THE SIMPLE GOSPEL - John 8:21–30

THE SIMPLE GOSPEL

John 8:21–30

JOHN MacARTHUR

It’s wonderful when a person comes to Christ—they no longer are under the tyranny of sin and guilt or of lust and desire—and they no longer are under the bondage of a purposeless and meaningless kind of existence. Christ not only gives meaning to life, but also restores harmony to our spiritual lives by completely forgiving our sin. 

Now, what happens when someone does not want to establish a relationship with the living God through Jesus Christ? What happens when a person maintains the masquerade of Christmas, giving homage to an event, but not tolerating the individual in which that event finds its meaning? If receiving Jesus Christ results in an abundant and eternal life, then not receiving Jesus Christ results in receiving the curse of God. 

We find in this passage of John 8 some very alarming statements by Jesus. I must admit they make the passage a difficult thing for me to discuss, let alone understand. I sometimes want to cry out with Richard Baxter, “Oh, for an empty hell and a full heaven!” It is not my desire, nor is it Jesus’ desire, for anyone to enter hell, for God is “not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). It is not condemnation, but rather warning that Jesus speaks in these verses.

It ought to be brought to our attention that people who give lip service to Christianity while rejecting Christ are engaged in the most foolish kind of fun. It would be comparable to people having a party on the Lusitania, as they went on ignoring the reality of the German threat. If people really knew their eternal destinies were determined by Christ, whom they in actuality rejected, I doubt whether there would be much for them to celebrate.

The Bible makes clear that there is no neutrality on this issue. Jesus put it simply and succinctly when He said, “He who is not with Me is against Me” (Matt. 12:30). All the way back into the first set of writings that the Bible gives us, the Pentateuch, Moses establishes this pattern that continues all the way to the book of Revelation: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose” (Deut. 30:19). Here are the same two things that we see right through Scripture: life or death, blessing or cursing. 

Joshua 24:15 says, “Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Two options are given: serving the true God or serving false gods. 

John 3:18 says, “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already.” You only have two choices: you’re either condemned to hell or not condemned. And the crux of the issue is whether you believe. The reason for condemnation is given at the end of the verse: “because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

The book of Revelation closes with an invitation: “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost” (22:17). There again is the choice of choosing one of two ways.

The other day, one of my children asked me, “Daddy, is it true that there are only two places you can go when you die, heaven or hell?” And I said, “That’s true, only two, heaven or hell.” There is no neutral ground, no purgatory, and no waiting place. Hell may have different designations as to its final form and identity, but there are only two places—heaven, where God is, or hell, where God is not. You may have heard the old line, “He had nobody to blame but himself.” That is actually biblical. There may be a big theological argument about who is responsible when people get saved—whether it’s God, or whether men have anything to do with it—but there’s no question about who is responsible in the Bible when people go to hell, because it says that men choose.

Jesus substantiated the reality of man’s choice of hell when he confronted some of the Jews, saying, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life” (John 5:39–40). The responsibility for not choosing Christ belongs to us. In Romans 1:20 Paul says that men are without excuse.

John 16:8–9 says, “And He [the Holy Spirit], when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin . . . because they do not believe in Me.” To not believe in Christ is the sin of all sins.

The Lord condemns Jezebel, who was misleading the church at Thyatira, saying, “I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality” (Rev. 2:21). In other words, God has given the call to repentance, and when people do not repent and turn to Him in faith, that is their own fault and they are responsible for that decision. 

Now as we come to John 8, we notice in verse 21 a powerful statement on the part of Jesus, given to the Jewish leaders: “Then He said again to them, ‘I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.’” Here Jesus is making a very strong statement about the fact that He is going to heaven and they are not.

Already by the time we reach chapter 8, He can give such a warning because they have had enough information to have made a decision about Him. For eight chapters John has been chronicling the self- manifestation of God in Christ by recording the many wonders He had accomplished in Galilee and in Jerusalem. Furthermore, Jesus has said many astounding things: His claims to deity are clear—no one need mistake them. In fact, later on Jesus exhorts those Jews who were evaluating His ministry that they should believe Him for the words and the works that He had said and done (John 10:37–38; 14:10–11).

Throughout these chapters, we see His works and hear His words again and again. In chapter 1, He is introduced by John as God Incarnate, who “became flesh, and dwelt among us . . . the only begotten from the Father” (v. 14). In John 2 He performed His first miracle at Cana as He changed water into wine. In John 4, we see Him reveal a woman’s personal life, never having known her, and talk about the fact that He was the living water. In John 5, we hear His dialogue with the Pharisees as He claims to be God, who has been commissioned by His Father to make the ultimate judgment. In John 6, we see Him doing many miracles all day long, including feeding thousands of people on a hillside in Galilee. In John 7, He proceeds to Jerusalem and the things that He says there continue to support that He is God. In John 8, He forgives sin and claims to be the light of the world. All of these words and works, and signs and wonders, should have been sufficient to elicit genuine faith and confidence in who He was. And in the mind of Jesus, anyone who was seeing, hearing, and experiencing those things, yet not believing, alone bears the guilt of their own sin—they are without excuse.

Even though many had their physical needs met by Jesus Christ, they still rejected Him, not wanting to have to face the spiritual need for repentance and belief in Him. In Galilee, big crowds initially followed Him because He fed and healed them. But when He started laying down some principles of life and meddling in their sin, they stopped wanting to crown Him king. When He came to Jerusalem, the same thing happened: great crowds followed Him everywhere. But as He began to turn away from the physical to the spiritual and deal with the sin in the hearts of people, the crowds began to melt away until finally, the only crowd left was a group of Pharisees trying to figure out how to kill Him. Such a tragic rejection was epitomized in John’s words: “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). The Jews were responsible for their conclusions about Christ, as are you and I and every other person.

Though some did believe, John 7:40–41 tells us there were others who didn’t: “Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, ‘This certainly is the Prophet.’ Others were saying, ‘This is the Christ.’ Still others were saying, ‘Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He?’” To some who rejected Him Jesus said, “And you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life” (John 5:40). But they had no one to blame but themselves, as do all who have full revelation and yet turn away from the truth (Heb. 6:10).

