Stand Firm in the Lord - Second Sunday in Lent - March 16, 2025 - Text: Philippians 3:17-4:1

A few years ago, alright, a lot of years ago, I was invited to Camp Lone Star, our Lutheran Camp in LaGrange, to try out their new “team challenge” course. The “team challenge” course is a course of obstacles that must be overcome by individuals as well as teams. There are low obstacles, about a foot off the ground, and there are high obstacles, about thirty feet in the air. Over the course of a couple of days the ten members of our team covered a lot of obstacles. I also found out that there are many companies, big businesses, that will send their employees to these courses and video tape their going through the challenges to see how they operate, that is how the individuals work as individuals and how they work and cooperate together as a team. The theory is that the way each individual reacts and interacts on the course is the way they will react and interact while working for the company. At any given obstacle people come forward as leaders, as motivators, or as just followers. The theory is that  how people react and interact on the course is most likely how they will react and interact to challenges in the “real” world and so they are assigned jobs in the company accordingly.
 

There was one challenge in particular that made an impress on me, especially in the sense of its life application. The one challenge that I want to describe is the one that helped a person to understand how and where one must focus their attention, and in a human or business way, we might say to focus one’s attention in order to be successful. The challenge looked simple. There was a large log hanging horizontal above the ground about a foot or so. It was hanging from two trees, one on each end, by a cable attached to each end, so that the log was able to swing and move between the two trees. The object of the obstacle was to jump up on the log at one end and walk to the other end. The difficulty was that the log was free to swing, so in the process of jumping on the log it would swing to knock you off. Some participants jumped on the log only to immediately fall off. Some participants were able to jump onto the log, but after only a few steps fell off. Others were able to jump up onto the log and walk the distance of the log and then jump off. The solution to the challenge was in one’s focus. Where do you focus your attention? You could either focus your attention on the log below your feet or something else. The participants who focused on the log always fell off. The solution was to focus on something that was not moving, like a tree in front of you. The life “lesson,” or life “application,” of the challenge was that when we have struggles in life if we focus on the struggles, the swinging log, we do not get very far, but if we focus on a solid firm foundation, like the sturdy tree, and as Christians we would say, like Jesus Christ, then we can make it through the struggles. This morning Paul talks to us about our focus. Where is our focus? Is it on the things of this world, or is it on the things of our eternal life in heaven?
 

Paul begins by putting himself up as an example for the people. He does not do so as a braggart, that is he is not bragging about himself, saying look at how wonderful I am. He simply says to imitate himself and others. We are to see the good in his example as well as the good in the example in others and imitate that good.
 

Paul suggests that we imitate him. Well, we might first be reminded that Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He was a persecutor of the church, even putting Christians to death. Obviously this is not the parts of Paul’s life he wants us to imitate. Certainly, then, to be encouraged to imitate Paul would be to forgive his sins and faults and to look to follow his good example. Paul’s words remind me that I am to live in such a way as to be an example to you, the members of this congregation, as well as to others, and I try to do that with the help of God. Certainly, I, too, am a sinful human being and I am not a perfect example, but I know I am forgiven and by God’s grace and with the help of the Lord I strive to set a good example. I think Paul’s words remind all of us that we are all to be examples and particularly, the stronger Christian is to be an example for the weaker brother or sister.
 

The difficulty in following the example of others is the fact that there are not many good examples left in our world today. It would seem that there are more bad examples than good examples and as sinful human beings we tend to move more to follow the bad examples rather than the good examples. That is just our nature, as God reminds us, every intention of our heart is evil all the time and this has been the way it has been since the fall into sin. This does not give us an excuse to sin, simply a warning to be watchful and alert.
 

Paul cites as particular bad examples the enemies of the cross. Who are the enemies of the cross? Anyone who says that the cross was not efficacious is an enemy of the cross. In other words, it is not only the person who denies that Jesus died on the cross, but the person who denies that it was worth anything, the persons who says that Jesus’ death did not earn our forgiveness or salvation. Thus, an enemy of the cross is anyone who states or even implies that Jesus’ death was not enough to earn our forgiveness and so we must do something to help pay for our sins, as if we could do anything.
 

