April 13th: The Father’s Heart
Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Pontius Pilate has just delivered Jesus to be put to death following the cries of the Jewish people shouting, “Crucify, crucify Him!” (Luke 23:21). Pilate then had Jesus scourged, a Roman judicial penalty consisting of a severe beating with a multi-lashed whip containing embedded pieces of bone and metal that tore Jesus’ flesh from His back while lacerating His muscles. The Roman soldiers stripped Jesus naked, mocked and spit on Him while He was being crucified between two sinners.
Jesus then looks out at His tormentors, opens His mouth and says, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). What could compel Jesus to say this? What display of boundless divine grace? What expression of endless compassion to look upon the very people killing you and your failing heart be so softened to pray for them? We must remember that Jesus is profoundly continuing His heart of love that He carried throughout His entire ministry as Luke tells us seventeen chapters prior Jesus’ words to, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28).
It is here, even on the cross, Jesus fulfills His own command. Apart from Christ, we too were like the soldiers and the tormentors, rejecting Jesus, disobeying His commands, hardening our hearts to choose what is good in our own eyes while carrying the guilt of our own sin and shame. But in the greatest act of divine love and mercy, Jesus’ heart is for us to be forgiven and redeemed, as He intercedes on behalf of us to the Father through His completed work on the cross. In Christ we have been forgiven for our sins!
Pontius Pilate has just delivered Jesus to be put to death following the cries of the Jewish people shouting, “Crucify, crucify Him!” (Luke 23:21). Pilate then had Jesus scourged, a Roman judicial penalty consisting of a severe beating with a multi-lashed whip containing embedded pieces of bone and metal that tore Jesus’ flesh from His back while lacerating His muscles. The Roman soldiers stripped Jesus naked, mocked and spit on Him while He was being crucified between two sinners.
Jesus then looks out at His tormentors, opens His mouth and says, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). What could compel Jesus to say this? What display of boundless divine grace? What expression of endless compassion to look upon the very people killing you and your failing heart be so softened to pray for them? We must remember that Jesus is profoundly continuing His heart of love that He carried throughout His entire ministry as Luke tells us seventeen chapters prior Jesus’ words to, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28).
It is here, even on the cross, Jesus fulfills His own command. Apart from Christ, we too were like the soldiers and the tormentors, rejecting Jesus, disobeying His commands, hardening our hearts to choose what is good in our own eyes while carrying the guilt of our own sin and shame. But in the greatest act of divine love and mercy, Jesus’ heart is for us to be forgiven and redeemed, as He intercedes on behalf of us to the Father through His completed work on the cross. In Christ we have been forgiven for our sins!
REFLECTION
If the Forgiver lives inside of us, who are we to withhold forgiveness from anyone, for we have been forgiven so much! How does Christ’s forgiveness on the cross encourage your own forgiveness to others? Spend some time reflecting on Jesus’ command to “Love your enemies…and bless those who curse you.”
PRAY
On the cross, Jesus prayed for His executioners, asking God the Father to not hold their sin against them. We too, can pray with this same heart. Let us ask God in prayer to make our heart more like His, and that the Holy Spirit would fill our hearts and align ours with the Son’s. Being like Jesus means forgiving like Jesus did. Ask God who you need to forgive and ask God to grant you a heart aligned with His.