Though the unbelief of the scribes and Pharisees was manifested in their desire to kill Jesus, John 8:20 says that “no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.” Held back by God from being able to take His life at this point, they are confronted by Jesus in verse 21: “I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.”

This confrontation reveals the tragic result of refusing Jesus Christ—dying in one’s sin. Jesus hinted at this in the previous chapter when He said, “‘For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.’ The Jews then said to one another, ‘Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He?’” (John 7:33–35). Whereas they were honestly confused about what He meant in chapter 7, in chapter 8 the Jews become cynical when Jesus repeats essentially the same warning: “So the Jews were saying, ‘Surely He will not kill Himself?’” (John 8:22). But their cynicism only serves to reveal their lack of understanding. Jesus was simply saying that He was going to go to the Father in heaven and that they would be unable to, because they would be in hell, having rejected Him. If they sought Him too late, their seeking would be in vain.

There is a limit to the grace God will bestow upon those who reject Him. Amos 8:11–12 says, “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord God, ‘when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the Lord. People will stagger from sea to sea and from the north even to the east; they will go to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.’” The same thing is true of His gospel about Christ.

In Proverbs 1:24–31 divine wisdom is personified turning away from those who would reject it: “Because I have called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention; and you neglected all my counsel and did not want my reproof; I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, when your dread comes like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but they will not find me, because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would not accept my counsel, they spurned all my reproof. So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices.” In other words, when the day of grace has ended, those who have rejected God’s wisdom will be responsible and will pay the consequences that they themselves have earned. It is like the prisoner who was instructed by the king to make a chain. Every day he added another link, until finally, they took him and bound him with his own chain. That is how it is with sinful people who reject Christ: they are producing in their life their own ultimate disaster.

Whereas Jesus’ death would take Him to the Father, the death of those who rejected Him would not, because of sin. Now what sin did Jesus have in mind when He told the Pharisees that they would die in their sin? It is the sin of rejecting Christ. John 16:8–9 says that the Holy Spirit will convict of sin because they did not believe in Christ. If you want to rationalize and say, “Well, I don’t commit any sins; I’m a very good person and I try to do everything I can,” it will be of no avail, because if you have never received Jesus Christ, that is the ultimate sin. That is why Jesus says that those who seek Him too late will die with unforgiven sin. That is the supreme disaster, because such a person is destined for hell.

The Jewish leaders did seek heaven all their life. But they sought it in the wrong place. Instead of seeking it at the feet of Jesus, they sought for it in their own self-righteousness. Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing a message about Christ. But instead of seeking it there, they sought it in their own books, laws, and rituals.

They not only sought it in the wrong place, but they sought it in the wrong way. In Romans 10:2 Paul says about the Jews, “For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.” They were seeking God according to their own system, and it was far from being a wholehearted search. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” The scribes and Pharisees didn’t give their whole heart to seeking God because they had devoted their whole heart to the proud propagation of their own self-righteousness.

So, many of the Jews were seeking in the wrong place, in the wrong way, and unfortunately, they would also be found seeking at the wrong time. I’m sure there have been countless people who, when it was far too late, started their search for heaven after the sentence had been passed on them for their continual rejection.

Jesus tried to convey the fearfulness of hell with some of His parables. For instance, in Matthew 13:40–43 Jesus said, “Just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” There are only two places to spend eternity: hell, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, or heaven, where you shine as the sun. And Jesus says that if you have ears, then you had better listen. It’s a fearful warning.

When Jesus warns the Jews in this passage, He is not brutalizing them by sovereignly ending their choice or putting an end to all possibility of salvation for them. He is merely warning them of the consequence of their current choice. When you hear people criticize God for speaking negatively like this, saying that God is not a loving God, don’t believe it for a minute. God is so merciful and so loving that He warns us. No one ever went to hell who didn’t choose to go there. But God isn’t going to force Himself eternally on someone who doesn’t want Him.

Now, there are four elements that I see in John 8:21–30 that show how a person can die in his sin.

ISRAEL-GOD'S SUPER SIGN OF THE END TIMES

ISRAEL-GOD'S SUPER SIGN OF THE END TIMES

THE DISPENSATIONS

THE DISPENSATIONS

GOD'S COVENANTS WITH ISRAEL

GOD'S COVENANTS WITH ISRAEL

THE ETERNAL STATE

THE ETERNAL STATE

THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT

THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT

KEY EVENTS OF THE MILLENNIUM

KEY EVENTS OF THE MILLENNIUM

FROM THE JUDGMENT INTO THE MILLENNIUM

FROM THE JUDGMENT INTO THE MILLENNIUM

THE CONDEMNATION FOR THOSE WITHOUT CHRIST

THE CONDEMNATION FOR THOSE WITHOUT CHRIST

To cry out in protest to God is a useless defense, isn’t it? The will of God is to receive Christ as Lord and Savior. And those who haven’t done so cry out in horror. Then the Judge speaks again in Matthew 7:23 and we see the condemnation of those without Christ: “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” 

“Profess” is an interesting word; the Greek word for it (homologia) means “to openly proclaim.” Here Christ openly proclaims that He does not know them. That same word is used in Matthew 10:32, where Jesus says, “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.” If you’re not willingly, openly proclaiming Christ here on earth, then He will not openly proclaim you in heaven. Instead He says, “I never knew you.”

Now we come to one of the most important concepts in all of Scripture, represented by the word “know.” From time to time you might find me repeating this concept because it’s so critical. What does it mean for God to know someone and not know someone else? We know that doesn’t mean He’s not aware of people. We know He’s not saying, “I don’t know who you are.” He knows who everyone is. He numbers the hairs of everyone’s head; He knows when a sparrow falls (Matt. 10:29–30). He knows everything there is to know.

So what does Christ mean when He says, “I never knew you”? Second Timothy 2:19 gives us the key: “The Lord knows those who are His.” What does that mean—what is he trying to say? The word “know” in Scripture implies a unique love relationship. In Amos 3:2 God says, “You [Israel] only have I chosen [lit., “known”].” Now is Israel the only nation God knew about? No, He knew about every nation. What was He saying? He was saying, “I have an intimate relationship with Israel.”

