Amen. So in just a few moments we're gonna partake of an ordinance of
humility, a foot washing service, a Lord's Supper communion service, but both of
those things if you're reading through the Gospels, John 13 or in the other
three Gospels, those events were just a few hours before the cross. They led to
the cross. So just hours later in the moments of crucifixion, Jesus is recorded
on the cross as saying seven different things. They're kind of referred to as the
seven sayings of the cross. And so for our communion short message today and
in the future as we have communion, we're gonna kind of go through these seven
different sayings. So the first one is found in Luke chapter 23. So Luke chapter
23. We find Jesus on the cross and this is the first saying of the cross. So I'll
read it again what we had for our Scripture time. Luke 23 and verse 32. It
says, there were also two others, criminals, led with him to be put to
death. So here we have Jesus beaten and bloodied, tired from a night of trials
as he had been taken from the Garden of Gethsemane and led from court to court.
And now he is let out as a common criminal. The Christ is a criminal. The
Savior is one who is soon to see the cross. And there's other criminals with
him and he's just one of the group, just one of those that was let out to be
executed. And then verse 33. When they had come to the place called Calvary, also
known as Golgotha or the place of the skull, it's got different things it's
known as. There they crucified him and the criminals one on the right hand and
the other on the left. It says there they crucified him. That's just one word in our
Bible. We've seen it portrayed. We've seen artists paint the pictures. We've seen
perhaps the SonRise service at Southern. We've seen it on a screen, some
retelling or some passion play of that event being portrayed, being acted out.
But for the people in that day, it was not anything being acted. It was not a
portrayal. It was something that was part of their routine. It was it was vivid
because that word crucify had images that they associated with it, had sights
and sounds, it had smells associated with it. It was torture and it involved real
life and real death. And so for anyone reading it in that day, they could
picture something that they had walked by, something that they could seen, that
they had seen for themselves. And then we come to verse 34, the first saying of
the cross. It says, then Jesus said, Father forgive them for they do not know what
they do. The very first word there is father, a term of relationship. But
perhaps even more than that, perhaps it is a term that is a reminder of Jesus's
teaching. If you remember when the disciples saw Jesus during a time of
prayer, they came to him and they said, Lord teach us to pray. And it's in
response to that question that Jesus shared with them what we know as the
Lord's Prayer, which of course we could all recite and it begins with our our
father. And so here in Jesus's painful situation, in this most awful situation,
being crucified, surrounded by criminals, Jesus is driven to pray. What do we do
when we're having our most awful day, when we're having our most awful
situation? Are we driven to pray? Are we driven perhaps away from God? In Jesus's
worst-case scenario, his action was to pray. And then there's another couple
words we see in this statement, kind of repeated, at least the idea. It says, Father
forgive them for they do not know what they do, what they are doing. Them and
they, you know, grammatically, if you think back to some English class you've had at
some point, they is third person. So it means somebody else and it's plural. So it
means a group of somebody else, a group of others. So as we read this text, we
could consider just who is in this group of others. Who is the they in
this statement? Well you can look at the scene that's there in your mind's eye.
There's soldiers and centurions, hardened men used to battle, used to death, and
they are in the act, at that moment, in the act of causing physical pain, of
causing harm to someone else. That's not a job that most people have today, but
their job, their role, was to cause pain, to even cause death. And so they were
whipping and nailing and mocking, but they were just doing their job, you could
say. But we could back that scene up a little bit. Who is the they? And we could
picture Pilate giving into a mob, giving into political pressure as they cried
out, crucify him, crucify him. But Pilate is agreeing to that, go ahead and
crucify him, but I'm gonna wash my hands of this situation. I'm not to blame for
this, that's what you are going to do. I am washing my hands of this. You could go
back a little further to an earlier scene. The leaders of the temple, the
Pharisees, trying to entrap Jesus, trying to trick him, doing everything they could
to maintain their religious power, trying to silence this radical rabbi. And then
there's a crowd of people, this crowd that's all around, who in just a few
days transitioned from Palm Sunday where they said, blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord. And now less than a week later, they are the ones shouting,
crucify him, crucify him. Then there's Judas, one of the 12 disciples who Jesus
had just washed his feet a little bit before, and now Judas is leading soldiers
to the garden with the jingle of 30 pieces of silver in his money bag. And
Jesus says, forgive them. It's easy to find a bunch of thems in this story, but
in reality we can't just look back to that story, but we need to look forward
from that story, look forward to our day in history, to our week in history, look
forward to our life. We can recognize that Jesus's death was not just a legal
event, it was not just a political event, but it was a spiritual act in the
conflict of this world, an act that took place because of your sin and because of
my sin. That's why Jesus was on the cross. Jesus was in pain because of me.
