7 Words from the Cross - Part 3

"Woman, behold, your son! ...Behold, your mother!"

Review: John 19:26-27

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  01:04-01:12

  We are going to be in the Gospel of John 19:26-27.

  01:13-01:18

  We are looking at the seven statements that Jesus made from the cross while He suffered.

  01:19-01:24

  This is the third statement that the Holy Spirit records for us in His Word.

  01:26-01:33

  And Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby.

  01:35-01:54

  He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son." Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother." And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home.

  01:55-01:57

  Okay, so let's get to the scene.

  01:59-02:09

  Jesus, beaten and mocked, is being executed on the cross, suffering for our sin, and who was present at the cross?

  02:10-02:30

  Well, just one of his so-called fearless disciples, remember the rest of them fled, the only one that we know of that was actually there at the cross the disciple whom he loved. That's John himself, 1323.

  02:31-02:34

  In other places in John, he refers to himself as that.

  02:35-02:38

  One question is, what about Jesus' dad?

  02:39-02:41

  Where was Joseph at this point?

  02:41-02:44

  Well, Joseph was probably deceased.

  02:45-02:50

  There's actually no mention of Joseph after Jesus' birth accounts.

  02:51-02:54

  But we do know that he and Mary had other children.

  02:55-03:00

  Jot down Matthew 13.55. Matthew 13.55. Look that up later.

  03:01-03:04

  We see that Joseph and Mary had other children.

  03:06-03:12

  But apparently, these other children, Jesus' own brothers, weren't there.

  03:12-03:15

  We don't see his sisters there. They're not mentioned.

  03:17-03:23

  We do know, according to John 7:5, at this point his brothers did not believe who Jesus is.

  03:23-03:39

  So who was there? Well, John was there, but if you compare John 19.25 with Matthew 27.56 and Mark 15.40, take all these verses together, there were four women at the cross.

  03:40-03:43

  The first one is Mary, Jesus' mother.

  03:44-03:50

  The second one is Mary's sister. Her name was Salome. She was the mother of James and John.

  03:51-03:55

  The third woman that was there is Mary, the wife of Cleopas.

  03:56-03:58

  She is the mother of James the Less and Joseph.

  04:00-04:09

  And the fourth woman is Mary Magdalene, whom according to Luke 8.2 was delivered from seven demons by Jesus Christ.

  04:10-04:14

  Okay, so you have the scene at the cross as Jesus is suffering.

  04:15-04:40

  We have these four women and John the disciple, and Jesus from the cross, He looks down and He zeroes in on His mother standing with John and says to her, "Woman, behold your son." Now Jesus was speaking about John, not Himself.

  04:41-05:04

  It wasn't as if Jesus was saying, "Look at Me!" He was saying, "John is now your son." And He clarified this by His next statement to John, when He turned to John and said, "Behold your mother." He was saying, "John, you need to treat Mary like your mom.

  05:04-05:12

  Mary, you need to think of John as your son." And that message was understood because of the next statement.

  05:13-05:31

  It says, "From that hour, the disciple John took her (Mary) to his own home." So Jesus' third statement, which is only recorded in John, by the way, His third statement was about making sure His mother was taken care of after His earthly ministry was over.

  05:32-05:57

  And I'll be honest with you, at first glance, especially compared to the other things that Jesus said from the cross, at first glance, you could say, "Well, where's the impact of such a statement?" I mean, this sort of just stirs up a, "Well, that was nice of him." I mean, Jesus took care of Mom. That was nice. That was really nice of Him.

  05:58-06:05

  But if we take a closer examination, this is one of the most impactful things Jesus ever said.

  06:05-06:15

  Because the impact here, get this, the impact here isn't just in what Jesus said.

  06:16-06:21

  The impact here is when Jesus said this.

  06:22-06:34

  Of all the seven statements of the cross, this one is unique because this is the only one of the seven statements that didn't need to be said from the cross.

  06:36-06:39

  Why? Here's the question we need to ask.

  06:39-06:43

  Why did Jesus make these arrangements?

  06:44-06:46

  John, here's your mom. Mary, here's your son.

  06:47-06:50

  Why did Jesus make these arrangements at this time?

  06:52-07:03

  Provision for Mary did not need done, did not need made, while Jesus was on the cross.

  07:03-07:04

  I want you to think about that.

  07:06-07:08

  Did Jesus know that He was going to be crucified?

  07:09-07:09

  Did He know?

  07:11-07:11

  Did He know?

  07:12-07:14

  Yeah. It was not a surprise.

  07:14-07:16

  He said this was His purpose for coming.

  07:16-07:23

  He knew exactly what His purpose was, and He knew exactly when this was supposed to happen.

  07:24-07:26

  Jesus knew He was going to be crucified.

  07:27-07:32

  He could have made these arrangements between Mary and John.

  07:32-07:36

  He could have made these arrangements any time during his three-year ministry.

  07:38-07:43

  He could have done this any time that he was traveling, and teaching, and healing.

  07:43-07:45

  He could have done this in the upper room.

  07:47-07:50

  He could have even done this after his resurrection.

  07:52-08:14

  So understand church, the impact here isn't just in what Jesus said, but when Jesus said in this moment while he is bearing the wrath of God for our sin, Jesus cares about the needs of his mother and makes provision for her.

  08:16-08:19

  Still don't feel the impact of that statement? I want you to close your eyes.

  08:19-08:30

  Go ahead, close your eyes. Close your eyes. I want you to just close your eyes and I I want you to think about this scene from Mary's perspective.

  08:31-08:36

  OK, can you put yourself right now-- can you put yourself in Mary's perspective?

  08:36-08:37

  All right, keep your eyes closed.

  08:37-08:39

  I want you to think about this.

  08:39-08:40

  Your husband is gone.

  08:42-08:50

  Now, obviously, your oldest son isn't going to be able to take care of you in your old age.

  08:50-08:52

  I mean, you knew he was going to die.

  08:52-08:57

  You were told when he was a baby that he was going to die.

  08:58-09:00

  Luke 2.35 talks about that.

  09:02-09:20

  And do you think perhaps in this moment you get this horrible passing thought, "Jesus is really dying. It's really happening.

  09:21-09:23

  Who's going to take care of me now?

  09:23-09:27

  Who's going to care for me when I am old?

  09:28-09:39

  And then you feel so ashamed, so guilty that you would dare have such a thought about yourself while your son is dying and thinking about it makes you feel bad enough.

  09:39-09:43

  You certainly couldn't ask Jesus about it.