In the Old Testament the concept of a man and a woman coming together in a relationship that produces a child is spoken of as a man “knowing” his wife. For example, Genesis 4:17 says, “Cain had relations with [lit., “knew”] his wife.” We don’t assume he knew his wife in the pure sense of just knowing her—that’s obvious or he wouldn’t have married her in the beginning if he hadn’t known her in that way. It has to be more than that. The verse goes on to say, “She conceived, and gave birth to Enoch.” In other words, to “know” refers to the most unique human love relationship possible.

You may remember that the Bible says that Joseph had not known Mary (cf. Matt. 1:18, 25). That’s what shook him up so much when he discovered Mary was pregnant. He had a choice of either stoning her or putting her away properly because she was pregnant and he had never known her. The word “know” in a human realm implies a unique love relationship between two people. In terms of God’s relationship, the same thing is true. Paul says in Galatians 4:9 that believers are “known by God.” The beauty of our intimacy with God is that it’s likened to a man knowing his wife. And that’s what we see in Scripture: God refers to Israel as his wife (cf. Hosea 1–3) and the church is seen as the bride and Christ the bridegroom (cf. Eph. 5:25–32).

We have an intimate love relationship with God. It’s illustrated beautifully for us in the words of Christ in John 10:14, “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own.” As I read this passage, I’m going to substitute the word “love” for “know.” “I am the good shepherd, and I love My own and My own love Me, even as the Father loves Me and I love the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. . . . My sheep hear My voice, and I love them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (vv. 14–15, 27–29).

Do you see the beauty and intimacy of the love relationship we have with Jesus Christ? In Romans 11:2 the apostle Paul says, “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.” God predetermined a love relationship with you if you’re a Christian. In the counsel of God, by the sovereign act of His will, He foreordained that you should be a child of God (Eph. 1:4). You have a predetermined love relationship with God just as Israel did, and still does. The intimacy of that love relationship is so beautiful that God speaks of it in the most magnificent of human terms: the consummation of love between a man and a woman. When God says, “I know My sheep”; when Christ says, “I know you,” that means you and I have an intimate love relationship with them. What a glorious thought!

But to these who do not have that love relationship, He says, “I never knew you.” They had no such predetermined love relationship. They had no such relationship as a sheep and a shepherd or as a bride and a bridegroom. To be outside that special love relationship is to suffer His judgment, “Depart from Me.” What a tragedy! Christ reiterates those harsh words at the time of judgment in Matthew 25:41, “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.”

How sad it is that the final picture of judgment is a tragic picture of sadness. The unbelieving of all the ages are brought before God, Jesus Christ reiterates the condition for the kingdom, to do the will of God, and they cry out, those who have been separated, “But we’ve done all these things in Your name.” But the Judge speaks finally and says, “You’re condemned because we never had a love relationship.”

Christianity is not a formality. Christianity is not a religion—it is a personal love relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you have that love relationship? Do you know that same Christ? 

I close with this illustration. There was an actor at a drawing room function who was asked to recite something for the audience. He stood up and being gracious to his audience said, “I’ll recite anything you would like me to recite.” No one suggested anything at first. But an old preacher who happened to be there, sitting in the back of the room, stood up and said, “I’d like to hear you recite the Twenty-third Psalm.”

Well, the actor was a little shocked at that, but he had made himself available to recite anything that was requested, so he did what the man asked. He happened to know the psalm, so he said he would recite it. He repeated the Twenty-third Psalm with complete eloquence—it was a masterful interpretation. His diction was beautiful. When he finished, the entire room of people erupted into spontaneous applause. 

The actor, figuring he’d get back at the old gentleman for suggesting he recite something from the Bible, said, “Now, sir, I’d like to hear you recite it.” The old gentleman hadn’t bargained for that. But because of his love for Christ he stood up and repeated the Twenty-third Psalm. His voice cracked, it broke, and it wasn’t very beautiful. The interpretation wasn’t really that good either. When he finished there was no applause, but there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

The actor, sensing his own emotion, stood up and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I reached your eyes and ears, and he reached your heart. The difference is this: I know the psalm; he knows the Shepherd.”

THE CRY OF THOSE REFUSED ENTRANCE TO THE KINGDOM

THE CRY OF THOSE REFUSED ENTRANCE TO THE KINGDOM

Now look at the cry of those refused entrance in Matthew 7:22: “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’” The cry of the people is an outburst. When Christ in judgment says that not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” is in, suddenly there’s an outburst—a plea from the hearts of those people. They cry out and say, “But we’ve done all these things.” Many people are going to hell, eternally disappointed because they thought their religious performance was enough to save them. 

Millions of people depend on their morality, their good deeds, their baptism, their church membership, even their religious feelings. There will be many church workers in hell, many pastors, and sad to say, many teachers in so-called religious schools. I’m sure many of them are going to say to Christ, “Christ, it’s us, we prophesied in Your name.” But Jesus will tear off the sheepskin and lay bare the ravening wolf. That’s exactly what He’s been talking about in Matthew 7:15–20, where He reveals the false prophets—those who claim to have reality and have it not.

Luke 13:25–30 adds tremendous weight to this point: “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers.’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last.” What a picture of that same day—of those who are cast out because all they had was the name of Christ without the reality of faith in Him. How sad to see them outside crying to gain entrance.

I’m reminded of the people in the days of Noah who must have been doing much the same thing. They were banging on the doors of the ark trying to let Noah know they finally believed what he said was true. They wanted to come in but they could not.

Do you have only a form of godliness? Do you know the Lord personally? Do you see yourself at the Great White Throne with your feeble excuses? Jesus told Nicodemus, “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). What does it mean to be born again? It simply means receive Jesus Christ and believe God to make you a new creation, born eternally into His family. 

