Please turn with me to Luke chapter 23. Luke 23 as we read together verses 26 through 38. The text being our Lord's first word from the cross found in verse 34. Maybe for you, like with me, it's amazing that when we think about our Lord's trial and all that he suffered up to the point of the cross that he didn't say a whole lot, at least as we have it recorded in Scripture, a few words to Pilate. But all that he was subjected to, he didn't utter a word. And then as we consider the things that he said from the cross as he was hanging there, most amazing words that our Lord could speak for us. Beginning at verse 26, as we hear now the word of the Lord. As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, Blessed are the barren women. the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed. Then they will say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills, cover us. For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry? Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with Him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified Him along with the criminals, one on His right and the other on His left. Jesus said, Father, forgive them. for they do not know what they are doing. And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, He saved others, let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One. The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar, and he said, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. There was a written notice above him which read, This is the King of the Jews. A beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, here we are, as it were, at the foot of the cross. The cross of Jesus, that cross for you and me, which is a cross of glory and salvation, that cross for Him, which was a cross of suffering and shame. And now ordinarily, we know that the last words that a dying loved one says are often powerful. They are often precious, and they are not easily forgotten. And here, before our Lord gives up His life, He speaks a number of words. In the very act of His saving work, our Lord Jesus Christ speaks precious and powerful words of comfort and hope and salvation. And the amazing thing is that as the torment, as the excruciating pain of the crucifixion, the physical excruciating pain of the crucifixion began, the first word from the mouth of our Savior is a prayer. A prayer not for Himself. A prayer not for punishment or revenge or judgment upon those who were tormenting Him, as we might expect, but a prayer on behalf of others. A prayer which summarized the very reason why He was hanging on the cross. He came to suffer and die to earn forgiveness. We have here the Savior's prayer of forgiveness. And as Jesus prayed for forgiveness, nailed to and hanging on that only means of forgiveness, He teaches us that forgiveness is ours only because of the cross and because of His work accomplished on the cross. As we notice the Savior's prayer of forgiveness, notice first of all this prayer in the light of His merciless treatment. Indeed, it was merciless at the hands of those who were with Him that day. It was torture. You see, when we try to understand all that happened before He was physically nailed to the cross and the very act of the crucifixion itself, it's important for us to understand insofar as we are able what Jesus was going through. And praise God that we will never have to endure what He endured. But this merciless treatment, this torture was incomprehensible. And it didn't just begin with the spikes that were nailed into His hands and feet. The people spit on Him. They ridiculed Him with insults. His flesh was torn and shredded by Roman whips that were woven with sharp pieces of wood and bone and metal into the very cord. He had been beaten. He had a crown of thorns pushed down upon His head. No doubt it was painful as those thorns pierced His brow and drew blood. And now He was nailed to a cross. He wasn't tied to it with rope. He was nailed to it. Spikes in His hands and feet. And there he hung in agony and pain. And you and I cannot begin to comprehend the physical torture for our Savior. Or maybe most, if not all of us, have heard a medical doctor's rendition of what they suspect took place or what they know, medically speaking, how he would have suffered. The agony, the asphyxiation, the literal drowning as he was hanging there. But even before all of this physical abuse in the Garden of Gethsemane, we read in the Word of God that His sweat was as great drops of blood, which means that more than the physical pain, He knew the agony of separation from God before He even endured it. Beloved, as all of these cruel things, complete with the nailing Him to the cross, took place, What was happening by men is that all of the hatred and fury of man was poured out on him. And as we consider this merciless treatment in light of his prayer of forgiveness, it is to be humbling. Humbling for you and me as we stand at the foot of the cross, surveying that wondrous cross. humbling that as that first nail was pounded and then the second nail, that as our Savior's body first felt the excruciating pain of crucifixion, that most hideous of sins, at the very beginning, we meet with the forgiving love of God. We meet with the forgiving love of God. Really something for you and me is so unexpected. As we consider the Savior's prayer of forgiveness in the light of this merciless treatment. It's such a wonder for you and me. Because what we find is unexpected. From our point of view, what would be normal is that He would be screaming and crying out and yelling and cursing in His tormentors or maybe even yelling at God, why did you let this happen? I don't deserve this. You owe me better. But wait a minute, those are the kind of words that would come from us, right? Or as we might think about, what we would expect from God's point of view according to our perspective. We might expect that with this worst of crimes putting to death the very Son of God, that in His fury He would send judgment upon a sinful world like never ever before. So that even Sodom and Gomorrah and the great flood of Noah would be like nothing compared to this. We would expect that this would be the hour of judgment when the wicked world would be consumed and it would be no more. But beloved, it was the hour of judgment upon Jesus Christ. Yet it's incomprehensible to you and me that instead of screaming and yelling and cursing in pain and crying for 10,000 angels to destroy the world and set them free, that instead of all that, our Savior prays. He intercedes, boys and girls, that means speaking for someone, speaking on behalf of someone. He intercedes for sinners. What a wonder that at that moment the wicked world