The Great Intercessor Prays for His Enemies
A Sermon by
The Rev. S. Randall Toms, Ph.D.
And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. Luke 23:33-34)
Last night we looked at a portion of that beautiful intercessory prayer that our Lord prayed for his disciples and for those of us who, many years in the future, would believe the testimony of the apostles. John 17 contains what is called our Lord’s “High Priestly Prayer,” as he interceded for those who loved him. But tonight, we come to one more intercessory prayer offered by our Lord Jesus Christ, and this prayer is offered, not for those who loved him, but for those who hated, despised, and rejected him.
On this Good Friday, we have meditated on the horrible and hideous sufferings that our Lord endured as he paid the price for our redemption, taking upon himself the torments of eternal hell so that his people would not have to endure them. Movies have tried to depict something of his physical sufferings, but as bloody and as gruesome as these scenes are depicted, we cannot begin to imagine the agony he suffered physically. But even greater than his physical sufferings was the agony that he suffered spiritually, as he bore the sins of the world–the agony of the one who had never sinned, and yet who becomes sin for us to be punished in our place. We cannot comprehend the anguish of the one who had enjoyed fellowship with His Father from all eternity past, as he cries out, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
And yet, even in all his unspeakable torment, he still thinks of others and even intercedes for those who crucified him: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” There have been many sermons preached on what are called “the seven sayings of Christ from the cross.” It is somewhat difficult to harmonize the gospel accounts so that we can put the sayings from the cross in the right order, but most people are in agreement that these are the first words that our Lord said from the cross—these words of intercession, “Father, forgive them.”
In Luke 23:33, we are told that they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other of the left. His hands and his feet have been nailed to the cross, then the cross is planted in the ground, and the Savior is suspended between heaven and earth in pain beyond description, but his first words from his loving heart are for others. He does not ask that he might die soon so that his sufferings would come quickly to an end. He does not pray that his Father would even alleviate the pain he is enduring. He does not call upon his Father to send fire and lightning from heaven to destroy those have put him on this cruel instrument of torture. As he is lifted up, his thoughts are filled with intercession. As Bishop J. C. Ryle said, “…as soon as the blood of the Great Sacrifice began to flow, the Great High Priest began to intercede.” He prays, not for himself, but for others, and not just simply others, but for the very ones who are crucifying him. Though they are the ones who are causing him this intense pain, it is, after all, for them that he is suffering. So, rather than asking his Father to pour down his wrath upon those who are inflicting such pain, he prays, “Father, forgive them.”
For whom was he praying? What people were included in this prayer, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”? Who are these people who do not know what they are doing? The most likely candidates are the Roman soldiers who actually drove the nails into his hands and feet and lifted him up on the cross. Surely, of all the people gathered at Golgotha, the soldiers were the most ignorant of what was happening. Perhaps there were some of them who had heard rumors about a Galilean preacher who was causing a stir. Perhaps some of these soldiers had seen parts of the trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate. Perhaps some of them had taken part in the scourging. But all these actions of the soldiers were fun and games to them. On this day they had three more Jews to crucify, just as they had crucified others without thought or feeling. This Jesus was no different than the two others who were being crucified that day, except this one had claimed to be a king. Here was a crucified king. What a laugh! Surely, the soldiers did not know what they were doing.
Or, perhaps when Jesus prays, “Father forgive them,” he has in mind the crowd that has gathered around the cross, the crowd that had been crying out shortly before, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” It could also be said that they had acted in ignorance. You remember that after Pentecost when Peter and John had healed the lame man at the Gate Beautiful, Peter addresses the crowd and 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 now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers” (Acts 3:14-15, 17). Peter is saying, “You are the people who had Jesus crucified. Even when Pilate wanted to let him go, you chose to release the murderer, Barabbas. But I know that you did it in ignorance, as did your rulers.” So then, not only had the Roman soldiers acted in ignorance, not only had the mob acted in ignorance, but the leaders of the Jewish people had also acted in ignorance. So, the prayer, “Father forgive them,” may include the soldiers, the crowd, and the Jewish ruling authorities, even the ones who are gathered around his cross taunting him, “Come down from the cross, and we will believe you.” Despite all that, Jesus prays for them.
