Lenten Devotional...April 6

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

(Luke 23:33-34)

Luke quite matter-of-factly describes the crucifixion of Jesus. Verse thirty-three could be the account of most any criminal's execution. There is no emotion, no perspective...just the facts. When the state takes a person's life in response to a crime he or she has committed, the story is often the same. Sure, there are some who become emotionally involved, but often the process is the same for one as it is for another...a routine hardly noticed in the grand scheme of things.

Verse thirty-four, however, is anything but routine. Amidst the voices of ridicule and condemnation...in the presence of the men who drove the nails into his flesh and raised his cross to secure his death, Jesus cries out for forgiveness...not his, but theirs. Imagine what those around him must have thought on that day. "Did I hear that right? Did he just ask God to forgive...me?" Others might have questioned his sanity after the severe beating he had endured. "He must be delirious," someone might have said. Perhaps there were a few standing near who had once followed him, but chose to leave because his words had seemed to difficult for them. Perhaps his call for forgiveness simply confirmed their reasons for leaving him. Maybe, just maybe there was someone in the crowd who still believed in him who marveled at such grace in the midst of such hell.

That forgiveness is on display at the cross, front and center, should not surprise us. No, we cannot fully understand it, and we struggle mightily to live in the shadow of it. But we cannot turn away from it. We cannot ignore it or its claims upon us. Forgiveness is at the heart of the cross because forgiveness was at the heart of Jesus' mission, and it is at the heart of the message of Christ that is still transforming lives today. As benefactors of that forgiveness, we are in turn to offer this gift to others as well, in Jesus' name.

William Barclay comments on this text, "There is nothing so lovely and so rare as Christian forgiveness. When the unforgiving spirit is threatening to turn our hearts to bitterness, let us hear again our Lord asking forgiveness for those who crucified him..." By the grace of God, Good Friday is a testimony to forgiveness. By that same grace, may the forgiveness we share with others in Jesus' name offer a similar testimony.

Prayer: Gracious God, you offer forgiveness freely through Jesus Christ. May we offer that same forgiveness in his name to all around us. Amen.

Jim Abernathy