Hopefully what happens in this room is you have a conversation starter that lights a fire in you that you leave here and it's lit such a fire that it makes it to lunch, right? Because if it makes it to lunch and you talk about it at lunch or the drive home, there's a chance it'll make it to your Monday. And if you have a conversation on Monday, there's a chance it just might make
it to your life group. But the idea is that these conversations we have in here, they matter, that they should start something in you that you now have a conversation with God, with the others around you, and you begin to grow out of that. And so last week we started this collection called Last Words. What kind of summarizing Last Words is this, that if you are God and you wait thousands of years to show up in person, you show up in
human form, right? You've been showing up in other forms the whole time, but now you're in human form in the person of Jesus and you now get nailed to a cross and you have seven statements left to say. They got to be pretty important words. Right? Like you're on the cross and the idea of the cross was that you suffocate, that you run out of air. And what happens when you speak is you're actually using air to do so.
So when Jesus is on the cross and he pushes himself up and he is going to make a statement, I don't know about you, but that seems like a pretty important thing that Jesus is about to say. And here's how this works. If it's important to Jesus, it should be important to us. And so we're looking at those statements over these weeks going, what mattered to Jesus in those moments? Now this week, we hit a different topic than last week. We hit a different conversation than last week.
But maybe a simple way to start it is this. Have you ever, have you ever been hurt by another human being? Have you ever been mistreated by another human being? Have you ever been falsely accused by another human being? Have you ever not been listened to and discounted by another human being? Have you ever been isolated? And intentionally left out by people. Have you ever been abused by someone else? Have you ever been
made fun of by someone else? If your answer is no to that, then you clearly never went to middle school. I'm just saying. Here's the thing. One thing we have in common is that's all of us. You're not that unique. And that is painful to say for an Enneagram 4, that you're not that unique. How do I know that? Because you live on a broken planet with broken people. And guess what broken people do? They hurt one another. And so the chances are you were born, right?
You lived in some form of human community. And inside of some of you were like, is there people that are raised by animals in here? Okay, so you were raised by a human community. And guess what happened? People hurt you. That's what people do. That's what we do to one another. And what I really care about today and what I really hope that you walk away with is what happens in the midst of those hurts. Because there are different responses. In fact, Jesus tells a story, tells
a parable in Mark chapter 12. It says, Jesus then began to speak to them in parables. A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for it, for the wine press, and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. So I'm not, never planted a vineyard. I'm fascinated by it and understand that it is a lot of work, that there's a lot of things that are temperamental to it that you have to navigate to be able to
get that to grow, right? So within that, the story's telling us that somebody else planted the vineyard. They did the hard work of planting. Then they did the hard work of the hard labor of protecting by putting a wall around this vineyard. And then on top of that, they dug a space for the wine press, which is also incredibly difficult work. And then they dug a well and built a watchtower. Everything you needed to succeed. within the vineyard, within producing a harvest, everything
had already been provided by somebody else. Then that person rents it to this other person. Now, the person walking in who, the farmer walking in that it's been rented to, everything is done. All you gotta do is not mess it up, right? All you gotta do is live inside of what's there and it will produce fruit and produce a harvest. It carries on then in verse two, at harvest time. The person that rented it, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the
fruit of the vineyard. So again, like really, really natural part of the process. Wait, you had a great harvest. I'm going to send a servant and he's going to collect some of the fruit of that harvest. You're going to share essentially. Verse three, but they seized him. They seized the servant, beat him and sent him away empty handed. Then he sent another servant to them. They struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent still another, and that
one they killed. He sent many others, some of them they beat, and others they killed. He had one left to send, a son whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, They will respect my son. But the tenants said to one another, This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and the inheritance will be ours. So they took him out and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? What then will this man who's been completely mistreated,
gross injustice, what's going to happen? The same story is captured in Matthew 21. And right after that question, it says this. He, so this is the crowd speaking, he will bring those wretches to a wretched end, they replied. And he will rent the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the crop at harvest. So response number one to grave injustice. Response number
one to... The idea of someone harming you and hurting you, mistreating you, and then going to the point of actually killing those you love. Response number one is, man, those wretches better get what they deserve, right? So now the religious people are like, give them what they deserve. They deserve to die, right? What's fascinating is if you follow this story further and you read on. all of a sudden the people are like, yeah, they need to die and give it to someone else.
