FATHER, FORGIVE THEM

Before we begin this Lenten journey together, I want to give you a tip for approaching these blogs. The way I practice my faith and interpret scripture is heavily influenced by my dad, a deeply spiritual man who drank from a deep well. He had doctorates in theology and philosophy and raised us to be curious and to be ponderers. So, as I write, I come as a ponderer and a seeker. I am open to whatever the Spirit wants to reveal. I love theology, I love seeking deeper meaning, and I love reading authors who come to the scripture with different lenses than mine. I want to know God as fully as I can on this side of the veil. As you read my thoughts, know that I am processing and asking for fresh revelation. I am pondering. Hopefully, through these words, you will ponder too.

Pastor John’s Lenten series takes us into the last seven phrases Jesus uttered on the cross. Truly, it’s remarkable he was able to utter anything at all. Each phrase exhaled by our dying Savior is a precious gift. The first spoken phrase was “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34).  Let that sink in. Picture what was happening when Jesus said those words. Father, forgive them for they…  

Pastor John led us through the 15 or so hours leading up to this utterance. The thems and theys could have been many: Judas, Peter, the disciples who fled, the religious leaders, the conspirators, Pilate, Herod, the soldiers, the crowd who chose Barabbas over Jesus and said “We have no king but Caesar”. It could have included the ceremonial mourners to whom Jesus spoke on his way to the cross, saying, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. You should be weeping for yourselves and your children…. For if this is what they do to the living Branch, what will they do with the dead ones?” (23: 28, 31 TPT). That’s a strong word. 

Jesus could have been referring to those who hammered the nails into his body, the mockers who mercilessly taunted him as he hung there, or the onlookers who watched him die, whether for entertainment or from the horror of it all. Many people played a role in those last hours, and none of them knew fully what they were doing. Jesus knew that. Jesus wanted them forgiven, and he wanted them to hear that phrase.  I think he wants us to hear that phrase too. What do you think? Were we included in Jesus' “thems” and “theys” referred to on that specific day? Let’s ponder that. 

Even before Jesus established the new covenant in his blood, the Old Testament prophets show us God was already in the business of mass forgiveness. 

Isaiah, transcribing what he heard from the Lord, wrote: "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (43:25).  That’s interesting. God covers our transgressions for his own sake. Could it be that God’s desire for fellowship with us compels him to forgive even what we think is unforgivable for the sake of having a relationship with us? 

Isaiah also transcribed, “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you” (44:22). Notice the order. God already redeemed them before they returned. Hmmm.

Jeremiah revealed God’s words by writing, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (31:34). God is not holding a grudge. He chooses to forgive. He chooses not to remember. 

When we lived in Wyoming, on nice days, I walked to and from work. As I walked, I would chat with God. One particular day, I was pondering the word remember and had the revelation that the opposite of remember isn’t forget. It’s dismember. So, when God chooses not to remember our sins, they are dismembered from us. They are no longer connected to us. They’re gone. We may struggle to dismember them from ourselves, but God has removed them. Psalm 103:12 states, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” They are dismembered. Let’s not hold onto dismembered things. God doesn’t.

All those verses are from the Old Testament. That’s before the crucifixion. That’s before Jesus shed his blood. Was God dismembering sins outside the confines of time because in eternity we were already forgiven? Was Jesus’ sacrifice already counted on our behalf? I have no idea. I do know that Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). I don’t know how it works, but it’s interesting to think about. 

These excerpts from Hebrews 9 offer more thoughts to ponder.  As the author wrote about the heavenly tabernacle, it was said of Jesus, “... he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption… Christ is the mediator of a new covenant…he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant,... he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (vs.12,15, 26 NIV)

That seems outside of time to me. It includes forgiveness for those under the old covenant who committed sins before Christ was born and to whom the prophets said, God has forgiven you. Jesus fulfilled the old covenant. It’s no longer valid, but the new one is eternal. At the last supper, Jesus departed from the normal, hundreds-of-years-old Passover script and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20). A new age, a new way of relating with God has arrived. Our reconciliation through his blood was changing everything for all time.  With that in mind,  I believe it’s quite possible Jesus’ forgiveness prayer on the cross was not only meant for those participating that day but is an eternal prayer covering all time and all people. 

