Sculpture - "Father, Forgive Them..." by Mike Scovel.
This post is the second in a series on "The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross" by Arthur W. Pink. In this series, I am also participating in a Christian Classics reading project with other Christian bloggers.
Arthur W. Pink is a master of the English language. Inasmuch, I would like you to read Pink's masterful first two paragraphs:
"Man had done his worst. The One by whom the world was made had come into it, but the world knew Him not. The Lord of Glory had tabernacled among men, but He was not wanted. The eyes that sin had blinded saw in Him no beauty that He should be desired. At His birth there was no room in the inn, which foreshadowed the treatment He was to receive at the hands of men. Shortly after His birth, Herod sought to slay Him, and this intimated the hostility His person evoked and forecast the Cross as the climax of man's enmity. Again and again His enemies attempted His destruction. And now their vile desires are granted them. The Son of God had yielded Himself up into their hands. A mock trial had been gone through, and though His judges found no fault in Him, nevertheless, they had yielded to the insistent clamoring of those who hate Him as the cried again and again, "Crucify him."
The fell deed had been done. No ordinary death would suffice His implacable foes. A death of intense suffering and shame was decided upon. A cross had been secured; the Saviour had been nailed to it. And there He hangs--silent. But presently His pallid lips are seen to move--Is He crying for pity? No. What then? Is He pronouncing malediction upon His crucifiers? No. He is praying, praying for His enemies--"Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.' "
Pinks words: "The first of the seven cross sayings of our Lord presents Him in the attitude of prayer. How significant! How instructive! His public ministry had opened with prayer (Luke 3:21), and here we see it closing in prayer. Surely He has left us an example! No longer might those hands minister to the sick, for they are nailed to the Cross; no longer may those feet carry Him on errands of mercy, for they are fastened to the cruel tree; no longer may He engage in instruction the apostles, for they have forsaken Him and fled--how then does He occupy Himself? In the Ministry of Prayer! What a lesson for us."
Please read on...
In these first "words" of Christ on the Cross, Pink culls seven things for us to observe:
- We see the fulfillment of prophecy.
- In Isaiah 53:12 it is prophesied that Christ would pray for His enemies.
- We see Christ identified with His people.
- Pink points out that this is the only time (Father, forgive them) that Christ made such a request of God the Father. In all times past Christ forgave sins Himself. But here He was our substitute (God become man) and willingly put aside His authority and must, as such, ask the Father to forgive mankind.
- We see divine estimate of sin and its consequent guilt.
- Pink shares that in the Levitical world ignorance of ones sins did not dismiss them. In Numbers 15:22-25, we see that there was a sin offering for the sins that the people were ignorant of. David, in Psalms 19:12 prayed, "Cleanse me from my secret sins". Ignorance is not innocence. We are all incapable of the attainment of perfection from sin. Pink wants us to understand how high God's standard is and thereby how great our need is. Thankfully God's atoning grace cleanses us from all of our sins. (For they know not what they do).
- We see the blindness of the human heart.
- "They know not what they do". Pink points out that they knew full well what they were doing in hanging Christ on the cross. What they "knew not" was that this was the Holy One of God! They were blind to all His miracles. They were blind to the significant prophetical answers that He brought. In their own sin, they hung the "Son of Man" on the cross. What complete and utter blindness. Can you imagine being one in the crowd crying for His crucifixion? I don't know about you, but I have a hard time forgiving myself for my sins, let alone being a literal part of His crucifixion.
- We see Christ's example of His own teaching.
- Pink points out that Christ on the cross (Word become flesh) did not personally forgive but asked God to forgive His enemies. Pink is making the point that Christ did not exhort us to forgive our enemies, but rather to "pray" for them. Pink continues on that we are only to forgive those who repent, otherwise we may condone their actions. For example, if one kills your brother you must only pray for the murderers salvation before the Lord. However, says Pink, if the murderer does in fact repent, then you are also to forgive him of the trespass. This is an interesting thought and one that I will come back to in another time. I suspect that there is controversy on this one.
- We see man's great and primary need.
- Man is sinful and completely incapable of a relationship with a Holy God. So how can God be just (we deserve death) and yet be merciful (He doesn't sentence us to death)? The answer is Jesus Christ and His substitutionary death on the cross. Pink wants us to see that Christ, on the cross, struck down to the very root of our need.
- We see the triumph of redeeming love.
- With all the Christ endured, His response was love..."Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."
This chapter gives me much to meditate upon. It escaped my attention that Christ asked the Father to forgive rather than doing it Himself. As I think about this moment in time, it seems to me that all of creation must have...I don't know how to say it....God became man and died for me! How inescapably incredibly is that! I don't understand. God...please give me wisdom, please give me simply an ounce of this kind of love and give me the courage to live and proclaim it.
