His Final Words: “Father, Forgive Them”

by David Chadwick

Jesus is the Word (John 1:14). Because of this, any words he spoke in Scripture are profoundly important. However, as we learned yesterday, the words leading up to someone’s death are often very rich, purposeful and profound.

I have found seven of Jesus’s “last words” in Scripture. Let’s look at the first one today.

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

If you were following along with us, we just completed a series in March on the madness of unforgiveness. We learned so many truths about how bitterness and resentment that take root in our hearts can actually perpetuate madness in our hearts!

I find it absolutely fascinating that Jesus’s first sentence from the cross dealt with forgiveness. As he hung naked on a cross in front of his enemies, after experiencing painstaking betrayal, and in the midst of the most excruciating physical pain, he chose to speak to the importance of forgiveness.

Jesus knew that the only ones truly hurt in unforgiveness are us.

Jesus’s plea to his Father to forgive those who put him on the cross was a statement of love, from the lips of the Lord of love, to remind us all that only love conquers hate. Only love opens the prison door of bitterness.

Dear friends, remember what I shared with you from R.T. Kendall’s teaching on forgiveness. He said that most people who have hurt us don’t even know how badly they have hurt us! In fact, some research estimates that only about 20% truly understand what they have done, thus implying that 80% are clueless of the pain they’ve induced.

Forgive them. Set them free. Let God do vengeance. He alone knows everything. He alone does perfect justice…and one day, justice will prevail!

And what about 20% who clearly knew what they were doing when they hurt you and chose to do it anyway? Yes, forgive them too.

Remember, it’s primarily for your benefit that you forgive. And it’s the heart of Jesus’s message to us all from the cross!

His Final Words: The Importance of Last Words

by David Chadwick

Over the next two weeks, I want to take you on an adventure to the cross. I want to look at the details, big and small, and help you understand the full meaning of Jesus’s journey from the cradle to the cross.

How are we going to do this? Each day, we will look at seven of Jesus’s “last word” phrases that he spoke on the cross. Every word he spoke was rich in meaning, intentional, and purposeful.

Words, in general, are powerful. But when you realize that John 1:14 says that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” and that Jesus IS the Word, the power of his words bear more weight than any human expression ever could.

Often, when someone is about to die, they will speak their most important words to those loved ones standing around them. It’s like the old joke says, “No one who is dying ever says, “I wish I would have spent more time in the office.”

Instead, someone nearing the end of life usually talks about his or her love for Jesus. And their spouse and kids. Their grandkids and sometimes even great grandkids. In Marilynn’s 97 year old dad’s case, if you were to spend even five minutes with him, he would gladly point out how proud he is of his kids, grandkids and GREAT grandkids!

Then, they may talk about what they want you to remember. They may share last pieces of advice, last memories, last insights.

The same thing was true of Jesus. His last words on the cross sought to give his followers great insights into his heart and to share the most important things with all of us before his death.

We will spend the next seven days looking at these seven truths that he left us in his final words on the cross.

Then, after hearing his final words on the cross, we will go back and relive his last words on the night before his death and then in the final hours on Friday leading up to his crucifixion and see what these hours may mean to us.

Join us on this journey for the next two weeks!

The Madness of Unforgiveness: God Can Use it for Good!

by David Chadwick

God can use it for good. No matter what has happened to you. No matter what pain you have experienced. No matter what pain has come your way. God can use it for good.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 is a remarkable verse that says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

In these verses, Paul is stating that when something bad happens to us, not only will we become more than an overcomer through Jesus (Romans 8:37), but we are also presented with a wonderful opportunity before us.

What is that opportunity? We are now able to use what happened to us to help someone else who might be going through a similar experience.

Nothing is new under the sun. Most difficulties that someone experiences has been experienced by someone else before – especially when it comes to rejection and/or people hurting one another.

I am certain that there is someone somewhere who is going through something very similar to what you have gone through. Can I make a suggestion to you? Find those people who are experiencing the same pain you once experienced. Seek them out. Offer someone else your greatest gift: your time.

And when you get together, listen. Be a friend who has empathy. Be someone who gives understanding.Then, give them some ideas on what helped you get through the mess that they are now experiencing. Tell them how God walked you through the fire. More than anything, share how you came out on the other side unburned, still intact, still alive and well (Isaiah 43:2)! This is one of the best ways to laugh in the devil’s face when someone else hurts you. This is how to use what you have learned to breathe life into someone else.

God can take anything that happens to us and use it to help someone else.

Remember, Satan means it for evil, but God will always use it for good!