Disciplines From the Cross: A Holy Week DevotionalSample

Forgiveness

We are going to focus on the words found in Luke 23:34 “And Jesus said “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do…”

The cross is both a place and a symbol. It represents the ultimate sacrifice. It was, is, and always will be where the greatest debt in human history was paid in full. Jesus asks God to forgive the sins of those crucifying him. Who else but God can forgive sins? Jesus prays to the Father, and in a secondary line, he adds, "for they know not what they do." The people were acting in ignorance; they were not aware of the gravity of their actions. Even as Christ hung on the cross, facing the agony, shame, and the curse of that very execution, his heart filled with forgiveness. In that very moment itself, right in the heart of the pain of the crucifixion, the first thing Jesus did was ask for their forgiveness.

Sins can only be forgiven when they have been paid for. The scriptures tell us that the wages of sin is death. Every sin must be accounted for. Jesus' asking for sins to be forgiven was based on the fact that he was currently paying for them. God doesn't just forgive a sin here and there—an action or a word spoken. He forgives us completely! He covers everything completely! God is the only non-sinner who forgives.

The second part of the statement is that Jesus grants us a powerful forgiveness—a powerful forgiveness. What does that mean? It has not only covered our own sin, this forgiveness that God gave to us; it comes with the power to forgive others. Just as God forgives us for our sins, we also must, in turn, forgive others. We must reciprocate the forgiveness shown to us.

How have we been forgiven? Completely! It’s a blanket forgiveness. In the same way, we must also be willing to forgive others. We must become a channel of God’s forgiveness through us to others. There’s a dynamic here: we have been forgiven from the ocean of forgiveness doled out to us so that we forgive others. God has forgiven us our sin; that's blanket forgiveness. We cannot turn around and dispense forgiveness as per the sin, as per the situation, as per the severity. When we forgive, we too need to measure and reflect that same forgiveness that was given to us.

How can we make forgiving a habit? Don't wait for people to say sorry. Start the day with forgiveness. Start the day by switching on the tap of God's forgiveness flowing through you. If I have been forgiven, let it flow through me. Do that in the same way Jesus did, by lifting people up to God the Father daily. He said to God, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing." He prayed it. Let us consider this and try to make it a habit so that we are a forgiven and a forgiving people.

Take a moment to meditate on what you’ve just read. There will be voices trying to justify why you shouldn’t forgive a particular person. Let the Spirit of God work in your heart. If the Father or Jesus stopped to think of the reasons why He shouldn’t forgive us, we would have never known what the atonement looked like. That's why I say this forgiveness comes with the power to forgive—the power to forgive anybody or anything.

Prayer

Our Father in heaven, I thank you for your forgiveness and grace towards me. What a wretched person I am, and you still choose to die for me. Thank you for cleansing me and making me your child. I pray that your Spirit will work in me and my heart to forgive those people or situations that I really struggle with. Give me your strength and the power I need to be able to forgive as you have forgiven me. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.