They realize, oh, we are the people that have been doing that. Because the story is about Israel. The story is about God who has given everything that is needed for a harvest and he gave it to this nation and he provided for them and they're wanting to take it from themselves. And so they're killing prophets and then eventually Jesus shows up. But isn't it fascinating that our response to being wronged, is they need to get theirs.
Isn't it interesting that the natural response, even though we're broken and we hurt a whole bunch of people, the natural response is make sure they get what they deserve. We have a moment in Jesus's life where we get to see Jesus's response. And in Mark chapter 15, the context is this, that Jesus has been on trial. And there's a moment where what's common practice is they would release a prisoner as a part of the celebration. And there's one prisoner, Barabbas, who is a known
criminal. And the governor is essentially going, hey, you can have this bad guy or you can have Jesus who I find nothing wrong with. What do you want me to do? To which the crowd screams, crucify him, crucify him, crucify him. Give us, we want Jesus to be put to death. That's the last thing that's said, and then this happens. Verse 16. The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace, that is the praetorium, and called together
the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, Hail! king of the Jews. Again and again, they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him and they led him out to crucify
him. Just so we're clear, We're going to slow down and understand what's actually happening. Because Jesus has now been led by soldiers into what they call the Praetorium, which was the center of the operations of the Romans. So sometimes that was in the center of an encampment. Sometimes that was in the palace, in the inmost part of the palace. But what scripture is telling us is that Jesus is led away and he is led into the center of the enemy. That he is brought into
the center of what he is opposed to. And then it says that all of the soldiers come in. And so now you have surrounding Jesus, you have these Roman soldiers who were designed. By training and through life, that they would inflict as much pain as possible. That they were experts in how to kill somebody. They were experts in how to torture you. And so what we're told is he's brought into the middle, he's isolated,
he's alone. And as he's in the middle of this crowd then, it says that they take a purple robe and they put it on him. Why purple? Purple had to do with royalty. What are they mimicking, mocking in this moment is you said you're a king. You realize who's in the middle of them, you guys? This is God. So not just a king, the king. And he's in the middle being mocked. By his creation. And so they put a robe on him. It says that they twisted together a crown of thorns and set it
on him. That sounds so nice, doesn't it? That they just set it on him. I don't think from everything I know about Roman soldiers, they weren't that gentle. But I also know this. If you've ever been around a thorn bush, you don't have to press in very hard for it to cut through your skin. And so they take a crown. of thorns and they place it on Jesus's head, which is one of the most sensitive parts of your entire body, the top of your head. And as the thorns begin to
sink in, blood begins to drip. It says, and they began to call out to him, hail king of the Jews, you have the robe, you have the crown, therefore you are the king. And they begin to mock him. And can you imagine the noise? of an entire encampment of soldiers that are now making fun of the person in the middle. Again and again, they struck him on the head. Okay, when scripture says something twice, so when the words repeated again and again, it's emphasizing it. Because it needs us to get
the emphasis again and again, repeatedly. Jesus is now struck where? On the head. Where's the crown of thorns? It's on his head. So what is happening is the staff comes down every single time. What is it hitting? The crown of thorns that are being driven deeper into the scalp of Jesus. But again and again. And then it says, I struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Is there anything more degrading than when another human being chooses to spit into
the face of another human being? I mean, we don't even accept that in things like football. Let alone God in human form now surrounded by soldiers that are all spitting on him as they are hitting him repetitively in the head. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. Again, just mocking him. When they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put on his own clothes, put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. The next part of the story we
pick up on, we find Jesus on the cross. At this point, his back would have been torn open. There would have been blood dripping down the cross. The wood would have become stained red, so to speak. His arms would have been stretched out. The nails would have been impaled. His feet, similar. And now in this moment, in this moment, with everything we just read, now on a cross, which remember, on a cross, every single breath
you're fighting for. So at this point, for Jesus to speak, for Jesus to speak means that he is physically having to do something to speak. And instead of using his breath just to sustain life, he's now speaking specifically. and allowing us to get an insight into what matters to Jesus and what matters to him matters to us. And in chapter 23 of Luke, verse 34, it says this, Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know