did not get what it so deserved, but was given what it did not deserve, the mercy of God. We find here a fulfillment of Isaiah's words in that great chapter, chapter 53, and He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. We see here our Lord practicing what He preached in the Sermon on the Mount. That during the fiercest enmity against God and with the full measure of man's wickedness exposed, He practices what He taught to forgive our debtors and to love our enemies. Paul says, while we were still sinners, while we were still enemies, Christ died for us. He prayed for us. He demonstrated his trust in his Father as Job says, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. And all of this is why Peter could say with confidence in 1 Peter 2, who committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth, who when he was reviled did not revile in return, When he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously, who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree. It's a wonder that he asked for the crucifiers that which their deed had clearly forfeited. They did not deserve. God did not pour out his wrath at that moment as the world was putting to death the Prince of Peace, the very One in whom the Father was well pleased. And the reason, beloved, is clear. It's clear. This must take place. This must take place for forgiveness, that for which He prayed to be secured. This must take place for forgiveness to become real for those who would believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. It was not yet time for final judgment because there were still those, including you and me today, for whom Christ shed His lifeblood. There were still those including us who must be given new life, who must be delivered from the power of sin and death, who must be transformed into glorious children of God. You see, the day will come when Jesus Christ, the righteous Judge, will come again seated on His throne. In all of His glory, He will come to judge the living and the dead. and then He will no longer pray for those that crucified Him. But Calvary was not that day. And as long as this prayer, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing, as long as this prayer continues to rise from the Savior's lips, that day has not yet come. And until then, the shed blood of Jesus is the blood of atonement that still today intercedes for sinners. At that moment, our Savior could confidently pray, Father, forgive, because He was making payment for sin. He was earning the very forgiveness for which He prayed. He willingly shed the blood they drew, and the wonder of it all is that already on the cross, He brought it, as it were, into the sanctuary of God, sprinkling it on the mercy seat to satisfy the wrath of God against sin. And on the basis of the shed blood, the Savior's prayer of forgiveness in the second place is of full pardon. Of full pardon. You see, this answers the question how we are to understand the forgiveness that Christ was praying for and for whom He was praying. Of course, there are different views. Some say that Christ was praying simply for the soldiers. The soldiers who actually carried out the crucifixion. But isn't it true that they were only following orders? Isn't it true that it was also the Jews who were both the agency and the means by which he was brought to a cruel death? Others say that he was praying simply that God would postpone judgment and give them an opportunity to repent and believe whether they would repent or not. That even if they wouldn't, he was praying for that. After all, they didn't know what they were doing. Didn't they? The soldiers, the Jews, the Roman soldiers, or the religious leaders, Pilate, They all knew, at least in part, that they were putting to death an innocent man, as Pilate said. They all knew that it was a hideous crime motivated by selfishness and hatred. What they didn't know in their ignorance is the fact that they were truly putting to death the very Son of God, that they were putting to death the Lord of glory. What they didn't know, what they were ignorant of, was the fact that the blood they shed would save many, even some of them. What they were ignorant of was the fact that God would use their evil for the greatest good. It was a postponement of sorts, at least for the Jews, 40 years passed before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. My view is that I agree with those who say that this forgiveness that Christ prayed for was not simply for postponement of judgment upon a wicked world, because until Jesus Christ returns, all of the wicked enjoy postponement of it. And neither is Jesus asking for forgiveness for those who would never repent. You see, to forgive means to dismiss, to remit, to send away, to dismiss from one's mind. To talk about no more. It does not mean to postpone. To put it off. It's used in Scripture for the forgiveness of sins as Jesus taught in Luke 11, verse 4, as He taught His disciples what we call the Lord's Prayer, and forgive us our sins. When God's people pray that prayer, pray that petition, it's not just a vain hope. And as Luke 17, verse 3 says, take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him. The meaning of the Savior's prayer, I believe, is for true forgiveness, not just potential. True forgiveness in the full and final sense of the word. Full pardon. That the Father would remember these sins no more. This sin of crucifying the Savior was the greatest and the worst of all sin, and its forgiveness implies the forgiveness of all of one's sins. If this sin can be forgiven, then all sin. can be forgiven. But this then begs the question, for whom was Jesus praying? In the third place, Christ's prayer of forgiveness was for a specific people. For a specific people. And to understand that, we must first ask, well, who really crucified Christ? Who really crucified Christ? Was it just those who were there that day? Was it just the soldiers who pounded the nails? Because I'm sure there were a whole lot more there than that, than that it took to pound those nails. Was it just those who were sneering at Him and mocking Him? And saying, if you are, Christ, the Son of God, come down? Scripture says in Acts 2, verse 23, In Peter's Pentecost sermon, Peter says, Him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death. And a little bit later, after healing the lame man in Acts chapter 3, Peter says, but you denied the Holy One and the just and asked for a murderer to be granted to you and killed the prince of life. Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. Were those 3,000 converts on Pentecost and all those others in the days to follow, were they all at the cross? No. Yet Peter says they were guilty. Beloved, all sinners, all of mankind, indeed represented by the soldiers who actually drove the nails, all sinners, all of mankind crucified Jesus Christ. the soldiers you did i did the sin of the world is the reason he came and humbled himself all the way to the point of death on the cross and enslaved to sin beloved we are all ignorant were all ignorant of the fact that we crucified the lord of glory as paul says in first corinthians 2, verse 8. As sinners, we are enemies of God. We were there. The Jews, the Romans, the soldiers physically carried out what we have done to Him. All sinners, all of mankind crucified Him because of their sin. Yet, He prayed and He died for some specifically. Not for all of mankind, not for all indiscriminately. For whom did he pray, Father, forgive? Well, we can understand this with a universal approach and with a specific approach. And with regard to the universal approach, and I'm not saying that he was asking for all men. I just said I believe he was not. But universal in the sense that he was asking for all kinds of sinners no matter the depth of sin no sin is too great which is to be comforting for you and me but for whoever repents of their sins and believes on the lord jesus christ because of christ's intercession god's word to you and me is your sins are forgiven you christ's blood boys and girls is the most powerful stain remover of the most powerful stain which is the stain of sin it is the most powerful stain remover it is all comprehensive in that no repentant sinner ever approaches the throne of grace in vain for nothing no repentant sinner will ever be turned away universal in the sense that Christ prayed for all kinds of sinners but specific in its approach as well because the Bible never separates forgiveness from repentance and faith. And therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ prayed for the elect, for those whom God chose before the foundation of the world. In John 17, verse 9, Jesus says, I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but I pray for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. Our Lord prayed for those whom God in His grace would bring to repentance and faith, including you and me. You see, beloved, we know that the Father always hears and answers the intercession of His Son. And therefore, those for whom He prays are really saved. And that means that His prayer is not wider than the stream of His atoning blood than those for whom He came. Was there a postponement? Yes. But for the sake of the church. That the forgiving grace of God might be applied to God's people throughout the ages. But the postponement is not for the benefit of the wicked and the unrepentant world, those who would not repent. Because God's wrath grows greater against them. Was His prayer on behalf of the soldiers and Pilate and the Jews and the Romans? Yes. if they would repent of their sins and believe on Him. And the point for you and me today, beloved, is not was His prayer for those who were physically present on that day who cried, crucified Him, who drove the nails into His body, but the point is that if I had been standing there, if I had nailed Him myself, would His prayer be for me? Could I find forgiveness in His blood which I cause to be shed? And the answer is, praise God, yes. If I repent of my sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we cannot help but notice, beloved, that the results of Christ's prayer are immediate. Seen in the thief, remember me today. Seen in the centurion, surely, truly, this was the Son of God. Seen on Pentecost as 3,000 were converted. Seen throughout the book of Acts as the church grew beyond measure. And still today, as the Holy Spirit continues to deliver from the darkness of sin and ignorance and bring into God's marvelous light, He continues to gather together the church for whom the Savior prayed. But for those who reject Him, for those who want nothing to do with Him, for those who continue to sneer at Him and mock Him, they are in danger. As the writer of Hebrews in chapter 10 makes it clear that for them no longer remains a sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment. That's what they can expect. But beloved, for those who repent of their sins, Those who turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in Him alone as the only Savior. For those who look to Him in faith by the grace of God, the psalmist says there is forgiveness with God only through the blood of Jesus that He may be feared. You see, by our sin, we forfeited God's forgiveness. But by His sacrifice, He secured God's forgiveness. Not just potentially, but actually and really for you and me. So that we might never have to face God's judgment. Our Lord Jesus Christ faced the full cup of God's wrath that we might enjoy the complete measure of God's mercy. What a word. Precious, powerful prayer of forgiveness. This prayer is to be our comfort in life and in death. And may it be our desire, people of God, that we would always, to always be kept near the cross, even as we sometimes sing, Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes. Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies. Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee. In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. Dear brothers and sisters, Christ's prayer of forgiveness is a word of reconciliation and a word of peace with God. And the message is simple. Repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be forgiven. You shall be saved. Guaranteed by the prayer and the work of Jesus. Amen. Let's pray together. dear heavenly father we praise your most holy name for the intercession of our lord and savior jesus christ his intercession on our behalf on the cross that day so long ago his intercession that continues to be given on our behalf even to this day as he prays and pleads for us before Your throne of grace. We praise Your name for Your mercy and grace poured out upon us for Jesus' sake, for the life that we have in Him. And Father, may it be that we would not take this life for granted, but rejoice in the reconciliation that we enjoy with You, in the peace that we have with God, no longer being considered enemies in Your sight, but being considered Your children, those whom You see as perfectly righteous, only for His sake. And Father, may we too be a forgiving people, those who follow the example of our Lord on the cross, that when it would be our temptation to strike out against those who would seek to hurt us and do us harm, that instead, too, we might remember the forgiveness that is ours in Christ Jesus and be a forgiving people. Father, we thank you for your forgiving grace, so full, so rich, and so free, for Jesus' sake. Amen.