One More Bit More on Forgiveness

July 9, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Before I temporarily leave the subject of forgiveness, there is one other passage that I want to bring before your remembrance: “But Jesus was saying, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing’” (Luke 23:34 NASB). OK. I want all of you who believe they did not know what they were doing to raise your hands. Hmmm. That’s what I thought. I didn’t see a single hand. Oh, they knew what they were doing, and for the most part they were convinced that they were doing the “right” thing. They were, really!
There is another side of this coin, however, and it is this: they really did not know what they were doing! They had no idea that they were fully cooperating with God’s plan of redemption. They had no idea that they were merely carrying out a piece of the plan of redemption that God set in motion before the foundation of the world. These criminals were in this designated place, at this appointed time, to carry out God’s rearranged plan.
These men were the scum of the earth, murderers, having no conscience, no sense of compassion, eager to torture and, even to watch with glee the suffering servant’s life’s blood flow from His battered body. If anyone ever needed forgiveness, they did; however, they did NOT deserve it—no way! It was His gracious gift to them. Jesus and His Father agreed to mark their debt paid in full—no contingencies whatsoever. Talk about grace!!
Now, listen up because this is really a three-sided coin (well, I guess I should call it a three-legged stool) and most NEVER realize it. This is the third leg of the stool: we forget that we were the “scum-of-the-earth, the murdering with no conscience and no sense of compassion” sinners; we were the “if anyone ever needed forgiveness we did” sinners, whose sins brought Him to this terrible cross, and, sadly, we, like they, thought we were doing the “right thing.” We did, really!
Did we deserve to be forgiven? Absolutely not! We weren’t even asking for forgiveness, primarily because we didn’t think we needed to be forgiven! But He ignored that, and without even asking for our permission, He forgave us. His words still ring clearly—“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” At the time, we really didn’t; in fact, we didn’t even have a clue.
If you are His, then you are forgiven—forever forgiven. He paid you debt in full!