When Nicodemus came to Christ he had a lot to commend himself for. He was a religious man; he was the teacher in Israel. You would think with all the religious steps he had taken, Christ would have said, “Nicodemus, you’re such a great guy, you’ve gone so far, you’ve had such a fantastic life, you’ve done many wonderful things, all you need to do is take one more giant step and you’re in.” But Christ was really saying, “Nicodemus, you’ve done everything there is to do religiously. Now forget it all, go back and be a baby—be born all over again.” He didn’t need to take another step in the process; he had to start from the beginning.

THE CONDITION FOR ENTRANCE TO THE KINGDOM

THE CONDITION FOR ENTRANCE TO THE KINGDOM

Then the silence is pierced by the words of Jesus Christ, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). Here we have, first of all, the condition for entrance to the kingdom.

What is that condition? How do men enter the kingdom of God? How can they be in a vital relationship with God? Well, first of all, it’s not the ones who say, “Lord, Lord”—it’s those who do the will of God who enter. Matthew 25:1–13 is a very interesting story of ten virgins invited to a feast. Five of them came and had prepared beforehand by bringing oil and having it in their lamps. The other five were foolish and did not prepare. In Matthew 25:11 the door is shut and the five left on the outside say, “Lord, lord, open up for us.” But the Lord of the feast says, “Truly I say to you, I do not know you.”

The virgins were all invited to the feast—they had heard the gospel, in a sense, symbolically. They had heard the proclamation, “Come to the feast.” This is an illustration of God’s call to the world. They were prepared to the extent that they had their lamps. They even had the right clothes on. They even arrived at the meeting house. But they didn’t get in. Their cry is similar to Matthew 7:21, “Lord, lord, open up for us.” But He says it is not those who say, “Lord, Lord,” but those who do His will.

What a solemn warning! At the end of that parable Christ says, “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour” (Matt. 25:13).

Hosea illustrates this in Hosea 8:2. Hosea’s people were just about at the bottom historically. Israel had hit the skids and by the time you get to Hosea’s prophecy, he is ranting and raving about their lack of knowledge, saying, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (4:6). He says that they don’t have any reality on the inside. He likens them to the early morning dew that evaporates (6:4). They don’t have any substance. They have neglected and forsaken God. They don’t even go near the house of God.

By the time you come to 8:1–2, Hosea paints the picture of a vulture. (It’s translated “eagle” but it’s the Hebrew word for vulture.) The image is a vulture swooping over the house of God. And it symbolizes the fact that with all the religious activity in Israel, the real truth was that the place was dead and that’s why the vulture was swooping over it. There was nothing there but a dead carcass. Israel forsook God’s temple as the symbol of her relationship to Him and instead she became a tragedy—a picture of a flying vulture testifying to the fact that judgment was coming. Hosea goes on to prophesy that Israel will be crushed because of her neglect of God.

Israel was still religious. Israel still had religious feelings. The people still went through some of the motions, but they were dead. There was no reality to their religion, only a formality. What do they say in response to Hosea? “My God, we of Israel know You.” It’s just like Matthew 7:21, “Lord, Lord, it’s us. What do You mean by judging us; we know You, it’s us. My God,” they cry out, “it’s us.” What a tragedy. But God doesn't know them. That particular generation of people had set aside their relationship with God as a result of their own desires.

You can see that it’s not those who wish to enter the kingdom who get in necessarily. It’s not even those who ask to enter that get in. It’s not enough to ask; it’s not enough to wish; it is enough to be obedient. God has set up certain rules for entrance to the kingdom; they must be obeyed or there is no entrance. You may want to enter to such a degree that you come to church and you get involved, but not too involved. Unless you come by way of Jesus Christ, you cannot enter. All your religious activities and all your rituals are meaningless. Peter said in Acts 4:12, “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” There is no other name other than Jesus Christ.

There was a blind man on a bridge in London. He was reading his Braille Bible. And as he was reading in Acts 4:12, he lost his place with his fingers. Being oblivious to anyone around him because of his blindness, he kept running his fingers over the same phrase, “No other name . . . no other name . . . no other name.” A group of people who had gathered around him as he stumbled over the words began to mock him and laugh at him as he fumbled with his Bible. There was another man standing on the edge of the crowd, not mocking but listening. That man walked away that night, went home, fell on his knees, and invited Christ into his life. Later he testified in a meeting that what brought him to Jesus Christ was a blind man on a bridge stumbling over the words, “No other name . . . no other name . . . no other name.”

It is only through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that you or I or anyone will ever enter the kingdom of God. We can’t enter through our religious emotion or our sanctified feelings. It is only through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Lip profession is no good—there must be obedience. And in the statement, “Lord, Lord,” you get the idea that these people are surprised—in fact they’re shocked. “You mean we’re not even getting in?” But remember what Jesus Christ says in Luke 6:46, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

The following verse is on an old slab in the cathedral of Lübeck, Germany: “Thus speaketh Christ our Lord unto us, ye call Me Master and obey Me not, ye call Me Light and see Me not, ye call Me Way and walk Me not, ye call Me Life and desire Me not, ye call Me Wise and follow Me not, ye call Me Fair and love Me not, ye call Me Rich and ask Me not, ye call Me Eternal and seek Me not, ye call Me Gracious and trust Me not, ye call Me Noble and serve Me not, ye call Me Mighty and honor Me not, ye call Me Just and fear Me not; if I condemn you, blame Me not.”

God has established the requirement for entrance to the kingdom of heaven. It has nothing to do with a building; it has everything to do with Jesus Christ. Calling Christ “Lord” or anything else is not enough; doing the will of God is the answer.

You say, “Well what is the will of God?” Paul told Timothy that “God our Savior . . . desires all men to be saved” (1 Tim. 2:4). That’s the will of God. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). That’s God’s will. In John 6:40 Christ says, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on the last day.” John 1:12 says, “But as many as received Him, to them gave He the right to become children of God.” God’s will is for you to receive Christ. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him,” and that means faith in Jesus Christ. You don’t get into the kingdom by sincerity, by religiosity, by reformation, by kindness, by service to the church, not even by simply naming the name of Christ; you get there only by personal trust and faith in Christ.