Jesus’ prayer, “Father, forgive them,” may have included the Roman authorities as well, because we remember that the apostle Paul said in I Corinthians 2:7-8: “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” Pontius Pilate did not know what he was doing. He knew that there was this man, Jesus of Nazareth, standing before him, a man who was hated by the Jews for no good reason. But out of cowardice Pilate gave the order that this man should be crucified. But Pilate did not know that this man was the Lord of glory. St. Paul says that if these Romans had known, then they would not have done it. So, they were all ignorant: the soldiers, the crowd, the Jewish mob, the religious leaders, and the Roman authorities—they all acted in ignorance. We could say that when Jesus said, “Father, forgive them,” that prayer included all those who had a hand in his death.
Surely this is one of the most astonishing prayers uttered in the history of the world. Millions of people have read these words with amazement and wondered at the love that was displayed on the cross—a love shown toward even the most vile and wicked of human beings. This saying of Jesus is the first passage of Scripture I ever remember hearing, though I had heard thousands of the words of Scripture, having been brought to church every Sunday from my infancy. But I remember standing beside my grandmother as she washed dishes when I was only five or six years old, and she would say, “Randy, what did Jesus say from the cross?” She expected me to respond by saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” That verse must have meant a great deal to her, because that is the verse she wanted me to remember. What a comfort this passage has been to so many who have seen that Jesus loved even those who crucified him, and he interceded for them! If he loved those people enough to intercede for them, then surely, he loves me, as well.
But as comforting as this passage is, many people make a grave mistake when they hear this prayer of Jesus. They conclude that because these people who crucified him were ignorant, therefore, they were innocent, and since they were innocent, they deserved to be forgiven. Is that what Jesus was saying here? Is he saying that no blame is to be attached to any of them because they did not know what they were doing? Nothing could be further from the truth. We know from reading Scripture that ignorance does not mean innocence. We know that such an excuse will not hold up even in our own legal system. Stand before a judge and try to tell him that you are innocent of a crime because you did not know that what you were doing was illegal. We say it all the time: “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Jesus is not saying that these people have no guilt. You remember in the law of Moses there were sacrifices offered for sins that were committed in ignorance. The Lord said to Moses, “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them: If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering… And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty; When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation” (Lev. 4:2-3; 13,14). God did not say that if they sinned in ignorance it was no sin. Notice that the Lord says that they are guilty. Even sins committed in ignorance had to be atoned for by the offering of a sacrifice, because even the person who sinned in ignorance stood guilty before God. As. A. W. Pink writes:
“Sin is always sin in the sight of God—whether we are conscious of it or not. Sins of ignorance need atonement just as truly as do conscious sins. God is holy, and He will not lower His standard of righteousness to the level of our ignorance. Ignorance is not innocence. As a matter of fact, ignorance is more culpable now than it was in the days of Moses. We have no excuse for our ignorance. God has clearly and fully revealed His will. The Bible is in our hands, and we cannot plead ignorance of its contents except to condemn our laziness. God has spoken, and by His Word we shall be judged.
“And yet the fact remains that we are ignorant of many things, and the fault and blame are ours. And this does not minimize the enormity of our guilt. Sins of ignorance need divine forgiveness, as our Lord’s prayer here plainly shows. Learn then how high is God’s standard, how great is our need, and praise Him for an atonement of infinite sufficiency, which cleanses from all sin.”
Sin committed in ignorance is still sin—sin that must be atoned for by the shedding of blood.
This very prayer of Jesus from the cross shows that he did not consider these people to be innocent simply because they were ignorant. If they were innocent, then why would he ask God to forgive them? If there was no guilt attached to what they had done, there would have been no need for forgiveness. If ignorance is innocence, then, by all means, let all people around the world remain in ignorance so that they might all stand before God innocent.
Furthermore, to show that ignorance does not mean innocence, let us look at the sermon preached by the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost. He lashes into the crowd, this crowd that had said, “Crucify him!” when he says, “Him [Jesus], being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Acts 2:23). Peter does not say that you are innocent because you were ignorant. He says you crucified him with wicked hands. “You are wicked men, and because you are wicked, you crucified him.” When the crowd heard this, they were pricked in their hearts, and they cried out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” How does Peter answer their question? Does he say, “Don’t worry about it. You did not know what you were doing. You are innocent.” No, when the crowd asks, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Peter says, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin.” Do not plead ignorance. Repent and be baptized so that your sins can be forgiven.
Then, let me go back to that passage I read a moment ago when Peter spoke of how the crowd and the rulers acted in ignorance. Peter said, “I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers….” So, what does Peter say next? Does he say, “I know that you acted in ignorance, therefore you are innocent, and you have nothing to worry about. Jesus absolved you of your sin from the cross when he said, ‘Father forgive them.’” No, Peter says, “I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers… Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out”(Acts 3:19).
