Luke chapter 23, and we're going to begin to read at verse 33. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified him and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. And they divided his garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on, but even the rulers with them sneered, saying, he saved others, let him save himself if he is the Christ, the chosen of God. The soldiers also mocked him, coming and offering him sour wine. and saying, if you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. And an inscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. This is the king of the Jews. Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him, saying, if you are the Christ, save yourself and us. But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Having said this, he breathed his last. So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God saying, certainly this was a righteous man. And the whole crowd who came together to that site, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned. We'll end the reading there at verse 48 and may the Lord today Just truly make this passage sink deeply into our hearts. Let's now ask His help in prayer, let's pray. Oh, blessed God and gracious Father today, oh, how we pray that the heart of the Lord Jesus would be ministered to us, that we would see it, feel it, oh God, and that we would walk in the light of it. Father, thank you that you have given us such a Savior. Thank you for his love and his compassion. And so we ask you now that you will, by your Spirit, speak to every one of us, each one in an individual way, in that way, Lord, that we most need. Father, send your spirit. May there be power from on high. Father, it is needed for the preaching and the hearing. And we pray that you will send the spirit upon us all. We ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. The Lord Jesus had seven sayings that he spoke from the cross. And this morning I want us to think about the first of these. We find it in verse 34. We read in verse 34, then Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. This is the first saying of Christ on the cross. And you know, in many ways, if you read the account and what he had already endured, it is an amazing thing that he should say anything from the cross. after what he had endured to this point. But it's more amazing that his very first words should be to pray for others, and especially those who were crucifying him. These words are thought to have been spoken right after they nailed the Lord Jesus to the cross and stood him up. So J.C. Ryle says, as soon as the blood began to flow, Christ began to intercede for sinners. What a picture. As soon as the blood began to flow, Christ began to intercede. And it shows us that here's Christ on the one hand as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Here he is shedding his saving blood. But then on the other hand, here's Christ as the great high priest pleading for sinners on the cross on the basis of his spotless life and his atoning death. So you see, in his ministry to lost and broken people as both high priest and as the Lamb of God, we see the Lord Jesus interceding and we see him securing salvation. It was his calling as the Savior to be these things and to do these things. But it was not just a job, you understand. Before he would agree to this work, he had to have a heart for this work. See, he had to see, he had to, that compassion had to take him to this place, as it were. And that's what I want us to look at this morning from these words. This saying of the Lord Jesus on the cross opens for us really an amazing view of his heart, of his infinite love and compassion. And seeing what his heart is like tells us something of what our hearts can and should be like as well. So to prepare our hearts as we come to the Lord's table this morning, let's consider together Christ-like compassion. Now this saying of Jesus from the cross teaches us three things. How he sees us, how he sees others, and how we should see others. So let's begin by thinking about how he sees us. I have to confess to you, I read this passage many, many times in my Christian experience before I ever saw myself. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. That's right, these Roman soldiers who were nailing Him to the cross and carrying out the will of the people, and these people who were mocking and who had betrayed Him and were now taking an innocent man and sending him to an unjust death. But when Jesus Christ says, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do, He's praying for you and me too. We sent him, you see, to the cross. And this is true of every one of us. We're here in this picture. We're part of this prayer. I'm not gonna take the time to read it, but J.C. Ryland commenting on this has this amazing section where he says, you know, only eternity will show us the amazing fruit of that particular prayer. of Jesus Christ saying, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. But folks, we're included in that. One of the things that first opened my eyes to being included in this, and to this part, my part, as it were, in the crucifixion, I read in a book that I've mentioned to you before, a book that, as a young believer, as a matter of fact, I read it on our honeymoon. That was when I bought it. I think we'd been married a whole, all of one day, and we stopped at a bookstore. I mean, isn't that a great thing to do at a honeymoon? Well, can't be topped, you know? But anyway, so we buy this. I find this Christian book of mystical verse by A. W. Tozer. And in it, he goes in the history of the church from early church fathers up until at least the time that he lived. And he takes some of the best poems that have been written and hymns that have been written about life in Christ. And I wanna read you one that is very striking on this very point. It's written by a man named Johann Hermann. It was written in 1630. Five verses, and listen very carefully, please. Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended that man to judge thee has in hate pretended, by foes derided, by thine own rejected, O most afflicted? Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee? Alas, my treason, Jesus hath undone thee. T'was I, Lord Jesus. I, it was, denied thee. I crucified thee. Lo, the good shepherd, for the sheep is offered. The slave hath sinned, and the son hath suffered. For our atonement, while we nothing heeded, God interceded. For me, kind Jesus, was thy incarnation, thy mortal sorrow and thy life's oblation, thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion for my salvation. Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee, I do adore thee and will ever pray thee, think on thy pity and thy love unswerving, not my deserving. Boy, what amazing words, what beautiful sentiments. But they put us right here in the prayer of Jesus. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, because that is true of us. Now, of course, the devil is gonna whisper to us, and he does most days. You know better. You should have known better. And you're justly condemned because you did know better and you have sinned, as it were, with a high hand. But Jesus says, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. And just as an aside, I know that's true because when I'm sinning, I am somehow believing the lie that this is bringing me some good rather than an act of self-destruction, rather than doing me harm. If I saw that, I wouldn't do it. But the devil in my own flesh blind me to that. And so I do what ultimately and immediately hurts me rather than helps me. I do it because I'm blinded. I do it because I know not what I do, you see. So the Lord Jesus sees this very clearly. We're far, far more broken than we know. If you will, let's turn to Psalm 103. Psalm 103 is, I think, one of the most well-known of all the Psalms. Amazing words of comfort and encouragement in Psalm 103. But I wanna turn our attention for a minute to just two verses. So Psalm 103. at verse 14 to begin. For he knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust. Now that tells us he knows us in our weakness. He knows we're a mess. But there's something really interesting here because look at verse 12. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. So when you look at verse 14 and then you look at verse 12, what we see here is that the Lord Jesus forgets what we often remember, our sins, and the Lord Jesus remembers what we often forget. that he knows we're weak, that we are a mess, that he knows we know not what we do. So what an amazing picture, but the Lord knows us in our weakness. So let us, especially in light of those two verses, let us forget what he forgets and let us remember what he remembers and take great comfort that the Lord Jesus loves us and is constantly interceding for us saying, Father, Forgive them on the basis of my shed blood, for they know not what they do. But let's go to the second thing, and that is how he sees others. Now, In the passage here, Father forgive them for they know not what they do, we see what's going on. The most immediate application is Jesus praying for the ones who are putting the innocent lamb of God to death. And it's not just that he's innocent of the crime for which they're putting him to death, he's sinless. You see, he is absolutely sinless. He's not guilty of any crime. He's not guilty of any sin. He has loved the Lord as God with heart, soul, mind, and strength every minute of his human existence, and he has loved his neighbor as himself without exception. And so it's not just that he's innocent of a crime here that would put him in the place of crucifixion. He's innocent of everything. completely and fully innocent. And in the context, we see that there are some, like the soldiers, who are just thoughtlessly executing the crucifixion of the Son of God. Not a good thing, not a good thing. And they're doing it, they're carrying it out. But then we see others, and those with far more guilt, who are the ones who betrayed Him and falsely accused Him. And here they're mocking and scorning Him as He dies. And again, they're guilty, absolutely guilty. They know not what they do. And yet Jesus Christ prays for them right here, prays for them as a God who, as we learn in scripture, has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. That's who he is, that's his compassion. And he sees these as those who are created in his image. And once again, here's something he remembers that we often forget. They're created in his image, so he sees their amazing potential if they'd only let him reign in their hearts. And that's how we ought to view others too. That's how Jesus views them. I think we see it really powerfully in Matthew chapter nine. Once again, if you'll turn there with me. Matthew nine at verse 35. Matthew chapter nine, verse 35. Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. Now let me stop there for just a second. You know, you read this passage and you say, well, okay, he's moved with compassion. Boy, that's great. He just healed all these people. But folks, moved with compassion ends at the cross, you see. Moved with compassion takes him to an atoning death on the cross, takes him to the place where he is standing between us and the wrath of God, and taking that wrath upon his own head. Something that we just can't begin to fathom. So when it says he's moved with compassion, I'm telling you, he moved a long way. He moved all the way. He did everything that we needed. But then on to verse 37. Then he said to his disciples, the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into this harvest. So here's the Lord Jesus just looking at a crowd, you know, a large crowd, this multitude, and yet he's moved with compassion. In every one of them, he sees