Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”.
Sunday, March 21, 2004
1. LUK 23:34 “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
Our Lord not only prayed for forgiveness for His enemies, but our Lord actually argued on their behalf.
They parted His garments, LUK 23:34, and that fulfilled PSA 22:18.
They gave Him vinegar to drink, LUK 23:36, and that fulfilled PSA 69:21.
He was crucified with the transgressors, LUK 23:33, and that fulfilled ISA 53:12.
2. LUK 23:43 “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”
Whenever a person believes on TLJC and is converted, it is an amazing experience.
COL 1:13 For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
JOH 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
He receives the divine nature within, 2PE 1:4.
GAL 5:14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
DAN 6:14 As soon as I heard this statement, I was deeply distressed
ACT 19:11 Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given.
MAT 19:22 When the young man heard this statement, he went away grieved;
JOH 6:60 “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?”
JOH 19:8 When Pilate therefore heard this statement, he was the more afraid;
ACT 6:5 the statement found approval with the whole congregation;
ACT 22:22 And they listened up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live!”
1TI 1:15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.
The circumstances that surround some conversions are much more remarkable than others.
In His first statement, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” our Lord first prayed for His enemies.
In His second statement, He turned to a repentant sinner and gave him the assurance that he was going to heaven.
When they crucified our Lord Jesus, they put Him between two thieves.
ISA 53:12 He was numbered with the transgressors.
At the Cross not only was the hand of man at work, but also the hand of God.
Man was fulfilling the plan of God, doing it freely, responsibly, but fulfilling Old Testament prophecy.
2TH 2:7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He [God the Holy Spirit] Who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way [rapture].
REV 12:12 “Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.”
When the church is removed, the various plagues, epidemics, and outbreaks that are already germinating throughout this world in various places and hot zones will be allowed to ignite and take out large chunks of the world’s population, REV 6:8.
He had a perception but he had not seen clearly as of yet.
MAT 1:21 “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.”
MAT 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
The story of the salvation of the dying thief reveals the power of TLJC to save mankind and His willingness to receive all that come to Him, in spite of their predicament.
TLJC at the time that He saved this thief was at the lowest moment of His life.
HEB 7:25 “He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
Both of the thieves could hear Him pray, “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do,” LUK 23:34.
The two thieves represent the believer and the unbeliever with TLJC as the Mediator between God and men,1TI 2:5.
“This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
JOH 19:20 Therefore this inscription many of the Jews read, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, {and} in Greek.
JOH 3:14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;”
Israel should have known by now that Jehovah-jireh (“the Lord will provide”) would not fail His people.
Sin and evil is a fiery serpent and its sting is the sting of death – 1CO 15:56 The sting of death is sin,
ROM 5:20 where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
Everyone at some time or another has known the shame and pain of the serpent’s bite, but here a look of faith at the Crucified Lord brings a spiritual healing from God to the soul.
GEN 3:15 – the serpent’s seed are said to be unregenerate sinners.
2CO 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
“The serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan,” is the author of sin.
REV 12:11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death.
It would have pictured God’s judgment on the sinner himself and worse still, it would have misrepresented our sinless substitute, HEB 7:26.
ROM 8:3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God {did:} sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and {as an offering} for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,