Sermon Snippet – Resurrection Forgiveness
INTRODUCTION – Luke 24:36-47 records one of the post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ. This takes place at the end of the day that we now call Easter Sunday. Let us focus on verses 46-47: “Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Newer versions translate “remission” as “forgiveness,” helping us to understand that the Resurrection of Jesus provides the opportunity for eternal forgiveness.
1. THIS EMPHASIS ON FORGIVENESS CONTINUES THE TEACHING OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST
Luke 23:34 includes these memorable words of Jesus: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” The verb tense indicates that Jesus repeatedly said these words. In one sense, once was enough, for Jesus is God and thus never changes. However, His repetition of the message of divine forgiveness was for the benefit of the many gathered at the Cross and now is for all, reminding us that the Lord Jesus truly wants to forgive us. The extraordinary example of the last-minute salvation of the dying thief (Luke 23:39-43) demonstrates that this forgiveness is not merely theoretical; it is real.
2. THIS FORGIVENESS SAVES EVEN THE WORST OF PEOPLE
The thief was likely a murderer. A man named Saul was a mass murderer (Acts 7:54-8:3; 9:1-6). Yet, Jesus from heaven itself spoke to this vile, violent man, and Saul repented and received forgiveness. Even when renamed Paul, he never lost the wonder of the Savior’s forgiveness. In his concise presentation of the Gospel message in I Corinthians 15:1-9, Paul marvels that Jesus chose him to be a leader in the early Church – “an apostle” (verse 9). In I Timothy 1:15, the Apostle writes, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” In comparison to most people, Paul as unbelieving Saul was a really bad person; he is telling the simple and obvious truth. However, that is not the key motif. Rather, it is his personal awareness of need that is the example for us, bringing us to the third and final point of the sermon.
3. THIS FORGIVENESS IS AVAILABLE TO YOU AND TO ME
I John 1:9 is one of the first verses that I memorized as a boy: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The message is the same as that of Luke 24:47, for both repentance and confession mean agreement with God that we are sinners in need of forgiveness and that He is the One – the only One – Who can grant it to us.
CONCLUSION – Jesus forgave during His Crucifixion; certainly He will forgive in His Resurrection – He did then, and He does now. The only question is whether we will choose to receive His forgiveness or not. Without Jesus as Savior, the Bible tells us that we are “the children of disobedience” and “the children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:2, 3) – that is, disobedient people deserving the righteous wrath of God. However, with Jesus as Savior, we become “the children of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36) – that is, people characterized by the Resurrection of Jesus. May each of us be certain today of this eternal forgiveness – this full, free, and forever forgiveness.