XtianNinja

The sinless One and judge of mankind was arrested in the middle of the night, dragged into a mockery of a trial where he was falsely accused publicly humiliated. The King of Kings was and brought before the foolish and wicked Herod Antipas, who had beheaded his cousin John the Baptist and wanted Jesus to perform tricks for him – while the religious experts of the day vehemently accused him. The Lord of Lords was then sent to Pontius Pilate, a cowardly prefect who knew Jesus was innocent, whose wife was warned in a dream to let him go, but succumbed to the pressure of the crowd and had Jesus severely beaten in hopes of quelling their blood lust.

But it didn’t work. The crowd of Jews, the people of God through whom Yahweh had chosen to love despite all of their wickedness, started chanting “crucify him, crucify him!”. Pilate tried again, hoping to use custom of releasing one prisoner during the feast of Passover to free Jesus – but the crowd wouldn’t have it. Instead, the people of God, the scribes and elders of the people, chose to release Barabbas – a murdering terrorist – instead of the one who had taught peacefully, harmed no one, healed the sick, and raised the dead.

Since his arrest at midnight Jesus had faced six different trials, three before Jewish officials, three before Roman officials – full of false accusations, foolish judges, and cowardly officials.

The sun had only began to rise when Pilate succumbed to the crowd’s anger, looked Jesus in the face, and condemned him to crucifixion – the most terrible form of punishment they had, usually inflicted on slaves and enemies of the state.

The first stage of crucifixion would be to take Jesus – who had already been beaten once – to the Praetorium to be stripped and scourged with a leather whip that had pieces of sharp instruments embedded in the cord, designed to remove flesh quickly. Then the soldiers took him so he could be mocked further by having a crown of hard thorns driven into his head and beaten with a make-shift scepter made out of a reed. “Hail, King of the Jews!” they would shout as they spit on him and beat him with their fists.

He was then forced to carry his own heavy, wooden cross through Jerusalem, from the Praetorium to Golgotha – a 600 meter trip that took three hours to complete – all the while being ridiculed and beaten. Because of His wounds and blood-loss, Jesus wasn’t physically able to carry the cross, so another man, Simon, was forced to carry it for him.

When they finally reached the place where the crucifixion would take place, Golgotha, called the Place of the Skull, Jesus, who had done nothing wrong, was laid upon the cross, had his feet and hands nailed to it, and was raised up for all to see.

As He hung there, for six hours, in ever-increasing and excruciating agony, gasping for air – only able to draw a breath when He put weight onto the nails driven through His hands and feet, He spoke in short sentences.

His first words – the very first words He spoke from the cross – are recorded in Luke 23:34:

“And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’”

Forgive Them

“Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.”

“Father, forgive the ones who stand before me now, grinning in their senselessness, in total ignorance of the cosmic treason they are committing. Forgive the soldiers who drove nails through my hands that healed the sick and blessed their children, and the feet which went from town to town teaching truth and offering peace. Forgive the ones who scourged this flesh – the body I chose to take so I could come to this place to save them. Forgive the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law who stirred up the crowd to call for my crucifixion. Forgive the crowd who chose a murderer over the One who offered them life. Forgive the rulers and judges who bent the laws and cowered to pressure, sentenced me to be here, perverted justice and condemned the only person to ever live a perfect life. Forgive my disciples who abandoned me, most of whom are too afraid to admit they know me, let alone stand with me in my most dire hour. Father, forgive them all. They have no idea the depth of evil they are committing, the depravity of their action, the utter darkness of their words and deeds, that they were killing the Son of God, the Light of the World.”

Jesus Loved His Enemies

It wasn’t just words when Jesus said:

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44).

He lived and died by these words. At the beginning of the Gospel of John it says:

“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” (John 1:9-11)

Jesus loved His enemies. He came and “His own people did not receive Him”, but He loved them anyway. His loved showed His love for us by dying on the cross.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17)

Jesus died so His enemies could live. From the cross that they had nailed Him to, Jesus was able to forgive them. Was this just pious platitudes from a holy man who wanted to impress people with His holier-than-thou goodness? Certainly not. These words were spoken out of real and true love for the people He came to save. Love for blind fools who preferred their sin, pride, idols, and pleasures, more than they loved anyone or anything else – and certainly more than they loved the God who created them.

Did His words change anything? No. As Jesus spoke, the Jews continued to mock Him, the Romans continued to cast lots for His clothes, the criminals that hung next to Him hurled more insults. He gained nothing from these words – except to demonstrate His infinite love for humanity.

