Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
Luke 23:34 NKJV
When Jesus gave His new commandment to thedisciples at the last supper, to love one another as He had loved them, He set a new standard. The disciples had no idea about the events that were about to unfold the very next morning, in the greatest demonstration of that love, as Jesus was nailed to the cross.
As He hung on the cross Jesus cried out, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Jesus forgave His enemies, when they did not deserve to be forgiven and in doing so, set a new standard of forgiveness.
Not one of us deserves to be forgiven by God, yet God forgives us. Instead of judgement, we receive grace. We receive what we don’t deserve (forgiveness), and we don’t receive what we do deserve (judgement).
Jesus set a new standard for us to live by. He says that we should forgive others just as we have been forgiven, and that if we do not, then God will not forgive us!
When Peter asked Jesus, “how many times shall I forgive my brother, up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “not seven times but seventy times seven!”
Peter most likely thought he was being generous by saying seven times, but Jesus was setting a new standard of forgiveness as seen by His response. Did 70x7 = 490 times? Psalm 90:10 says; “the span of our lives is 70 years.” There are 7 days in the week, so this was a figurative response in which Jesus was saying we should forgive those who wrong us every day of our lives.
Jesus went on to teach the parable of the unforgiving servant, who received forgiveness for a huge, unpayable debt and refused to forgive a minor debt that was owed to him. In this parable Jesus highlights the magnitude of forgiveness that we have received, compared to the forgiveness we extend to those who have hurt us.
CS Lewis said: “Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive!”
It has been rightly said that unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the person who hurt us to die!
Let’s never forget that forgiveness lies at the very core of our faith. Jesus set a new standard, that will free us from the trap of offence, resentment and bitterness if we forgive others as God forgives us.
William Blake said: “the glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness.”
By God’s grace may we not be conquered by unforgiveness but become more than conquerorswith the new standard of forgiveness that Jesus set for us.