Father, Forgive Them
"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." — Luke 23:34
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Introduction
Last week we explored how forgiveness is born out of a deep understanding of our own debt before God. Today we go further along that path, but from a different vantage point — the cross. There is a moment in human history that would forever define what true forgiveness looks like: an innocent man, nailed to wood, bleeding, surrounded by mockery and cruelty, opens his mouth — and instead of a curse, he speaks intercession. Instead of vengeance, he offers grace.
This was no theatrical scene. It was the most brutal reality imaginable. Jesus was not on a quiet spiritual retreat meditating about forgiveness. He was dying. And it was precisely in that extreme moment that his words revealed the true nature of genuine forgiveness. If we want to learn how to forgive, we must come to this place. We must linger here.
This sermon is Part 2 of our series. And the question we want to answer today is this: How does Jesus' forgiveness on the cross become a concrete model for my own life?
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1. The Forgiveness That Doesn't Wait for Repentance
Notice the moment when Jesus speaks these words. The soldiers are still driving in the nails. The religious leaders are still laughing. No one has said they're sorry. No one has acknowledged the wrong. And yet, Jesus forgives.
This shocks us deeply, because our human instinct is to wait. We want the other person to acknowledge what they did. We want the satisfaction of seeing repentance before we open our hand. It seems fair to us. But Jesus teaches us something radically different: forgiveness is not a response to someone else's repentance — it is a sovereign decision of the heart, motivated by love.
Paul echoes this in Romans 5:8: "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Not after we became better people. Not after we asked for forgiveness. While we were still sinners.
The practical application is straightforward: Is there someone in your life who has hurt you and never acknowledged it? Maybe they never will. The model of Jesus tells you that you can choose forgiveness today — not as an acquittal for the other person, but as freedom for yourself. Forgiveness is not a prize you hand to the one who wronged you — it is the chain you break in your own life.
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2. The Forgiveness That Intercedes, Not Ignores
There is a precious subtlety in this prayer that we often miss. Jesus didn't simply say, "I forgive you." He said, "Father, forgive them." He interceded. He brought those people before the Father.
This means that true forgiveness is not cold indifference. It is not saying, "I don't care what happened." Christian forgiveness is active, warm, and relational. It involves genuinely desiring the good of the one who hurt us. It means wanting that person to find grace — the same grace we ourselves have received.
In Matthew 5:44, Jesus had already taught: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." On the cross, he didn't merely teach this — he lived it. He prayed for them. And that prayer was heard: at Pentecost, three thousand people were converted in Jerusalem. Among them, very likely, were some of those who had cried out, "Crucify him!"
For you, this means that forgiving is not artificially forgetting or pretending the pain doesn't exist. It is choosing to pray for that person. It is bringing the name of the one who hurt you before the Father and saying, "Lord, may they also find Your mercy." Try doing that this week. You'll find it's impossible to keep hating someone you sincerely pray for.
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3. The Forgiveness That Understands Human Blindness
"For they do not know what they are doing." Jesus offers a lens through which to see those who crucified him: they are in darkness. That's not an excuse — it's a diagnosis. And that diagnosis changes everything.
When we recognize that the people who hurt us are often acting out of their own wounds, their own blindness, their own inner darkness, forgiveness becomes more accessible. Not because the harm is any less real, but because our perspective widens. Peter would later confirm in Acts 3:17 that the Jewish leaders acted "in ignorance." Paul, who violently persecuted the Church, would write in 1 Timothy 1:13 that he had done so "in ignorance and unbelief."
This does not minimize sin. But it humanizes the sinner — and, strangely enough, it sets us free. When you look at that family member, that coworker, that friend who betrayed you, ask yourself: "What blindness, what pain, what darkness was in them in that moment?" Not to excuse them from responsibility, but to find compassion instead of bitterness.
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Conclusion
Jesus on the cross did not leave us a theory about forgiveness. He left us a lived example in the most difficult moment in history. And his invitation to us today is simple: follow me in this too.
There is someone — and maybe their name has already surfaced in your mind several times during this sermon — whom you need to forgive. Not tomorrow. Today. Not because it's easy, but because you yourself have been forgiven a debt you could never repay. This is the model. This is the cross. This is your freedom.
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Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for forgiving us when we were still your enemies. Give us today the courage and the grace to forgive as you forgave — without waiting, interceding, and with mercy. Free our hearts from every trace of bitterness, so that we may live in the freedom that the cross has won for us. Amen.
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