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.

We Are His House - March 2, 2025 -b The Transfiguration of our Lord/Last Sunday after the Epiphany - Text: Hebrews 3:1-6

Peter, James and John were privy to witness something the rest of the Apostles did not get to witness, at least not while on earth. Peter, James and John witnessed Jesus in all His glory and Peter’s response was, “Let’s build three houses.” Of course, we are let in on the fact that Peter did not know what he was saying and we might notice that James and John said nothing. And we know Peter, he says it like it is, no thinking, simply blurting out what is on his mind. Peter’s instinct was that this experience was, and if you will pardon the pun, a great mountain top experience and as is the case with most such experiences, we do not want them to end so we want to find a way to keep them going. Peter’s thought, “Let’s build three houses,” so this experience will not have to end. So, this morning, we will focus our attention on looking at the building of at least one house. In order to build a house that will last, the first thing that must be built is the foundation.
 

In our other readings for this morning we get our foundation. In the Old Testament reading we have the account of the death of Moses. Moses was a faithful leader in Israel. He did not choose his lot to be such a leader and as we know of his life, his history, he was rather a reluctant leader making excuses and asking the Lord to send someone else.
 

In our Gospel reading we have the account of the transfiguration of Jesus, the account of what marks our celebration of this day, this Sunday, Transfiguration Sunday. It must have been some sight to see, the transfiguration of Jesus, or as the Greek word literally says, the metamorphosis of Jesus. Jesus was morphed, that is He was changed so that the Apostles saw Him in His heavenly glory. Why this change? So that He might be able to consult with those who were already in their heavenly glory, Moses and Elijah, the great leader and law giver, and the great prophet of Israel.
 

In our text for this morning, we have words from the writer who, later in chapter eleven, recounts for us the great men of faith and in this text he gives us, what amounts to, a comparison of two great men of faith, Moses and Jesus. As for this man, Moses, he was a great man, especially by human standards we would say he was a great man. He was raised by the daughter of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Certainly he attended the best of schools, had the best teachers, and gained knowledge concerning everything that was known in his day. Later he continued his education while caring for sheep in the wilderness, giving him knowledge concerning life outside the protective confines of the kings castle.
 

More important than his education, was the fact that he was faithful. He was a faithful servant of the Lord. As we said earlier, he was reluctant, but he did lead and he did lead as the Lord commanded him to lead. Even while facing the adversity of the people he was leading he remained faithful to the Lord and to His leading. As a matter of fact, his faithfulness was seen in the glow of his face from his communing with the Lord.
 

And in essence, in one sense we might say that Moses “built” the children of Israel. They were slaves. They were in bondage. They were not wilderness nomads, but shepherds. They were not soldiers and fighting men, but workers. As Moses lead them out of bondage of slavery they had to learn how to live in the wilderness as well as how to be soldiers. Moses lead them, taught them, and even ruled them as prophet, priest and judge.
 

And finally, Moses brought them to the border of the promised land. But, of course you may remember, because of his own frailty and sin, because of his own doubt and disobedience, because he hit the rock instead of speaking to it, Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land, but he did bring the people to the point of entering into their promised possession. This Moses, is certainly a great man and a great leader.
 

Yet, the writer of Hebrews tells us that there is one greater than Moses and of course we would agree, that the one greater than Moses is Jesus. Moses was a great man, Jesus is our great high priest. Jesus is the one who hears and answers our confession, giving us forgiveness of sins.
 

Moses was faithful, reluctant, yet faithful. Jesus was faithful. He was not reluctant, but of His own will gave up the glory that was His in heaven in order to be born a man, in order to be our Savior. He actively obeyed all God’s laws perfectly. He actively fulfilled all God’s prophecies perfectly. He was faithful even to the point of death, death on a cross. He passively allowed Himself to be crucified and nailed to the cross. He came, freely. He lived perfectly. He freely obeyed all God’s laws. He freely fulfilled all God’s promises concerning Himself. He freely took our sins upon Himself. He freely was obedient, even obedient to death on a cross.
 

Thus, Jesus “built” the true “Israel.” To be a part of Israel is not something that one gains through a birth line, it is not a physical right or entitlement, it is not automatic, rather it is a gift that is given through faith and through faith in Jesus Christ alone. A true “Israelite” is not one by birth, but a true “Israelite” is one who has faith in Jesus alone. All believers, that is all who are members of the Holy Christian Church are true “Israelites.” You and I, those who have faith in Jesus Christ alone are true Israel.
 

Most of all, we see Jesus as greater than Moses, because, although Moses brought the Children of Israel out of their bondage of slavery in Egypt, Christ brings us out of our bondage of slavery to sin and ultimately He brings us to heaven, the greater promised land.
 