  09:43-10:02

  And suddenly, suddenly, he not only initiates the conversation, He takes care of everything in two short sentences when He says, "Woman, behold your son. Behold your mother." You can open your eyes now.

  10:04-10:17

  But the point of this statement, the impact of this statement is this, this forever answers the question, "Does Jesus care?" Does Jesus care?

  10:20-10:29

  When we think about Jesus' love, let's be honest, when we think about Jesus' love, we typically think it's just about salvation.

  10:31-10:35

  That Jesus' love is limited to sin issues.

  10:35-10:40

  As if, "Yes, He died for me." Does Jesus love you?

  10:40-10:45

  "Yes, of course He does, He died for me." Do you have Jesus' care and attention?

  10:46-10:48

  Yeah, He notices when I sin.

  10:50-10:58

  But as Mary saw while He was dying for her sin, He cared about her other needs too.

  11:00-11:01

  You see, that's the point.

  11:03-11:10

  As the love of Jesus goes down to every detail of your life.

  11:11-11:44

  This is exactly what Paul was talking about in Romans 8.32 when it says, "He, God, who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" In other words, Paul's saying, as Jesus demonstrated, If God's love meets your greatest need, which is sin, His love will meet your lesser needs.

  11:46-11:54

  Or to put it another way, if God will give you His Son, He will give you everything else.

  11:56-11:58

  It's a personal love.

  12:00-12:11

  You see, church, sometimes when we say and think of the love of God, We think of John 3:16, "For God so loved the world..." And in our minds it gets very generic.

  12:12-12:18

  "Yes, God loves the world." It's so general and it's so generic!

  12:20-12:26

  But this is showing that God's love and care goes down to the individual level.

  12:28-12:43

  You see, we can say, "For God so loved the world," but we need to understand it gets individual and person.

  12:44-12:59

  To say, "For God so loved Stephen." To say, "For God so loved Andy." To say, "For God so loved Evan." It's a personal love.

  13:02-13:22

  1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you." And in case that word "all" trips us up, jot down this reference.

  13:23-13:43

  Matthew 10.30 If you've ever wondered the depth of the personal, individual love and attention and care that the Lord has for you as He demonstrated to Mary from the cross, Matthew 10.30, Jesus, in the context of talking about God's care, made this statement.

  13:43-14:19

  He said, "But even the hairs of your head are all numbered." that statement the hairs on your head are numbered even if you knew the exact number of hairs on your head and I know for some of you that's a lot less counting than for others you know how many hairs you have in your head if you have brown or black hair you have about a hundred thousand or a hundred 110,000 hair follicles.

  14:20-14:22

  If you're blonde, it's about 150,000.

  14:24-14:26

  And if you're a redhead, it's about 90,000.

  14:28-14:34

  Even if you knew the exact number, so what?

  14:36-14:38

  Is that useful information?

  14:41-14:43

  Do you impress your co-workers with that?

  14:45-14:47

  Like, yeah, that's how I met my wife, by the way.

  14:48-14:51

  Like, hey, you know how many hairs I have on my head?

  14:51-14:52

  Like, who cares?

  14:56-14:58

  It's pointless information.

  15:00-15:01

  And you see, that is the point.

  15:02-15:08

  Because God knows and He cares about the most insignificant detail of your life.

  15:11-15:18

  So if He cares about that, Do you think He cares about the thing that keeps you up at night?

  15:21-15:26

  Do you think He cares about the thing that has caused you to shed countless tears?

  15:28-15:34

  Do you think He cares about that thing that has been just gnawing at your soul?

  15:36-15:45

  Do you think He cares about that hurt that has been keeping you in a state of pain, physically, or mentally, or emotionally?

  15:45-15:47

  Do you think He cares about that?

  15:50-15:53

  See, the cross of Jesus tells us that He loves us as a Savior.

  15:56-15:58

  But the statement to Mary goes deeper.

  16:00-16:03

  Because now it's personal, and now it's individual, and now it's specific.

  16:05-16:14

  Does Jesus love as a Savior? Yes, absolutely. That is the number one love that Jesus has.

  16:16-16:22

  This statement, "Woman, behold your son," "Behold your mother," shows it's not the end of it.

  16:23-16:30

  You know, the Bible says that the Lord loves us like a father loves his children.

  16:31-16:36

  Luke 15:20. Are you a parent?

  16:38-16:40

  If you are a parent, I want you to think about something.

  16:42-16:43

  What would you do for your child?

  16:46-16:48

  What would you do? How far would you go?

  16:51-16:52

  Jesus loves you like that.

  16:54-17:04

  The Bible says that God, the Lord Jesus, loves us Like a husband loves his wife, according to Ephesians 5.25.

  17:06-17:07

  Are you a spouse?

  17:10-17:14

  If you are married, I want you to consider, what does your love for your spouse make you do?

  17:16-17:23

  You probably have done/are doing some crazy things, because you are crazy in love with that person.

  17:25-17:27

  Jesus loves you like that.

  17:29-17:36

  The Bible says, "The Lord loves us like a friend loves a friend." According to John 15:15.

  17:37-17:38

  Are you a friend?

  17:41-17:43

  Well, let me ask you, how loyal of a friend are you?

  17:44-17:45

  What would you do for your friends?

  17:48-17:49

  Jesus loves you like that.

  17:52-17:59

  The Bible says the Lord loves us like a brother loves his brother or sister, according to Hebrews 2.11.

  18:01-18:06

  Are you a sibling? Do you have a brother or a sister?

  18:08-18:11

  Tell me, what would you do for your brother or sister?

  18:13-18:15

  The Bible says Jesus loves you like that.

  18:17-18:25

  So we come to church, we go to Sunday school, and we... remember that old song we used to sing?

  18:26-18:29

  "Yes, Jesus loves me." Sing with me, come on.

  18:29-18:45

  "Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so." Yeah, we're on board with that, but yes, He loves me, but does He care about me?

  18:46-18:51

  Well, that question was answered while suffering on the cross.

  18:53-18:56

  Jesus makes perfect provision for His mother's needs.

  18:57-19:08

  Though He was providing salvation, at that very moment, He showed that lesser needs mattered to Him too.

  19:08-19:22

  And He demonstrated that when He said, "Woman, behold your son." "Son, behold your mother." Bow your heads with me.

  19:24-19:34

  Father in heaven, we have all been where we see so many people in Your Word.

  19:34-19:39

  I think of the Israelites leaving Egypt. I think of the psalmist.

