DEVOTION + FATHER FORGIVE THEM...

Luke 23:34 “Father, forgive them…”

THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2014

10 Days to Resurrection Sunday

SCRIPTURE READING: LUKE 23:32-43

³²And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death.

 ³³And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

 ³⁴Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

 ³⁵And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.

 ³⁶And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,

 ³⁷And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.

 ³⁸And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

 ³⁹And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.

 ⁴⁰But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?

 ⁴¹And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.

 ⁴²And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

 ⁴³And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.

REFLECTION: 

With the precious blood of Jesus literally on their hands, the soldiers heard the Savior pray, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34).  The first of Christ’s seven sayings from the cross was a prayer, not for himself, but for His assassins.

Were the soldiers repentant? There is no evidence that they were even remorseful. They played games at the foot of the cross, gambling for our Lord’s clothing.

And yet, there was no tinge of revenge in what our Lord said during this whole pitiful ordeal.  Eyewitnesses and ancient historians, even those who were not believers, are unanimous—“never a man spake like this man.” (John 7:46)

If it is true that, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh,” (Matthew 12:24) then our Lord’s heart was purer than the purest. Pilate presented Christ saying, “Behold the man.” We say, “Behold the God man.”

There was compassion. It would have been impossible for those who were responsible to understand the implications of their actions that day.  “They know not what they do,” was our Lord’s verdict.  He felt pity for His persecutors. Not the kind of pity that comes from that malignant  “I’m so much better than you fools” attitude, but the kind of pity that is genuinely sorry to see anyone so lost.

There was forgiveness. He was not angry. He was not blaming.  He was not resentful.  He made no claim for repayment. He did not withdraw. He freely forgave. Think of that.  He forgave.

The soldiers asked for His forgiveness and so He forgave? Actually they never asked, but He forgave, and prayed that they would be forgiven by His Father.

The Jewish leaders begged for His forgiveness and so he forgave them?  That’s not in the Scriptures. They never plead for mercy, but He forgave, and prayed that God would be merciful to them.

Does such an effusive forgiveness imply universalism—that Christ is so forgiving, that everyone who repents and those who do not repent will be granted eternal life? God’s grace is universally offered “the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,” (Titus 2:11), but God’s forgiveness is conditional, He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

Jesus forgave before He was asked to forgive. Forgiving people do that.

We say that “to err is human and to forgive is Divine.”  But put the Divine in the heart of the human and forgiveness springs spontaneously.  

God’s offended people rest assured and confident—assured that God knows what is an intended and an unintended wrong, and confident that God’s justice will prevail, “vengeance is mine, I will repay saith the Lord.” (Hebrews 10:30). We believe “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” (Psalm 19:9). We gladly leave the judgment to Him.

Whether or not sinners are ultimately forgiven, we must be forgiving.  Whether or not thoughtless people ask for our forgiveness, we must be forgiving—not angry, not blaming, not resentful, not demanding repayment, not withdrawn, but forgiving from the bottom of our hearts.

If are not forgiving we will not be forgiven.  Hear Jesus, “If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:15).

Was our Lord’s prayer answered?  Did God the Father forgive those who cruelly mistreated and

executed His only begotten Son?  For their sakes I certainly hope so. 

If He did forgive them, He did it for one and only one reason—they came to faith in the blood of the Lamb of God--the very Lamb they sacrificed at Calvary. 

PRAYER: Our Father in Heaven, We are so undeserving of your forgiveness.  You are holy and pure and right.  Apart from you we are sinful, impure, and unrighteous.  But “Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!”  We thank you for praying for us.  We thank you for your offer to forgive us.  We thank you for desiring our redemption. We pray that the same Spirit of forgiveness that Christ exampled at Calvary would fill our hearts.  We pray that we would be forgiven and forgiving today, and every day.  In the name of Jesus, Amen. “Our Father, &c.”