Forgive Them

Most people know about the last words of Christ as He hung on the cross in excruciating pain: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). The image, while hard to imagine and think about, shows just how passionate Christ is about His creation and is just one more example of the true nature of the God that we serve.

Notice how I said is rather than was as Christ’s divinity does not change whether He’s walking the Earth, hanging from a cross, resurrecting from the grave, or watching each of us. The nature of Christ is truly divine and the picture of Him dying on the cross but seeking to forgive despite the ignorance of those below is truly a picture of true love that has never been matched.

Even as His life’s blood was nearly gone and it was hard for Him to breathe, we see that we were on His mind. Yes, there will people who say that Christ was referring just to those on Earth at that time but we should never doubt that we were on His mind, then, just as we are right now. Christ was going through torture that He did not deserve for His creation and rather than thinking of His hurt, He thought of us.

The nature of Christ is beyond comprehension. Think about a natural disaster such as a hurricane or flood and how often people exploit the needs of others for their own personal benefit. A case of water normally costs four or five dollars but there have been situations when people would charge nearly one-hundred dollars. Unfortunately, events like this that feature people at their worse and most vulnerable brings out the worse in others but such events go against everything that Christ taught and the way He lived His life.

This is how Christ lived His life. His was sinless and perfect and thought of others before Himself. We the People are made in His image which has a much bigger meaning than simply looking like Him but rather, we are to be like Christ within our lives and with our actions. The fact that Christ requested that His creation be forgiven despite all that had transpired shows the true nature of our Savior. His love is pure and unconditional and just like Christ Himself, divine.

“Forgive Them” reveals just how significant forgiveness is in our lives. These have been things that have happened to each of us in our lives that we cannot see a reason why to forgive the other individual or party or find a way within ourselves to forgive the trespasser(s) but we must do so. Something that we should never forget is that regardless of what has happened to us, nothing compares to what we Christ through.

As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:”

—Isaiah 52:14