Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
The seven sayings on the cross and then the doctrine of the substitutionary spiritual death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
1. LUK 23:34 But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
2. LUK 23:43 And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”
3. JOH 19:26-27, When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”
JOH 19:27 Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own {household.}
4. MAT 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
5. JOH 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, *said, “I am thirsty.”
6. JOH 19:29-30, A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon {a branch of} hyssop, and brought it up to His mouth.
JOH 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit.
7. The seventh and final one, LUK 23:46 And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit.” And having said this, He breathed His last.
TLJC has now been delivered to the Romans to be crucified on the cross after the unfair trials and the unjust treatment.
At this moment, our Lord was enduring the first pains of crucifixion; the executioners had just driven the nails through His hands and feet.
Yet neither the weakness of the past, nor the pain of the present, could prevent him from continuing in prayer.
No pain and no weakness could silence His fellowship and prayer with God the Father.
In the midst of unjust treatment and unfairness, He still continues in fellowship and prayer with God the Father as long as His heart beats.
To cease from fellowship and prayer with God the Father in time of suffering is to abandon the comfort which our circumstance requires.
TLJC persevered in fellowship and prayer with God the Father even when the pain from the cross tore His nerves throughout the body.
Never, under any circumstances, no matter how severe the trial, or depressing the difficulty, let us not cease from fellowship and prayer.
In His prayer, our Lord remains in the position of His Sonship.
God His Father, But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.
The extreme suffering to which He now submitted Himself to could not prevent Him from still being a Son.
We should address God as our “Father” because our assurance in prayer depends upon our confidence in our relationship to God.
Under undeserved suffering or picking up our cross, we may be inclined to think that God is not dealing with us as a Father with a child, but rather as a judge with a condemned criminal.
Even in the garden of Gethsemane, when blood fell from His face upon the ground, His cry was MAT 26:39 “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”
However, what is even more remarkable is the fact that our Lord’s prayer to His Father was not for Himself.
He did pray for himself on the cross at one time even when He said in MAT 27:46 “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My
God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
ISA 53:12 says Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
JOH 5:23 in order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
PHI 2:4-5, do not merely be regarding your own personal interests, but also for the personal interests of others. “Keep on thinking this [doctrine] within yourselves which was also resident in Christ Jesus,”
The prayer wasn’t just for others, but it was for His cruellest enemies.
The first major point which we see on the cross in the character of His intercession is forgiveness and graciousness.
On the contrary, they were undeserving individuals who had conspired to put Him to death.
Our great Intercessor pleads for those who have never asked Him to plead for them.
He knows our precise condition at this moment, and the exact state of our heart with regard to the suffering and the temptation that we may be facing.
Even more than that, He foresees the trials and the temptations which are awaiting us.
On the Cross, He still cared for those who were rejecting Him.
In this first saying on the cross that TLJC seeks what is important for those around the cross.
He says “Father, forgive them,” He doesn’t say “Father, enlighten them for they do not know what they are doing.”
The first thing that the guilty need is forgiveness for sin.
We read in those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
ACT 6:7 And the word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.
Since all men shared in His mistreatment, Gentiles as well as Jews, the gospel was preached to all of them.
MAR 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
They are here to live unselfishly and to serve those whom TLJC died for.
Our Lord’s prayer also teaches us that we should be unselfish and concerned with the spiritual in an unlimited way.
Our duty is not just to those who treat us respectably but also to those who mock and criticize our words and pass judgment upon our teaching.
Our duty is not to those who treat us kindly and generously only, but to those who despise us and reject us as well.
The first saying of the cross therefore teaches us that we must not live for ourselves.
Forgiveness means to give up resentment, excuse a guilty party, to release from payment, to forget an offense never bringing it up again not even to discuss it.
If you desire to know how many times you should forgive someone, LUK 17:4 says “If someone sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”
EPH 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace,
The principle is the fact that your sins have been paid for so I must respect the “payment” i.e. the blood or the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
PSA 51:4, after he sinned with Bathsheba and Uriah, “Against Thee, Thee only I have sinned, and done what is evil in Thy sight,”
This pattern of forgiveness is applied to the believer as part of the Royal family honor code, COL 3:13 “Bearing one another and forgiving each other. Whoever has a complaint against anyone else, just as the Lord forgave you, so also you should forgive others.”
EPH 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ has also forgiven you.”
Forgiving others also allows God to handle the situation rather than self, ROM 12:19 “Beloved, do not take your own revenge, but defer to the wrath of God. For it stands written [DEU 32:35], `vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”