The enemies of the cross are those who desire to continue to live life in this world more than to live life in heaven. I would suggest that this would apply to many of us at times. How often do we find ourselves thinking more of our lives in this world, planning what we will be doing now and then with no thought of our life in heaven? We often forget the story of the rich man who built bigger and better barns thinking, today I will eat drink and be merry and tomorrow I will concern myself with my spiritual needs. As you may remember the parable, we are told that very night his soul was required of him, in other words, he died. We tend to live life as if we will live here on this earth forever and forget that we are all just one breath away from death and our final judgement.
 

The enemies of the cross are also those who try to lure us away from heaven. The devil, the world and our own sinful nature are constantly battling to seduce us into disbelief, despair, or other great shame or vice. And the devil, the world and our own sinful nature continue to win battle after battle as we are lead into sin, daily, in thought, word and deed, sins of omission and sins of commission. We are tempted to think that our lives are our own to live as we wish. We are tempted to believe what we have, the physical blessings of life are ours as if we have somehow earned the blessings God has given. We are tempted to believe that the commandments are simply suggestions. We are tempted and indeed we constantly act out the putting of ourselves before God, absenting ourselves from His gifts, taking His gifts for granted, refusing to acknowledge Him as the gift giver and indeed outright refusing and rejecting His gifts and then wonder why He does not bless us more. Indeed, left to ourselves we would be lost.
 

Thanks be to God that we are not left to ourselves. Paul’s remedy is to move our focus heavenward. We are to eagerly await for heaven. But really we do not wait for heaven, because heaven is a present reality, it is ours now. We may have to wait to move in, but heaven is ours now. As Paul says, our citizenship is in heaven. We are merely visitors here on this earth. As we can see, our citizenship is one with privileges and responsibilities. We have the privilege of knowing that our fellowship with the Father in heaven has been restored by Jesus, but we also have the responsibility, as we have been talking about, of being good examples for others.
 

We do eagerly await for heaven because we know that heaven is where we will be perfect. Everyone and everything in heaven will be like the world before the fall into sin, perfect. We will live in perfect fellowship with each other and with Jesus. There will be no more pain and suffering, no more sorrow or tears, no more temptation or sin. Only perfection, only holiness, only joy.
 

And heaven, like hell, is eternal. When the Lord returns or when we pass on, that is die the physical death we will all die, unless the Lord returns first, and leave this earth we will go to only one place or the other, either heaven or hell. There will be no movement from one place or the other. Upon our judgement we will either live in hell for eternity, remaining absent from God and His love. Or we will live in heaven for eternity, remaining in Jesus’ presence and love forever.
 

As we await our entrance into the Lord’s kingdom in heaven we continue to prepare ourselves for that entrance. We prepare ourselves by making use of the means of grace, by reading our Bibles, by remembering our Baptism, by confessing our sins and hearing those most beautiful words of absolution, “Your sins are forgiven,” and by making use of the Lord’s Supper, partaking of His body and blood and thus participating in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. We prepare ourselves by continuing to focus our attention on the important things, the cross of Jesus Christ and His crucifixion. As we are reminded, there can be no glory without the cross. The Holy Spirit continues to work through the means of grace to point us to the cross of Christ so that we might be assured of our forgiveness and strengthened in our faith, forgiveness, life and salvation.
 

As we await our entrance into the Lord’s kingdom in heaven we also continue to prepare ourselves for that entrance by looking at and following the example of Paul and all the saints who have gone on before us. Notice I did not say that we are to worship or pray to Paul and all the saints that have gone on before us, but we are to set their lives up as examples for us to follow. Besides, it would do no good to pray to them or to worship them because they would not be able to hear us anyway. Heaven is a place of perfection and it would not be perfection if all those in heaven could hear how things were here on earth. Only God can hear our prayers and our worship.
 

And finally, as we await our entrance into the Lord’s kingdom in heaven we also prepare ourselves for that entrance by, with the help of the Holy Spirit, being examples for others. Certainly we realize that we are not perfect, we are still sinful human beings, yet, with the help of the Holy Spirit working through the means of grace He does help us to be the good examples that He wants us to be, as we live our lives with our focus heavenward and to His glory. We are imperfect humans, yet good examples as we exemplify God’s love and forgiveness in our lives such that others know that although we fail, although we sin much we are forgiven as God’s grace abounds in our lives.
 

