April 1, 2010 Maundy Service~Pastor Tim Pusey

JESUS—THE AUTHOR OF FORGIVENESS
Luke 23:32-43
Maundy Thursday Service
April 1, 2010

The Passover meal that Jesus shared with His disciples was the prelude to a quick escalation of events which found their climax in the crucifixion of Jesus. Betrayed by one of His own, Jesus was arrested and brought before the high priests, who sent him on to face the Roman governor. It was before Pilate that the trial took place, though clearly the trial was a total miscarriage of justice. In the end, it was Pilate who gave in to the whims of the Jews and pronounced the sentence, “Let him be crucified!” Immediately, Jesus was led away from the court and toward the execution site. In the heat of the moment, many followed the insidious parade of Roman soldiers with the now bruised and bleeding Jesus. A man named Simon was yanked from the crowd and ordered to carry the Cross. Let me pick up the Scriptural account at Luke 23, verse 32—
[Read Luke 23:32-43]

I want us to focus this evening on Jesus—the One of such mercy and grace that He went to the greatest lengths conceivable to provide forgiveness for us all. It’s an amazing thing to think about, but it is certainly true: Forgiveness was paramount in His heart and mind as Christ hung on the Cross. It’s what He was thinking about as He hung there in agonizing pain! It’s what He was about even in His suffering! His thought was for others! His thought was even for us! His love and His mercy superseded His own pain.

The first glimpse is seen in His response to the Roman soldiers who put the nails through His hands, hoisted the Cross into place, and cast lots for His clothing. How did He respond to them? Jesus prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Doesn’t it strike you as amazing that in His darkest hour Jesus was thinking about the spiritual needs of those who were at that very moment inflicting such pain upon Him! What a tremendous insight into the awesome grace of God!

Some of you have experienced terrible pain. Many of us can really only claim to have experienced more incidental pain. It wasn’t too many years ago that nurses were trying to get an I-V in my arm as both precautionary measure as well as for a procedure they were doing. One would get it in and it might last for a little while, but then it would “blow out,” as they call it, and my skin would swell and it would have to be re-done in another spot. By the 3rd, 4th and 5th times—and the third person trying, they were sticking the large needle in my vein, and then trying to maneuver it around to where they wanted it. I’ve got to tell you, it hurt! It hurt bad!—and I had bruises on my arms for weeks to prove it!

But in those moments of pain—pain that was so minor compared to Christ’s pain on the Cross, the last thing I was thinking about was the needs of my pain inflictors!—even though my pain inflictors were acting out of professional kindness rather than the hatred and indifference emanating from those inflicting pain on Jesus. I think that our natural tendency when we’re in pain is to center on that pain and to be indifferent to the needs of those around us. We’re certainly not at our best when we’re in pain—but not Jesus. Even in His hour of deepest suffering, His thought and prayers were for the forgiveness others needed.

Let’s be honest, if we’d been Jesus, we’d have been more likely to have tried calling down God’s wrath upon those making us suffer. We’d have wanted them to burn for what they were doing! It was all so unfair and unjust! We might have quickly concluded that their sins were beyond forgiveness—but Jesus didn’t go to that conclusion at all. In His hours of deepest suffering and humiliation, Jesus interceded to the Heavenly Father on behalf of those around Him, pleading with the Father to forgive them, for they could not comprehend what they were doing.

And then we see the forgiving spirit of Jesus as He responded to the repentant thief dying on a cross next to His. Scripture tells us that there were two criminals being crucified at the same time as Jesus—one on each side. While one thief used his last bit of breath and energy to join the crowd in mocking Jesus, the other man was experiencing a change of heart. He was willing to admit that he deserved to die, but it was clear to him that Jesus did not deserve this death penalty. To him it was clear that Jesus was not just another criminal facing execution. He had some degree of faith that Jesus was more than just a man, for he cried out to Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And with mercy and grace, Jesus used some of His last breath and energy to pronounce wonderful hopeful words of forgiveness—“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

What a powerful scene that must have been! Here was the guiltless Son of God being unjustly executed, and He cared enough about a thief in the last hours of His life to extend mercy and forgiveness to him. Even in His darkest hour, Jesus was about the redemptive, reconciling work of His Heavenly Father. It’s simply what Jesus was all about!

