I'd like to turn this morning back to Luke chapter 23 and to verse 34 where we have this familiar prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. You know there are seven sayings from the cross. This is the first of them, three prayers on the cross. This is the first of those prayers where the Lord Jesus said, Father forgive them for they know not what they do. Christ had just arrived at the place of his crucifixion and they'd spread out his arms and nailed his hands to the cross and his feet and lifted him up and it was very soon afterwards that he prayed this prayer. Man had done his worst to use the most cruel and painful of deaths for the Son of God. and yet from his heart we hear this remarkable and glorious prayer, Father forgive them. And so this morning I want us to think about what the Lord Jesus Christ is praying for here and what we can learn from this remarkable prayer. And we know that these hours on the cross, they were in one sense a spectacle to all those that were standing around that cross. Some were moved by what they saw. Others were totally oblivious to what was going on. And that's what the Lord Jesus is referring to in large measure here when he says, they know not what they do. Christ had come to the very people of God. He'd come to his own, we read in John 1, and his own received him not. You remember even when he was born in Bethlehem There was no room for him in the inn and there was no room for him in Nazareth. What's there. They took up stones to stone him. Foxes have holes he says and birds of the air have nest. But there was no room for Christ even in his family. His brothers denied him and turned against him and even in the temple, the very place of worship. They also turned him out and picked up stones to stone him. There was no room for him in the affection of Judas. He had betrayed him and even the justice system failed him. He has done nothing amiss. and yet he must be crucified. This is how the world, this is how mankind, this is how his very own people treated him. And yet, instead of a cry of revenge, what do we find? This remarkable cry for mercy. And this shows us the merciful heart of the Lord Jesus Christ, doesn't it? And it's so wonderful for us to grasp. He prayed, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do. Well, this morning, the first thing I want us to think about, this prayer fulfilled prophecy. In Isaiah 53, we read that he was numbered among the transgressors. You remember, not only in Psalm 22 do we have remarkable prophecies of the death of Christ and the sufferings of Christ on the cross, but in Isaiah 53, he was numbered among the transgressors. But then it goes on and it says he made intercession for the transgressors. So there while Christ was on the cross it was prophesied that he would pray for those for whom had brought him to that cross. He's able to save unto the uttermost all them that come unto God by him. And so in the midst of his sufferings he prayed for his enemies. Now friends, this is remarkable, isn't it? Do we pray for others? The prayers of the people of God are so vital, aren't they? You remember John Knox, it was said of him that the Queen Mary feared the prayers of John Knox more than all the assembled armies of Scotland. What of our prayers? Who do we pray for? Do we have a heart to pray for those in our families? We intercede for them in the sense that we call upon God in the name of Christ and we seek the Lord's blessing upon them. Christ prayed for his enemies and it was prophesied. that he would do so. This shows us the extent doesn't it of his grace. In one sense when we think of this prayer we can say to ourselves the reason for it was that the wrath of God could have been poured out upon those that had crucified the very Son of God on the cross at that very moment that they nailed him to the cross. It was such an offence to the Holy One in heaven that he could have destroyed all of those in an instant. And in one sense you could say Christ's prayer, Father forgive them, was an urgent prayer that the Lord would stay his hand and not send his judgement upon those murderers. You know that Later on in Acts chapter 3 it says, But ye denied the Holy One and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses. And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong. whom ye see and know. Yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.' A miracle had been performed of healing. But then he goes on and he says, And now, brethren, I want that through ignorance ye did it, as also did your rulers. The blindness of men's hearts, and yet The Lord could have judged them in that moment, but Christ cries out for them, for his executioners, for his murderers in the midst of his pains and his agony. And yet it was prophesied, he will pray for those of his enemies, the ones that would put him to death. Father forgive them. But then secondly we notice that this prayer shows Christ as our representative before the father during his ministry. You remember that when he went about he was able to forgive sins. He said, son, be of good comfort. Thy sins are forgiven. Daughter, go in peace. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Behold, thou art made whole. Go and sin no more. And he said, the son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins. And yet here he is on the cross, crying to his father, to forgive sins. Why? Because he had now been lifted up on that cross. His work in a sense on earth was done and now he would cry to his father and he would be as a representative before the father. And so in that sense his power could not be exercised as it once was. because his ministry had come to a close, but he petitions the Father to forgive. We need to understand we have no other way of access to the Father but through the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our representative. We must call upon the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus. and he intercedes on our behalf. You remember in Hebrews it says, we have an high priest who can be touched. Puts it in the double negative, doesn't it? It says that he can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities. because he was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. And so we see him here, Father, forgive them. That's Christ as our representative before the Father. But then thirdly, we see here that sin is still sin even when we're ignorant of it. This was Christ's prayer for the ignorant. They know not what they do. Now, we don't always realize, do we, that we've sinned. We may have offended somebody. They may be very sensitive. We may have done wrong and hurt them in some way. But we perhaps don't