someone in whom to and for whom to be moved with compassion. See, and you know what he says to us? He says, pray the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into his vineyard because the harvest is great. Do you see all these people? You be moved with compassion. You be moved with compassion enough to go and pray to the Father and ask him to send laborers who will share the gospel with these people. You see, so that's the nature of that compassion. And see, this is how he views the lost and the broken. He is full of compassion and he prays, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. So if we have seen on the one hand how he sees us, If we see how he sees others, surely we learn from this how we should see others. And that's our final point, how we see others. So what Jesus prays here says we should pray, Father, forgive us all for we do not know what we do. Jesus takes us in view. Jesus takes others in view, even the most wicked, even the ones who have betrayed Him and are crucifying Him. And He says, Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. So that says something to us. We've just seen it in Matthew chapter nine, that He's moved with compassion and tells us to pray. within that compassion for others. And we should think and speak and act with that same compassion that sees that we are not superior to anyone, not anyone. The Apostle Paul teaches us a whole lot on this. He says, For instance, in Corinthians, don't sink to comparing yourself to others. And then he tells us very flatly that there's never any ground for us to think ourselves superior to anyone else. Listen to First Corinthians 4-7. For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? And folks, that takes everything in. If you wanna say, yeah, but I believe the truth and they don't. Why do you believe the truth? Well, the record of scripture is because the intervening miracle of the grace of God to bring you to saving faith. That's why. And if your looks, you think your looks are better or you think your athletic talent is better or you think you're more intelligent or fill in the blank. The apostle Paul says, let me tell you, only God accounts for that. and you have no cause whatsoever to think yourself superior to anyone else. But then the Lord Jesus especially is our teacher on this, not only by his life and by his death, but by his words. And I want you to turn to a really familiar passage, Luke 18. Luke chapter 18 at verse nine. And I want you, this is the parable of the two men who went up to the temple to pray, a Pharisee and a publican. So we know this story, right? It's very brief account, but I want you to try to think about it anew, afresh, new eyes on this passage. And for one thing, to note very carefully that the Holy Spirit gives us an introduction to this and tells us the motive behind Jesus telling this story. So Luke 18 at verse nine, also he spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Now have we ever been guilty of despising others? Have we ever looked on others and judged them? Have we ever looked down on them and despised them? Then this word is for us. This is for our hearts. This is to be applied in our minds and our souls. Two men, verse 10, went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I possess, and the tax collector standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Now let's stop there for a second. The one man is all about comparison. The one man is all about looking down on others, who spends the content of his prayers comparing himself favorably to somebody else before the perfect living son of God, as if he had no sins whatsoever. And this other man, he can't look up to heaven and he can't look around to anyone else. He knows he's a sinner. He sees that. He knows he has no ground whatsoever to compare with anybody else or to look down on anyone else. And all he can manage to say are the most magical of words. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. No deserving in the equation, no bargaining with God, no promises, you know, that I will do better or I will be this or that or give you this or that. He just comes and he makes his appeal on no other basis but who God is as a part from himself. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And the most wonderful words are verse 14. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. So you see, when we despise others, it's sin, it's wrong. There's no ground for it. We know not what we do. And it's especially true regarding our brothers and sisters in Christ. Listen to Paul in Romans chapter 14, chapter 14 verse three, and that's the one about disputed things, doubtful things. That's the chapter that's talking about, well, you have this standard and I have this one, and so who's right? And how should we treat each other over that? But listen to Paul's words in Romans 14, three. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat. And let not him who does not eat judge him who eats, for God has received him. Now you say to yourself, and again we could go through the whole passage, but you know, on the surface you say, well Paul, what's wrong with you? Don't you know that the most important thing is who's right? Paul doesn't even deal with that. He says, let him who eats despise, let not him who eats despise him who does not eat and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats. So you'd think Paul would have to stop and say, which one of you is right? That's the $64,000 question. Paul says that has nothing to do with the situation. God has received them both. Both know not what they do. I remember when I was teaching in seminary, and you get the stock question that you hear all the time, and probably every believer at some point asks this question. How is it that two people professing to be believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, professing to be led of the Holy Spirit, how can