what they are doing. You got the response of the religious leaders that are like, no, no, no, make those wretches pay. You've got Jesus who actually has the authority and the power and in that moment could have cooked everything and everyone all around the cross. That at one point he goes, you know, I've got legions of angels that can invade this moment. And by legions of angels, I don't think they were little cherubs that flew around with arrows. Like I think they're
terrifying. I think when you read scripture, what's the natural response of humans to an angel? Fear. So which is why the angel always says, don't be afraid. Thanks, that helped. But the beauty of this moment is you've got God in this moment. What does he care about? Father. So it's relational. He's in prayer. His relationship with God in the midst of the cross, in the midst of the suffering, in the midst of being mistreated, what matters to him is his relationship with
the Father. And then he goes, Father, forgive them. We were chatting this week on Tuesday in our teaching prep meeting, and we were talking about how it works for us, right? We pray and we're like, Father, forgive them. Because I know you'll get them later. Father, forgive them, but I can't wait until your judgment hits them and they're going to get what they deserve, right? Like we pray forgiveness, but we're actually going, yeah, and you're going to get yours when
Jesus shows up. That's not what you see here. It's not, it's not, Father, I want to forgive them. No, it's not that. It's Father. Forgive them. Remove judgment from them. Release them from what they have done. This is a spiritual conversation. I think we miss this so often when it comes to forgiveness. We think forgiveness is about me and you, and it's about, oh, well, if you say sorry, then I'll forgive you. That's not how forgiveness works. That's not what you've
been set free to do. That's not why you've been forgiven. You've been forgiven that you would forgive. And the act of forgiveness for you is between you and God to release. And here's what's amazing, that as Jesus is there and he goes, Father, forgive them, he's releasing them from future judgment. I love that it says, Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. There's this ignorance and wrongdoings. You find it in scripture in Acts chapter three,
Acts chapter seven, Acts chapter 13. It's repeated, right? When the story is told of Jesus, it talks about that there's a group of people that were doing wrong that didn't know they were doing wrong, right? It's over and over in scripture that you see that when somebody is involved in wrongdoing, a lot of times it's in ignorance and they don't even know they're doing it. I
wonder how many times you're all spun up. We get so spun up, right, that this person did it and we've got this whole backstory of who they've talked to and what they did and it was premeditated. I wonder how many times that they actually did it in ignorance and didn't even know what they did to you. And you've walked around and you are imprisoned in a cage because you have not forgiven them because how could they do that to me? Right? And you're walking around in this
cage. You've imprisoned yourself in your own unforgiveness. What does forgiveness do? Forgiveness actually releases you. We think it's about them. Oh, I can't forgive them. That's like me letting them go. That's like them getting off scot -free. No, you know what forgiveness does? It releases you from the cage. Another way to put it is this, that it's like setting down the poison. That I'm no longer going to drink poison and expect the other person to die. That's what unforgiveness
is, right? That I keep drinking this bitter unforgiveness and I expect you to suffer for it. And what we've been given is this moment by God that he goes, no, no, no. You can forgive them and actually release your own soul. You know what's crazy about resentment? It's been proven that people that hold on to resentments, meaning anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, people that hold on to it, they have more anxiety in their life. They have more stress in their life. And on top of all that,
their physical health is in worse shape. All by holding resentment. Why? Because you were never meant to hold it. I mean, how many of you? Come to church today. Hey, could you sign me up? Like, where do I go to sign up for more anxiety, more stress, and worse health? Oh, actually, you just go into the lobby and sign up for our unforgiveness list. You just choose not to forgive them, and you'll be fine. You'll have more anxiety and more stress. It's going to be great. You'll
have worse health. Nobody would choose that, and yet what you've been given by God is the same thing that Jesus has been given. The Father forgives them. They don't know what they are. Father, release them. And here's the thing. That list we started with, in this moment, Jesus has experienced it all worse than you ever will in your life. And what is the model that he's laying down for us? That you would what? Father, forgive them. They knew what they were doing. You still
got to forgive them. I mean, it's pretty fascinating, right? Because we're so fickle, you guys. We're so fickle. You ever watch a little kid who's figuring out that if they don't say sorry, they have some kind of control? You ever see that? Like, they're like, I'm not going to say sorry, right? Then they're just holding it. I wonder how God looks at us. We're now 65, and he's like, oh, that's cute. I wonder how many times God looks at us and goes, well, they're 65 and still
don't have it. Let's give them 30 more years. I don't want to live to 95. I'm just telling you. Like, if I can figure it out before then, take me home. So many times we're caught up and I'm choosing to harm myself by not giving forgiveness, right? I'm choosing to harm myself. All because I expect. I have expectations of you and how you will act. I have expectations of you that you are going to say those words, I am sorry. Can I tell you what was happening for Jesus?