  19:42-19:49

  So many times we see in Your Word the question of whether or not You truly do care.

  19:52-19:58

  Father, even in the church sometimes we look at the cross and say, "Yes, Jesus loves me because He died for me." And that is so true.

  19:59-20:02

  There is no way we can diminish that truth.

  20:02-20:15

  But God, You have demonstrated through these two short little statements that Your love isn't just about for our greatest need, Your love is about our lesser needs too.

  20:17-20:19

  God, there's somebody here today that needs to hear that.

  20:21-20:27

  There's somebody here today that God has been questioning whether you truly do love, whether you truly do care.

  20:29-20:38

  or if you just sort of died on the cross and came out of the tomb and just plan on checking up with us when we get to heaven.

  20:38-20:39

  That is so not true.

  20:42-20:47

  Your love goes down to every detail of our lives.

  20:48-20:51

  Even to the number of hairs that we have on our heads.

  20:53-21:23

  Father, I pray today that for the person who is struggling with the question, "Does God care about me?" They would look to the cross at this battered and bloody and humiliated Savior, who wasn't too distracted to take care of the personal needs of his mother.

  21:26-21:37

  He who spared not his own son, but gave him up for us all, will he not with him also graciously give us all things?

  21:39-21:42

  In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read John 19:26-27

1. Why did Jesus say this from the cross (as opposed to sometime before or after)? What does this tell you of God’s care for you?

2. Why did Jesus make John responsible for His mother? Why not one of His brothers? What does this say about the role of "spiritual family relationships" in the church?

3. What concern do you have right now that you need Jesus to care for and provide for?

Breakout Questions:
Pray for your answers to question #3.

7 Words from the Cross - Part 2

"Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

Review: Luke 23:39-43

• When does a person go to heaven? 2 Cor 5:8  |  Phil 1:23

• What is heaven like? 2 Cor 12:4  |  Matt 22:12-14  |  Rev 19:7  |  Rev 21:2

• How do I have assurance that I'm going to heaven?

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  01:04-01:07

  Open up your Bibles to Luke 23.

  01:10-01:11

  Luke 23.

  01:13-01:20

  After he was beaten, before he was crucified, Jesus was mocked.

  01:22-01:25

  You can read about this in Matthew 27 and verse 27.

  01:27-01:37

  They put a robe on Jesus and they took thorns and twisted them into a shape of a crown and jammed it into his scalp.

  01:38-01:43

  They put a reed in his hand as a mock scepter and they spit on him.

  01:44-01:45

  And they slapped him around.

  01:47-01:48

  They mocked him.

  01:50-02:03

  And you would have thought, you would have hoped that This kind of mocking would have stopped as he was nailed to the cross.

  02:05-02:11

  But Luke 23:35-38 says that the mocking did not stop.

  02:13-02:24

  The rulers and the soldiers mocked Christ in this way, "If you are the Christ, if you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.

  02:25-02:28

  I thought you were supposed to be something special.

  02:28-02:29

  Look at him.

  02:30-02:39

  "Save yourself, King!" But the horrifying thing, even more horrifying thing, is the mocking didn't even stop there.

  02:41-02:45

  As we said, Jesus was crucified between two criminals.

  02:47-02:50

  Robbers, as they're called in Matthew 27.44.

  02:52-02:57

  And in that same verse, Matthew 27.44, get this.

  02:57-03:05

  It says that the people that were crucified alongside Jesus were reviling Him as well.

  03:06-03:07

  Think about that.

  03:09-03:15

  These two criminals on either side of Jesus, the Bible says they were reviling Him in the same way.

  03:15-03:19

  "Save yourself! Come on, Messiah! Aren't you the King?

  03:19-03:22

  Save us! Save yourself! What are you doing?

  03:22-03:30

  "What are you waiting for? I thought you were going to do something!" Look at Luke 23.39.

  03:31-03:50

  It says, "One of the criminals, who were hanged" - meaning on the cross - "railed at him, saying, 'Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!'" Then, then something very profound happens.

  03:52-03:54

  Look at verses 40 and 41.

  03:55-04:07

  It says, "But the other rebuked him, saying, 'Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

  04:09-04:15

  And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds.

  04:17-04:25

  But this man has done nothing wrong." Wait, what just happened?

  04:27-04:28

  A miracle.

  04:29-04:30

  That's what just happened.

  04:31-04:32

  Hatred took a U-turn.

  04:34-05:37

  And we see that one of the criminals, again according to the Bible, who was just making fun of Jesus, who was just mocking Him, who was just in on the joke. One of them turns to, "What are you doing?" Wholesale change of his heart. He acknowledges his sin. Did you see that? Like, "We're getting what we deserve!" He acknowledges Christ's Christ's sinlessness. He hasn't done anything wrong. He went from reviling Christ to, "How in the world can anybody revile Him?" How did God get this guy's attention? That's a question I've been wrestling with all week. How did God get this guy's attention? I have to wonder if maybe when Jesus was crying out, remember we talked about this last week, the first thing Jesus said when He was on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know I have to wonder if those words were sort of resonating in his heart and mind.

  05:38-05:52

  "This is the guy we're making fun of? This is the guy we're insulting?" Whatever the case, God showed up in that man's heart in that moment.

  05:54-05:55

  Look at what he says in verse 42.

  05:56-06:00

  He turns from rebuking the fellow criminal.

  06:02-06:28

  He turns to Jesus, verse 42, and he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Now this statement tells us that this man was Jewish, with some Jewish theology knowledge, Because that statement was very specific and biblical.

  06:30-06:36

  "Remember me when you come into your kingdom." That's a very Jewish expression.

  06:36-06:42

  What he was saying was an acknowledgement that Jesus is the promised Christ.

  06:43-06:45

  That's exactly what he's saying.

  06:47-06:52

  What did the criminal know about Jesus before this moment?

  06:54-06:58

  I have to wonder, do you think at some point in Jesus' ministry, this criminal might have seen Jesus?

  06:59-07:02

  Do you think at some point he might have heard Jesus' teaching?

  07:05-07:08

  Did he somehow find out what happened to Jesus at His trial?

  07:09-07:13

  I don't know the answer to any of those questions, but I know what he knows in this moment here.

  07:13-07:14

  He knows three things.

  07:16-07:17

  First of all, he knows that Jesus is righteous.

  07:19-07:21

  Secondly, he knows that I am not.

  07:23-07:25

  Thirdly, he knows I need to call on Jesus.

