Now rewrite the full sermon using the sermon draft below. Most parts of this sermon draft has important information, however polish it as the driving spine, making the entire 45-minute delivery tight, progressive, and consistently piercing for both believers and non-believers, while keeping the cross central. Remember Homiletically, the preacher is both the messenger and the recipient of the sermon...
Sermon Manuscript
Title: Why Must Christian Always Forgive
Text: Luke 23:34
Introduction: A Prayer That Should Trouble You
There are prayers of Christ in Scripture that comfort immediately.
For example, in John 17:24, He prays:
“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am…”
That prayer settles the heart.
It speaks of love, security, and eternal fellowship.
But this prayer is not like that.
“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
If you understand it rightly, it will not first comfort you—
it will trouble you.
Because consider when it is spoken.
This is not a quiet prayer in peace.
This is in the middle of the Crucifixion of Jesus:
His body is nailed to wood.
His blood is being poured out.
His strength is failing.
His enemies are still speaking against Him.
No one is apologizing.
No one is stopping.
No one is repenting.
And in that exact moment—He prays:
“Father, forgive them…”
Now feel the contrast.
In John 17, He prays for His people to be with Him in glory.
Here in Luke 23, He prays for His enemies to be forgiven in their sin.
One draws you in with comfort.
The other confronts you with something unnatural.
Now be honest.
This is not how you respond to pain.
When you are wronged, you do not pray like this.
You defend yourself.
You replay the offense.
You justify your anger.
You wait for them to make it right.
But here is a Man being unjustly executed—
and instead of calling for judgment, He asks for forgiveness.
That should not feel normal.
It should feel wrong—at least at first.
Because everything in you says:
“This is not fair.”
“They should pay.”
“They should answer for what they have done.”
And quietly, you have built a category in your life:
“In this case, I am right not to forgive.”
But this prayer destroys that category.
If forgiveness could ever be withheld—it is here.
If anyone could justly refuse—it is Christ.
If any suffering justified holding onto offense—it is the cross.
And yet—
“Father, forgive them…”
Now face this.
If you belong to Christ, this is not something you admire.
This is something that defines you.
Forgiveness is not optional.
Not situational.
Not dependent on how you feel.
So before this sermon comforts you—it must confront you.
The question is not:
“Is this beautiful?”
The question is:
“What does this demand of me?”
And deeper still:
“Why do I resist it?”
If you stay with this text, you will begin to see:
This prayer is not only about those at the cross.
It is about you.
And that is why we must now ask:
Why must Christians always forgive?
OUTLINE I. Because of A Relationship We Do Not Naturally Have
Look at the verse; “Father…”
Look at the verse carefully.
Jesus does not begin with the crowd.
He does not begin with the soldiers.
He does not begin with the injustice.
He does not begin with His pain.
He begins with God.
“Father…”
That word is not small. It governs everything that follows.
At the moment of greatest suffering, Jesus does not react—He addresses.
He is not controlled by His circumstances.
He is governed by His relationship.
He speaks as Son to Father.
This is not instinctive human behavior. This is perfect, uninterrupted communion.
All through His life, this has been true of Him:
- In pressure—He turns to the Father
- In opposition—He rests in the Father
- In suffering—He submits to the Father
And now, at the cross:
- He does not lose sight of God
- He does not surrender to bitterness
- He does not detach from the Father
He holds fast.
This is exactly where you and I are exposed.
Because this is not how we respond when we are hurt.
When you are wronged, you do not begin with:
“Father…”
You begin somewhere else.
When you are hurt:
- You speak about the person—not to God
- You replay the offense—not the truth
- You justify your anger—not examine your heart
You build your case.
You strengthen your memory of the wrong.
You rehearse it until it feels undeniable.
And in all of that—
God is absent.
Let it come closer.
Think of the last time you were deeply offended.
Not theoretical—real.
- What did you say first?
- What did you think about most?
- Where did your mind settle?