Verse 34, Jesus said, Father, forgive them. So as he's saying it, they do not know what they're doing. And, and what did the soldiers do? They divided up his clothes by casting lots. As he is forgiving them, the soldiers are going, we're getting paid. How are we doing it? We're dividing up his clothes. As they are being forgiven, they are essentially continuing to mock him, continuing to take advantage of him. Verse 35, the people stood watching and the rulers even sneered at
him. They said he saved others, let him save himself if, you wanna know the greatest gamble in the Bible? It's in this word if, right? He saved others if he is God's Messiah. Let him save himself if he is God's Messiah. That's a pretty big gamble. But what are they doing? They're mocking him. So as he's there on the cross, Father, forgive them. What are they doing back? They're not saying sorry. In fact, they're continuing the very actions that he's asking for forgiveness
for. It's continuing on, but that's not how this works. Your soul being free is me with the Father going, you know what? Forgive them because I don't want to be held captive by what they're doing. I don't want to be held captive by what they're done, what's done to me. The soldiers who hadn't had enough yet also came up and mocked him. So the mocking is continuing. They offered him wine vinegar and said, if, there's that if again, that gamble, right? 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. So not only are we verbally mocking you, not only have we physically abused you, but we've also put a sign over you so that anybody come by can make fun of you as they go by too. And what is Jesus' response? Father, forgive them for they don't know what they're doing. You know how silly I sound when I'm like, but God, you don't know. He's like, I think I do.
I think I do. But God, this is such a big thing. Like, yeah, I know. I know, son. It's a big thing. But also experience more. Not to belittle yours, but to show you that you can forgive even that. A couple of quick thoughts on forgiveness. If you're taking notes, the first one is this, that you have to recognize and accept the pain. You have to recognize and accept the pain. What I mean by that is don't minimize the pain. Pain is pain. And you are hurt, and that's okay. but
I can forgive and be in pain. Those are not mutually exclusive. I can forgive and need to heal. We're talking about that in our teaching prep this week, that just because I forgive you doesn't mean I don't have to go through this gradual healing process, right? Like there's still healing that needs to be done even if I forgive you in the moment. But second thing would be this, that a thought on forgiveness is you've got to choose it. You have to choose to forgive. It's a choice
you make. You can choose to not give it and live with the consequences, or you can choose to give it and live with the consequences. I'm just saying that if it's good enough for Jesus to forgive, then it's good enough for me to forgive. If the best way to live free is even in the midst of people mistreating me, even in the midst of things going wrong, the best way to live is to forgive, then guess what? I'm going to forgive. And you
have the choice. The choice sits with you. The next thing I would say is let go of expectations. Let go of expectations. When you make the choice to forgive, don't put any expectations on that person to respond a specific way, to do certain things, because they may continue to mock you. They may continue to cause you pain. They may continue to say things that hurt. And you just have to know. You just have to know. It's not
about them. It's about me and God. And it's about me and my standing and how I'm living my life. And I'm not going to let you control my life anymore. And so I choose to forgive. I let go of the expectations of what you will do with it. You have to release resentments. That means the anger that you've been holding onto since middle school because somebody mistreated you, you gotta let it go. The nickname you were given in high school, the broken marriage you experienced
as a young adult, you gotta let it go. You have to release the resentment. Why? Because the resentment is toxic to you. You were never meant to carry it. And as you release resentment, it's your choice, right? But it's gradual, you guys. It's gradual. As you release resentment, as you choose to forgive, it's not gonna be something that is a one and done. It might be, praise God if it is. But what it might mean is you sit in here and you go, Father, forgive them. I'm releasing
it today. And you get to tomorrow morning and you're like, why am I so spun up again? And you have to go, Father, forgive them. I'm choosing to put it down. And you get to lunch and you're spinning again. Father, forgive them. Here's what happens. It's a gradual process. And over time, your soul changes. Your soul changes. Last thought on forgiveness is this. Set healthy boundaries. Just because you forgive does not mean you don't set boundaries with that person in your life.