  07:27-07:33

  And Jesus responds to this man's request with one incredible statement.

  07:34-07:37

  And here it is, this is the second word from the cross.

  07:38-07:56

  The second thing the Bible records that Jesus said while he suffered, look at verse 43, And he said to him, 'Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.'" Do you realize in one sentence, Jesus tells us everything we need to know about heaven?

  07:59-08:04

  You realize in one sentence, Jesus answers every question about heaven.

  08:06-08:14

  And I want us to just look at some of these questions that commonly come up about heaven, And we're going to see that Jesus answered them right here.

  08:14-08:14

  You ready?

  08:15-08:17

  Here's a common question about heaven.

  08:17-08:17

  Is heaven real?

  08:18-08:19

  Is it real?

  08:21-08:34

  Well Jesus answered that when he said, "Truly I say to you." Now that was an expression, "Truly I say to you." That was like saying, "Take this to the bank." That was a phrase of emphasis.

  08:34-08:37

  It was sort of a highlighter for verbal communication.

  08:39-08:40

  It just cracks me up.

  08:40-08:55

  There's some scholars, and I use that word loosely, that have looked at this and have said, "Well, you know, in that moment as Jesus was suffering, he didn't have the ability to properly communicate all of the theology about what happens after you die.

  08:55-09:07

  So Jesus was sort of placating this man, not really giving him exact information, but Jesus couldn't get into all of the..." Some people believe that, and I know for a fact that that's not true.

  09:08-09:08

  Why?

  09:09-09:12

  Because Jesus said, "Truly I say to you..." That's how I...

  09:13-09:15

  Jesus was saying, "You need to listen to this.

  09:18-09:27

  What I'm about to tell you, you need to pay close attention." Jesus says, "Heaven is real, and we're heading there." So is heaven real?

  09:27-09:29

  Yeah, that question's been answered.

  09:31-09:33

  Another question, I get asked this question all the time.

  09:33-09:34

  Jesus answers it right here.

  09:34-09:36

  When does a saved person go to heaven?

  09:38-09:39

  When does a saved person go to heaven?

  09:40-09:45

  You see, the Old Testament, all of the revelation that God had was not yet given.

  09:45-09:58

  We live in a time in history after the Bible has been completed, but understand in the Old Testament, they didn't have all of the divine revelation that we have.

  10:00-10:06

  Because of that, in Old Testament times, there was a lot of mystery surrounding death.

  10:07-10:17

  That's why in the Old Testament you see the word "sheol." When you see that word in the Old Testament, that just means "the grave." And it carried this mystery to the Jews.

  10:17-10:25

  They're like, "You die and you go to the grave and then, and then..." They had some ideas about what they thought happened.

  10:26-10:55

  And one of the ideas - this is wrong - but one of the ideas that was carried through Jewish tradition was that when you die you just wait in the grave and then someday in a century and a couple millennia and a whatever someday the Messiah is going to set up his kingdom and then you're going to come out of the grave but in the meantime you're going to sleep in the grave and wait in the grave until the Messiah sets up his kingdom.

  10:58-11:09

  Someday I hope to be with the Messiah." And that's really important to understand that wrong Jewish idea, because then you understand the impact this statement would have had on this criminal.

  11:10-11:26

  When this criminal is like, "Remember me!" When you come into your kingdom, when you establish your kingdom, and he's thinking, "Remember me someday down the road, tens of thousands of years or whatever, when this happens, please Jesus, remember me!" And Jesus says, "Today." Today.

  11:28-11:33

  When is this going to happen? When am I going to... today?

  11:36-11:41

  So when does a saved person go to be with the Lord in heaven?

  11:42-11:45

  The answer biblically is immediately upon death.

  11:46-11:48

  I'm going to give you a couple of references to jot down.

  11:48-12:14

  2 Corinthians 5.8, Paul says, "To be away from the body is to be home with the Lord." Philippians 1.23, Paul said, "He would rather depart," meaning die, "and be with Christ." So understand the Bible says, as a believer, you're in one of two places.

  12:14-12:22

  You're either physically here on the earth, or when you die, you are with the Lord.

  12:23-12:30

  And there are some churches, there are some religions that teach that when you die, you go to this place called purgatory.

  12:31-12:38

  And in purgatory, it's this place of fire, and these fires burn off the remainder of your sin.

  12:38-12:45

  And depending on how much sin you have to get burned off, that determines how much time you spend in purgatory.

  12:45-12:54

  Meanwhile, the people on earth pay money for these special services, and we do these things to shorten the time that grandma's burning.

  12:56-12:58

  And it's a blasphemous concept.

  13:01-13:10

  But you know, if anyone, if anyone in history had some sin to burn off, it would have been this criminal, right?

  13:12-13:14

  But what did Jesus say to him?

  13:16-13:17

  "Today you're going to purgatory.

  13:19-13:25

  "I've got good news for you. Today you're going to burn..." No, that's not what he said.

  13:26-13:39

  He said, "Today, you will be with me." Paradise. Today, the second after we take our last breath here, we take our first in heaven.

  13:40-13:40

  Today.

  13:43-13:47

  I got a text, getting ready for church this morning, a friend of mine says, "My grandfather just passed away.

  13:48-13:53

  He was a believer, he was ready to die, and I asked how his family was.

  13:53-13:58

  And the family's good, he's been kind of anxious to go.

  13:58-14:07

  And I just replied, "Well, he's having a good day today." Right? And he replied, "Amen." And we can say that based on the authority of God's Word.

  14:10-14:11

  Today. Today, that man's in heaven.

  14:14-14:16

  Here's another question about heaven. What is heaven like?

  14:17-14:18

  What is heaven like?

  14:20-14:33

  Jesus said, "Today you will be with me in paradise." That word "paradise" is actually a Persian word for "garden." Actually, Paul used it in 2 Corinthians 12.4 as well.

  14:34-14:43

  It's a word that was just used as a euphemism for "heaven." I can't even begin to describe how awesome heaven is.

  14:44-14:53

  I was working on a sermon this week, I'm like, "Oh, we're going to talk about heaven." And let me try to describe for this church how awesome heaven is, and I can't do it.

  14:53-15:00

  I don't have enough time left in my life to describe to you how awesome it is going to be.

  15:03-15:09

  They're like, "Well, we're paying you to study the Bible, so come up with something." Fair enough.

  15:12-15:20

  There's a sustained metaphor to describe heaven that's throughout scripture.

