Forgiveness

"Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do."

Were more beautiful words ever spoken? Consider:

1. The person speaking was being punished, nay crucified, though he had committed no crime.
2. The victim had 12 legions of angels at his disposal to deliver him if he so desired.
3. The forgiver had no reason to forgive his persecutors, except his will to do so.
4. The ones afflicting him were deserving of eternal punishment, not forgiveness.

Yet...he forgave them.

What does it mean to forgive? The definition of forgive is: To stop feeling angry or resentful toward someone for an offense, flaw or mistake.

I found it interesting that the example phrase in the dictionary I use is: I don't think I'll ever forgive David for the way he treated her. Isn't that how it usually is? When we speak of forgiveness, it's in not being able to.

Why do we find it so hard to forgive?

• A neighbor's dog kills one of our chickens, and we demand compensation and threaten to shoot the dog if he comes around again.
• A brother uses your computer without asking, and you proclaim, "You are never to use my computer again!"
• A spouse utters a cutting remark in haste, and though he apologizes, you remind him of his indiscretion whenever the opportunity presents itself.
• A driver in another car changes lanes dangerously in front of you, and you tailgate him for the next several miles.

You get the picture. We want revenge. We've been wronged, and we want, we deserve, to have it made right. Justice must be served.

Where was justice when Jesus was mocked, beaten and crucified? Why did he not demand that it be made right? Why does his father not demand that it be made right now?

Perhaps the point we miss is that when Jesus forgave them, he made it right. When Jesus forgave you, he made it right. When we forgive our neighbor, brother, spouse or fellow man, WE make it right.

When a person chooses to forgive, rather than exact revenge, the wrong is removed, as if it never happened. It's all right again!

If we're honest, we know we feel better when we forgive, than we do not, too. Somehow, getting revenge just doesn't satisfy. But forgiveness does.

When we forgive, we acknowledge that we make mistakes, too; we are selfish, too; we speak hastily, too; and...we've been forgiven.

Jesus told a parable of a man who had been forgiven a great debt, and then refused to forgive someone else an insignificant debt. Isn't that man you? Isn't that man me? Consider what Jesus forgave us, compared to the debt we require repaid by others.

Let's forgive. Let's make it right.