The Scriptures never teach us that we are forgiven because we are ignorant. We are forgiven through repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. As the Apostle John says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:8-9). We are forgiven when we repent. Jesus said, “If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him” (Luke 17:3). We make a mistake when we separate one Scripture from the rest of Scripture. When Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do,” he was praying at the same time they would see the sinfulness of what they had done and repent. This prayer of Jesus was answered when they repented and believed. They were not forgiven because they were ignorant, but because God gave them grace to repent. Just a few weeks later, on the day of Pentecost, 3,000 repented, and the prayer of Jesus from the cross was answered. A short time later, 5,000 repented, and again, the prayer of Jesus from the cross was answered. And then in Acts 6:7, we read, “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.” These priests who had such a diabolical hand in the crucifixion of Jesus, became obedient to the faith, and the prayer of Jesus was answered again. Spurgeon writes:
“Was not this prayer, ‘Father, forgive them,’ like a stone cast into a lake, forming at first a narrow circle, and then a wider ring, and soon a larger sphere, until the whole lake is covered with circling waves? Such a prayer as this, cast into the whole world, first created a little ring of Jewish converts and of priests, and then a wider circle of such as were beneath the Roman sway, and today its circumference is as wide as the globe itself, so that tens of thousands are saved through the prevalence of this one intercession, “’Father, forgive them.’”
We are not forgiven because we are ignorant, but because of the intercession of Jesus–His prayer that His father would bestow on people the grace of repentance and faith to accept what he had done for them on the cross. Did you notice that Jesus does not say, “I forgive you, for you know not what you do.” Jesus doesn’t say that he forgives them. He pleads that his Father would forgive, because being an intercessor, being an intermediary is his role in the economy of salvation. He dies on the cross to reconcile us to God—to bring us to God. He dies on the cross so that his Holy Father would forgive them for this great crime they have committed.
If we were saved because of ignorance, then all of us would be saved. If we could be saved because we know not what we do, we would all be saved, because, when it comes to sin, none of us know what we are doing. The horrible truth about sin is that sin blinds us. We sin and never give it a thought. We sin, and we actually think that we are doing good when, in fact, we are doing evil. Even when we realize we have sinned, we think we know what we have done. We think we know what we are doing, but we have no idea. We sin every day in thought, word, and deed, but none of us know what we are doing. We do not really know how disgusting our sins are in the sight of God. Just as these people did not know what an appalling crime they were committing in the sight of God by crucifying his Son, we do not realize the revolting nature of every sin we commit in the sight of God.
The Christian first realizes something of the sinfulness of sin when the Holy Spirit first opens our eyes to see that we are sinners. We have been engaging in sinful acts, but we have been ignorant. Then, the light of the Holy Spirit shines into our hearts, and we begin to see sin for what it really is, and we say to ourselves, “I never knew. I never knew how sinful I am. I never knew how vile my sins really are. I didn’t know what I was doing.” That knowledge of the vileness of sin increases over the years as we draw nearer and nearer to Christ, gazing on the holiness of God. But as much as we may see the sinfulness of sin in this life, we will never fully realize it until we stand before God on the dreadful last day, and the books are opened, and we see our sins in the light of God’s blazing holiness, and we will all say, “I never knew. I did not know what I was doing until this very moment. I never knew how abhorrent my lust, my covetousness, my anger, my adultery, my greed, my selfishness…. I never knew. I was ignorant.” Then, we will look at our Lord and say, “Thank you for praying for me–for praying for my forgiveness, in spite of my ignorance.” Then it will be that we will fall on our knees and thank our Lord for his intercessory prayer from the cross: “Lord, I didn’t know what I was doing. Thank you for pleading with your Father that I would be forgiven. And thank you, oh Father, for hearing the prayer of your loving Son and granting repentance and faith to a poor, ignorant sinner.”
What a comfort it is to us to know that Jesus Christ loved us so much that he would pray for those who crucified him, because as we sang just last Sunday in that hymn, “Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended?” We sang those convicting words, “I crucified thee.” How ignorant we are of what we are doing when we sin. Every day as we sin against God, do we have any idea that our sins placed him on that tree. If we really understood that truth, how could we go on sinning time after time?
It is our custom at this church to close our Good Friday service by singing the old spiritual, “Were You There?” Were you there when they crucified my Lord? The answer to that question is that we all were there. The entire human race was there. As the famous Presbyterian preacher, Peter Marshall, once said, “Calvary still stands, and you and I erect the cross again and again and again every time we sin… Every time we deny him, every time we sin against him or fail to do what he commanded, he is being crucified again and again and again.” We were all there when our Lord was crucified. I was there, and I was no innocent bystander. When the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see Christ on the cross, we know that we are guilty of shedding the blood of the son of God.