Just because you forgive, there's this lie out there that, well, if you've forgiven, then everything goes back to, no, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. You get to set the boundaries. Boundaries are healthy, and boundaries set expectations for the relationship, and that makes the relationship healthy, and so setting boundaries is appropriate. One last thought. And first, Peter. Chapter two, verse 21, Peter's writing to the church and he's
writing about suffering for doing good. And he says, to this, to this, those of you that are followers of Jesus, to this you were called. You wanna know the calling on your life? One of the callings? That you were called because Christ suffered for you. So what Jesus suffered for you, you were called to what? He left you an example that you should follow in his footsteps. What does it mean to be like Jesus? To look like Jesus? To live like Jesus? It means that I follow
the example that Jesus set. What was the example that Jesus set? That in the midst of being hurt, Father, forgive them. I'm letting it go. And so I got one question for you as you hold your communion elements. Hopefully you got these on the way in. I love that you're holding the representation of the body and the blood of Jesus, the things that purchased your forgiveness. This is why
you're free. It's what he's done for you. And here's what I love about it, is as you sit in this moment, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit wants to have a conversation with you. Who do you? need to forgive today. Before you leave this room, here's the thing about church. Sometimes we come in here and we think churches, we sing some good songs, we get some encouragement, right? Like, and then we leave here. That's all true.
But the way you're transformed, because that's what this is supposed to be, is you practice what we do. And so who, who, who, Do you need to forgive today? As you hold the very thing that has bought your forgiveness, a representation of Jesus, who do you need to forgive? So the next moments are yours, conversation with the Holy Spirit, and then we'll take it all together. When Jesus sat with his friends for that last meal, I love that he took ordinary bread and
he knew, he knew, he knew what was coming. He knew what his body would entail. That you realize without his body, there was no place to put your sin. That his body is what carried your sin, your wrongdoing, the things that nobody knows about. That his body carried them, carried your sin, carried my sin, so that it could be nailed to a cross, so that it could be beaten, and so he could eventually die. And with his followers, he goes, don't forget. Don't forget. And so whenever
you get together, get some bread. And remember, I was here and I died for your freedom. And so he handed him bread and he said, take, eat, do this in remembrance of me. He took a cup of wine. And he talks about how in his blood, there was forgiveness for sins. You realize without Jesus shedding his blood, you are not forgiven today. But because we have a savior who went to the cross, because we have a savior that bled the cross red, you are forgiven. And the punishment
was laid on him that was yours. And so he took wine and he goes, don't forget you guys. I have to bleed. But in the midst of bleeding, Father, forgive them because they don't know what they're doing. And so he handed him a cup and he said, take drink, do this in remembrance of me. God, we are so grateful. Today, we just say thank you. Thank you for being a God who has purchased our forgiveness, has purchased our freedom. God, that we sit here today completely forgiven so
that we in turn can forgive others. There's such hope inside a message. There's such hope inside a reality. That God, we do not have to live with unforgiveness today because you are our living hope. We stand firm on the foundation. That our living hope, the person of Jesus, has conquered death and brought life. And so we simply, in an act of worship, say thank you. In an act of worship, declare that you are our living hope. In an act of worship, we release and we say,
Father, forgive them. Whether they knew it or not, would you forgive them today? Thank you for grace and mercy. Thank you for loving us first. And everybody said, Amen.