Christian Forgiveness

Christians know what we are no different than those who stood at the foot of that cross. We too have hurled insults at Jesus, mocked His ways, made ourselves Lord of our lives, worshipped ourselves, and revelled in sin. We know that it was our sin that put Jesus there. It was not just the world’s sin that Jesus died for, but our sin. We are as guilty as those who traded Barabbas for Jesus, as guilty as the ones who drove nails through His hands, as guilty as the disciples who abandoned Him, because we have also traded righteousness for sin, unholiness for holiness, darkness for light.

And yet, Jesus forgave us. He forgave me? He has no reason to. I’ve given him every reason to feel resentment, bitterness, anger and coldness towards me. I don’t deserve His forgiveness – and certainly not His love, kindness and blessing.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:2-9)

Our Response

What amazing love. Our response to the amazing love that Jesus has shown us must be to show that kind of love to others. Especially forgiveness.

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4)

Do you see how this section starts? “If then…”. If you’re a Christian, if you know the deep love of God, if you have admitted your sin and met the Saviour… then it’s going to change your heart. Instead of living like one of the normal people “on earth”. If you’re a believer, then you’re not normal. Your heart is now connected to things that are “above, where Christ is”. Jesus is the longing of your heart, the preoccupation of your mind, the North that your compass points to. And so, “set your minds on things that are above”.

Forgive As You’ve Been Forgiven

In light of what Jesus has done for us – the love He’s shared, the example He’s shown, the commands He’s given, and the Holy Spirit He’s placed inside us – we have all that we need to fight against sin. When you became a Christian, Jesus changed your identity. He took off your old self (the one that loved sin), destroyed it, gave you a new self (one that loves Jesus), and has promised to give you everything you need to live a new life in Him.

After this declaration comes a whole list of sins, and then something that is given special emphasis. Look at verses 12-13.

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

There it is. As a chosen one of God – a special person that Jesus chose, not because of anything you had done or ever would do, not because you deserved it, but only because the Amazing Grace with which He loved you – share that love with others. How is that love demonstrated? Through compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and forbearance. There is one action that epitomizes and exemplifies everything in that list: Forgiveness.

“Forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

This is, for many, the hardest command that Jesus gives us. To love our enemies and to forgive those who have wronged us. To love them and forgive them as much as we’ve been loved and forgiven by Jesus. That’s hard. Actually, that’s impossible without God changing our hearts first. But God takes it very seriously.

God Takes Forgiveness Seriously

There’s no place in scripture that says it’s easy. And there’s no place that says you have to feel like it. Forgiveness is an act of love and obedience, not towards the one who offended you, but towards the One who forgave you. You muster the strength to forgive only because of the miracle that Jesus has done in your heart – it’s impossible otherwise. Unless Jesus has taken off your old self and given you a new self, there are going to be some kinds of forgiveness that are impossible. Some kinds of forgiveness require a movement of God’s Spirit, and an act of total humility before Jesus to accomplish.

Jesus takes forgiveness so seriously that He says:

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14-15)

And elsewhere, at the end of the parable of the unforgiving servant:

“And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18:33-35)

Why does God take forgiveness so seriously? Because our response to forgiveness shows our understanding of what He’s done for us. (Tweet this.)

If Jesus has transformed your heart, then it will result in a changed life. (Tweet this.) A person who has experienced the immeasurable mercy, grace and forgiveness that Jesus purchased for them on the cross, cannot look at another person and not grant a smaller portion of it to someone else. Unforgiveness shows that a person hasn’t really experienced God’s forgiveness. It diminishes what Jesus did on the cross.

Conclusion

“Forgive them Father, they don’t know what they are doing.” is sometimes the only thing we can say to a deep hurt, and is often the only place we can start to grant forgiveness. Sometimes all we can pray is:

“God, they don’t know how much they hurt me, and I don’t know how to get over it. I loved them, opened my heart to them, and they crushed it. But, in obedience to You, out of love for You, because of the love you’ve shown me, in light of the sin debt that you forgave in me, I will choose to forgive them. I don’t feel like it right now, but I will forgive them anyway. I’m still hurt, but I will forgive them anyway, so You can help me heal. I’m still angry, but I will forgive them anyway, and trust your justice. I’m still sad, but I will forgive them anyway, and come to you for comfort and peace.”

I implore you, in the light of what Jesus has done, to begin this year by forgiving those who have sinned against you. Kill the bitterness inside you. Put resentment to death and live in the life and light of the love of Jesus Christ.