One last reminder. I have said it before and I will say it again, our actions do speak louder than our words and our actions often betray us. Our actions show if our life focus is heavenward or earthward. Our actions show if our life focus is on the things of God or on the things of this world. I would exhort you to remember that your citizenship is in heaven, that heaven is where we will live our real lives, for eternity, not just the short sixty, eighty or hundred years on this earth, and that the Holy Spirit will continue to stir in your heart to keep your focus heavenward as you make use of the means of grace. To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Paradise Today - March 12, 2025 - Second Lent Midweek - Text: Luke 23:43

As we began last week, so I will remind you that this year, during the Wednesdays of Lent we are looking at the words Jesus’ spoke from the cross. In the four Gospels we can count seven different times that Jesus spoke. The seven times that Jesus spoke were during His last six hours of life on the cross from nine o’clock in the morning, when He was nailed to the cross, until about three o’clock in the afternoon, when He died.
 

Last week we heard the beautiful Gospel filled words, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” This week we hear the words which are a result of that forgiveness. Jesus’ second words from the cross as the hours passed are spoken to one of the thieves on the cross, the thief who was repentant, who acknowledge his sin and his just punishment. “And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom’” (Luke 23:42). “And Jesus answered to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’”
 

As always, we want to keep the Words of Scripture in their proper context so we want to go back and listen to the whole account. When He was crucified, Jesus was crucified between two criminals, one on His right and one on His left, as was prophesied by Isaiah, “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12). One of the criminals that was hung on the cross with Him mocked Him. Luke relates the account, “One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!’” (Luke 23:39).This criminal showed no remorse. He was not sorry for his sin and in his own ignorance he did not know who Jesus was, that He was the Son of God who came to give His life for him. Indeed, had Jesus saved Himself and the two criminals then no one would be saved.
 

On the other cross was a second criminal. This other criminal knew what he did was wrong. Again, as Luke relates the account, “40But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong’” (Luke 23:40-41). He was sorry for his sins. He also knew who Jesus was, for it had been revealed to him by Jesus Himself. This second criminal believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God and in faith asked Jesus for forgiveness.
 

Jesus words to the criminal who repented were, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” The word “truly” is sometimes translated rightly as “Amen.” This word “Amen” comes to us from the Hebrew into the Greek and literally means “faithful,” or “God is faithful.” Thus, Jesus, as He has done on many occasions, emphasizes what He is about to say by saying that God is faithful and will do what He says. Maybe you have heard me put it into words today saying, “God’s Word does what it says.”
 

Jesus says, “Today,” not tomorrow, not in three or four days, which is how long a typical crucifixion might last, several days of suffering, but today. Jesus words also show that there is no place between earth and heaven. There is no holding place where we go to work off our sins. It is either directly to heaven or directly to hell (do not pass Go, do not collect $200). Jesus words show that for this criminal on the cross there is complete forgiveness. Because without forgiveness there is no way to get to heaven.
 

As an aside let me reiterate what I have said in Bible class on occasion, often when speaking about death and our own resurrection the Bible speaks from two points of view. At times it speaks about our point of view as we await our own passing or the Lord’s return. This point of view is spoken of as one is asleep and the body waits in the ground to be reunited with the soul on the last day, this point of view is the point of view of those of us who continue to live in the time frame the Lord has given to us. Other times the Bible speaks of death and resurrection, such as here to the thief on the cross and is speaks from God’s point of view. Because we know that God does not live in time, which He created on day one for us, but He lives in the eternal present, thus for God there is no yesterday nor tomorrow, only the now, so here Jesus is speaking from God’s point of view that today the thief will be in paradise with Him.
 

Moving on, Jesus also says, that you will be “with Me.” His words indicate that He was on His way to heaven, yet by His words He does not mean to localize Himself, to say that He will be only in this one place from now on, for as true God He is always, everywhere present, or as we learn in confirmation, He is omnipresent. Jesus was here suffering hell on the cross. He would then descend into hell, not for more suffering but, to declare victory over the devil. And He would ascend into heaven from where He descended to accomplish our salvation. And at the same time, as true God, Jesus is always everywhere present. And as an aside I believe this explanation helps us better understand the real presence of Jesus’ body and blood in, with and under the bread and wine in His Holy Supper.
 