One of the most popular hymns ever written is John Newton’s “Amazing Grace.” No one needed to remind Newton of the sinfulness of his life. Newton was a sinner as we all are, but before his conversion he had been a slave trader. John Newton could say, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.” He knew that he was a wretch. He new that his sin, even the sin of being a slave trader, made him a wretch in the sight of God. But Newton never knew what a wretch he was until, by the grace of God, he saw Christ on the cross. In another hymn, that I do not believe I have ever seen published in our modern hymnals, Newton describes what it was like when he, with a spiritual sight, saw Christ on the cross. In the hymn called, “Looking at the Cross,” he writes:
In evil long I took delight,
Unaw’d by shame or fear,
Till a new object struck my sight,
And stopp’d my wild career.
I saw one hanging on a tree,
In agonies and blood,
Who fixed his languid eyes on me,
As near his cross I stood.
Sure, never till my latest breath
Can I forget that look;
It seemed to charge me with his death,
Though not a word he spoke.
My conscience felt, and owned the guilt,
And plunged me in despair;
I saw my sins his blood had spilt,
And helped to nail him there.
Alas! I knew not what I did;
But now my tears are vain;
Where shall my trembling soul be hid?
For I the Lord have slain.
A second look he gave, which said,
“I freely all forgive;
This blood is for thy ransom paid,
I die, that thou may’st live.”
Thus, while his death my sin displays
In all its blackest hue,
(Such is the mystery of grace),
It seals my pardon too.
With pleasing grief and mournful joy
My spirit now is filled,
That I should such a life destroy,
Yet live by him I killed.
That look of Jesus from the cross is so convicting, charging us with the guilt of his crucifixion. Newton says, “Alas, I knew not what I did!” There you see the ignorance again. We did not know what we were doing, but it doesn’t excuse the horrible crime. But this hymn contains the glory of the gospel. There is not only a condemning look from the cross, but there is also a second look that says, “I freely all forgive.” What a mystery of grace it is! Do you want to see your sin as it really is? Look at the cross. Our sins put him there. But do you also want to see the greatest mystery of all? His death shows us the horror of sin, but it also shows us that our sins, even the sin of crucifying the son of God, seal our pardon. It is too horrible to contemplate, that I could destroy such a pure and holy person, the Son of God. But it is too wonderful to describe, that we are given eternal life by the very person we killed.
Do you hear his words from the cross still crying out down the through the centuries, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”? In Isaiah 53, we see how the prophet foresaw all these sufferings of Jesus. We see how his appearance was marred, he has no form or majesty, he has no beauty, he is despised and rejected of men, he is a man of sorrows, he is stricken and smitten of God, he is wounded, bruised, and covered with stripes. The prophet saw all those sufferings, but he saw something else: “He was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” We have seen how that prophecy was fulfilled as he hangs on the cross and made intercession for us, the transgressors. We were more than transgressors. We were his enemies. St. Paul writes, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life” (Romans 5:10). When he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” he was praying for his enemies. All of us were his enemies, and yet he prayed for us. You have heard his words–his intercession from the cross. How will you respond?
We would think that all those gathered around the cross on that day would have immediately bowed before him and pleaded for mercy when they heard these loving words, “Father, forgive them.” But let us read the words again, “Then said, Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, and saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.” You would think that they would have been melted to tears when they heard these words, “Father, forgive them.” They were not moved at all. They gambled for his clothing. The people and the rulers scoffed. His love and intercession meant nothing to them. His words were the meaningless ramblings of a fool and a blasphemer who deserved what he was getting. Are we any different? We go about our daily lives as though these words from the cross had never been uttered, never thinking of our sins, never meditating on what Christ did for us, just as callous as the Roman soldiers gambling for his clothing. But still, down through the centuries those words echo, “Father forgive them.” Though most of the world to this very day ignores him and scorns him, many people have seen his great love and they have believed in him. This prayer has broken their proud hearts, and this prayer has become their greatest comfort for they know that Jesus loved them so much that he would plead for the forgiveness of those who crucified him. They have accepted what he did for them on the cross, and they have said in the words of Isaac Watts, “Love so amazing, so divine,/Demands my soul, my life, my all.” The prayer of the Great Intercessor has been answered in them. Has his prayer been answered in you? May his prayer be answered in each one of us, and may we know that we have been forgiven all our transgressions through the sufferings, death, and intercession of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
