Luke 23:34-35
Jesus said, “Father, forgive these people! They don’t know what they’re doing.”
While
the crowd stood there watching Jesus, the soldiers gambled for his
clothes. The leaders insulted him by saying, “He saved others. Now he
should save himself, if he really is God’s chosen Messiah!”
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
The
children and I sometimes use a little “punch card” system to reward
good behavior. I punch holes in a card numbered one to twenty, and when
the child gets all 20 numbers punched, he/she gets to pick something
out of my “prize” basket. Yesterday, I started cards with Timothy and
Nathan. They didn’t get all 20 punches, but they got a few. Late in
the afternoon, the boys disappeared upstairs – after I had told them,
“Don’t go upstairs.” I went to get them, and I said, “If you don’t go
downstairs right now, I am going to tear up your punch cards, and you
will not get to count those punches toward a prize!”
Nathan
stomped his feet and began to and cry. “That’s AWFUL!” he wailed! “Why
would you do that? That’s a TERRIBLE thing to do to tear up our
punches.” He was absolutely furious with me! And I had to turn away, so
that he wouldn’t see me laugh. It’s easy to forgive an
almost-four-year-old for such an outburst. In fact, it’s often easy to
forgive our children for a lot of things, because they honestly do not
know what they are doing. At best, they do not fully grasp the
ramifications of their words and actions.
I am not sure whether the Roman soldiers truly knew what they were doing to Jesus or not. I think
what Jesus means in this passage is that they don’t fully grasp the
implication of their actions. They have no idea the consequences that
will result. This seems to be somewhat confirmed by Matthew 27:54,
where…“ The officer and the soldiers guarding Jesus felt the earthquake
and saw everything else that happened. They were frightened and said,
‘This man really was God’s Son!’”
So what does all of this mean
for us? I believe there are times when we sin and/or offend others…and
we truly don’t have a full grasp of our words or actions. And that is
where Jesus stands in the gap for us and says to God, “Forgive them, for
they don’t know what they are doing.” He paid the price on the for our
ignorance and carelessness, even before we were born. I also believe
there are times that people offend us or mistreat us, and we are called
to be like Jesus…to offer them grace, mercy and forgiveness - just as He
has done for us so many times.
It may be a whole lot harder to
forgive a teenager or adult than it is a young child…but we still must
try. We must ask Jesus to equip us with whatever we need to operate in
mercy…to say, “Maybe he/she didn’t have the whole picture.” Yes, Jesus
could have climbed down from the cross and settled things totally with
the Roman soldiers. He could have clearly demonstrated to the
satisfaction of their understanding, that He was truly the King
of the Jews. But because Jesus stayed on the cross, those of us who know
Him and comprehend the ramifications of this loving act understand
clearly WHO He is.
Because Jesus stayed on the cross – and
suffered and died for our sins – we are forgiven…forever and ever. Only
the true King of Kings would do this! And as His children, we are
called to demonstrate this same mercy and forgiveness to others…to be
sons and daughters of the Most High King and operate in grace and
understanding. There will be days when we want to stomp and scream and
cry out, “Why would you do such a terrible thing?” But instead, we must
say, “Father, forgive them…as You have forgiven me.” Are you ready to
truly act like a child of the KING and operate in mercy and
forgiveness? Will this be the day that you begin?
©2016 Debbie Robus
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