Jesus’ promise to the thief is that he was on his way to heaven to be with Jesus. What comfort those words must have brought to the thief. Here he was suffering and dying because of the social consequences of his own sin and next to him was his Savior suffering and dying for the eternal damnation of the sins of the thief and the sins that all people had earned for Him. And in the midst of Jesus’ suffering He speaks words of forgiveness and words of promise of heaven. Notice again how God created us to love us and how even in His suffering Jesus thinks of us, cares for us and forgives us. Also, notice that Jesus does not immediately remove the suffering of the thief. As we sin in our world and as Jesus forgives us, that does not necessarily mean that He always immediately takes away our suffering. Rather it means that we are forgiven and we can be certain of our eternal salvation where there is no more suffering.
 

Finally, the last part of Jesus words are that he will be with Him in “Paradise.” Paradise is a place of eternal bliss. Paradise is the name given the Garden of Eden before the fall into sin. Certainly heaven will be of similar grandeur, like the Garden of Eden before the fall into sin with humans and God in perfect fellowship with one another.
 

Paradise is also a reference to God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom is heaven. Heaven is a wonderful place, filled with God’s glory and grace. The criminal on the cross who repented is told of his forgiveness and the gift of eternal life with Jesus in heaven. For him it was a good day to die.
 

We might be so “crass” as to say that Jesus words to the thief on the cross are words of comfort to us because, as sinful human beings, we deserve to be on the cross next to Jesus as that thief. As Jesus speaks to the thief, He is speaking to us. It is Jesus’ life, suffering and death which earns our forgiveness, just as His suffering and death earned forgiveness for all people of all places of all times.
 

And with the forgiveness which Jesus has earned for us comes life, even eternal life. “Today you will be with me in Paradise,” means that heaven is ours, now. It is a present reality. Certainly we will not move in until after our physical death or the Lord’s return, which I always remind you will be sooner than we know and sooner than we might imagine, but we do not need to concern ourselves with where we will spend eternity. Heaven is ours.
 

As we stand at the cross of Jesus, everything that is happening to Him should rightly be happening to us. We are the ones who deserve to suffer hell. Our sins earned eternal death for us. As Jesus speaks from the cross He speaks, not only to the people who are there at that time but, to us some two thousand years later. Thanks be to God that Jesus came to give His life so that we might have forgiveness, so that we might have eternal life, so that heaven might be ours. To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Confessing, Jesus Is Lord - First Sunday in Lent - March 9, 2025 - Text: Romans 10:8b-13

In our text for this morning Paul reminds us that we cannot confess something with our lips if it is not in our hearts. Paul does not say it, but I think we would all agree that there are times when we may try to confess something that is not in our heart (I believe they call it acting), but our actions give us away, because our actions speak louder than our words. We simply cannot confess with our lips what we do not believe in our hearts. Paul also reminds us that we cannot believe in something or for that matter, in someone, unless that faith comes from somewhere. In other words, our confession must first be put into our hearts before it can be on our lips and before it can be acted out in our lives. Paul tells us that what we confess is put in our mouth and in our hearts and that confession comes from the Word. This morning, by the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Word, that is, through the Word of Holy Scripture, we will come to be given that word that is put in our mouth and in our hearts so that we too may confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
 

Our text begins by saying that “The word is near you.” The word that is translated “word” in our text is not the same word which is translated “Word” in John’s Gospel. You might remember that when John talks about, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God,” that the word John is using is the word “logos” which is used in reference to Jesus Christ Himself. The word which is translated “word” in our text for today is the word “rhema” which is used to mean the smallest unit of discourse, either spoken or written. While this word is a reference to the word of Holy Scripture, it is used to mean the very word or words we are given to profess with our mouths.
 

Paul reminds us that the Word is a means through which the Holy Spirit works to give us the gifts God has to give to us. The Word is a means through which the Holy Spirit works to give us faith in our heart. The word of God, the Bible is a book that is different from all other books. The Bible is different from any text book, Math, Science, History, English, Social Studies and the like. The Bible is different from any other book, a novel, a short story, poetry and the like. All these other books may be good books. They may be good for getting an education. They may be good for a bit of escape from the world. They may even have good moral lessons, but they are not the same as the Bible. The Bible is a book with power. Every Bible comes with the extra feature of the Holy Spirit. No other book can do what the Bible can do. Many people have tried to read the Bible to disprove it, only to be given faith through it. This ability is why we say the Bible is efficacious, that it effects or does what it says. The Bible is the word of God given to us through which the Holy Spirit works to give us faith, forgiveness, life and salvation. It is a most precious word, indeed.
 