Was your first movement toward God?
Or toward the offense?
We often say:
“I am struggling to forgive.”
But that is not the first problem.
The deeper problem is this:
You are not anchored in God when you are hurt.
Because if you were—
your first instinct would not be:
- To defend yourself
- To accuse others
- To replay the wrong
Your first instinct would be:
“Father…”
The absence of forgiveness in your life is not mainly a failure of effort.
It is a failure of orientation.
You are living horizontally when you should be living vertically.
You are governed by:
- Emotions
- Memory
- Self-justification
Instead of being governed by God.
Do not excuse this.
This is not personality.
This is not temperament.
This is not “how you are wired.”
This is sinful independence from God.
You are functionally saying:
“This situation will be handled on my terms, not before God.”
Now look again at Christ.
Bleeding. Mocked. Crushed.
And yet:
“Father…”
Not rage.
Not retaliation.
Not self-defense.
Relationship.
You want to forgive—but you are starting in the wrong place.
As long as you begin with:
- Your pain
- Your rights
- Your perspective
You will never arrive at forgiveness.
Because forgiveness does not begin with the offense.
It begins with God.
And once that is established—
once the direction is set toward the Father—
then the next words come.
Not naturally.
Not easily.
But necessarily:
“Forgive them…”
Outline II. Because God Forgive Us
Now listen carefully to the words of Jesus again:
“Forgive them…”
Not a suggestion. Not a negotiation. A direct request.
And immediately, you should feel the tension.
Because what Jesus is doing here is not normal human behavior. It is not how we operate. It is not how the fallen heart responds when wronged.
He does not say:
- Judge them
- Stop them
- Expose them
- Repay them
He says:
“Forgive them.”
Do not read this abstractly. These are not neutral people.
These are:
- The ones driving the nails into His hands
- The ones mocking His suffering
- The ones rejecting His identity as the Son of God
- The ones standing in active opposition to Him
And here is the critical detail:
They are not asking for forgiveness.
No confession.
No repentance.
No plea for mercy.
Nothing.
This is where the text confronts you.
Jesus is asking the Father to forgive people who:
- Are unrepentant
- Are hostile
- Are continuing in their sin
- Do not recognize their guilt
That should not sit comfortably with you if you are thinking biblically.
Because it directly contradicts the natural framework of the human heart.
Inside every person here, the instinct is the same:
- “If they apologize, I will forgive.”
- “If they acknowledge the wrong, then I can move forward.”
- “If they change, I will consider releasing them.”
But Christ is operating on a different standard.
He does not wait for their posture to change before He expresses mercy.
This exposes something deeper in us:
We want forgiveness to be conditional for others, but unconditional for ourselves.
We want:
- Grace for our failures
- Accountability for others’ failures
That imbalance reveals the condition of the heart.
Let this be stated clearly so there is no confusion:
Christ’s forgiveness here does not mean:
- Trust is automatically restored
- Relationship is immediately reconciled
- Justice is ignored or suspended
Scripture never teaches that.
Forgiveness and reconciliation are related, but not identical.
However, what it does mean is this:
The heart posture of the believer cannot remain fixed in refusal, hostility, or revenge.
You may not be able to control what others do.
You may not be able to force repentance.
But before God, something must change in you:
You cannot remain in a settled position of unforgiveness.
The posture of the heart must begin to move:
- Away from retaliation
- Away from holding debts
- Away from internal hostility
And toward a willingness to forgive when repentance occurs—and even a readiness to release the offense before it is deserved.
Now bring this into the room.
There are people here:
- You were spoken against unjustly
- Words were used to damage your reputation
- Someone close to you betrayed your trust
- You experienced harm that others do not see
And you have carried it.
You revisit it in your thoughts.
You replay it in your memory.
You feel the weight of it when reminded.
And quietly, sometimes openly, the conclusion forms:
“They don’t deserve forgiveness.”
That statement feels justified.
