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A Recap from Sunday’s Sermon

Preaching Text: Luke 23:26-38 

The last words of a person say a lot about their heart, so we will be studying Jesus’ words from the Cross during Lent. We see Jesus practice what he preached when he forgave those who crucified him (see Luke 6:27-28). “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” he prayed. Even while dying, Jesus was focused on others.

Jesus forgives his enemies and transforms them into friends.

The topic of forgiveness is highly relevant. Most people struggle to forgive others and themselves. Peter pressed Jesus for how many times he had to forgive, even up to seven times. Jesus’ reply inferred no limit (see Mat. 18:21). Jesus forgives us and expects us to do the same for others. 

When we allow the forgiveness of Jesus to penetrate our hearts, we find the resources to forgive others. Our problem is that we overestimate our own goodness. When someone sins against us, we think, “How could they have done that to me? I would never do such a thing to somebody else.” Or when we personally sin in a surprising way, we say, “I don’t know how that happened. I can’t believe I could do such a thing.” In actuality, we are far more broken than we readily admit. However, God loves us more than we know. The severity of the solution (the Cross) tells us much about the severity of the problem (our sin). There is nothing another person can do to us that is worse than what we’ve done to God. We forgive others because Christ first forgave us.

Taking It Home: Discuss privately with God any unforgiveness you have in your life right now. For the rest of Lent, pray daily for God to bless the offending person.