  15:22-15:34

  And it's a metaphor that really resonates with me because in my line of work, so to speak, it's something that I'm around a lot.

  15:36-15:38

  And that metaphor is a wedding reception.

  15:41-15:44

  Matthew 22. 1-14. Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven.

  15:45-15:46

  He tells this parable.

  15:46-15:50

  The Kingdom of Heaven is like this king who throws a wedding feast for his son.

  15:51-15:57

  Revelation 19.7 talks about the eternal state being the marriage of the Lamb.

  15:57-16:03

  Revelation 21.2 says the new Jerusalem is prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

  16:05-16:11

  The Bible describes heaven like a wedding reception.

  16:13-16:15

  Have you ever been to a wedding reception, show of hands?

  16:15-16:16

  Who's been to a wedding reception?

  16:17-16:18

  Okay, it looks like most of you have.

  16:20-16:21

  What's a wedding reception?

  16:21-16:28

  There's food and drink and there's dancing and games and laughing and in Pittsburgh we have a cookie table.

  16:30-16:31

  Amen is right.

  16:33-16:42

  And you know at a wedding reception, We're so happy for this couple and nobody's looking at their watch.

  16:43-16:44

  Nobody's bored.

  16:45-16:45

  Nobody's yawning.

  16:46-16:51

  Nobody's like, "How much longer do we have to be here?" It is celebration!

  16:54-16:56

  And that's a little glimpse of heaven.

  16:57-17:32

  So I want you to think of the greatest wedding reception you've ever been to and multiply that times infinity. And that is a grain of sand on the beach compared to how awesome heaven is going to be. So what is heaven like? In this moment Jesus only used one word to describe it and that's paradise. The last question I want us to look at is how do I I have assurance I'm going there?" That's really the actually most important question, right?

  17:32-17:43

  We can talk about how awesome it is and when people go there, but all of those questions don't matter if we don't know how to get there, right?

  17:45-17:46

  And the answer is faith.

  17:47-17:47

  The answer is faith.

  17:49-17:52

  Now understand, listen, this criminal, put yourself back in the scene here, okay?

  17:53-18:07

  between two criminals mocking him, the one God intervenes, he's rebuking the other one, he's crying out to Jesus, and Jesus says, "Today you'll be with me in paradise." Are you there? Are you there?

  18:08-18:14

  In this moment, this criminal couldn't do any good works.

  18:17-18:19

  This criminal could not get baptized.

  18:22-18:25

  This criminal could not do anything to earn it.

  18:26-18:28

  To say, "Thank you for that, Jesus.

  18:28-18:40

  Now let me do something for you." He was in a position of complete dependence upon the Word of the Christ.

  18:42-18:52

  Not only could he not do good, he had a life history of doing bad.

  18:53-18:53

  Right?

  18:54-19:03

  Here's this man nailed to his deathbed, can't do anything good to earn his way, but his track record, his rap sheet, says he's done nothing but bad.

  19:03-19:08

  And I don't know the extent of it, but I do know this, the Bible doesn't even tell us the guy's name.

  19:09-19:12

  The Bible only gives us a label for the guy, and it's criminal.

  19:14-19:15

  That's pretty rough, right?

  19:16-19:16

  Can you imagine?

  19:18-19:23

  God's eternal Word records you in the account, and you're labeled.

  19:24-19:25

  This guy was labeled. He's a criminal.

  19:28-19:39

  The only thing he could do - listen to this church - the only thing that he could do, literally one thing he could do was to repent in his heart and mind.

  19:39-19:42

  acknowledging his guilt and turning to Jesus.

  19:43-19:46

  In that moment, that was literally the only thing this guy could do.

  19:49-19:50

  To change his mind.

  19:52-19:53

  Allowing God to change his heart.

  19:55-20:02

  To say, "I was wrong and Jesus is right." And in doing that, in that very minute, he received the promise of heaven.

  20:04-20:25

  When Jesus turned to him and said, "Truly, I say to you, today, you will be with me in paradise." So this criminal stands as the ultimate proof that salvation is purely and totally a gift from God.

  20:27-20:33

  This is great encouragement, church, because like him, like this criminal, It doesn't matter what you've done.

  20:36-20:40

  And like Him, it doesn't matter what you can do moving forward.

  20:41-20:48

  The only thing that matters is what Christ has done on your behalf.

  20:50-20:52

  Did you receive the gift of salvation?

  20:54-20:55

  Did you receive that?

  20:58-21:03

  There's only one type of person that receives the gift, by the way.

  21:05-21:07

  And it's the person who knows they need it.

  21:09-21:13

  Today, can you take an honest assessment of your life and say, "You know, I've been far from perfect.

  21:14-21:25

  I've made a mess, but like that criminal, I see a sinless Savior who loves me and wants to forgive me." You can have the assurance of salvation today.

  21:28-21:29

  What do I do?

  21:31-21:31

  Well, look at the criminal.

  21:32-21:33

  Cry out to Jesus.

  21:36-21:44

  And then look at Jesus' response to the person who sincerely and humbly and honestly cries out to Jesus.

  21:45-21:49

  Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.

  21:51-21:52

  I want you to bow your heads with me, please.

  21:55-21:56

  I want you to bow your heads.

  21:56-22:21

  Maybe there's somebody here, maybe there's a few somebodies here today that says, "You know, I don't know "if I've ever received that gift." Or, "You know, I've always thought "that I had to do things to make God happy, "or I had to earn my way." Or maybe there's somebody here saying, "I've done so many wrong things in my life," or, "Maybe I've done one thing that's so bad, I've often wondered if I can be forgiven.

  22:23-22:29

  Like, I've done something so bad, nobody knows it, or I hope to heaven nobody finds out.

  22:30-22:32

  It's so bad, I don't know if I can be forgiven.

  22:35-22:37

  Maybe there's somebody like you like that this morning.

  22:39-22:42

  And if that's you, I want you to look at this criminal.

  22:44-22:57

  career robber, who apparently, his robbing was so bad that he was executed for it.

  22:59-23:04

  I want you to look at him. And I want you to look at Jesus.

  23:07-23:09

  And maybe you need to pray something like this.

  23:11-23:16

  Maybe you need to pray something like, "God, you know, I'm like that criminal on the cross beside Your Son.

  23:17-23:26

  And there have been so many times in my life that I have chosen to do the wrong thing." Is that you?

  23:28-23:31

  "I have made so many stupid mistakes in my life.

  23:34-23:38

  I have screwed my life up." Maybe there's somebody here today that feels that.