What does this mean? Today is Transfiguration Sunday. Today is the day we see Jesus in His heavenly glory while here on earth. We have been following along with Jesus’ life. We witnessed His birth, lowly, humbly, born in the small town of Bethlehem and placed in a manger. We witnessed the announcement to the shepherds as well as their visit to see the baby Jesus. We witnessed as the Magi from the East, led by God by the star, traveled many miles in order to be the first Gentiles to witness and worship the Christ Child, God in flesh, God incarnate, God in flesh made manifest. We witnessed Jesus’ presentation in the temple and we heard Simeon’s words professing that this was the Messiah who was promised of old. We witnessed Jesus’ baptism and heard the voice of God the Father pronouncing Jesus as His Son. We witnessed Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness and saw how He never gave in to Satan’s temptations and never sinned. And today we bear witness of the beginning of the end, at least the beginning of the end of Jesus’ earthly life. Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning of Lent. When Jesus comes down from the mountain He is ready to go to Jerusalem one last time, in order to be crucified.
 

The writer of Hebrews presents us with Jesus who is greater, even than Moses. The writer writes concerning the fact that the one who builds the house is greater than the house itself. As we have said, Moses helped to build the Children of Israel, but Jesus is the ultimate builder. Moses helped to build a people who, unfortunately, as we have been studying in Bible Class, time and again broke their covenant with the Lord, and even gave up their covenant. Their ultimate giving up of the covenant is seen in their rejection of Jesus.
 

Jesus came to fulfill all the law and the prophets. And He did fulfill all the law and the prophets perfectly. At His transfiguration we have Moses, the giver of the Law and Elijah, the great and even the greatest prophet in Israel come down from heaven in order to make sure Jesus had accomplished and was accomplishing all that He came to accomplish. In essence, Jesus came to do what all the people of Israel could not do and to do what we cannot do. God’s command to Adam and Eve was to obey Him and not eat of the forbidden fruit, yet they failed, they disobeyed and ate. God’s covenant with the Children of Israel was that He would be their God and they would be His people. They were simply to believe in Him and obey His commands, yet they failed. Time and again they failed and ultimately at their rejection of Jesus they failed. God’s command to us is that we are to be perfect even as He is perfect, yet, time and again we fail. Daily we sin much and are in need of forgiveness. Daily we sin, not against just one commandment, but two, three and sometimes even all ten. As we confess, we sin in thought, word and deed. We sin sins of omission, not doing as we ought and sins of commission doing the things we should not. Indeed, our greatest need is not the physical comforts of this world, as God provides all that we truly need. No, our greatest need is forgiveness of sins. Without forgiveness we would be left in our sins and eternally lost and condemned, but with forgiveness is life and salvation. Not only does Jesus take care of all our physical, bodily needs, He has taken care of our greatest need, forgiveness of sins. And that is what He came to do and what He did.
 

Thanks be to God that Jesus has not, does not and never will fail. The very foundation of the Christians Church, the New Israel, if you will, is Jesus Christ Himself. As Peter confessed and as Jesus acknowledged His confession, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God and on this confession, on Jesus Christ Himself God builds His Church. The covenant, first given in the Garden of Eden, first given even before there was a Jew and a Gentile, the first covenant given to all people continues even today. The covenant reiterated to the Children of Israel was broken, not by God, but the Israelites, meaning they gave up having a part in His covenant, at least the earthly part, the Mosaic Covenant. The covenant that was first given and continues today continues to be a covenant of grace. Jesus makes us a part of His kingdom by grace, through faith. Jesus is the foundation of the House of the Holy Christian Church. Jesus is the one who has accomplished everything that needed to be accomplished. And He gives everything to us. Yes, the children of Israel were a great people, but the people of God, the people of Christ Jesus are even greater as He is the foundation, the chief cornerstone, and the Builder.
 

This morning we come and once again we witness something great. Truly we witness the greatest thing we can witness here on this earth. Every Sunday morning we are privileged to come and bear witness, not only of our Lord, through the witness of His Word and Sacraments, but we are also privileged to bear witness of our forgiveness and our salvation. Our reaction, each and every Sunday morning, might rightly mirror that of the Psalmist who spoke well when he said, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’” (Ps. 122:1). Or our reaction might mirror Peter’s reaction in our text, “Let’s build three houses,” “let’s not leave this place,” “Don’t make me go home.” My prayer for us all is that as the Lord has His way with us, our desire might be even more the desire of Peter, the desire to continue to be given the gifts the Lord has to give. To Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.