Luke 23:32-38
I. Jesus prayed.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
· Where do you turn during times of trouble? Do you know you can turn to God.
II. Jesus prayed for His enemies.
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Matthew 5:44
· Jesus obeyed His own command
· We are to forgive those who sin against us. – Ephesians 5:1 – Stephen
· We too are God’s enemies: Romans 5:8-10
III. Jesus prayed for our forgiveness.
· Forgiveness is our greatest need.
· When you look at the cross, you see the height of man’s sinfulness.
· The heinousness of a crime is magnified by the innocence of the victim. Jesus is the infinitely more innocent that an infant. Therefore, the killing of Jesus is humanity’s greatest crime.
· The soldiers valued garments more than God.
· We are all sinners in need of God’s forgiveness.
IV. Jesus purchased our forgiveness.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. Ephesians 1:7
· Jesus was mocked by others: Save yourself! The irony was that the reason he went to the cross was to save us from our sins. There is NO other way. If there were, then Jesus would not have died on the cross.
· Ignorance is no excuse for sin. They are still guilty. Could it be that we are even more guilty than they if we reject Christ. We have the NT. We live on this side of the resurrection. We have heard the message of Jesus! Have your received God’s forgivenss