HOW TO PLAY CHURCH (PART 2)

HOW TO PLAY CHURCH (PART 2)

A church that is real, living, and vital is communicating the gospel to dead people, and the gospel alone can make them alive. That’s the mission of the church. There is no way biblically that the church can ever court the world. The church must be the conscience of the world. The church must be so well defined in fulfilling its role that it becomes the antagonist of the world. For those outside of Jesus Christ, the pew in the church should be the most uncomfortable seat in the world because we present a gospel that divides. But when the church courts the world, it dies—the Sardis church thought it was alive but it was courting the world, so it wasn’t alive, it was dead (Rev. 3:1).

The duty of the church is not only to teach saints but also to warn men of God’s standards. We’ve got to proclaim that man is a sinner, that he’s separated from a holy God, and that in the eyes of God he’s an object of God’s judgment—he’s a child of wrath, as Paul says in Ephesians 2:13. To boldly proclaim the truth about Jesus Christ and the truth about man in his sin is to divide.

The true church of Jesus Christ is not a religious institution that welcomes everyone; it is the body of Jesus Christ set apart to God, uniquely married and wedded to Christ, and redeemed by faith. No one outside of that redemption can be a part of it. The requirement for the church and our task as a people is to warn those who have not received Christ, to warn them in love but to warn them nonetheless that they are in danger of the terror of the Lord. This is our task.

This is not a warning to people outside the church. This is a warning to us who are involved in the church to be sure we are real. The only way we can ever be united and become one as Christ prayed we might is when we all are real in Christ.

Notice the scene in Matthew 7:22 and the phrase “on that day.” That’s important because it is a reference to a particular day that is coming when Christ is going to judge. The idea of “on that day” in the Bible is connected with judgment, and this is a picture of that day. A similar reference to “the day” appears in 1 Corinthians 3:13 in connection with the time of the judgment of believers. It appears frequently in various places in the Bible in connection with divine judgment of unbelievers (cf. Isa. 2:12; Joel 2:1; Mal. 4:5; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10).

In other words, they had no faith to commend them—all they could base their lives on was their works. If you know anything about that you know the Bible says, “By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified” (Rom. 3:20).

In Matthew 7:21–23 we are taken to the final judgment. We are at the Great White Throne seeing some of the people who are confronting Christ at that time. They are saying to Him, “Lord, Lord, here we are, we are the ones who were the religious people.” Peter calls this day “the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” (2 Pet. 3:7). The phrase “ungodly men” may seem difficult in view of the fact that these are religious people. There is an awesome silence at this judgment. 

HOW TO PLAY CHURCH (Part 1)

HOW TO PLAY CHURCH (Part 1)

Matthew 7:21–23

JOHN MacARTHUR

I want to look at Matthew 7:21–23 and talk about “How to Play Church,” or how the false church becomes incorporated within the true church: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

Matthew 13 tells us that the church age is going to be strange. In Matthew 12:22–31 the Pharisees and those connected with them had committed the unpardonable sin of attributing to Satan the works of Christ. Jesus said He could forgive them for anything but not that. In other words, it was as if He was saying, “If you've seen all the things I've done, if you've seen all the miracles and heard everything I've said, and all you can conclude is I do them by the power of Satan, you’re beyond the possibility of believing. If you've received all this revelation and haven’t accepted it, there isn't any more you can have. To follow Me, to see Me, to watch Me, to listen to Me and conclude it’s satanic puts you out of the possibility of belief.”

He says that in the church age there are going to be wheat and tares, which are the true and false believers. They’re going to be so hard to tell apart that you won’t be able to choose until God, who is the final judge, decides between them.

The mustard seed illustration gives the idea that the church will explode in great numbers, but will include the real and unreal, true and false believers.

They’re dead mainly because the people in them are dead. They’re dead spiritually. Paul said in Ephesians 2:1, “You were dead in your trespasses and sins.” Consequently, dead people are going to constitute a dead church. The church is not suffering or dying today because of attacks from the outside; Satan doesn't need to waste time on them—the people are already dead on the inside.

But on the other hand, a living church—a church that knows Jesus Christ and proclaims His gospel—is always going to be under attack because that kind of a church will be the conscience of the community.

THE 75 DAY INTERVAL

THE 75 DAY INTERVAL

THE CAMPAIGN OF ARMAGEDDON

THE CAMPAIGN OF ARMAGEDDON

Christ is never the author of abuse.

Christ is never the author of abuse. 

The Bible teaches us that some hardships are specifically ordained by God for the purpose of our growth and refining. Child abuse is not one of them. When you are trying to discern whether God or Satan is the author of a hardship, one of your best clues is whether sin is involved. God never entices us to sin, nor does He employ sin or perversion as a means of molding us into the image of Christ. Impossible! 

- BETH MOORE

BOWL JUDGMENTS

BOWL JUDGMENTS

PSALM 2:1

PSALM 2:1

1 Why do the nations rebel
and the peoples plot in vain? (HCSB)

This passage has multiple meanings. Originally it referred to the nations that confronted David and his legitimate successors. But the Davidic kings were mere shadows of the coming great King, the Savior, Jesus. Consequently, the verse also refers to any attack on Jesus and His divine kingdom. This assault by the nations occurred in its most dramatic form at the cross, but resistance to God’s kingdom has continued. Throughout history, nations have resisted the claims of the gospel, the foundation of Jesus’kingdom.

TRUMPET JUDGMENTS

TRUMPET JUDGMENTS

SEAL JUDGMENTS

SEAL JUDGMENTS

THE TRIBULATION

THE TRIBULATION

THE SEVENTH SAYING—COMMIT YOURSELF TO GOD

THE SEVENTH SAYING—COMMIT YOURSELF TO GOD 

In Luke 23:46 Jesus cried out, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Jesus died entrusting Himself to the promised care of God. We are to live the same way, casting all our anxieties upon God because He cares for us (1 Pet. 5:7). That means you must put your life, your death, and your destiny in His hands. That is what is meant by a life of faith—a life of complete trust in God.

God promised to raise Christ from the grave (Ps. 16:10). Jesus knew that promise because He often affirmed that He would suffer and die but rise again (Matt. 16:21; 26:32; Mark 9:9, 31; John 2:19). Based on God’s promise, He committed Himself to God’s care. That’s the only way to live—to commit your life to God.