  23:38-23:39

  That extreme.

  23:39-23:43

  My sin has screwed my life completely up.

  23:45-23:49

  I need and want to be forgiven of my sin.

  23:51-23:55

  And like that criminal in this story, I'm crying out to Jesus right now.

  23:57-23:58

  Is that you?

  24:00-24:01

  Is that you this morning?

  24:03-24:09

  Is there somebody here today that is rejoicing at seeing this story of this thief, this criminal, this robber.

  24:12-24:19

  That the lights have finally come on for you that it's not about what you can do for God, it is about what God has done for you.

  24:21-24:23

  And you need to get over yourself.

  24:25-24:30

  How good you think you are, or how bad you think you are, and look at the sinless Son of God.

  24:32-24:34

  Father, salvation is a work that only you can do.

  24:36-24:38

  Boy, this account teaches that.

  24:41-24:53

  Father, we see a story of a man who repented, not because a prophet showed up and preached at him, not because some rabbi came by and read a passage of Scripture to him.

  24:54-25:10

  God, the only explanation for this passage, the only explanation for this criminal is that your Holy Spirit showed up in this man in a profound life-changing way that He went from insulting your son to crying out to your son for deliverance.

  25:11-25:16

  God, I pray for anybody here this morning, maybe is in that same situation.

  25:18-25:26

  Maybe there's somebody here today, God, I'm sure there is, there's somebody sitting here right now that's feeling it.

  25:27-25:30

  I have messed things up so badly in my life.

  25:32-25:39

  God, with You there is grace, and there is forgiveness, and there is restoration, and You are the God of the second chance.

  25:41-26:00

  You are the God who says, "Yes, okay, You have done horrible things, but I've made provisions so that You can be forgiven and healed." We thank You God. We thank You God for the provision that You've made.

  26:03-26:05

  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Luke 23:39-43

1. Read Matthew 27:44. Why do you think this one criminal stopped mocking Jesus and instead cry out to Jesus?

2. What questions about heaven were cleared up for you from Jesus' statement to this criminal (Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise)?

3. What does this account teach about how a person gets saved / receives salvation / gets right with God?

Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another.

7 Words from the Cross

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

Review: Mark 11:25-26  |  Luke 11:4  |  Luke 17:4  |  1 Cor 2:8

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  00:35-00:39

  Open up your Bibles with me please to Luke chapter 23.

  00:41-00:56

  Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, knew that His very purpose for coming to the earth was to die for our sins.

  00:58-01:09

  If you go through the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 53 talks about the Messiah, the coming Christ rejected by man, crushed by God for our sins.

  01:11-01:46

  Matthew 16.21, during Jesus' earthly ministry, He told His disciples here and many other places, He told His disciples, "I must go to Jerusalem where I will suffer and be killed and be raised from the dead." One of the clearest teachings of Jesus being completely self-aware of His purpose is in John chapter 10, when Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd." The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

  01:47-01:49

  He said, "No one takes my life from me.

  01:50-02:04

  I lay it down of my own accord." He said, "I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again." this charge I received from my Father." So Jesus knew.

  02:06-02:06

  He knew.

  02:09-02:14

  Not just that it would happen, but that it was the very purpose for His coming.

  02:16-02:24

  And actually, it wasn't even a surprise how Jesus would suffer for you and for me.

  02:25-02:33

  Deuteronomy 21.23 says, A man hanged on a tree is cursed by God.

  02:34-02:40

  And that phrase "hanged on a tree" that became a euphemism by New Testament times for crucifixion.

  02:41-02:43

  I believe Paul refers to that in the book of Galatians.

  02:45-02:49

  Christ was cursed for us.

  02:51-02:54

  Psalm 22 we'll be talking about here in the coming weeks.

  02:56-03:05

  Psalm 22 perfectly describes, vividly describes crucifixion before such a thing even existed.

  03:07-03:14

  I'd like us to recall the events that led us to these hours that we're going to be spending the next seven weeks studying.

  03:16-03:20

  Jesus enters Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.

  03:20-03:24

  Passover was Israel's celebration of deliverance from Egypt.

  03:26-03:28

  Takes you back to the book of Exodus.

  03:29-03:32

  There Jesus had what we call the Last Supper.

  03:33-03:38

  He shared that last Passover meal with His disciples.

  03:39-03:44

  And from there Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.

  03:46-04:06

  he was arrested, sold out by Judas for a handful of change, brought to the Romans, accused by the Jewish religious leaders on trumped up charges that made Jesus' trial a circus.

  04:08-04:12

  The Bible tells us Jesus was scourged and then he was mocked.

  04:14-04:17

  Matthew 27-26 and following.

  04:18-04:30

  I'm going to talk about this for a few minutes, because you know when the Bible talks about Jesus being scourged, that's all it says. It doesn't describe what all was involved with that.

  04:32-04:47

  And it would do us well to understand the extent of Jesus' suffering even before the crucifixion, which this led up to the crucifixion, But Roman floggings were absolutely brutal.

  04:49-04:55

  There were usually 39 lashes, but sometimes more, depending on the mood of the guard.

  04:56-05:01

  And they used a whip of braided leather thongs.

  05:02-05:09

  So understand, when it says Jesus was whipped, it wasn't just like a belt that might leave a smack.

  05:09-05:14

  Woven in these thongs were metal balls and pieces of bone.

  05:15-05:26

  So the idea wasn't to smack the flesh, the idea was to hit the flesh, embed in the flesh, and rip part of the flesh off when the whip was pulled back.

  05:28-05:35

  And they would whip from the shoulders, down the back, the buttocks, down the back of the legs.

  05:37-05:40

  The third century historian Eusebius chronicled it.

  05:42-05:52

  He said that when someone was scourged by the Romans - listen to this - it exposed veins, muscles, sinews, and bowels.

  05:53-05:58

  They would beat you until we could see your insides.

  06:00-06:03

  Many people would die just from the beating.

  06:05-06:09

  This is what Jesus Christ endured before the crucifixion.

  06:11-06:13

  Bible tells us that Jesus was crucified.

  06:13-06:18

  He was nailed to the cross between two criminals.

  06:18-06:19

  You have your Bible open.

  06:19-06:21

  Look at Luke 23.

  06:21-06:22

  Look at verse 33.

  06:23-06:34

  It says, "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.

  06:36-06:44

  The person would be laid down and their hands nailed to a horizontal beam using 5 to 7 inch long spikes.

