Friday, June 11, 2021

UNPRECEDENTED FORGIVENESS

     I was asked by our pastor to share some thoughts about one of Jesus last words on the cross, as a part of our communion service this Sunday. I thought I would share them with all of you. 

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Luke 23:32-34

    Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

                One of the hardest things for us to do in life is to forgive someone who has wronged us. Our sense of justice causes us to want them to be sorry and, in some way, to pay for the ways that they have hurt us. Forgiving another person seems like we are letting them off the hook. If the offence is relatively minor, we may find it easier to forgive. But if the offence is particularly egregious, forgiveness seems impossible.

                One of the startling things that Jesus taught his disciples was that they had to learn to forgive others. Not just those who were easy to forgive, but those who were hard to forgive as well. In fact, Jesus said that our willingness to forgive others is the key to our receiving forgiveness from God. In the parable of the unforgiving servant, Jesus made the point that because God forgives us, we are obligated to forgive others. Paul picked up on this idea in his letter to the Colossians. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Col. 3:13) Jesus not only taught his disciples to forgive, he demonstrated it in a most profound and overwhelming way.

                Jesus was condemned unjustly. He hung on the cross because of the jealousy and bitterness of others. In addition to the multiple wrongs committed against him, he took upon himself the sin of the entire world. As it says in 2 Cor. 5:21, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. If anyone had the right to be angry and demand justice, it was Jesus. But that is not how Jesus responded.

                As Jesus hung on that cross, he asked the Father to forgive those who had put him there. "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

                Instead of cursing his enemies, Jesus turned to the Father. Ultimately all of the wrongs of the world were and are committed against God’s holiness. The one who holds forgiveness in his hands in God the Father. Jesus turned to him at this critical time.

                Jesus could have asked the Father to curse His enemies, or punish them, or destroy them. In light of all of the injustice done to Jesus, any of these would have been justified. Instead, Jesus asked for the Father to forgive; to show the extreme expression of his mercy and his grace. Imagine the emotional pain and struggle that Jesus was going through. Imagine what you would feel like given the circumstances. Jesus chose to release his burden by asking for the Father to forgive.

                Forgiveness is God’s antidote for bitterness and resentment. Someone has said, refusing to forgive is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. Unforgiveness eats away at our soul, like a spiritual cancer. Forgiveness is the way God designed to lift the burden of bitterness and resentment off of our shoulders and place it in his hands.

                Jesus also stated that they did not know what they were doing. That is hard for us to understand. It seems like the religious leaders knew exactly what they were doing. But if we take a closer look, we can see that no one but Jesus understood what was really happening.

                The religious leaders thought they were protecting the honor of God. They saw Jesus as a threat to the established forms of worship and religious life. They were protecting the established traditions of their faith. They felt justified in bringing this disruptive person to justice.

                The crowds were clueless about what was really going on. They were carried along by the energy of the religious leaders. Just as crowds can turn into mobs today, so it was back then. Many of the people who had cried Hosanna when Jesus entered Jerusalem now cried crucify him. They did not fully understand why things had changed. They were swept along by mob mentality.

                The Roman soldiers who carried out the crucifixion were even more clueless. They did not understand why the religious leaders were so upset with Jesus. They were just following orders. It was a dirty job that few men relished doing. They were not there to pass judgement on the condemned, but to carry out the orders of those in power.

                In a much broader sense, the entire world, then and now, was clueless to the implications of their actions. Few if any understood that Jesus went to the cross in their place. Few if any saw any connection between their sinfulness and Jesus’ death. Few if any could fathom the outcome of Jesus dying on that cross. Millions of people today still cannot see the connection. Millions of people today are still clueless about what Jesus endured for them.

                On the cross, Jesus chose the ultimate act of love and compassion. He did the hardest thing. It wasn’t dying, or even suffering. It was letting go of his right to justice and forgiving those who placed him there. He is still offering that same forgiveness to each of us. It was our sin that placed Jesus on the cross. It is his forgiveness that can set us free from condemnation. It is his forgiveness that opens the door for us to enter into new life.

Isaiah 53:4-6

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

 


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