We are to live totally committed to God. Romans 12:1 says we are to present ourselves to God as living sacrifices. That means all that we are is His and we trust Him for the outcome. First Peter 2:23 says Jesus “kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.” He gave Himself to God no matter how great the pain, how much the hostility, or how difficult the task. He knew God would do what was right, judge righteously, and bring to pass what He had promised. He was willing to face death and hell (1 Pet. 2:3) because He knew God would not fail Him. That’s the kind of confident trust we’re to have.

The Lord Jesus Christ lived a perfect life and died a perfect death. Both are a supreme example to us. His last words summed up the greatest elements of life: we are to forgive those who sin against us, give the truth to damned souls who are lost without it, love selflessly and show compassion to others, understand the serious implications of sin, admit our weakness and allow others to meet our needs, finish the work God gives us to do, and rest assuredly in the hands of a caring God whose promises are sure.

As a result of Christ’s perfect life and death, God raised Him from the dead. Then He set Him at His right hand in glory. That was God’s affirmation of the perfect Person and work of His Son, and it affirms He will raise those who are perfect.

For anyone who’s honest, that doesn’t necessarily sound like good news. We aren’t always faithful evangelists. We are often insensitive to the pain and needs of others, and naive regarding sin’s destructive power. Pride keeps us from living dependently. Laziness keeps us from finishing God’s work. We often find ourselves trusting only what we can see. So we know we are imperfect, and it is mankind’s failure to live perfectly that makes all mankind fit for hell.

What hope can we have in that light? Hebrews 10:14 says, “By one offering [Jesus Christ] has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” Christ was the only perfect God/Man. God has graciously provided that we may be given the perfection of Christ, and through Him approach God in perfection.

Christians often say they are in Christ because they understand that if they weren’t in Him, God wouldn’t raise them to glory. His perfection becomes ours when we receive Him as Savior—His righteousness clothes us and His perfection hides us. Because of our identity with Christ, God will raise us to glory and seat us on the throne with Christ. That’s the good news of the gospel.

That doesn’t mean Christians are perfect in this life. We still struggle with sin in this life, but we look forward to perfection in heaven. In the meantime we are covered by the perfection of Christ, and are being progressively conformed to His image (2 Cor. 3:18).

Because Christ has covered us with His perfection, we ought to do all we can to live as perfectly as possible—to forgive, evangelize, and love as He did. Our desire to be free from sin should be as great as His. We should depend on others, finish our appointed work, and totally trust God in the way He did. By doing all that, we will not earn perfection, but we’ll live up to the perfection we received from Christ when we received Him as Savior. That’s the gospel.

THE SIXTH SAYING—FINISH WHAT YOU START

THE SIXTH SAYING—FINISH WHAT YOU START 

In John 19:30 Jesus says, “It is finished!” (Gk., tetelestai). That is a triumphant pronouncement. The principle here is Christ died completing the work God gave Him to do.

It is one thing to end your life, yet another to finish it. To say your life is over may mean something far different than to say your work is done. I saw that principle in operation during the Los Angeles Marathon: everyone started and everyone stopped, but not everyone finished.

For most people life ends but their work is not done. When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He meant He had finished His redeeming work. He came into this world “to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Heb. 9:26) and He did just that. He bore our sins in His own body and dealt Satan a blow to the head (Gen. 3:15). Just as Christ finished perfectly what God gave Him to do, so must we. We must be more concerned with the work God has called us to do than the pain the work takes us through. Jesus endured the pain because He could see the result (Heb. 12:2). That’s always the price of doing the work of God, to be able to move through the pain and through the difficulty to do the work. 

Paul faithfully followed Jesus’ example. Therefore at the end of his life he could say, “I have finished the course” (2 Tim. 4:7). Yet in the same statement Paul affirmed it wasn’t easy: he had to fight to finish. That’s the way we’re to live. Don’t live your life just until it ends; live to finish the work God has given you to do.

THE FIFTH SAYING—DEPEND ON OTHERS

THE FIFTH SAYING—DEPEND ON OTHERS 

In John 19:28 Jesus says, “I am thirsty.” Christ experienced the conditions of true humanity. His statement didn’t mean He was thirsty for God, but that He was thirsty for something to drink. He needed a drink and He couldn’t get it for Himself. Jesus depended on others, and we need to do the same.

Because Christ is familiar with human need, He is a sympathetic high priest (Heb. 2:17–18). The New Testament affirms that Christ was fully man: there were times when He was weary. There were times when He was hungry. There were times when He was sleepy. There were times when He was happy. There were times when He was grieved. There were times when He was groaning. He felt all the emotion of human life. And when He was hungry He needed food, and when He was sleepy He needed a place to lie down, and when He was thirsty He needed a drink and He depended on others to meet His needs. Sometimes those needs were met by Mary and Martha, sometimes by His mother. Like Jesus, we must be willing to show our human weaknesses and learn to live dependently.

THE FOURTH SAYING—REALIZE THE SERIOUSNESS OF SIN

THE FOURTH SAYING—REALIZE THE SERIOUSNESS OF SIN 

In Matthew 27:46 comes the saying with the most pathos: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Jesus died understanding the seriousness of sin. He died resenting its implications. Sin separates from God. “Forsaken” is one of the most painful words that a person could use to describe himself—alone and desolate. Jesus was forsaken. His cry meant, “My God, My God, with whom I have had eternal unbroken fellowship, why have You deserted Me?” Against that background of eternal intimacy, Christ’s forsakenness has profound significance. Sin is seen to do what nothing else in the universe could do. Men couldn’t separate the Father from the Son; demons couldn’t; Satan couldn’t. But sin caused the Son to suffer the most devastating reality in the universe—separation from God. He who was in the Father and the Father in Him, He who was one with the Father and the Father one with Him, He who had enjoyed eternally uninterrupted, perfect communion within the Trinity is now forsaken by God. Why? Because He’s bearing sin, and sin separates.