  06:45-06:51

  And when that cross was raised up, the bones in the shoulder would be dislocated.

  06:52-06:59

  And death on the cross usually occurred by asphyxiation.

  07:00-07:36

  that position, your chest was stuck in the inhaled position. And you would go into cardiac arrest. Crucifixion wasn't designed to be a quick thing, like a hanging, or lethal injection, or the electric chair. Crucifixion was designed to make it as long, and painful, and humiliating humiliating as possible, that this is what your God did for you.

  07:37-07:43

  This is what Jesus Christ endured for six hours.

  07:45-07:57

  And during those hours, the Holy Spirit records for us, preserved in God's Word, seven statements that Jesus made while He suffered.

  07:59-08:05

  The first one that we'll be looking at today is one of the most profound.

  08:07-08:12

  One of the most amazing because it is one of the least expected.

  08:15-08:30

  Jesus has been at this point falsely accused, had a mockery of a trial, beaten half to death and ridiculed, spit on and slapped, stripped down and nailed to a cross.

  08:30-09:11

  So when we get to this point of the passage, I would expect Jesus to say something like this, "Father, kill them for this!" Or "Father, save me!" Or "Father, ease my pain!" Instead, His first response is, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Forgiveness was a theme that Jesus taught throughout His ministry, right?

  09:13-09:18

  Mark 11, verses 25-26, Jesus said, "Whenever you stand praying, forgive.

  09:19-09:23

  If you have anything against anyone.

  09:24-09:25

  It's pretty inclusive, isn't it?

  09:27-09:42

  When he taught us to pray, Luke 11.4, Jesus said, "Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us." Pretty inclusive, isn't it?

  09:44-09:45

  Pretty exhaustive.

  09:45-10:01

  Luke 17.4, Jesus said, "If your brother sins against you seven times in the day and turns to you seven times saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him.

  10:03-10:20

  He taught it, and at the hour of the worst offense, the most heinous crime, the greatest act of wickedness that ever happened or ever will happen on this planet.

  10:22-10:45

  Jesus Christ lived what He taught when He said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." And I'll be honest with you, when I was reading this, there was something I struggled with Jesus said they know not what they do.

  10:45-10:47

  Wait a second here.

  10:47-10:49

  They knew exactly what they were doing, right?

  10:52-10:59

  Actually they didn't understand who Jesus truly was.

  11:00-11:04

  Actually Paul talks about that in 1 Corinthians 2.8.

  11:05-11:11

  They wouldn't have done that if they really comprehended that this is God.

  11:13-11:21

  But in their blindness, in their refusal to acknowledge His identity, Jesus said they know not what they do.

  11:23-11:35

  And to display their, I didn't know whether to call it wicked ignorance, or ignorant wickedness, but look at the same verse.

  11:35-11:36

  You have your Bibles open.

  11:36-11:37

  Look at verse 34.

  11:39-11:43

  After Jesus says, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Look at the next statement.

  11:45-11:51

  It says, "And they cast lots to divide his garments." Casting lots.

  11:51-11:52

  What's casting lots?

  11:52-11:53

  It's like rolling dice.

  11:53-11:53

  It's gambling.

  11:55-11:56

  So do you have this scene in your head?

  11:57-12:02

  I never really noticed it before like I noticed it this week.

  12:03-12:24

  But you have this scene that while these soldiers were throwing dice and gambling for literally the only thing Jesus owned, the clothes on his back, behind them, the backdrop of their wickedness was Jesus Christ praying for their forgiveness.

  12:26-12:32

  And then I thought, well, Jesus was a pretty effective prayer, wasn't he?

  12:34-12:48

  So we could say, "Were these people forgiven?" I mean, if Jesus said, "Father, forgive them," if Jesus directly asked for their forgiveness, were those people forgiven?

  12:50-12:52

  Well eventually some of them were, for sure.

  12:54-12:56

  Many of them came to saving faith at Pentecost.

  12:58-13:00

  But listen, church.

  13:01-13:13

  More than a statement about the hearts of the people, this says what you need to know about the heart of God.

  13:14-13:40

  And this is the disposition of the heart of God He commands to us, and He commands to us, that we too would have an inclination towards, we too would have a bent towards forgiveness in our hearts.

  13:41-13:43

  So let's talk about forgiveness.

  13:45-13:45

  Honestly.

  13:47-13:52

  When it comes to forgiveness in the church, Let's be completely honest.

  13:54-14:00

  When it comes to forgiveness in the church, we have romanticized that concept.

  14:01-14:08

  Forgiveness is beautiful, and it's appropriate, and it's essential, and we should all learn to forgive one another.

  14:09-14:18

  And it's lofty, and it's godly, and it's certainly biblical, and we preach on it, and we sing about it, and we celebrate it, and we're all for it!

  14:19-14:27

  Until it's our turn to forgive someone who's offended us.

  14:28-14:38

  And when it's our turn, listen, when it's my turn, when it's your turn, here comes the parade of excuses.

  14:40-14:41

  I'm too offended.

  14:41-14:42

  They aren't sorry.

  14:43-14:44

  They're never going to change.

  14:45-14:46

  They don't care that they hurt me.

  14:47-14:48

  They won't acknowledge that I'm right.

  14:48-14:51

  I am justified to be angry with them.

  14:51-15:00

  And we can take all of our excuses, and we can hold them so tightly, and we can justify them in our minds, and we can defend them to others.

  15:00-15:10

  And then we look at Christ on the cross, crying out for forgiveness for the people who were killing Him.

  15:13-15:23

  Suddenly, suddenly we feel a little less justified and insisting on our hard-hearted forgiveness.

  15:24-15:35

  We can preach sermon series, we can have counseling sessions, we can write books about it, but none of that matters.

  15:37-15:38

  None of it makes a difference.

  15:40-15:49

  If you don't have a heart that is bent towards forgiveness.

  15:51-15:58

  If you don't have a heart that genuinely longs for reconciliation.

  15:58-16:11

  If you don't have a heart that says, "The relationship matters to me more than my being offended." What if they don't want to be forgiven?

  16:12-16:14

  What if they don't want to reconcile, Pastor Jeff?

  16:14-16:16

  What if they refuse?

  16:16-16:19

  That's not your concern.

  16:21-16:25

  Your concern is your heart, not theirs.

  16:27-16:35

  Is your heart bent towards forgiveness as our Lord's was when He suffered?

  16:37-16:50

  Whenever someone's response to you, like Jesus, the people that He was praying for obviously weren't responding at that moment, were they?

