learning DAILY



Luke 23:34, Then Jesus said, “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do”.

Jesus has entered Jerusalem, been with His disciples in the Upper Room, celebrated communion with them, prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, been arrested, found guilty of nothing in Roman Law, beaten, and now is being nailed to a cross.  Those who did not know Jesus as the Son of God had done everything they could to destroy Him and any credibility He had.   It has been quite a week for the Lord. 

Read what the Bible says in the Gospels about his crucifixion.  As you do notice the words spoken by Jesus.  The first thing He said was a prayer for His enemies.  “Father, forgive them….”  That is the last statement any of us would make in that situation.  Few Believers take the time to pray for those who have done something or said something that has hurt or insulted us.  Here the Lord gives to us an example that must become part of our lives – forgiveness.  He had come to this earth to be a substitute for every sinner; He came to take the place of every person who would believe in Him and that He had the ability to forgive their sinfulness through His death and resurrection.

Forgiveness is pretty difficult for many of us.  Oh, we say we forgive and we might actually mean it.  But the forgetting is so difficult because we allow the enemy to continually remind us of what we have forgiven.  When those thoughts are not buried in the forgiveness, they begin to eat away at our peace with confusion and anger resulting.  How often do the memories of your sinfulness before you gave them to Jesus Christ come back to play games with you?  When they do, you need to remind the enemy that you have been forgiven by what Jesus Christ did for you at the cross of Calvary.  Do the same when thoughts come back to you about what you have forgiven others for.  Does that make sense?  If others have been forgiven for their sinfulness by the Lord Jesus Christ, no one has the right to judge that forgiveness. 

I would like to just comment briefly on the last part of this statement by the Lord.  The people determined to crucify Jesus knew exactly what they were doing; they did not know that the One they were crucifying was the Lord Himself.  The question becomes why not.  There was clear prophecy about Him; His life on earth was without sin and was selfless.  He taught as no other man had taught.  There was absolutely no excuse for not knowing who He was; there was no excuse for their ignorance.

Have you asked for Jesus Christ to forgive your sins?  Have you forgiven others of the things they have done to you or said about you?  There is no better time to do so than right now.  Ask the Lord what He would have you do and the best way to do it.  I know I need to spend some time in prayer about this very thing.  What about you?

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