Forgive the Ignorant
Preached by Jason Abbott
March 5, 2017
There’s a saying which I have come to appreciate more and more over time: The more you know, the more you realize how much there is which you don’t know. In other words, learning more should make us more and more aware of our limits: what we aren’t experts about, when we should speak or when we shouldn’t speak. But we so often forget this lesson . . . don’t we.If you don’t believe me, just consider all the times we see people pontificate about something they obviously know nothing about—only to find out, in the end, that they’ve stuck their proverbial feet in their proverbial mouths.Benjamin enjoys telling the story of the time when he and another pastor, from his previous church, were walking through the Chicago airport and talking about marathons with a gentleman they’d just met. Benjamin’s former colleague was speaking with great expertise and authority about his marathon experiences—about how grueling his four-hour PR had been. After a bit of this, it began to dawn on Benjamin’s friend that their new friend looked as if he might be a runner too (slender build, athletic gear on, etc.). So he asked him what he was doing in town. As it turned out—the man explained—as a former Chicago Marathon champion, he was in town to promote the upcoming race.Now, this is a rather humorous and harmless example of ignorance at work. Sometimes, however, thinking we know what we are doing when we really don’t, or thinking we know who we’re talking to when we really don’t can be disastrous, as we’ll see in today’s passage. (Brown Bibles page 1006)
Luke 23:32-37
32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 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. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
As we approach this initial saying of Jesus from the cross, we want to reflect upon (1st) the people whom he prays for and, then, (2nd) the prayer which he prays for them. Let’s look at each.
1. An ignorant people
Luke wants us to identify with the ignorance of the crowd at the crucifixion. This theme of ignorance is revealed in multiple and powerful ways in the passage. For example, in Jesus’ one sentence prayer it’s stated outright. Thus Jesus petitions from the cross:
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (v.34).
Jesus prays for the people’s forgiveness because they’re an ignorant bunch. That’s Luke’s thesis statement for these few verses—You are an ignorant people. You think you know, but you don’t know . . . not really.Now, when I was teaching writing in the public schools, I’d tell my students to first state their thesis clearly then to prove or illustrate their thesis sufficiently. Luke gets high marks for this. You see, if Jesus’ prayer contains Luke’s thesis—“they know not what they do”—then the rest of the text proves his thesis statement and proves it powerfully.To see Luke’s proofs, just consider the other quotes which he records for us. First, he presents the religious leaders’ words to Jesus. They chide:
“He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” (v. 35).
If you’re a religious leader, what’s your job? What are you to be all about? In a nutshell, you’re to help the people understand and pursue the purposes of God. You are to teach people the will of God—the ways of entering into his salvation and his peace. Yet, Luke offers up these leaders . . . with heaping mouthfuls of foot. Their ignorance is on display. Their ignorance is in the irony of their challenge.Just ask, what happens if Jesus comes off that cross in order to save himself? What happens if he does what they challenge him to do when they chide at him—as you saved others, now save yourself? The answer: No one gets saved!So, here hangs Jesus on that cross praying for these ignorant enemies of his as they mock him. Yet make no mistake about it. Jesus is not a powerless victim. What they chide him to do, he is exceedingly capable of. He could save himself. With perfect power, he could exit that cross. But to do it would mean eternal death for the world. We would remain in our sins; we would remain condemned.How ignorant we are! We think we know what true power really looks like: a great athlete, a multi-billionaire, an exalted politician. But this isn’t true power. True power is Jesus in this passage: suffering and bleeding, trembling and praying, forgiving and dying for all those who hate him—when he could at any moment with a simple word crush them. What restraint! What love! What power!So, truly these leaders are ignorant of what they do and to whom they speak.Second, look at what the soldiers ignorantly say to Jesus here. Luke records how they mock him:
“If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” (v. 37).
What’s going on here? Well . . . whether or not the Roman soldiers believed that Jesus was a legitimate heir to Israel’s throne is of little to no consequence here. Their sadistic point is—when foreign kings come up against Caesar and Rome, they will answer to Rome; they’ll be judged by Rome. Essentially they’re saying: Who’s really king?! Who’s really boss?!CBS has a show called Undercover Boss. I’m sure many of you are familiar with it. Essentially they take some CEO of a big company and disguise him or her and put him or her in an entry-level position within the company. Maybe the CEO of Chick-fil-A begins training to work at the register of a particular local restaurant, but the store’s manager has absolutely no clue that the new employee is the CEO of the entire company. As you can imagine surprises generally ensue.Friends, something a lot like that is taking place here at the foot of the cross. These soldiers are nothing but store managers mocking the CEO of the universe. They’ve no idea who they’re talking to. They’ve no clue who the real judge is. They are completely ignorant of the fact that one day every single soul will stand before this Man—who hangs on the cross before them—to face ultimate judgment by him. Truly . . . they know not what they do!So, this passage is chalked full of ignorant people just like this sanctuary is. See, we’re all guilty of ignorant sins when it comes to how we approach the Lord. All of us, in various ways, sin unknowingly like the leaders and the soldiers here. Simply consider a couple examples:
God must look just like me. That’s what the religious leaders assumed. Jesus didn’t look like they thought the Messiah should look…so, away with him. And friends—we likewise often ignorantly assume our views about Christ are the only valid views—that the Bible is best understood from a white, middleclass American point of view. But is that really true? Might not our view of the Lord God be more accurate when interpreted in the faithful community comprised of every tongue and tribe and nation on this earth? Oh . . . we know not what we do.