  16:52-17:04

  Your heart must be inclined towards, "I'm ready to forgive." I am sincerely praying for the one who is offending me.

  17:05-17:10

  Because, because, because this is the heart of my God.

  17:10-17:14

  And this is the heart that my God wants for me.

  17:16-17:22

  So do you have someone in your life right now that you've had a falling out with?

  17:23-17:26

  Do you have someone in your life that's offended you?

  17:27-17:30

  If you're not sure, I want you to ask yourself this.

  17:32-17:37

  Do you have someone in your life that you would avoid if you saw them at the store?

  17:39-17:44

  Or if their name came up on your phone, would you send it straight to voicemail?

  17:46-17:51

  Is there someone in your life of whom you have said, "I will never forgive them"?

  17:52-17:55

  Well, how does your attitude reflect the one that you call the Lord?

  17:57-17:58

  Because I've got great news.

  18:00-18:11

  There is a list of things of amazing things that happen when you have a heart that's bent towards forgiveness.

  18:13-18:15

  I'm going to give you the list from lesser to greater.

  18:16-18:17

  From lesser to greater.

  18:17-18:24

  Here are the things that happen when you say, "Like my Lord, I want to always be inclined towards forgiveness.

  18:24-18:33

  My heart bent towards forgiveness because only good can come from it." You're like, "What good?" First of all, you release bitterness.

  18:33-18:34

  It's good for you.

  18:35-18:37

  That's at the bottom of the list, but it's on the list.

  18:38-18:38

  It's good for you.

  18:39-18:40

  You release bitterness.

  18:40-18:47

  I don't have to walk around with some chip on my shoulder or thinking about how disgusted or offended I am towards this person.

  18:49-18:50

  You release bitterness.

  18:52-18:57

  Secondly, even better, you may heal a relationship.

  18:59-19:00

  You may heal a relationship.

  19:02-19:06

  Thirdly, even greater, is you honor God by obedience.

  19:09-19:10

  You honor God by obedience.

  19:11-19:13

  That should probably be the top of the list.

  19:13-19:21

  But when I give you the last one, you're going to say, "Yeah, I can understand why you might put that one at the top." Honor God by obedience.

  19:23-19:45

  But to me, when I was thinking about this, yeah, that probably should be at the top, but when I was thinking about this, and I thought, "What's great about forgiveness?" To me, the greatest thing about having a heart bent towards forgiveness is you give the awesome experience of, on a smaller level, but the awesome experience of imitating our Lord.

  19:46-20:00

  When He said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." As we close today, I simply want to lead us in a prayer.

  20:01-20:04

  Because maybe you have struggled with unforgiveness.

  20:06-20:08

  But today we are looking to the cross.

  20:08-20:23

  Today we are allowing the example of Jesus Christ to transform us with His astonishing first statement that He made while He suffered for us when He said, "Father, forgive them.

  20:24-20:27

  they know not what they do.

  20:28-20:29

  I'd like you to bow your heads.

  20:30-20:31

  And we're going to pray.

  20:32-20:36

  Bow your heads, and don't think about the people beside you, around you, or anything.

  20:36-20:41

  I just want you to focus on your heart right now.

  20:41-20:42

  That's all.

  20:45-20:48

  Because for some of you, maybe your heart is not there.

  20:50-20:52

  For some of you, maybe your heart is not there.

  20:54-20:55

  I want to help you get there.

  20:57-20:58

  And I want to lead us in a prayer.

  21:01-21:11

  And in your head and in your heart, I'm going to ask you to just silently agree with me on this, and pray this along with me.

  21:11-21:13

  Because maybe you're not there, but you want to be.

  21:15-21:20

  But in your head and in your heart, I want you to first of all pray, Lord, thank You for the example that You've given us.

  21:22-21:24

  Lord, first of all, Thank You for that example.

  21:26-21:45

  Lord, You would have been in the right to turn all of Your enemies into ash in that moment as the sinless Son of God was horribly treated and crucified.

  21:46-21:48

  So Father, first of all, we want to say thank You for the example.

  21:49-21:56

  And secondly, God, thank You for the power that You give us the faith to obey.

  21:56-22:01

  We don't have that ability in ourselves that comes from Your Holy Spirit.

  22:02-22:06

  God, You know my flesh, the flesh of my brothers and sisters here who have their heads bowed.

  22:07-22:16

  Our flesh says, "Hate." Our flesh says, "I'm in the right." Our flesh says, "That person can go to hell." That's what we say in our flesh.

  22:18-22:32

  Let us look to Christ for the example that He set on the cross, but also to the power that He provides to say no to bitterness and yes to forgiveness.

  22:35-22:43

  Father, I pray right now for myself and for my brothers and sisters here, I pray that You would bring a person to mind whom we need to forgive.

  22:44-22:51

  that we need, that make the call, send an email, shoot a text, get the ball rolling.

  22:53-23:14

  Bring that person to our minds and hearts. Do you have somebody like that? I want you to ask God right now. I want you to ask God right now, "Bring someone to my mind." If the Lord brings someone to your mind, if He did, today is the day.

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  Today is the day.

  23:19-23:21

  Not sometime this week.

  23:21-23:22

  Not even tomorrow morning.

  23:23-23:24

  Not even after supper.

  23:25-23:26

  Let's do this now.

  23:27-23:28

  Let's do this now.

  23:30-23:35

  That before you leave this building, you pull out your phone and you send that text.

  23:37-23:55

  You make that call and say, "Hey, I'd like to talk to You." And before you talk yourself out of it, before your flesh tries to justify again in your mind the reason for your offense, I want you to look at Christ on the cross.

  23:56-24:02

  I want you to consider everything He endured leading up to that moment that He was on that cross.

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  And when lifted up, I want you to look again at those words.

  24:10-24:11

  Burn them into your heart.

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  Reflect them in your life.

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  Father, forgive them.

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  For they know not what they do.

  24:21-24:21

  Amen.

Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Luke 23:34

1. Why did Jesus say, "They know not what they do?" What does that tell you about those who executed Him? See (1 Corinthians 2:8).

2. Were all of these men forgiven because of Jesus' prayer? Explain your position!

3. Why are we, even in the church, "all about forgiveness" until it is our turn to forgive someone?

4. How does Jesus' prayer on the cross motivate me to forgive?

Breakout Questions:

Who do you need to forgive? Have you taken that step? What’s stopping you? Pray for that person, if there is one, and discuss (and hold each other accountable) for next steps!