Father, Forgive Them

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34) 

The readiness to forgive is a mark of faithfully dying well.  Jesus knows who has perpetrated this injustice and He knows He can entrust all vindication to His Father.  This justice is fully paid in the death of the One Whose blood is being shed.  Forgiving is dying, but it is not dying in a vacuum for the one who trusts the Father.  And so Jesus is saying those words about all who will come to Him.  In Him we are already brought through future judgment and enter a world where God’s mercy is the rule; we die well when we are assured of God’s readiness, willingness, desire and full provision to forgive.  In this new humanity, grace abounds more (Rom 5:20).  This lays the foundation of being a forgiving people, as Stephen testifies to at his martyrdom (Acts 7:60), as Peter learned from Jesus (Matt 18:21-22), and as Paul instructed us to live (Col 3:13).  Jesus looks ridiculous in how far He goes, impaled on a tree and forgiving those who put the nails in His hands and feet.  We should be so ridiculous.