And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) 

This is one of the most remarkable sayings that the Lord Jesus ever made.  There He was, crucified on the cross, in agony beyond our understanding and comprehension. The Roman centurions  and religious people of that day had tried to do their worst to the Lord Jesus.  They had beaten Him, mocked Him, spat upon Him and even made Him carry His own cross before ultimately nailing Him to the cross.

I don’t know about you but my human instinct would be to show resentment and anger towards the crowds who stood below and were ridiculing Christ Jesus. Not this Man.  Christ Jesus is different to each and every person that has ever been born. Yes He had a human body and felt many of the emotions which we feel every day. Yet He is so different, completely sinless, God’s only Son in a human body.

Rather than show resentment towards the crowds, He showed contentment. Rather than display bitterness He showed goodwill. Rather than show hatred, He demonstrated great love.

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”. (Luke 23:34)

Christ Jesus had a deep concern for the spiritual wellbeing of these individuals. He looked down on them as “sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34).  Christ had a deep concern not only towards the people on that particular day, today He also has a great concern for you.

Maybe you don’t realise like the people that day who Christ Jesus really is:  that the purpose of His death upon the cross was all part of God’s great master plan.  The result of Christ’s death means that we have this great opportunity to be saved from our sins.

The choice we all have to make is whether or not we accept the opportunity of forgiveness that Christ Jesus offers to all.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. (1 John 1:9)

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”(Matthew 27:46)

We don’t often hear the word “forsaken” these days; its equivalent might be “abandoned” or “left behind”. I wonder what this word would conjure in your mind. What does it actually mean to be forsaken? What was the impetus behind this cry from the cross? Was it a cry borne out of anger and rage, despondency and despair?

“Where is God when it hurts?”; “How can God allow such a disaster?” Often, people will quickly point to calamities as the basis for their unbelief in God. Well, here is Christ on the cross, suffering injustice and enduring excruciating pains, forsaken by friends and taunted by enemies. Still He calls upon God as “my God”. Even in such a traumatic death, the Lord Jesus trusted in His God. Have you considered that calamities should teach us dependence on God?

We live in a fallen world where sin (falling short of God’s holy standards) is rampant. Like an unstoppable warhead, it pierces through all social strata. Don’t just think of corruption. Sin has led to broken families and abusive relationships.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

By nature, we are inclined towards doing wrong; as we grow up, we find sin attractive and thrilling. The problem is that sin separates us from a meaningful and peaceful relationship with God.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23)

The Lord Jesus came to provide salvation from sin. He was on the cross for people like us, forsaken so that we can be forgiven, condemned so that we might live a new and meaningful life.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” (John 19:28)

This was the only indication the Lord Jesus gave of his physical suffering, while other sayings emphasise his spiritual suffering. All four gospel authors (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) record that He was offered vinegar (“sour wine”) to drink.

John writes that this was “that the scripture might be fulfilled”.

Why did he write that?

In Psalm 69 David writes of rejection, humiliation and sorrow in a way that, while coming from his own experience, has an emotional depth that can only refer to the suffering of the Messiah.

In saying “I thirst“ the Lord Jesus identified Himself as the suffering Messiah. Any Jewish hearer around the cross, and any subsequent careful reader of the Bible would recall that the Psalm states:

“for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” (Psalm 69:21)

Other scriptures link closely: in Psalm 22 one can almost experience the thirst, suffering and abandonment of verse 15:

“…my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.” (Psalm 22:15)

If the Lord Jesus identified Himself as the Messiah, what does His fulfilment of those scriptures imply for you and me? Surely nothing else than He is the One who fulfilled the words of Isaiah chapter 53, verse 5:

“But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

Have you responded to Him as Saviour, or do you remain unmoved?

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46)

In choosing these as His last words, Jesus showed us the ideal way to meet God: committing our spirit into God’s hands for safekeeping.

Jesus spoke frequently of His Father, and it is clear that He means God Himself (Matthew 16:15-17). In fact, the key factor that led to Him being put to death was His claim that He was the Son of God (Luke 22:70-71).

There was no doubt about God accepting His Son’s spirit. Jesus never sinned, and never gave God any reason to be angry or disappointed with Him (Matthew 3:17) or refuse Him entry into His presence, but the same cannot be said for us. The Bible teaches that

“all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

and that God will refuse us entry into Heaven unless this sin is dealt with. Not only that, but the Bible tells us that those who die in their sins will face eternal punishment at the hands of God.

This is why Jesus came into the world, so that He could go to the cross and take God’s punishment instead of us. If we admit that we have sinned against God, believe that Jesus, God’s Son, died on the cross to take our place, and ask God to forgive us for our sins, God will do so. This is not easily done – it takes humility to admit that we are sinners who deserve nothing more than an eternity in Hell. But, if we have done this, then we can go to meet God with the same assurance that Jesus had, committing our spirits to God for eternal safekeeping, rather than eternal judgement.

And (Jesus) said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43) 

In this account in the Bible, we can read about three men who were crucified. Two criminals were being punished for their own crimes and the Lord Jesus was being punished for the sins of mankind (He Himself was actually innocent.)

The second thief was in awe of Christ – an innocent Man who willingly allowed the soldiers to crucify Him, and did so without a single word of hate against them or the thief who blasphemed Him. What kind of person can do that?

In fairness to this thief, he is very honest and frank about his own situation. He basically says, “Look at how much an innocent man from Heaven is suffering – how much more is God going to punish me, since I am actually guilty of crimes and actually deserve punishment!”

The thief was clearly in fear of God and was in complete agreement with God that he was guilty of sin and therefore deserving of death. It is unlikely that the thief knew the ins and outs of salvation and how Christ’s death is the key to providing it, but he was at least willing to tell Christ what he did know to be true: “I am guilty of sin and I place You (Christ) in charge of my soul when we reach eternity, because You are a righteous Man.”

The Lord Jesus’ wonderful reply was as simple as it was true – “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.”

God saves anyone who reaches out to Him in honesty and in faith.