The word of God is that word which gives faith and that faith is what motives a confession with one’s lips. How can we confess what is not in our heart? The word of God gives faith, thus we are confessing what is in our heart, put there by God Himself through His Word.
 

There is something even more important about this particular confession than there is with all other confessions. This confession, that Jesus Christ is Lord, that Jesus Christ is Yahweh, that Jesus Christ is true God, is a saving confession. Certainly we can make many different confessions. We can confess that we have sinned, which we did at the beginning of this service and after which we hear words of absolution. We can confess that we are Americans. Or for some of us, that we are Texans. We can confess that we are members of St. Matthew Lutheran Church. Perhaps we have confessed our undying love for another person, but none of these confessions come close to the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord. The confession that Jesus Christ is Lord comes from our lips by way of our heart given to us by the Holy Spirit through God’s word, which highlights that importance of God’s word.
 

We see that heart and mouth go together. And, in our text, there are two more words that go together, they are the words faith and confession. Where there is no faith, there is no confession. We cannot confess what we do not believe. And conversely, where there is no confession, there is no faith. We cannot believe what we do not confess.
 

These two things, faith and confession go together and they come through means. They are not something we can get on our own. They are not something that we get immediately. In other words, they are not something that God usually gives to us directly. I say usually, because God can do whatever He wants and if He wants He can give faith immediately, or directly, He can, after all, we do have the case of Paul being given faith immediately. Personally I do not know of any other instances in the Bible of anyone being given faith immediately. God’s usual way of working with us is mediately. In other words, God’s usual way of working with us is through a mediator of sorts, through means, namely the means of grace, His word, the Bible about which we have just been speaking and the sacraments, Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. And we might rightly add the Lord also comes to us through the means of our confession and absolution. The Lord works through these means to give us faith and to strengthen and keep us in faith. The Lord works through these means to give us forgiveness of sins and with forgiveness, we know we have life and salvation. The Lord works through these means so that we might confess with our lips what is in our hearts, that is that we might confess that we believe that Jesus Christ is Lord.
 

About faith, Paul tells us that faith is for all. There is no distinction of people. Jesus died for all people of all place of all times, this dying for all is called universal atonement and in this instance it is a reference to what we call the order of redemption. Because Jesus died for all people, we are all equal in God’s eyes, equal as redeemed sinners, or as we have heard it saysed we are equal as sinner/saints. Which begs the question, if faith is for all, then why are some not saved? Some are not saved because they refuse the faith which God has to give to them. Instead they look for a faith and confession in something or someone other than Jesus.
 

Paul’s struggle in his day was the thought that, maybe, the Jews have ownership of God and the Old Testament. Today Paul might just as well write to confront us and to remind us Christians that we do not have ownership of Jesus and the New Testament. Rather, Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Old and New Testament. Jesus Christ is Lord of all. We are not to “keep” the faith, we are to give it away. We are to share the faith with others as we boldly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
 

This morning we are reminded of the importance of the word, the message of salvation, the message of sins forgiven for Jesus’ sake. As we are reminded of the importance of the word of God, so we are reminded of the importance of getting the message out and the ways we bring people to hear the message. Here at St. Matthew we get the message out through our Sunday school and Bible class as well as through our divine service. We get the message out through our vocations, that is through our living lives as priests in the priesthood of all believers, offering our lives as living sacrifices for the Lord. We get the message out by always being ready to give an answer for the hope that we have in Jesus and the forgiveness of sins. Through our lives as well as through the means of grace we proclaim the good news of salvation. We can and we do talk about Jesus being the Light of the world. We talk about how Jesus is true God, who gave up all the glory that was His in heaven, took on human flesh and blood and became one of us, one of His creation. We talk about Jesus giving His life for ours on the cross. And we talk about His resurrection. We talk about the forgiveness of sins He pours out on us. We talk about the most important things of life, the things of our real eternal life in heaven. We teach the basics of what we need for our short time in this fast and fleeting world, and we teach the most important lessons of life, the lessons of faith and confession which is for the forever world of heaven.
 