realize what we've done. or the damage that we've done. It may have been a word or an action. Now in the Old Testament in Numbers there was a particular sacrifice just for those sins committed in ignorance. It's almost impossible for us, isn't it, to go through life without hurting somebody unintentionally. I heard a story of one follower of some religion. He would hardly get out of bed because he was so fearful that he would crush an ant or do something to harm another creature. And in that sense he becomes so superstitious he couldn't do anything. But we live in a world where we are under the curse. Sin has infected our hearts. we can sin unintentionally. And in one sense there were many who did not understand what they were doing when they put to death the Son of God. They were swept along in the crowd perhaps. Their minds were so blinded by their sin they could not see. what they had done. And friends, regardless, our sin is still sin. In the eyes of God, it is a crime and there is no excuse for it. And the Lord Jesus Christ, in a sense, is teaching us this here, even though these people didn't know what they were doing and to whom they were doing it. Yet their sin remained. Now we can look upon sin so lightly. We can be dismissive of it. We can say, well, it's just my instincts that I lust and look upon another woman. I'm just driven by that because of instinct. It's not sin. Ah, but the word of God shines a light, doesn't it, upon the nature of sin. that it is within the heart that it takes place, that we decide and we choose those particular sins because we love them and we cherish them and enjoy them. But all sin is still sin in the eyes of God. David prayed, cleanse thou me from secret faults. Do we have such a tender heart, friends, We think to ourselves we need to be very cautious and careful about the way that we live, that we might not cause offence to others. But if we have caused offence, if there is some secret sin within our heart, that the Lord would give us forgiveness and have mercy upon us. And this also shows us the great forgiveness that we need. If God is so holy that he notices the smallest of sins that we have done, and every one of them must be accounted for, what great forgiveness do we need? Father, Jesus said, forgive them. Even though they cannot see their sin, there must be an atonement for it. There must be a shedding of blood in order that that sin can be forgiven. But then we go on here and we can see the greatness of the ignorance of these people. When Jesus says, they know not what they do. And we're brought to that point really where these people We understand that these people had no comprehension of the enormity of that crime, to put to death the very Son of God. Now of course they knew that they were crucifying him. In that sense they knew exactly what they were doing. The Romans were experts at this system. of torture and death, but they had no understanding to whom they had done it. In one sense, the Jewish leaders were without excuse. They'd had prophecies, hadn't they? Men of God raised up among them who would come and preach to them that there was one coming who would save them. who would give his life as we've mentioned there in Isaiah 53. They should have seen him when he appeared. In Malachi we read that the Lord would come suddenly to his temple. They should have expected him. It was the Lord. It was the mighty God. He would come to the temple. John calls him the true light. And in that sense he's talking about the remarkable light that his teachings gave as he went about preaching through Galilee and as he went about doing good. It was a remarkable light shining around him in the sense that people were being brought to understand the nature of God and the glory of his grace. Peter said, we beheld his majesty. We were eyewitnesses of it. John said, we beheld his glory, the person of Christ, as he went about and lived that holy life. It had such an impact upon those followers, his disciples. And yet the Jews remained largely unmoved. They were blinded by suspicion and prejudice against the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, this also infects our hearts as well and we have to constantly guard against it. What are our prejudices against the Lord? Perhaps something's happened in your life and now you've become embittered by it and you say that the Lord is unjust and you have accusations against him. And it blinds your mind and your understanding. You cannot see past it. It becomes like a thick cloud over your mind. Ignorance, though, is when something is done without comprehending, without fully grasping the enormity of the thing that is done. And so we see here Christ prays, Father forgive them for they know not what they do. And so we're brought, aren't we, to think about Christ's teaching about loving our enemies. The Lord Jesus Christ taught us to pray for those who despitefully use us, to bless those who curse us. I wonder what it's been like for you this week. Maybe someone at work has annoyed you or irritated you. You find them very irksome. Their character is frustrating. And when you have to deal with them, You realise that they don't really like you and that they're against you. You have to pray for them, Christ says. And this is the wonderful example he gives us here. Here he is in the midst of suffering. Now none of us have ever been in suffering like this, so we have no excuse. He is the example for us of how to conduct ourselves when we face injustice or hurt, those that despitefully use us. He is the example, isn't he? That we are to pray. Pray for those, he says, who despitefully use you. Even there on the cross, he prayed for his enemies. His teaching then On the mount you remember how he preached that great sermon and it was a sermon talking about how to love your enemies and here even in this great extremity on the cross he practices what he preaches. Father forgive them. If we don't forgive friends And we carry with us a great weight, don't we? We carry the burden, the turmoil of heart if we are not willing to forgive. But Christ here, he looks upon these sinners around him and he says they do not know. They're ignorant of what they have done. And yet we see his love. bubbling up, as it were, in this prayer, Father, forgive them. Now, are we always to forgive those who've hurt us? The Bible actually gives us very clear teaching on this subject. It's become quite confused today. Yes, we should strive to forgive. all of those who've offended us, particularly our family, our loved ones, those whom we know do not wish us ill. But if there is an enemy, Christ is really putting us in a completely different category now, isn't he? He's