Each of the gospel accounts of the crucifixion has its own peculiarity. Luke presents the trial of Jesus in a way that points fingers directly at the Jewish leaders involved. Luke goes out of his way to make sure we understand that the Jewish leaders are the ones who frame the charges against Jesus. It is they who insist he be crucified. Luke also is careful to make sure that we understand that the Roman governmental officials find no reason for Jesus to be prosecuted. It is important to recognize that it is only in Luke's Gospel that Jesus goes before Herod. Even the centurion who is in charge of the crucifixion exclaims that Jesus is innocent. Most scholars agree that Luke is presenting the facts this way to communicate to all who will listen that Jesus and his followers were no threat to the establishment of the day, the Roman government. These verses should never be understood in a way that would cause anyone to blame the death of Jesus on the Jewish people.
Luke has set the stage for us to understand just how important it is to comprehend Jesus' words of forgiveness. We may rightfully ask, "How can he forgive these people who are in the process of ending his life?" And, one of the most critical things for all of us to grasp is that unless Jesus does what he does, the cross stands for nothing!
When tragedy strikes, it is often hard to trust in God. We give God lots of lip service when a child is born or some other wonderful things come into our lives, but we are equally quick to condemn God, or at the very least ask, "How God, could you let this happen?" It is an accusation more than a question. If you are a God of love how can this happen? There are no easy answers, but it is into this milieu that we find ourselves in the accounts of the crucifixion and in the presence of Jesus' act of forgiveness. We learn by observation of this horrific act that Jesus is the supreme example of innocent suffering. His witness to us is that even there, even at the point of torture and death, when he should feel most vulnerable and exposed, he shows us that God's love never takes a vacation. His example is our good fortune in understanding that there is one reality that remains when all seems to be darkness, and that is, in the end, God prevails even over death!
H. G. Wells wrote a story titled, "The Country of the Blind." In it, he tells about a hidden valley shut off from the rest of the world by very high cliffs. That valley was inhabited only by blind people, and no one there had ever been able to see.
A lost and weary traveler stumbled into this country of the blind, and stayed with them for a while. As he lived among them, he found himself falling in love with a blind maiden, and began considering the possibility of marriage.
However, the blind people thought that this man who could see was strange. They felt that his mind was cluttered and confused, distracted by his ability to see. They insisted that if he wanted to continue living among them, he would have to have his eyes put out and become as blind as they.
For a while, the man thought that he would be willing to do that, but one morning he got up and saw the beauty of the sunrise, the mist rising from the valley floor, the dew glistening on the petals of the flowers, and he realized that he could not stay in the country of the blind. He climbed out of the valley and returned to the world of sight.
The way in which Jesus forgave allows us to see the true light. It also allows us to see Jesus not only as the suffering servant, but as Christ the King. Who but a servant and king could understand the relevance of true forgiveness? When Jesus came into our world, he saw things that the world was unable to see. He viewed the world from more than one vantage point. He saw the world both as a carpenter from Nazareth and as the King of kings. He lived and did things that the rest of humanity could not grasp. He thought thoughts that the world had never thought. He did deeds that the rest of the world could not do. And our world could not stand that. It tried to pull him down to its own level, but Jesus refused to be a part of the darkness of this world.
Unlike the character in H. G. Wells' story, Jesus did not run away from the darkness. Instead, he conquered it. The place where that victory took place is a hill called Calvary, Golgotha, the "place of the skull," on an old rugged cross. As Jesus hung on that old, rugged cross, as he prayed to his Father to "forgive them, for they know not what they do," he revealed that there are no limits to God's willingness to forgive and pardon. Because we are all frail, we tend to strike out when we are hurt. But, when we pay attention to our lesson for today we learn that even when we strike out in anger or fear, the cross of Christ calls us to pull back and reassess our feelings. We are to be examples of forgiveness, even and especially when it is hardest. Jesus has shown us that there is nothing we can ever do to put ourselves beyond his healing reach.
One of the remarkable things about what is happening on the cross is the very fact that Jesus is praying. What a place to pray! We pray in church, we pray when we prepare for bed, we pray at the table before a meal, but on a cross?
