Cry of Forgiveness

Cry of Forgiveness

“Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.”

Luke 23:34

Jesus’ first cry from the cross was, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:24). He was laying down His divine authority and identifying with our humanity because of His great love for you, me, and all mankind. The Son of God was being sacrificed as the Lamb of God.

His pain was so excruciating that it was enough to make any man pass out. Yet, when every nerve ending was screaming in His body, when His flesh was opened, and when the pain was at the fiercest after being beaten and walking through the city of Jerusalem, what did He do? He prayed for the forgiveness of His executioners. He prayed for both the ones physically crucifying Him and the ones in power who called for it or ordered it.

Pilate was so weak that he gave into the crowd’s prevailing cries to crucify Him even though he “found in him no grounds for the death penalty” (Luke 23:22). Judas, who knew the place where His Master and Friend would be that night, betrayed Him with a kiss. The guards spat at Him, blindfolded Him, mocked Him by shouting “prophesy,” struck Him with their fists, and beat Him (Mark 14:65). The chief priests and Sanhedrin, in their search for a way to put Him to death, brought in many who testified falsely against Him, but their statements would not agree (Mark 14:59).

All of these people knew what they were doing was not right. Yet, they were led by their desires for money, peace, or their position of power and standing amongst the people that they played a role in killing the Son of the Living God. There is no greater offense than this! While they knew they were not earning a medal for righteous behavior that day, they had no idea of the expanse of the horror they had committed. They didn’t understand the atrocity. They didn’t see Jesus as Messiah or believe Him to be the Son of God. He was just a troublemaker of whom they must dispose.

Paul talks about how they didn’t grasp the atrocity that they were committing in 1 Corinthians 2:8, “None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” They would not have touched the Lord of glory if they knew who He really was. At Pentecost, Peter also told the crowd gathered for the feast - which probably contained many of the people who had been there at Passover time, too - in Acts 3:13-15, 17 what they did. He said, “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this…Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.”

The Prince had slipped out of His palace and masqueraded as a common man to identify with man in every way. These people did not know that by Him all things were created and without Him nothing was made that has been made (John 1:3). They didn’t know that He was the One who had given them life and that He was the Author of life. He had every right to use His sword, His mouth, and chop off their heads. Yet, He didn’t. He didn’t have to be restrained by the Father. He exhibited the mercy of His Father. The Lord of glory forgave His killers of their wickedness and role in His death while He was dying. It makes me want to respond in worship when I see how He forgave them.

It makes me wonder when you and I are willing to forgive someone. A new friend and I were talking about forgiveness. We connected very quickly since we are sisters in Christ and both soccer moms. She shared about being divorced for over 10 years now, but she still needed to forgive her ex-husband. I told her that there may be layers to our pain that we have to work through, and forgiveness may be a process. This is why Jesus said to forgive 70 x 7 times. We are to forgive as many times as it takes until we are different. And always, always remember that when we forgive, it does not have the same power as God’s forgiveness to purify someone from his sins and wash him white as snow. When we forgive, we do just like Jesus did. In 1 Peter 2:23, Peter says, “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” We entrust our situation with the person who has wronged us, whether he wants forgiveness or not, to the one who judges justly. God was on the throne that day when he committed the sin and every day since when he had a chance to come to Him. At some point, whether he wants to or not, he will come before our Father, the Judge. This knowledge and His power release us from holding onto any grudge.

What about you, beloved? Who do you need to forgive? Is there a grudge or bitterness that you are still wearing? Our faces show it whether we want to accept it or not. Ask the God, who forgives and empowers us to forgive, to move on your heart so that you can forgive whoever has wronged you.

Pray with me: Oh, God, so many of us are holding grudges and living in bitterness. We bring You our wounds from the people who treated us wrongly or maybe didn’t treat us in the manner that we wanted. We are in bondage to the people whom we cannot forgive. They bring out the worst in us and can make us look like fools instead of like Christ.

Praise You, Jesus, that Your own death made it possible for these sinners, for us, and for every person who has every lived to receive the forgiveness of God. You set the example for us so that we can forgive some very horrid things, too. We cry out to You! Move on our hearts and empower us through the Holy Spirit so we can forgive those whom we need to forgive and release and entrust them to You because You judge justly. It’s in the Name above all names, in Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, I pray. Amen.

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