saying, you've got to pray for those of your enemies, bless those who curse you, And we need to ask this question, how can I forgive? Well, in one sense, we can only forgive people if they do repent, if they do ask for forgiveness. We cannot lightly forgive and overlook what they have done unless they have come and asked for that forgiveness when The people came to the Lord and said, how often should I forgive my brother if he sinned against me? And Jesus said, until seventy times seven. We should go on forgiving. But there's a difference if we have an enemy who has not sought our forgiveness. Our brother, we know, wants to be forgiven and restored to us. We trust that's the case. But an enemy who has hurt us, it may not be possible for us to forgive unless they seek it. And scripture doesn't give us any requirement to forgive unless they seek it. But what it does say is that we should not have any malice in our heart toward that person. Bless them that curse you. Pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you. No anger, no retaliation, no revenge. This is what Christ taught so plainly. Here, even in the extremity of the cross, he practiced this mercy. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Repentance is essential for forgiveness. And when we think about being saved, we cannot be saved unless we repent, unless we turn from our sins and trust wholly in the Lord Jesus Christ. Judas, under the weight of the guilt that he carried, went and committed suicide. He felt great remorse for what he had done, but he did not repent and it overwhelmed him. But this prayer of Christ shows us his heart. It was free of all malice towards even those who had just so recently nailed his hands to the cross. Well in closing this morning we should look. This prayer is our greatest need. Father forgive them. for they know not what they do. We may think of ourselves as a decent person. You can believe that you might have a virtuous character, somebody who is worthy of heaven, more worthy perhaps than your neighbors. But the most important thing that you need is forgiveness, God's forgiveness, and it can only come from the throne of heaven. You must cry unto the Lord and come through his son. If we're to understand the holiness of God, the standard that he has, the nature of sin, there is only one way that we can have salvation. You see, our hearts are very subtle. is so crafty in one sense because we don't recognise the seriousness of it. We don't know ourselves as lawbreakers. But we need to come and seek the Lord for forgiveness. Jesus said, Father forgive them. They know not what they do. And in a sense that was us, wasn't it? Before we came to faith in Christ and repentance toward him, how our hearts were so blinded by our sinfulness and yet how thankful we were that when the Lord turned again, as it were, our heart to him and we were called by his grace and brought to understand our need, how ready he was to forgive. And we discover that he'd even gone before us to that cross for that very purpose, that there might be a way back to God from these dark paths of sin. And many of those who were there, who had crucified the Lord, later on the day of Pentecost, came to repentance and faith, and they were overwhelmed by the grace and the mercy of Christ, because they knew what they'd done. The Apostle Paul, he could say all the things that he had done persecuting the Church, but he said, I did it ignorantly, in unbelief, but Christ had mercy upon me. And now by his grace, I am saved. Father, forgive them. Do you see yourself as part of Christ's prayer, those that he was thinking of as he was hanging there upon the cross? Do you see yourself as one of those who was in need of forgiveness, who was in need of cleansing of your heart, of a new relationship to God, of righteousness? You have none of your own and Christ prayed for you. Here upon the cross of Calvary, as the great high priest, the priest went in, didn't he, with the names of the children of Israel written on his breast, in the stones. And Christ, as he was on the cross, knew the names of everyone, of those for whom he died. And he prayed, Father, forgive them. We've done so many sins, many of them we don't know about. The depth of them, the greatness of those sins, they are as a mountain. And this is the prayer that we need, Christ to pray for us. Father, forgive them. Here is my blood that was shed for them. And this brings us finally to the love of Christ, displayed in this prayer for us this morning. We have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. That's where forgiveness is found, only through the merits of the blood of Christ, not through the prayers of the saints, not through the prayers of Mary, but through the blood of the Lamb of God. And we see his love displayed for us here. Oh friends, do you need this prayer? Father, forgive me. I knew not what I'd done. I didn't understand that my life was offensive toward a holy God. how great a Saviour I need.' When he'd done everything, when they'd done everything rather to provoke the wrath of God, Christ prayed this prayer. His beloved, only begotten Son of the Father in whom he delighted, there he was disfigured and bleeding and in agony And yet the father we read in Isaiah 53 looked upon that scene with satisfaction because there the blood was shed that would secure the pardon and forgiveness of all his people. Father, forgive them. And he did. And he does forgive all those that come unto God by Christ. Are you among them this morning? Think of Christ. Samson, his death brought down the Philistine temple, didn't he? With his strength in revenge. Stephen though, when they stoned him, he prayed, lay not this sin to their charge. What is the spirit in us friends? Do we have a forgiving and gracious spirit? A heart without malice, without revenge, when we consider what Christ did and all that he suffered. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. He's paid all the price for our past sin and our future sin, as well as our present sin. and our life is hid with Christ in God. And there can be therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. All is forgiveness and nothing is laid to the charge of God's elect. And so let us take this prayer. May others see in us the patience of Christ The lowliness of Christ, he endured the contradiction of sinners. Are we willing to suffer the reproach of men, the unjust slanders and criticisms, and be rejected of men? That's our small offering, isn't it, of thanksgiving for such a saviour. Father, forgive them. for they know not what they do. Our closing hymn this morning is number 421. I will sing of my Redeemer and his wondrous love to me. 421.