Luke 23:34 (NLT) Jesus said, “Father,
forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”
Jesus death on
the cross is of course absolutely crucial to our faith, without the cross there
can be no forgiveness. But let us not jump to Jesus death without recognizing
seven important things Jesus said while he was on the cross. I say important
because saying anything while you are crucified must have beennincredibly difficult
and painful. Even to have the breath to speak would require putting pressure on
the nail through your feet or pulling on the nails through the wrists or hands.
Despite the agony and the complete injustice of the situation where not one
human who witnessed his death fully understood the implications of what was
happening Jesus speaks of God as his father and proclaims forgiveness. Jesus in
a single sentence gives meaning to the crucifixion. God the father, by
implication, will forgive –Jesus intercedes, mediates or prays for those who
crucified him. Indeed we can understand that Jesus proclaimed forgiveness for us
all as our personal sin made his death necessary. What is clear from the prayer
is that even those who acted in ignorance need forgiveness. How could Jesus
forgive? Only through seeing clearly what his Father wanted and allowing his
love and grace to flow through him. What a glorious, marvellous and awesome act
to forgive your torturers as you are tortured.
No comments:
Post a Comment