The last words spoken by a loved one are
probably the words most indelibly impressed in your mind. There is special significance to words spoken
by one who realizes that life is ebbing away.
There is no time for frivolous talk, and words are carefully
chosen. Such also are the words of
Jesus, all of which are precious to the believer, but the final words, as
uttered upon the cross by the suffering Savior, serve as a unique window to His
soul. They have frequently been referred
to as “The Seven Words From Calvary.”
History records that there were thousands of Jews that had been hung
upon Roman crosses for villainous deeds, but the words they spoke would not in
any way resemble the words that mocking crowd would hear from Jesus’ lips the
day He was crucified. I wish, in these
few lines, to think on Jesus’ first utterance: “Father, forgive them: for they know
not what they do” (Luke 23:34). What a
contrast that must have been to the curses and hate-filled speech customarily
heard on similar occasions! In that one sentence we find an invocation, a
petition and an argument.
The invocation: His first utterance upon
the cross was not addressed to His tormentors, or to the crowd of curious and
taunting bystanders, but was a prayer, and the first word of that prayer was,
“Father.” He spoke neither words of
condemnation, nor words entreating mercy to the multitude, but addressed the
heavenly Father. Even the pain and
humiliation Jesus suffered that day could not stifle His faith. If ever there had been an occasion when it
would appear God’s hand was no longer in control, it would have been that day
as Jesus suffered the most unjust judgment ever meted out. Because it was the Father’s will, Jesus
endured the cross.
The Petition: He neither cried out for
mercy for Himself, nor for judgment against His executioners, but plead,
“Forgive them.” It was the language of
grace—unmerited favor toward even the worst of offenders. Until Christ, the common word was, “Love your
neighbor and hate your enemy,” but Jesus exhibited a worthier spirit of love. Certainly while He would have had the right
as the Supreme Judge to pronounce eternal woe upon all, He instead chose grace
and mercy. Surely, if Jesus had not
prayed such a prayer as this, as someone once observed, the earth would have
opened and swallowed them all up.
Instead, their lives were spared that forgiveness could be offered to
them, as Peter later would plead with them: “Repent and be baptized…in the name
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38).
The Argument: “For they know not what they
do.” Peter would later say to many of
these, “I know that through ignorance you did it” (Acts 3:17). Saul of Tarsus, an early persecutor of
believers, would later obtain mercy because, as he said, “I did it ignorantly
in unbelief” (1 Tim. 1:13). However,
though done in ignorance, justice demanded penalty. The guilty still needed forgiveness. However, the hand of judgment was withheld
from the Jewish nation for the next 40 years as they had opportunity to repent
and accept Christ, until God gave them up to the Roman armies to plunder and
destroy. Surely it is only because of
man’s ignorance that His judgment is delayed, for He is “longsuffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance” (2 Peter 3:9b).
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