Jesus said they don't know what they are doing. There's a group of soldiers just
doing their job. There's a group of priests protecting their turf. There's
Pilate making a political choice. There's a mob that's just kind of following the
crowd, and then there's today, and we make mistakes. And often we choose
something away from the right choice, and sometimes even we choose something that
that we know is wrong as we give in to the temptations of this world, as we give
into the addictions of life and the power of pleasure. But thankfully there's
another word here, and it's the most powerful word in this first saying of
Jesus on the cross because Jesus is not just praying, he's not just talking about
a group of others, but he's asking for something. He says forgive them. If you
were to look up that word forgive in the dictionary, it would say something like
to cease to feel resentment towards, or to pardon, or to cancel a debt. And so
Jesus says, Father forgive them. Forgive this group of people that is causing me
physical pain because I am enduring this physical pain so that I can bear their
spiritual sin so that they can be forgiven. And there's verse after verse
that we could look at, but just a few to remind ourselves. Romans 6
verse 23, it says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God, the free
gift of God, is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. 1st John 1 9,
another one that you've likely memorized at some point in your life, 1st John 1
9, if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and
to to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's why Jesus is on the
cross. That's why Jesus says forgive them because if we confess his response is to
forgive and to cleanse. And then I want to look at one more in Romans chapter 5.
Romans chapter 5 verse 8, you could have learned this one but I want to read it.
Romans 5 verse 8, it says but God demonstrates his own love toward us. This
is how God shows how much he loves us. God demonstrates his own love toward us
in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Jesus didn't say if
you make it to this goal then I'll think about loving you. If you cross this
finish line then I'll forgive you. It says while we were still sinners Christ
died for us. As Jesus was being crucified, in the act of being crucified, he said
forgive them for they don't know what they're doing. Jesus forgave that group
of them and we can know that that includes us as well as those that were
causing the cross, causing Jesus to die on that cross. And that's what communion
is all about. To remember a sacrifice that was made as Jesus took a Passover
supper and he injected new meaning into it and he took some bread and he broke
it and said this is my body that's broken for you and he took some juice
and he poured it out and said this is my this is my blood that's poured out for
you and he he injected new meaning into those symbols and so we are able to
participate in that today. In John chapter 13 Jesus took a basin and he took
a towel and he washed the feet of his disciples. And you remember this story
that was the servants job they're walking on dirty roads they're dirty and
Jesus got down in the role of a servant and begun to do that. And at least one of
the disciples Peter said whoa no no no no no no Jesus you can't you can't do
that and Jesus said if I don't do this then you don't have a part with me and
so Peter said well in that case pour it on me don't you know cleanse me dump it
on me wash me all the way and Jesus said well we don't need to do that because
you've already been cleansed you've already been baptized you've already
accepted a Savior that's coming and so I only need to do this and that's where
Jesus said you should do speaking to his disciples you should do as I have done
for you and that's why every so often as a church we go through this there's
nothing magical about bread and juice there's nothing magical about water
that's washing the feet but it's a symbol that Jesus has asked us to
participate in. And so in just a moment we're gonna we're gonna break off into
different places and so you need to correct me if I'm if I get this wrong
but I think that the men are going up to the fellowship hall ladies are gonna
go to the youth room and then if you would like to participate as a couple
you can go to the primary room I think I got that correct at least that's what I
wrote down and so we will go and participate in that and and just
remember Jesus is the creator of the world and he was willing to humble
himself and be a servant and that's what that is about just serving someone else
in the way that Jesus has served us. Let's bow our heads for a prayer. Dear God
as you were on that cross enduring pain bearing our sins you said father forgive
them you've given us an example you've given us a way to remember that beyond
just hearing words being spoken you've given us a physical action that can help
instill your grace into our mind. So Lord be with us as we go from this room as we
return and just a little bit and and help this to be a meaningful worship
time as we remember all the blessings you have poured out in your name we pray
amen. I do want to say as Seventh-day Adventists we practice what we would
call open communion so anyone who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior
is invited to participate with us and so men may go upstairs women to the youth
room and couples if you would like to participate together may go to the
primary room so we'll be back here in just a few moments. So it was a Passover
night as they had done for hundreds of years and thousands of years the people
of Israel ate a meal to remember a deliverance to remember a time when they
were captives in Egypt and by the miracles of God they were set free and
year by year they remembered that but on this particular Passover night as Jesus
and his disciples gathered together Jesus took that meal and instead of
looking back to a Passover deliverance event a thousand years before he
proclaimed he declared that in the future we would be looking back to the
ultimate deliverance event the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and so that's what
we are gathered here today to remember the broken body of Jesus the spilled
out blood of Jesus and we're told in Isaiah that by his wounds we are healed
as Jesus said father forgive them he's proclaiming that each one of us are
forgiven that were cleansed by the blood of Jesus and so I just invite you guys
to in just a moment to remain seated and we will kneel for prayer but I want to
read from 1st Corinthians chapter 11 where it says Paul writes he says for I
have received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you that the Lord
Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had
given thanks he broke it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for
you do this in remembrance of me in the same manner he also took the cup after
supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood this do as often as
you drink it in remembrance of me but please remain seated and we will kneel
and pray at this time
dear Lord heavenly father we thank you for this opportunity to take part in
this communion service dear Lord we ask you to please bless and sacrifice this
bread that that we're about to take dear Lord and help us to take this in
remembrance of your body dear Lord and that you are the bread of life and we do
this in the name of the Son amen dear Lord we know that greater love has no
man than this then to lay down his life for another we see in your sacrifice in
the unending love that is symbolized in the wine and so let us let that not be
lost on us as we partake in this in this symbol today in Jesus name we pray amen