God is too holy to look on sin (Hab. 1:13). As a result, sin alienates man from God. When Christ bore our sin on the cross, He reached the climax of His suffering. The soldiers had mocked Him—crushed a crown of thorns on His head, scourged Him, struck Him, spit in His face, and pulled out the hairs of His beard. Even when suffering pain beyond description—His hands and feet pierced—He endured the cross and its shame in silence. Though taunted by the vulgar crowd, and suffering the curses of those crucified beside Him, He had not answered back. But when God forsook Him, Christ experienced a pain beyond even all that, and He cried out in agony.

No earthly struggle, trial, or trouble should come close to the distress our own sin should cause us because it will separate you from God. Like Christ, believers are to be profoundly anguished by the separation caused by sin. Jesus experienced personally the searing pain sin brings because it separated Him from the Father. We must understand the implications of our sin—that it wrenches us away from God.

THE THIRD SAYING—MEET THE NEEDS OF OTHERS

THE THIRD SAYING—MEET THE NEEDS OF OTHERS 

John 19:26–27 says, “Woman, behold, your son . . . [Son,] behold, your mother!” Jesus died expressing selfless love. Standing at the foot of His cross was a group of five people far different from the mocking crowd. Along with the apostle John was Mary, the mother of our Lord, who was experiencing the full force of Simeon’s prophecy many years before that her soul would be pierced through because of Jesus (Luke 2:34–35). Bound by love to the cross of her son, she stood suffering in weak silence. Beside her stood Salome—possibly her sister, the mother of James and John. There was also Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene out of whom Jesus had cast demons (Mark 15:40; Luke 8:2–3; John 19:25). It seems fitting that the name Mary means “bitterness” in Hebrew.

The Romans crucified people close to the ground, so it is reasonable to assume that John and the women could have touched Him—perhaps they did. They were able to get near enough to hear Him speak softly. When Jesus said, “Woman, behold, your son,” He didn’t call her mother because that relationship was over. Similarly, when He began His ministry He identified her as “woman” (at the wedding in Cana; John 2:4). On the cross she was reminded again that she needed to understand Jesus, not as her son but as her Savior. Yet His intent was not to call attention to Himself, but to commit His mother to the care of John, and John to the care of His mother.

As Christ was dying, His mother was on His heart. Out of the crowd at the foot of the cross, Jesus’ mother was perhaps the neediest of all. It is likely that Joseph had died by this time, or Jesus wouldn’t have had to make such a commitment. And He couldn’t commit her to His half-brothers since they didn’t believe in Him (John 7:5). He would not have committed the care of His believing mother into the hands of His unbelieving relatives.

Once again we see Christ’s selfless love. On the cross He experienced the weight of the world’s sins, the agony of the cross, and the wrath of almighty God—a far greater internal pain than His external pain. Yet in the midst of His pain He showed compassion. His thoughts were directed towards someone else, a demonstration of the purity of His character. That’s how we are to live—never so overwhelmed with our own pain that we lose sight of the needs of others (cf. Phil. 2:4).

THE SECOND SAYING—REACH OUT TO OTHERS

THE SECOND SAYING—REACH OUT TO OTHERS

In Luke 23:43 Jesus says, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” Two thieves were crucified with Christ—one to His right and the other to His left. In response to the request of one thief—“Jesus, remember me when You come in Your Kingdom!” (Luke 23:42)—Jesus replied, “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” Our Lord died bringing the truth of eternal life to a damned soul.

It’s hard to imagine how Christ, hanging on a cross, feeling the venomous hate of His persecutors, and bearing the punishment of all who would believe throughout the ages, could at the same time be immediately concerned with the salvation of one sinner. But He was. Christ was never too preoccupied to not be interested in leading someone to salvation. His life commitment was to bring men and women to God.

The conversion of that thief is both remarkable and dramatic. At that moment, what was so convincing about Jesus? There wasn’t yet an outward sign that He was the Christ of God, Savior of the world, the Messiah, and the coming King. From a human standpoint, He was but a victim. He was dying because He had been totally rejected. At the time of the thief’s conversion no one was saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). There was none to affirm that Jesus was the Son of God—even His friends had forsaken Him. He was weak, in disgrace, and in a position of extreme shame. His crucifixion would have been considered totally inconsistent with anything related to the Messiah. His lowly condition is a stumbling block to the Jews from the very first, and the circumstances of His death can only intensify that. In fact, the thief speaks to Christ and Christ to him before any of the supernatural phenomena occur that might have convinced him that this was a work of God. The earth had not yet quaked (Matt. 27:51), the darkness had not yet come (Mark 15:33), graves had not yet opened (Matt. 27:52), and the centurion had not yet said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54).

In the most unfavorable and unconvincing circumstances imaginable, the thief was convinced that Jesus Christ was the Savior. Although at first he joined his companion in mocking Christ (Matt. 27:38, 44), he obviously had a change of heart and rebuked the other thief by affirming Christ’s sinlessness (Luke 23:40–41). In asking Jesus to remember him, he was pleading for forgiveness. Therefore he understood Christ’s sinlessness and His identity as Savior. His request that Jesus remember him when coming into His kingdom shows that the thief affirmed Christ’s resurrection and Second Coming—he knew that death wasn’t the end. The request also indicates he understood Christ’s sovereignty—all affirmed under the most unlikely of circumstances.

How was it possible for the thief to come to Christ under those conditions? There’s perhaps no clearer illustration that salvation is not a work of man, but the sovereign work of God. God—not circumstance—moved on the thief’s heart to convince him of the truth about Jesus Christ. Too often, professing Christians seek to account for salvation by the cleverness of human influence and instrumentality, or pointing to favorable circumstances, rather than attributing it to the matchless grace of God. Some think salvation happens because the preacher spoke well, or as a direct result of prayer. But while salvation may indirectly result from those factors, it is the direct result of God’s intervening grace.

When God shattered the darkness of that thief’s heart, he believed. But nonetheless it was through Christ who was sensitive to be used of God to bring a damned soul to salvation. 

