But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34, NASB)
And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:42-43, NASB)
Tomorrow, 7 April, is Good Friday. We remember how Jesus Christ suffered and died on this darkest of days. He suffered unspeakable torture at the hands of Roman soldiers, and then crucifixion on a wooden Roman cross. But as agonizing as His torture and execution were, He forgave those responsible!
Jesus accomplished His mission for coming to the earth He created: He died a sinner’s death in our place as a substitute for us. Jesus submitted Himself to horrific torture and crucifixion. He did so willingly and He did so for me!
He was scourged with a whip which had either pieces of metal or glass embedded in it. This torture often exposed internal organs, and left the victim either dead or delirious. But Jesus kept on, carrying His cross partway to Calvary. Ann Graham Lotz says that the miracle is not that Jesus was able to continue, but that He submitted to this punishment at all! He could’ve just sent His torturers straight to hell. Such is His love for us!
Then there was the cross. The spikes through His hands and feet. The crown of long, sharp, Palestinian thorns, shoved down, piercing His head. The agony of suffocation. The mocking and insults hurled His way. He endured all of this willingly, and He did so for me!
After this torture, while He was hanging on the cross, Jesus forgave His executioners. They truly didn’t know what they were doing! They were killing God! The Man Jesus was dying to save their very souls from the wrath of God, for a chance to spend an eternity in heaven with Him.
The two thieves on either side of Him threw insults at Him, cursed Him, and dared Jesus to save Himself and them. Then one thief had a change of heart. He asked Jesus to “remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” I think the thief figured out Who Jesus is. Jesus forgave him, and the thief became the first recorded man who entered heaven saved by Jesus!
Jesus forgave those responsible for His torture and execution, and one of the men who just a few minutes earlier, had delivered the most vile of insults at Him. If He forgave these, He can forgive us. All we have to do is ask Him!
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