"Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing...."
What can Christians do when faced with overwhelming conflict, injustice, violence and abuse of power? What did Jesus do? And what are ways we can put it into practice these days?
Is there a more disturbing scene than an innocent human given an unjust punishment? Anyone who has experienced undeserved suffering can find a way to empathize with Jesus and his Good Friday treatment by the people in power.
We have multiple versions of what unfairly happened to Jesus that dark day, including various ominous events that led up to it in the days and weeks prior. All four of the gospel accounts are based on eyewitness testimony from women and men who were proximate.
Out of all the excruciating experiences that Jesus endured on the day he was cruelly executed, it continually shocks me that he still had the presence of mind, still had strength in his body, and had enough love in his spirit to respond mercifully to all who were proximate.
When you think about what makes a Christian a “little Christ” (which is what the word means) it originally was a slur by pagan neighbors on those who lived differently, who put the teachings of Jesus into practice and sought to imitate him in their daily actions.
One could make the claim that only others can tell whether you are a Christian or not, you need the feedback of others, even your “enemies” to help know whether you are walking in The Way of the “crucified one.”
If you were going to identify a few key actions of Christ Jesus, that if imitated, would make it obvious you were a Christian, reflecting on what Jesus did and said on the cross is crucial. And the more backstory you have about Jesus, the more it highlights the shocking significance of his actions while crucified. (Click here to read the version from Luke).
Out of the key actions of Jesus recorded in the four gospels, the one that impresses me the most and challenges me the most is his plea to God to forgive those responsible for his torture, his suffering, his slanderous condemnation, his crucifixion, his being abandoned, disbelieved, mistrusted, feared, hated.
It’s outrageous, what happened to him, inhuman, unacceptable, beyond comprehension what was inflicted upon Jesus.
All the individuals who have suffered from crimes committed against humanity can empathize. It’s wrong when it happens to Jesus, it’s wrong when it happens to innocent children and women, and it’s wrong when men inflict it upon others, no matter how much it gets justified.
So what is a Christian to do? If we see in Jesus his work of forgiveness, and his invoking God to forgive those sinning against him, then we can get a pretty clear picture of what we ought to be about in our daily lives and our work in the world: forgive those who sin against us.
It’s fascinating that Jesus phrases his prayer the way he does: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”
Is he giving a condition: if they had known what they were doing, they wouldn’t be worthy of forgiveness?
But then it seems naive to assert that the Roman governor Pilate and the Jewish King Herod did not know what they were doing.
So is Jesus glossing over their decisions?
Or somehow, people are always personally and morally responsible for their decisions, but we are also always caught up in scandals and injustices more profound, hidden, and pervasive than we can realize.
This evokes enormous amounts of humility regarding our desire for revenge when we are wronged.
The grace of forgiveness is a way of challenging us to not get swept up in the “natural” desire for violent retaliation when we are wounded by another.
The courage of forgiveness is also a way to keep us from being hypocritically self-righteous when we are wrongly treated.
The compassion of forgiveness is also a way to help us be brutally honest about the ways we were wronged, as well open up new ways forward for humane healing instead of a vengeful spiral of retribution, resentment and bitterness.
When there is violence, vengeance, and roiling resentments in our home and hearts, in our nation and world, what can we do?
We can see how it all come to a point in Jesus’ side, in his pierced hands and feet. The “innocent man” modeled a way forward for us, one that is grounded in the reality of truth, love and new life in God.
To be angry when a victim of injustice is normal and natural and appropriate. To want justice is good and right. But to twist that into a form of revenge, escalating retribution, or spiraling violent punishment, it perpetuates the injustice into an even more distorted and destructive reality.
To forgive is not to dismiss the hurt or even horror of the wrong done against you. It’s not to gloss the truth of the suffering or to diminish the scope of the injustice.
To forgive is to face the reality of the experience to the full, and to desire healing and hope from it, to want good to come from it, and to aspire towards transformation.
Instead of losing control of your future and letting it get hi-jacked by bitter resentment and begrudging desire for revenge, do the work to be free to respond in a humane way that nurtures a resilient spirit and a heart full of grace.
We see in Jesus a compelling example, we can see in Jesus the integrity of his teaching, and we can experience in Jesus the personal forgiveness we desire from God for the wrongs we’ve done to ourselves, those closest to us, those who are ever in proximity to us, and those we no idea we were wronging.
“Father, forgive me, for I don’t know what I’m doing.”
This is true for you, if you want it.
Great reflection on the power of forgiveness as exemplified by Jesus Christ! I often reflect on the Joseph Story as related in Genesis 38-50. He told his conniving and murderous brothers that he forgave them! Why? “ What you intended for evil (selling Joseph into slavery and lying to Jacob their father that Joseph was killed by wild beasts!) God used for good ( the salvation of Joseph’s kin from starvation and death!) .” Genesis 50: 19-21. Amazing grace indeed!!