Christ on the road to Calvary - 2

Again we turn to Luke 23, concentrating his time on verses 32 - 38

If we are amazed at the compassion of Christ as he is led to Calvary, we cannot be unmoved either by his attitude towards those who were carrying out the outrageous deed of nailing him to the cross.

These were hard men. They had done this so many times before as Roman soldiers. They were there to execute the judgement passed by Roman law. They had become oblivious to the cries of the prisoners as the nails crunched through the flesh and bones of their victims. This was their job, and they could even stand calmly, dividing the clothes of the victims as their pay for doing the work – one of the perks of the job. When they found one quality cloak among the clothes, they had some fun drawing lots to see who could have it.


They were there to obey orders, and to ensure that the Jews were kept in their place. The Romans were the law here – not the Jews. This man had a sign to place above him – the King of the Jews – and any one who tried to set himself up against Caesar would know what would follow. As the people mocked Christ they probably thought: the poor deluded fool – even his own people have turned against him.


How do we feel when we are wronged? What do we want to do when we are blamed for something we did not do, or suffer an injustice? Our natural reaction is to strike back. We want to protest our innocence and right the wrong, even if it means that others will suffer.


Yet never did any one suffer such injustice as Jesus on the cross. He did no evil ever. He once challenged his enemies to point out any sin which he had committed (John 8:46) but they couldn’t. He did not deserve to suffer here, and what these men were doing was unfair, unjust and evil. Yet what words appear on his lips?
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Luke 23:34
He intercedes for them, even as they are casting lots for his clothes, asking that his Father would bless them.
“They know not what they do” –
(a) They do not realise what sin is. For so many people sin is just a mistake, or failing to hit the mark – after all no one is perfect. But sin is telling the eternal God that we do not want him to be God. We don’t want to live his way. Our way is better. Sin is rejecting the One who gives us our very existence and spitting in the face of the all powerful.
(b) If they realised who I am – that I am the eternal Word, and that one day they will have to give an account for their lives before the eternal judgement seat. They do not realise that on that day they will look up at the throne, and the judge will be the One they are now nailing to a piece of wood to hang and die. If they realised this they would not do this – they would bow down in awe and terror. Paul said something similar when he wrote to the Corinthians about the wisdom of the world: None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 1 Corinthians 2:8

And Christ, having compassion on these miserable sinners, intercedes for them.

How do we, as Christians, react to those who reject the gospel? It is easy to find fault with them. It is so much easier to condemn than to be concerned. How many, I wonder, have prayed for the conversion of leaders of the Al Qaeda movement? How many have wept and prayed for those who persecute and kill Christians in some countries of the world today? And what about opponents in our own country? There are those who attack Christianity, mocking it as a delusion or a retrograde fantasy. And it is easy to condemn militant atheists in our reaction to this. But Jesus prayed for those who were doing him the most awful injustice and wrong.
These people today do not know that the One that they reject will one day judge them. They do not realise that as they follow their own way, they are spurning the Almighty and calling down judgement on their own heads.


Where is the agony in our praying for the lost? Where is the cry that God would forgive them, and open their eyes and hearts to see what the eternal love of the Holy One can do?


Facing a task unfinished
That drives us to our knees;
A need that, undiminished,
Rebukes our slothful ease