His mercy and grace is what took Him to the Cross—and what prompted His determination to follow through regardless of the cost to Himself. He saw how sin destroys lives. He saw the burden of sin upon the shoulders of people like you and me, and His love for us compelled Him to endure the Cross so that our sins could be forgiven! It was over this that He had struggled in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane—and had determined to go forward and face the Cross according to the will of the Father. Someone had to pay the penalty for the sins of humanity—and He was the only one worthy to be our substitute, for He was the spotless, sinless Lamb of God. It was His passionate desire for you and me to know and experience the complete forgiveness of the Father, to thus be reconciled with God and to know the hope of eternal life. The marvelous truth is that God wants every person to experience such forgiveness and hope!

And every one of us needs forgiveness, for “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). As long as there is unconfessed, unforgiven sin in our lives, we cannot enjoy significant relationship with our Heavenly Father. Sin separates us from God. It always has, and neither you nor I are going to be the exception! Unless sin is confessed and forgiven, we become slaves to sin, and when we’re slaves to sin, our slavery to sin keeps us from knowing and enjoying the blessing of being sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father, warmly embraced in His Presence, dearly loved for all eternity. We may not feel ourselves worthy of God’s forgiveness, but this is the very point at which we must be willing to trust God to do what He has promised to do. 1 John 1:9 tells us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” What a powerfully freeing word for us all!

Now—let’s make sure we catch the full extent of this forgiveness. Not only is God willing to forgive our sins, but He will forgive all who call upon Him with a repentant spirit! This forgiveness is extended to all! That’s good news for us all. God’s mercy and compassions are not limited to one people group, to one race, to one gender, to one skin color, to one socio-economic level. His mercy and His grace reach across all those barriers—aren’t we grateful for that?!

The catch that’s sometimes hard for us is that this forgiveness is offered even to those who may have hurt us and to those whom we may not for some reason feel are worthy of such forgiveness. Some of us have had persons hurt us so profoundly in life that we’re not sure they could ever deserve God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ. But God’s love is deeper and more profound than our human nature alone can fathom. Christ died for all.

And if we’re going to follow Christ, we must be willing to follow in His footsteps of forgiveness—which calls for us to forgive one another just as Christ has forgiven us. I say this fully aware that forgiveness is costly. The forgiveness we’ve experienced from God was costly. It cost Jesus His life. And human forgiveness is costly too. We must let go of anger, resentments and pride—even if we have a “right” to be angry or resentful and even if our pride tells us we were “right” and the other party was wrong! The mom or dad who has a prodigal child pays a price for forgiving that wayward child when he/she returns—it is a price carved out in heartache and sleepless nights. Forgiveness is costly.

Divine forgiveness was certainly costly. We’ve been reminded of it already in this evening’s service. God is love, but God is also holy. God cannot break the great moral laws on which the universe is built. Sin must have its punishment or the very structure of life disintegrates. And God alone could pay the price that was necessary for our forgiveness. Such a price made it clear that God’s forgiveness is never just a matter of God saying, “It’s okay; it doesn’t matter.” Of course sin matters! Forgiveness is the most costly thing in the world. And such mercy and grace was what cost Jesus His life.

This mercy and grace brings Christ before us this evening. His desire to provide forgiveness to each of us brings Him before us, calling for us to respond. The very nature of His mercy and grace compels Him to reach out to people—including people well beyond these walls—people who so much need to discover such forgiveness and the new life that it brings.

As He stands before us this evening, He looks into our eyes, and instantly we see His love. His eyes penetrate beyond all that we might carefully hide from others, for He sees our souls. He longs for each of us to be holy and pure—and in His mercy and grace, offers the cleansing we need, the cleansing we can accomplish in no other way.

As we contemplate the privilege this evening to receive the Lord’s Supper, let me encourage you to see the Lord standing before you. He’s the Lord of grace and mercy—the One who gave His life so that you could experience forgiveness and freedom from sin and its devastating effects on your life. Receive His forgiveness—even if you struggle to forgive yourself. Thank the Lord tonight for forgiveness. Worship the One who loves you so much that He gave His life for you. Acknowledge the great love of Jesus that offered forgiveness to all people—even to those who put Him on the Cross. May our Lord Jesus draw us to His side, and may such love compel us to fully embrace His mercy and His grace. And may the Lord teach us to embody such mercy and such grace to those around us.