Words from the Cross: "Father, forgive them."

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

 Luke 23:34

These words we have recorded from the lips of Jesus as he hung on his cross, come after a series of events. What is Jesus forgiving? If we pull together the accounts of all four Gospels, this is what led Jesus to this moment: late into Thursday night, he was betrayed by Judas, his friend and disciple. He was put on trial before the religious rulers where they accused him of blasphemy. They spat on him, put a hood over his face and slapped him, yelling, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?”. While all of this was happening, one of his closest friends, Peter, denied even knowing him. He was then turned over to the custody of the temple guards who beat him while he was in their care.

The following morning, he was put on trial again. This trial was more official, so they were slightly better behaved. But it would have been clear, from his swollen eyes and bruised face, what they had done to him the night before. They officially sentenced him to death and led him away to be tried by Pilate who sent him to Herod. Herod found no reason to execute him, but that didn’t stop his soldiers from mockingly dressing Jesus up in royal robes. 

He was sent back to Pilate to be tried again. Pilate found no reason to condemn him. To appease the crowd, he had Jesus flogged. The soldiers put a crown of thorns on his head, draped the purple robe around him, and beat him. He was then brought out to the crowd, bloody, swollen, dressed “more like a clown, than a King.” (George R. Beasley-Murray) All of this happened to Jesus before he was ever legally convicted.

He stood there, while his own people chanted in unison, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him! His blood be on us and on our children!” Seeing that he was getting nowhere with the crowd, and fearful of a riot, Pilate ordered Jesus to be crucified. He was taken away and scourged, a cruel and heinous practice by the Romans, meant to weaken a man so that he would die more quickly on the cross. Jesus was stripped down, beaten with a multilashed whip that was embedded with pieces of bone and metal. Many men died from the scourging, it was so severe. 

He was led through the crowd. He stumbled under the weight of his cross. He was taken to the hill called Golgatha, nailed to his cross and hung up to die. This is where Jesus had been. This is what had been done to him. This is what he had endured when he prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

How could Jesus pray these words? How could he ask his Father to forgive such terrible evil?

Three years earlier, in his very first sermon, Jesus said something that no one understood at the time. He said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also…Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:27-29, 35-36) Jesus spoke words he would one day fulfill from his cross.

Jesus could be merciful that day, he could love his enemies and pray for those who abused him, because he is a Son with a heart just like his Father’s. His Father is merciful and forgiving, returning good for evil, love for hate. His Father is kind, even (especially) to those who are ungrateful and evil. Jesus could look on those who had mocked, ridiculed, spat on him, slapped and beaten him with compassion. He could look on those who had scourged and crucified him with forgiveness, because he is kind and merciful, just like his Father. From his cross, Jesus accomplished the ultimate act of kindness: he interceded for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12) 

He was not only interceding for those who betrayed him and abused him that day. He was praying for all who would betray him. He was praying for you and for me. As you listen to the apostles’ sermons in the book of Acts, one thing is clear: every one of us betrayed Jesus to his death. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6) Every one of us has betrayed our Father, gone astray and wandered from the fold of God. By his suffering and death, Jesus paid the price it cost to bring us home. While Jesus prayed for our forgiveness, he made a way back for us. 

What does this mean for you, child of God? In your sin, when your heart is ungrateful, when you are participating in evil, God looks on you with eyes of kindness. He has compassion on your betraying heart. Even as you sin, he is at work making a way for you to come home. Our God is merciful and forgiving, even (especially) to his enemies.  “But God shows [demonstrates, proves] his love for us in that while we were still sinners [enemies], Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) 

While you stood angry, fist raised in the air, rebelling against him, Christ was praying for your forgiveness. He was making a way for you to come back home. This Lenten season, come home, child of God. Bring the rebellious and hurtful parts of yourself back to a God who will greet you with compassion and forgiveness. Bring your angry and weary soul to the foot of the cross, where your Savior looks down on you with love and prays for you as only his merciful heart can.