.

And that brings up an important question.  Can we withhold our forgiveness from others?  One day one of the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, teach us to pray.”  In response He gave them the words of the Lord’s Prayer.  When He got to the fifth part, He taught them to pray: Forgive us our trespasses.” Then He added, “As we forgive those who trespass against us.”  Why did He say that?  Why doesn’t say, “Give us this day our daily bread – as we give it to our family and others?”  Why isn’t it, “Lead us not into temptation — even as we are careful not to tempt others?”

Luther has some good answers.  He says that forgiving your neighbor is the very first response of faith.  It’s an act of love that only a Christian can really do.  Even a heathen person can share his bread — but only a Christian understands of the joy of forgiving others.

And there’s another reason.  These words should be a constant reminder of how graciously God has treated us.  Forgiveness never flows from arrogant, pride-filled hearts — but from hearts smitten by the tragedy of sin and melted by the beauty of the Gospel.  To be a genuine forgiver you have to have tasted its sweetness firsthand.  When we find it hard to forgive others, we shouldn’t fool ourselves by thinking it’s okay to nurse along grudges — rather, we should ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to our own sins.  Let Him take us back to Calvary to see how graciously God has dealt with us.

That doesn’t mean that forgiving your neighbor is easy.  It’s never easy to forgive the nasty lie, the cutting remarks, the words that are aimed at ruining our reputation.  The natural inclination is to get back.  But He who forgives the stench in our hearts – gives us the means to forgive the smells that come from the hearts of others.  He who ignores the beam in your eye – gives you the capacity to ignore the speck in the eye of your neighbor.  That’s the only way it can ever work.  Our forgiving others flows from God’s forgiving us.  Listen to what Paul writes to every single Christian, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of Redemption.  Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.  Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

In his biography of General Robert E. Lee, Charles Bracelen Flood tells of a time after the Civil War when Lee visited a Kentucky woman who took him to the remains of a beautiful old tree in front of her home.  There she cried bitterly that its limbs and trunk had been destroyed by Union artillery fire.  She waited for Lee to condemn the North or at least to sympathize with her loss.  Lee paused, and then said, “Cut it down, my dear madam, and forget it.”  That’s good advice for every Christian whose ever been wronged by someone else.  The One who prayed, “Father forgive them,” is the One who has forgiven us for every sin, who will never stop forgiving us — and empowers us to never stop forgiving our neighbor.  None of our sins is too great for Him to forgive — shouldn’t the same be true about our forgiveness to others?  Amen.