they disagree about what the Bible teaches? Doesn't make sense. Well, my standard answer was, well, at least one of them is wrong. That's true, right? And many times both. But here the apostle Paul takes that and says, but the issue is, this is your brother in Christ. Your Lord has received them on the basis of the finished work of Jesus Christ. Your Savior lived for them and died for them and you are not to despise them. That doesn't mean you cave and there isn't an issue you can discuss. Sure, for the glory of Christ, for the power that the truth may minister to our hearts. But how we treat one another, how we look at one another, how we think about one another as we discuss those things should never include despising, should never include any superiority over anyone else. You see, in this prayer of Jesus, he models for us and teaches us the best way of thinking about and dealing with others. Listen to his words in Matthew 5. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use and persecute you. Now that's one of those passages that, All of us believe and adhere to, in theory. You know, the problem is, if there's actually an individual who's disagreeing with us, or there's actually an individual who's attacking us, or who is not liking us, and then suddenly we forget about that passage. But that's the occasion that Jesus is speaking about, you see. And love your enemies, love them. They're your enemies, love them. Bless those who curse you. Don't get defensive. Don't try to spend your time thinking about the best comeback. Don't try to punch with stronger words than they punched you with. Bless them. Do good to those who hate you, starting with praying for them. And pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. Seek their everlasting welfare. So those are the words of Christ. And then Peter talks about the example of Christ. First Peter 2.23 says, when he, Christ, was reviled, did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously. Committed himself to God. Then Peter tells us what we've been called to be and to do. First Peter 3.9, he says, not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, blessing, knowing that you are called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. You see, Jesus came to do for us, to suffer for us, to take the wrath of enemies so that we might live in a new way toward one another, even though we are as broken as the day is long. He came to make that different. The bottom line is this, we all sin in many ways, and we have many things that we don't see. And because of that, we have no cause but to be humble and thankful and to love even our enemies, as he does as well as our brothers and sisters. Our prayer should be this. Lord, I want you to bring me to the point where I have no critical, judgmental, angry, or malicious thoughts about anyone. I want to see all unbelievers as broken and twisted by sin, and by the way, not just sin within them, but in many cases, by sin in those who raise them or influence them or hurt them. In many cases, that's done such damaging, twisting work. But anyway, Lord, I want to see all unbelievers as broken and twisted by sin that has marred your image in them. And therefore, they are worthy of my understanding and compassion because I'm one of them. I'm one of them. And then I want to see all my fellow believers, Lord, as objects of your eternal redeeming love, as those for whom my dear Savior lived and died, as the ones in whom Jesus is writing a sweet, transforming story that can only end with them being presented as his glorious bride and being with him and me forever and ever. Now the place where this is the hardest is when they dislike or attack you or someone or something that you love. And same with me. That's where it's tough. It's hard. It touches us in a very, very sensitive place. But what is Jesus teaching us here? He teaches us that without any feeling of superiority, That's off the books. And knowing that it may be highly likely that I have contributed to their sin of attacking me or judging me or whatever, I can and should forgive them for this and know that this too is being purged and changed by the work of Jesus. We can live there. We can do that. We can walk as Jesus is modeling and is teaching us here. Folks, it's so liberating to remember that we're all a mess, all of us, every last one. It frees us to love like Jesus loved and then to pray like he prayed. Father, forgive them and us and me, for we all know not what we do. Jesus taught us that when we've been forgiven much, we love much, and not just loving him. but loving others much too. So may we take sweet comfort from Jesus' prayer and may we see his heart of compassion and may we walk in that same compassion towards everyone for Christ's sake. Let's bow in prayer, let's all pray. Oh Lord, we do praise you, bless you, thank you for your goodness and your grace. Lord, we thank you that our Lord Jesus, in spite of all our weakness and brokenness and sin, loves us with an everlasting love and that he has overcome the guilt of our sin. The penalty has been paid and that, Lord, the power is broken and someday the very presence of that sin will be banished in all of us. We thank you for that, oh God. And we confess, Father, the many times we've despised others, the many times, oh God, we have sat in judgment with no cause to do so. Father, we ask your forgiveness for that. Lord, we ask for a cleansing of your precious blood. And we ask you that you'd change our hearts. Lord, we live in a world where we can influence others by the life of Jesus living in us as we live before others. And so we pray, let us reflect the Lord Jesus in this regard, in how we deal with others, how we speak of them, how we think of them. Oh, Father, let Christ live in us and let that compassion that marked him be our compassion as well. So thank you for your goodness and your grace. In Jesus name. Amen.