Christ’s desire for the salvation of sinners was constant. He came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). Paul wrote that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). He accomplished that even while dying on a cross. He is our example for reaching out to others with the truth of the gospel. He died forgiving those who sinned against Him, and He died bringing the truth of eternal life to a damned soul. That’s how to live. 

A LOOK AT THE SEVEN SAYINGS ON THE CROSS: THE FIRST SAYING—FORGIVE OTHERS

JESUS’ DEATH SHOWS US HOW TO LIVE:

A LOOK AT THE SEVEN SAYINGS ON THE CROSS

1 Peter 2:21

JOHN MacARTHUR

I want to call your attention to 1 Peter 2:21, which says, “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.”

Many understand that the life of Christ is an example for Christians to follow. But I daresay most people would not assume that the death of Christ is an example, and yet that is exactly what Peter says it is—that Christ in suffering and dying has left us an example we are to follow. The Bible tells us He was the perfect man—born without sin, committing no sin, holy, innocent, undefiled, and separate from sinners. In life He is our perfect example. We are to be holy as He was holy, pure as He was pure, gentle as He was gentle, wise as He was wise, and humble as He was humble. Christ was obedient to God, and we are to imitate His example. Our service should be like His, and our attitude toward the world should reflect His attitude toward it. We understand that the life of Christ was an exemplary life. Few people would argue that. 

But the issue before us in 1 Peter 2:21 is that Christ is our example, not only in the way He lived, but also in His death. So often we learn more about the character of a person by how he dies than by how he lived.

The truest revelation of ourselves generally comes in the time of deepest trial. Trial reveals character; adversity reveals virtue—or the lack thereof. Generally the greater the trouble, the purer the revelation of what we truly are. I find I don’t feel I really know a person if I’ve known him or her only during the good times. It is the trying times that reveal character. It is also true that we find then the purest, truest revelation of the character of Jesus Christ in the time of His greatest trial. We find that Jesus—in His dying moments—was as perfect as He was during His life. His dying only confirms the perfect char- acter He manifested in His living.

In His death Jesus teaches us how to live. We often look at His dying moments and observe that His death illustrates the seriousness of sin and the need for a Savior to pay the price for our iniquity. We recognize that by His substitutionary death, He died in our place. But Peter said that there’s even more to the cross than that. Christ died not only for us, but also as an example to us. He died to show us how to live.

Now how are we going to know anything about Him in His death? How is His character revealed? It could not be revealed by what He did—He was nailed to a cross and unable to do anything. It cannot be revealed to us in something He thinks because we can’t read His thoughts. The character of Christ was revealed in His dying by what He said. From the earliest years the church has celebrated the death and resurrection of Christ by remembering His last seven sayings on the cross. What He said in dying becomes principles for living. 

THE FIRST SAYING—FORGIVE OTHERS 

In Luke 23:34 Jesus says, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Christ died forgiving those who sinned against Him. That is a principle to live by. In His dying Jesus revealed His forgiving heart, even after a lifetime of experiencing mankind’s worst treatment. Christ made the world and came into it, but the world would not acknowledge Him. Eyes blinded by sin did not want Him and saw no beauty in Him. His birth in a stable foreshadowed the treatment He would receive from mankind throughout His life. Shortly after His birth, King Herod tried to have Him killed, which was only the beginning of mankind’s lifelong hostility toward Him. Again and again His enemies sought His destruction. Their vile treachery reached its climax at the cross. The Son of God has yielded Himself into their hands and they are in the process of executing Him.

Christ’s forgiveness of His executioners came after a mock trial of trumped-up accusations. The judge admitted he found no fault in Him, but used Him to appease a clamoring crowd. Because no ordinary death would satisfy the implacable foes of Jesus, they made sure that He died the most painful, intense, and shameful death imaginable—that of hanging on a cross.

His forgiveness came as He hung on the cross, the victim (from a human perspective) of the hatred, animosity, bitterness, vengeance, and vile wickedness of men and demons. From a human standpoint, we would naturally expect Him to cry out to God for pity, or shake His fist in the face of God for His unfair execution. If we wrote the story, we might show Him crying maledictions and threats of vengeance upon His killers. But the Son of God did none of that. 

The first thing He says is a prayer—a prayer to God to forgive those who were taking His life. And underlying His prayer for forgiveness is an understanding of the wretchedness of the human heart: “For they do not know what they are doing” (v. 34). Jesus understood the sinfulness of men and the blindness of the human heart. He was painfully aware of the ignorance of depravity. He knew His executioners understood neither the identity of their victim nor the enormity of their crime. They didn’t know they were killing the Prince of Life, their Creator. They didn’t know they were slaughtering the Messiah.

Christ’s executioners needed forgiveness. The only way they could be ushered into the presence of a holy God and ever experience the joy that God gives one who is in fellowship with Him was if their sins were forgiven. Christ prayed for the most profound need of His killers. He was more concerned that His wicked murderers be forgiven than in seeking vengeance. That is the magnanimous heart of Christ. That is the truest revelation of a pure heart, for a pure heart seeks no vengeance. While “being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Pet. 2:23).

Forgiveness is man’s greatest need. It is the only way we can enter into fellowship with God and avoid hell, and that’s why Jesus prayed for it. We need to recognize that apart from Christ we are sinners, unfit for the presence of a holy God. Noble ideals, good resolutions, and excellent rules to live by are useless if sin isn’t dealt with. It is of no use to attempt to develop a beautiful character and aim to do that which will meet with God’s approval while there is sin between you and God. It would be the same as fitting shoes to paralyzed feet or buying glasses for blind eyes.

The question of the forgiveness of sin is the most fundamental question of all. It does not matter that I am highly respected in the circle of my friends if I am yet in my sins. It does not matter that I have attained a level of human goodness if I am still in my sins. Jesus understood the deep need of man. He understood that the only way man could ever escape hell and know blessing was if His sins were forgiven. It did not matter to Him that the sin He sought to be forgiven was the sin of killing Him.

Christians are to be more concerned with God forgiving those who sin against them than with vengeance. Stephen, while being stoned to death for preaching about Christ, prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” (Acts 7:60). He followed the Lord’s own example. So should we.