But you must understand something clearly:
That same conclusion would exclude you from God’s mercy if applied consistently.
So the question is no longer:
- “Do they deserve forgiveness?”
The question becomes:
“How can forgiveness exist at all?”
Because if forgiveness depends on worthiness, it collapses immediately.
No one qualifies.
No one repents fully enough.
No one deserves it sufficiently.
No one meets the standard.
Forgiveness does not originate in human morality.
It exists because of what Christ has done.
And here is the unavoidable truth:
If you do not understand that you needed forgiveness, you will never extend it to others.
The reason forgiveness feels unnatural is because the human heart is not oriented toward grace by default.
It is oriented toward:
- Justice for others
- Mercy for self
But at the cross, everything is reversed.
Christ shows that:
- You were the one needing forgiveness
- You were the one unworthy
- You were the one guilty before God
And yet:
He forgave you at infinite cost.
So when Christ says:
“Forgive them…”
He is not merely modeling behavior.
He is revealing a reality you must now live in:
You are a forgiven person, living among other sinners who, like you, are in need of mercy.
And if that is true:
Then refusal to forgive is not just emotional—it is theological rebellion.
It is living as though:
- Your forgiveness was deserved
- Their sin is unforgivable
- The cross is insufficient in shaping your response
So the question is no longer theoretical.
It is personal.
Because if Christ forgives in this way—
then your life must begin to reflect that same pattern.
And that leads us to the deeper issue:
How is such forgiveness even possible?
3. Because Christ Paid for our Forgiveness
Listen again to the words of Jesus:
“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” — Luke 23:34
Do not move past that too quickly.
Because what is happening here is not merely emotional compassion—it is theological necessity.
God does not forgive by ignoring sin.
That is not mercy—that is injustice.
If God were to simply overlook sin without dealing with it, He would cease to be righteous. He would deny His own holiness. He would contradict His own nature.
So when Christ says, “forgive them,” He is not asking the Father to pretend that sin does not exist.
He is declaring that He Himself will deal with it completely.
In other words:
Forgive them their debt—because I will pay it.
At the cross, three things are unmistakably revealed:
- Sin is not minimized—it is fully exposed
- Judgment is not removed—it is redirected
- Justice is not suspended—it is satisfied
Scripture declares:
- He bore our sins in His own body
- He was wounded for our transgressions
This means something very specific:
The prayer, “forgive them,” is not separate from the suffering—it is fulfilled through it.
Christ is not asking for forgiveness to be granted apart from cost.
He is securing forgiveness at infinite cost to Himself.
Think carefully.
When you forgive someone, something is always lost.
Not abstractly—actually.
- Your sense of justice is affected
- Your claim to repayment is surrendered
- Your demand for balance is released
This is why forgiveness is never emotionally neutral.
It costs you.
Not in the same way the cross cost Christ—but it is still a real loss.
And if you feel that tension, it is because forgiveness is not cheap.
Forgiveness is not:
“It didn’t matter.”
Forgiveness is:
“It mattered—but I will not require payment from you.”
This is exactly what Christ has done for you.
Your sin was not dismissed as insignificant.
It was not overlooked.
It was not reduced in seriousness.
It was fully paid for.
Christ did not forgive you by lowering the standard.
He forgave you by meeting the standard in your place.
And here is where the text becomes personally confrontational.
Before this verse commands you to forgive others—
it reveals something about you.
“Forgive them…”
Who are “them”?
- The ignorant
- The guilty
- The blind
And Scripture makes clear: this describes humanity by nature.
Which means this:
You are not first the one extending forgiveness.
You are first the one who has received it—if you are in Christ.
The issue is no longer theoretical.
It is personal.
The question is not:
“Do they deserve forgiveness?”
The question is:
“Did you deserve the forgiveness you received?”
And the answer is not complicated.
No.
If you have been forgiven:
- Fully
- Repeatedly
- At the cost of the blood of Christ
- Without merit on your part
Then what exactly are you holding onto when you refuse to forgive another?