Paul’s words in our text for this morning remind us of the importance of making using of the means of grace, the instruments or the ways in which Christ has of coming to us to give us all His good gifts and blessings. The means of grace are so important. To understand how important are the means of grace we need to understand that if we stay away from them, then we are refusing them and we are refusing the gifts that God has to give. When we stay away from the gifts God has to give we are in essence telling God, “No thank you, I do not need any more gifts, I have plenty, maybe next week.” “I have enough forgiveness Lord, I don’t need any more this week, maybe next time.” God’s Word is a must for us, not just at church, but at work, at school, in our homes and in all aspects of our lives. It is imperative that we make regular and diligent use of the Word of God in our homes, reading and hearing the Word which tells us of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection; reading and hearing the Word though which the Holy Spirit works to point us to the cross; reading and hearing the Word through which the Holy Spirit works to give faith, forgiveness, life and salvation.
 

All of God’s gifts and blessings are important. Unfortunately, when we absent ourselves from where He gives His gifts then we are refusing and rejecting the gifts and if we refuse and reject the gifts enough we will eventually lose them. Paul mentions the importance of the gift of faith. Faith is that gift which the Holy Spirit gives through Holy Baptism as well as through the Word. Faith is that gift which the Holy Spirit puts in our hearts. Faith is that gift which is an instrument which gives us the ability to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
 

And our confession is important. Our confession tells what is in our hearts, if we have faith or no faith. Our confession is as Paul says, “what saves us.” “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” So we rightly understand that if a person does not call on the name of the Lord, then they are not confessing His name, rather they are in reality refusing and rejecting His name, they are refusing and rejecting the gifts He has to give. A person will not call on the name of the Lord unless it is to confess His name.
 

Paul speaks well, and loud and clear to us this morning. “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” The word is here for you to come and hear. It is also in your Bible for you to read and hear. I would urge you to make use of the Word so that the Holy Spirit may give you faith, strengthening your faith give you life and salvation, and give you the good confession that Jesus Christ is Lord. To Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Father, Forgive Them March 5, 2025 Ash Wednesday Text: Luke 23:34

This year, during the Wednesdays of Lent we will look at the words Jesus’ spoke from the cross. In the four Gospels we can count seven different times that Jesus spoke. The seven times that Jesus spoke were during His last six hours of life on the cross from nine o’clock in the morning, when He was nailed to the cross, until about three o’clock in the afternoon, when He died.
 

The very first words we have recorded of Jesus speaking from the cross are the words, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” So, we begin with the words, “Father, forgive them.” Jesus first words are not words for Himself, but words for us and His words of plea for us are directed to His Father, and our Father, in heaven. Jesus prays as our intercessor. He prays for us because the very reason He is dying on the cross is because of our sin which has separated us from the Father in heaven. There is only one thing which will undo what was done in the Garden of Eden and which is done by us on a daily basis, that one thing is forgiveness. The only way to get that forgiveness is through the shedding of blood, the giving of life. Remember in the Garden of Eden God told Adam and Eve that they were not to eat of the fruit from the tree in the middle of the Garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that they eat of it, they will surely die. And God was not speaking of only a physical death, nor of an immediate physical death. He was speaking of an eternal life in hell death. He was speaking of hell.
 

And remember, the price for human sin is human death. Although God established the ceremonial law of the sacrificial system in the Mosaic law, all those animal sacrifices did not suffice for the forgiveness of human sin. The price for human sins was and is human life, thus, we understand that Jesus had to be truly human in order to be our substitute. But, not only was He our substitute on the cross, but also for our whole life. The perfect, obedient life demanded of us Jesus came to live for us in our place as our substitute. Indeed, the fullness of the Gospel is the fact that Jesus lived for us, then took our sins, suffered the price for our sins, hell, died and rose for us.
 