I think most of us would agree that if you found yourself on the cruel cross you would curse the cross not pray on it. You would scream out your hate and indifference. You would cry. You experience pain on crosses. You certainly don't pray to forgive others while hanging on a cross.
Historically, we discover that the Romans worshiped revenge as one of their gods. They were constantly waging war on countries that had done them wrong, seeking revenge. For them revenge was a tool in the art of warfare. Revenge was sweetest when you conquered a people and enslaved them in your service. You used them to build your roads and cities. You exploited them for whatever you could get from them and out of them, but you didn't pray for them.
Who thought up the cross? Who thought about a person having nails driven into his hands and feet, watching him die a slow death that drags out over hours and sometimes days? What kind of twisted mind thought up something like that?
Crucifixion was accomplished by nailing or tying the arms and legs of the victim to the cross. The agony was planned, you were supposed to suffer and become an example to anyone who harbored the thought they might just try to start an insurrection against Rome. Death actually resulted from exposure, shock, and eventual suffocation, when the body was so exhausted that breathing in that position was no longer possible. Yet, Jesus prayed to forgive them!
I wonder how many times he prayed it. Did he pray it when they beat him with the cat-o'-nine-tails? Did he pray it when they thrust a crown of thorns upon his head, put a purple robe around his shoulders, and mocked him by saying, "Hail, King of the Jews"? Do you suppose he prayed that prayer as he was carrying his cross up the hill? Did he pray it as they were driving nails into his hands and feet? Did he pray it as he was hanging there, his life's blood dripping to the ground? Do you suppose he prayed that prayer when he looked into the angry faces shouting, "If you really are the Son of God, come down from the cross"? How many times did Jesus pray that prayer?
God hangs on a cross! Jesus clearly identified in death as he had in life with the regular folk of his time. He hung on the cross and in that suffering he did in death what he did in life. Born homeless, for a short time a refugee in Egypt, and then, a brief ministry, a rabbi who socialized with the outcasts of his day. Jesus forever stands as the servant of the poor and the downtrodden. But, just as clearly he stands as Christ the King who welcomes all into his kingdom, even those who would kill him!
Some have suggested that Jesus was praying for a "blanket pardon for all the people who participated in his crucifixion. He was just going to forgive everybody who had anything to do with it." I don't believe that, because God never forces forgiveness on anybody. God is not going to walk up to a cursing, mocking priest shouting "Crucify him! Crucify him!" and say, "I'm going to forgive you whether you want to be forgiven or not."
Sisters and brothers in Christ, the death of Jesus on the cross is not a matter of an angry God requiring a perfect offering or sacrifice; a case of one member of the Trinity being sacrificed for another. Nor does it represent some kind of an agreement between God and Satan. The cross is at the center of Christian faith now and forever because the cross is a window into the heart of God. It reveals the overarching, all encompassing, never-ending love of God. The empty cross that stands in most Protestant churches is a visible reminder to all Christians of the victory of the Resurrection in which we all will share one day.
When Jesus prays for forgiveness he is saying to anyone who will listen that the kingdom is near and that all of God's children are invited to enter. That kingdom is present and made available wherever right relationships are being entered into. The kingdom is present wherever justice and mercy are being shown, and membership in this kingdom is not granted because you deserve to be allowed in, but because God offers membership as a free gift. You see, the forgiveness that Jesus prayed about from the cross is not dependant on priests or others acting as mediators. It has been pronounced by Jesus as free and available to any who seek or ask for it. It does not require you to sacrifice anything other than your ego. Who but a servant and king could offer such a gift? You and I are here today because the prayer that Jesus prayed 2,000 years ago is still being honored by God in heaven. That's why the sun shines on the good and the bad. That's why the rain falls on the just and the unjust.
For 2,000 years, his disciples have been going into the world telling people that God paid the price on Calvary's tree for their sins. For 2,000 years they have been inviting people to come and be forgiven of their sins.
Maybe we'll have another 2,000 years to preach the message. Maybe we won't. Right now, though, that prayer is still being honored. Right now forgiveness is still offered. God will never force it on you, but God offers it, makes it available, and paid the price for it. It is ours for the taking.
Amen.