Glynlea Grace United Methodist Chruch

And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

Summary and Purpose

Summary: Jesus Christ is ‘God in the flesh’. He is fully God and fully human. Jesus is God showing us how to be a perfect human. This means that if you want to know God’s character, look at Jesus. Look at what he said and did when he walked this earth.

One of the best ways to get a penetrating look at what Jesus was like is to study the last 7 statements he made while dying on the cross. This will reveal some of God’s character to us. By doing this, we will find that God is a very good and loving God.

The first thing that Jesus said was, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” This demonstrates his love for all people, to include those who mistreat him.

Purpose: To help the congregation to better understand God’s character and to encourage the congregation to emulate that character.

The Sermon

I. Introduction: Intense and challenging situations bring out a person’s real character

• Army Ranger school is one of the toughest leadership schools in the Army. You’re evaluated on how well you lead when you and your men have almost no sleep and very little to eat. This is often combined with cold, rainy weather (I went through the winter cycle). All these factors combine to create a character revealing atmosphere.
• The character revealed in me was not so great. During the mountain phase I found myself extremely cold, ravenous and delirious from lack of sleep. I stopped thinking about the welfare of my platoon and became very selfish. I ate my food when I should have been preparing my defensive position, fell asleep on guard duty and didn’t support those in leadership like I should have.
• After graduating from Ranger school, I had to go to God and admit I wasn’t as great as I thought I was. God has been improving my character ever since.

4. Jesus’ character was revealed when he endured the agony of the cross.

• We can see his character by looking at the 7 statements he made while dying on the cross.
• From now until Easter we will have a sermon series on the ‘Seven statements Jesus made while dying on the cross’
• Before we go on, let’s remember, Jesus was God in the flesh. By looking at Jesus’ character, we see God’s character. By the end of this sermon series, we will see that God is a very good and loving God!!! Praise the Lord!!!

1. Jesus was concerned about others, even in the midst of his own suffering

• Jesus said a prayer to his Father, not for himself but for others.
• This is an example for us to follow. We need to be in the habit of praying for others, even when we are having difficulties

2. Jesus loves all people, even the ones who are torturing him

• Forgiveness is continuing to love someone despite any harm they may have caused you.
• By calling for their forgiveness, Jesus was declaring his love for the very people who were torturing and killing him.
• Just to get an idea of how big this love is, let’s review what they did to Jesus. They falsely arrested him, unfairly tried him, beat him, spit in his face, flogged him with a leather whip that had bone and metal fragments, taunted him, forced him to carry part of his cross, nailed him to a cross, gave him no food or water except a sponge with vinegar and allowed him almost no sleep. Yet, Jesus wanted these people to be forgiven!!!

3. Jesus can understand a person’s circumstance

• Jesus said, “…they know not what they do..”
• Jesus understood that the soldiers were following orders and didn’t really understand what was going on.
• This doesn’t excuse their bad behavior but it does demonstrate that Jesus understood why they did what they did.

IV. How should we respond to this type of God?