God must favor winners. That’s what the soldiers assumed . . . wasn’t it. Jesus couldn’t be a real king because real kings don’t die like criminals. And friends—we buy this naturally. When we fail or sin against others, we try to hide or justify our sin. Yet, this is an exceedingly ignorant view concerning God. What really pleases God is when we own our sinfulness and turn thankfully to him for his favor which is always ours in Christ. Oh . . . we’re so often an ignorant people.
So what’s the remedy for our ignorance? How do we avoid such arrogance? Well, we must get to know the Lord God more and more through reading the Bible and praying alone and praying with others and serving inside and outside church. As we begin to know God this way, he’ll graciously put our ignorance to death.The two people I know who have the deepest knowledge of and relationship with God are also the two most humble people I know. And it’s not a coincidence. Both men have had a profound impact on me. They are Christlike models for me—slow to speak, quick to listen, sacrificial with their time and talents and finances. Simply put, they have met with Christ and have been transformed . . . beautifully.This is my personal prayer and my corporate prayer. It’s my prayer for me, and it’s my prayer for this church—that we would all progressively be a people who are transformed by the power of Jesus into the image of Jesus. Pray that too!Well let’s think about this image. Let’s consider Christ’s words on the cross. Let’s take up our second point:
2. An amazing prayer
I don’t know if any of you recall my sermon of a few weeks ago on Luke 6, but Jesus radically called his followers—in that passage—to love their enemies. Just listen to his introductory line from that sermon. Jesus says:
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you (vv. 27-28).
These weren’t hollow words. This was no hypocritical, ivory tower teaching. Jesus in today’s passage is living this teaching out, as he did every single moment of his earthly life. Yet, here it’s most clear. Think about it:
Jesus’ enemies brought him before a kangaroo court and condemned him as worthy of death.
He prayed: “Father, forgive them . . .”
Those who hated Jesus spit upon him and slapped him and flogged him without mercy.
He prayed: “Father, forgive them . . .”
Those who cursed Jesus marched him through the streets of Jerusalem with a cross on his back. Then they nailed his hands and feet to it.
He prayed: “Father, forgive them . . . ”
Those who abused Jesus watched him suffer and die while they laughed and mocked him, finally thrusting a spear into his side just to make sure.
He prayed: “Father, forgive them . . .”
That’s the picture Luke gives us here. That’s the amazing prayer Jesus prays for his enemies here. However, so as not to miss any of this prayer’s amazingness, let’s ask two questions as we close. First, why didn’t Jesus just grant forgiveness to all his enemies? Second, what was Jesus asking for when he prayed this prayer? If we can get at the answers to these two questions then I believe we’ll begin to see how truly amazing this prayer is.
(1st) Why didn’t Jesus just grant forgiveness?
If you read through the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life, you’ll see that he over and over again assumes the authority to forgive sins. In fact, it’s one of the powers which he claimed for himself that eventually got him crucified. If this is the case, then why didn’t he just say: I forgive you all. Your ignorant sins are forgiven.?The answer is—at this particular moment, as Jesus hangs upon that cross—we need to recognize that Jesus is one of us, that Jesus is human just like we are. To forgive sins is a divine prerogative; it would direct our attention to his divinity. But to pray for the forgiveness of sins is very human, it points to Jesus’ humanity. This is substitutionary atonement 101! Jesus prays to the Father for our forgiveness because he’s hanging there for our forgiveness. He’s there to put our sins to death and to bring us into relationship once again with God. He’s there in our place!So friends, I must ask you: Did Jesus die there in your place? Was his prayer on that cross for you? If you trust that he did and it was, then forgiveness is yours.
(2nd) What was Jesus asking for when he prayed this prayer?
The short answer is obviously that he was asking his Father to forgive us. Yet it was bigger than that. It was a more profound and weighty request than that. He was praying we would get what he deserved, and he’d get what we deserved. Jesus was praying for God to unleash his wrath upon him—instead of us!Do you begin to see how amazing this prayer is. It takes loving one’s enemy to a whole new level. This isn’t simply turning the other cheek for one’s enemies. This is literally going through hell for one’s enemies! Just begin to wrap you mind around that kind of love. Just begin to wrap your mind around that kind of prayer.It’s incomprehensible! In the words of the old, American folk hymn:
What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this
That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!
When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down
Beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.1
Amen! What an amazing love! Will you pray with me?
1 What Wondrous Love Is This, American Folk Hymn, Stanza 1 & 2.