What claim are you defending?
What standard are you enforcing that you yourself could never meet?
When you refuse to forgive, you are effectively saying:
- “My forgiveness required grace”
- “But theirs requires payment”
That is a contradiction the gospel does not allow.
You are placing yourself in a position of moral superiority over others who are, by nature, in the same condition you were in.
That is not righteousness.
That is forgetfulness of the cross.
This does not deny your pain.
Some wounds are not small.
- Betrayal that cuts deeply
- Abuse that leaves lasting effects
- Harm that continues to echo over time
The Bible does not minimize those realities.
Forgiveness is not pretending they did not happen.
Forgiveness is not denial.
Forgiveness is not emotional suppression.
Forgiveness is governed by something else entirely:
The magnitude of the forgiveness you have received.
Forgiveness may involve two dimensions:
- A decisive act of the will before God
- A repeated surrender of bitterness as emotions resurface
It may not feel immediate in your emotions.
Pain has memory.
And when memory returns, the heart must return again to the cross.
This is not failure.
This is sanctification.
So the question returns to you directly:
If you have been forgiven:
- Completely
- Personally
- At infinite cost
Then how can you justify holding another person in permanent moral debt?
You cannot.
Not if you understand the cross.
Conclusion: A Prayer That Should Trouble You
Stop for a moment and hear the weight of this prayer again:
“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
This is not a gentle suggestion. This is a declaration that should pierce every conscience in this room.
Why?
Because this prayer:
-
Exposes your sin
The crowd on Golgotha—they were violent, blind, rebellious. They nailed the Son of God to a tree. And yet, their rebellion was no worse than yours.- Every act of bitterness
- Every insult you’ve hurled
- Every moment you chose yourself over God
All of it contributed to the same human rebellion that drove nails through Christ’s hands.
You are not outside this prayer. You are inside it.
-
Reveals the cost of your forgiveness
This forgiveness did not come cheap. It cost blood. It cost agony. It cost the Son of God, executed publicly, mocked, scorned, and abandoned.- If you treat forgiveness lightly, you are forgetting the price paid for you.
- If you withhold it, you are denying the reality of the cross in your life.
-
Removes every excuse for refusing forgiveness
There is no “they must first apologize”
There is no “they must first change”
The cross has already settled that: sin must be borne—but it was borne by Christ.
And now, you must reflect what you have received.
If you have never come to Christ, this is not a story to admire.
- You are included in this prayer, not because of who you are, but because of what Christ has done.
- And if you continue to resist Him, if you admire the forgiveness but reject the Forgiver, your heart is hardened against the only One who can save you.
- Christ is calling you now. Every second of hesitation is rebellion against the grace that cost Him everything.
Do not passively enjoy this story—respond to it.
And you, Christian, hear this clearly:
- Every morning you wake forgiven, fully, unearned, freely.
- And yet, some of you carry grudges.
- Some of you rehearse offenses.
- Some of you withhold mercy as if your sin was small, as if the cross was unnecessary.
Every refusal to forgive is a denial of what Christ has already done for you.
You cannot live by His forgiveness for yourself and refuse to extend it to others.
Every time you do, your heart is contradicting the gospel. Your life says:
“I want grace for me, but justice for them.”
Hear me: you are the ones Jesus was praying for.
Not “someone else.” Not the “bad people out there.”
You.
You—the bitter, the wounded, the self-righteous, the resentful.
And if that is true, you cannot escape the implication: forgiveness is for you, first of all, because you need it, not because they deserve it.
This is where we start the first point:
Point 1: Because we are all sinners
- The very ones crucifying Jesus were religious, violent, blind.
- And you? You are no different.
You are the ones who must recognize your own sin before you even attempt to forgive.
- If you want the final refinement, the next step would be:
- Timing calibration (exact minute allocation per section)
- Strategic repetition lines for oral delivery
- Where to pause, slow down, and intensify
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