As we are so often reminded, God created us to love us and so the very first thing we see is that Jesus first thoughts on the cross are for us. It was for us that He gave up all the glory that was His as true God in heaven. It was for us that He took on human flesh and blood, being born as a human, being born as one of His own creation. It was for us that He lived perfectly, obeying all the Laws perfectly. It was for us that He took our sins upon Himself. It was for us that He came to give His life, so that we might have forgiveness of sins; so that our relationship with the Father might be restored, so that we might have life, yes, physical life, but even more importantly, so that we might have eternal life, life in heaven.
 

And so Jesus words are words asking for forgiveness. Jesus does not ask that our sins be excused. He does not ask that they be overlooked. He asks that they be forgiven, paid for, dismissed, and remitted. Of course, we know that Jesus, and really only Jesus can make this request because He is the One paying the very price for our sins, giving His life on the cross. Note also, that Jesus’ life was not taken from Him, but He gladly laid down His life and gave His life.
 

Jesus asks that we be forgiven, “for they do not know what they are doing.” Jesus is not making any excuses for us, He is merely explaining our sinful human nature. We act, not knowing what we do. We merely go along with the crowd. Notice the soldiers. They acted in ignorance. They did not know who Jesus was. They did not know that they were putting to death the Son of God. They were merely following orders.
 

Notice the followers of Jesus. They acted in ignorance. Some of the same people who one week earlier were standing on the road waiving Palm branches and shouting, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the Highest,” were the same ones who shouted, “crucify Him.” They did not know what they were doing, they were merely going along with the crowd.
 

Notice Jesus’ disciples. Even they acted in ignorance. They all talked a good talk. Remember Peter, “even if everyone else deserts you, I will not,” and he went on to deny that he even knew Jesus and he denied it three times. Remember all the disciples discussing who would be first in the kingdom of heaven and they all ran off and left Jesus to fend for Himself. And whenever Jesus talked about His impending death, they wanted to hear nothing of the sort. After all, what kind of Savior would He be if He died. It was not until after the resurrection that they began to understand God’s plan of salvation.
 

Look in the mirror and we see ourselves. Yes, Jesus is looking through time and He is seeing us and He is speaking about us. We do not know what we are doing. Daily we sin much and are in need of forgiveness. Daily and deliberately we break the commandments. We simply cannot help ourselves. We are conceived and born in sin. Every intention of our hearts is evil all the time. Our nature is simply to sin and we do it well without any practice.
 

Jesus came, not just for the people of His day, not just for the people from the beginning of time until His time. Jesus came to give His life for all people of all places of all times. He came for you and for me. He came because we act in ignorance, daily, resisting and refusing God’s gifts. Yes, we have His Word. We know what is right and wrong, yet, we continue to do the wrong. We just cannot seem to help ourselves.
 

Lent is a time to be mindful of our sins. Jesus’ first words on the cross are a huge reminder that it was for us, for you and for me that He came to die. It was our sins that put Him on the cross. It was our sins that deserved death.
 

Jesus died because of and for me. He died because of my sins. Because I daily sin much and am in need of forgiveness, because I sin in ignorance, which is no excuse. Because I sin without even realizing that I sin. Sure, I know some of the sins that I commit, but I sin, more often than I know or realize because I do not know or recognize that what I am doing is sinning.
 

Jesus came to live and to die so that we might have forgiveness, so that we might have absolution. Again, ignorance is not an excuse for sin and absolution is not a licence to sin, rather, forgiveness and absolution attest to the fact that the sin was paid for by Jesus’ death on the cross. Jesus shed His blood, He gave His life so that we might be forgiven.
 

Jesus’ death brings absolution for the world. Jesus died for all people of all place of all times. “Father forgive them,” means all those who have a part in Jesus’ death. We all have a part in Jesus’ death because we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
 

But even more important to you and me than the fact that Jesus died for all people is the personal fact that Jesus died for you and me. Jesus’ death brings absolution for you and for me. The sin which separated us from the Father has been removed. We can now be confident that even though we sin, mostly in ignorance, because we do not know what we are doing, our sins are forgiven.
 

Today is the beginning of Lent. What better words could we have from the Lord than these, that we begin with words of forgiveness. That we begin with words of Gospel. That we begin with words that remind us that it was because of God’s great love for us, a love that cannot be understood according to human terms, but a love that can come only from God, a love that brings Jesus’ death, the shedding of His blood for us, the giving of His life so that we might have forgiveness and life. Jesus prays for us, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” God grant it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.