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” We bumble and blunder along the way. Sometimes we’re law-based, sometimes we’re grace-based. Sometimes we get it right. Sometimes, we blow it. Sometimes, we forget that Jesus' blood was not just about personal salvation but also about serving God. Hebrews 9:14 tells us, “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ… cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God! (NIV). Our consciences are cleansed because our sins are dismembered. They are no longer attached to us. Jesus' death was never meant to be about “God and me”. It was always intended to begin a movement that embodies the message  “...this is how much God loved the world. He gave his one and only unique Son as a gift. So now, everyone who believes in him will never perish but experience everlasting life. God did not send his Son into the world to judge and condemn the world, but to be its Savior and rescue it. (Jn. 3:16-17 TPT). The gift is for all, and we who have already received the gift get the awesome joy of sharing with others that they are forgiven and dearly loved. We can live a full, rich life right here, right now, because we are unconditionally loved. Yes, eternal life is about heaven, but it’s also about earth. 

Remember for a moment the youngest prodigal son. He was already forgiven and dearly loved before he ever went home. He just didn’t know it yet. His sins were already dismembered from him in the eyes of his father, as are ours. That kind of forgiveness sets us free to love God - heart, soul, mind, and strength - and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

One final thought. After my “remember/dismember” revelation, I began to pray differently. I began praying from a place of gratitude that I was forgiven rather than a place of shame because I needed forgiveness. That little tweak changed everything. We do not have to beg God to forgive us. It’s already happened. We don’t have to come to God in shame. God is not shaming us. Yes, we do need to admit we missed the mark, but then thank God that the sin is already removed from us. That weight is not ours to bear. Our conscience is cleansed. Thanksgiving prayers rather than shame-based prayers help us embrace how deeply loved we are. God forgives us for God’s sake because we are loved that much. God wants us to live in freedom, not in shame. We are loved. We are them. We are they. We are forgiven.  

TRULY, I TELL YOU, TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.

This week, we looked at the second utterance of Jesus from the cross. Again, it is remarkable that he is uttering anything at all. He had already endured a horrific beating. He had thorns pressed into his head. He was held to a cross by spikes hammered through flesh, ligaments, muscles, nerves, and bones. Not only was he severely wounded, the weight of his own body was suffocating him. It’s not pleasant to think about, yet it’s important to get ourselves out of familiar Christian lingo (Jesus died on the cross) and ponder the reality of what he endured. When we take a few moments to squirm as we think about it, we can marvel at the message he conveyed in his last “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” moments. He intentionally spoke aloud. We are wise to pay attention to what he said.

Last week we looked at Jesus’ desire for humankind to be forgiven. This week, we look at the words he spoke to one of the convicted criminals hanging next to him and ponder what those words might mean for us. 

Let’s place ourselves in the scene. Luke 23:32 tells us, “Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed”. Three men are being led out, most likely by Roman soldiers, to be executed. There’s a crowd. It’s a public spectacle. This is Roman might, Roman arrogance,  and Roman cruelty on display. These three condemned men are that day’s example of what happens to those who don’t live according to the principles of the Roman empire or who tick off the wrong people. After large metal nails are hammered into their bodies, their crosses are raised, and they are suspended like that until they finally die, could be hours, could be days. Jesus watches as his clothes are gambled over. He listens to mockers. Luke describes the scene like this: “The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”  The soldiers said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”  One of the criminals hanging next to him said, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” (Lk. 23: 35, 37, 39). I find it interesting that the Roman soldiers don’t deny Jesus saved others, whatever that meant to them. They merely want further proof he’s the Chosen One. Pastor John pointed out that all three of these phrases have to do with Jesus saving himself. Save yourself. Save yourself. And then… save yourself and us. 

Save yourself and us. That criminal’s phrase causes me to wonder if he really wanted Jesus - who many in the region knew as the man who healed people, who had raised people from the dead, who hung out with and embraced the outcasts, and who hung next to him - could he pull off a big miracle at this moment? Was there both derision and secret hope in his mocking? These are the kinds of things I ponder.

The second criminal rebuked the first. The NIV translates his words this way: “Don’t you fear God…since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” (23: 40, 41)  He begins his rebuke with the words “Don’t you fear God?”  Is he saying, “We’re under a death sentence we deserve, but why are you trying to make God mad right now? It’s not the time for that. We deserve this, but don’t make God even madder by being mean to the innocent man.” I wish we knew more about this man’s story because not only does he rebuke the other criminal and defend Jesus’ honor,  it’s also safe to assume he knew Jesus was special. He knew Jesus’ name. He knew Jesus was innocent. He knew Jesus was a king. He may not have understood all of it, but he was familiar enough to understand there was a kingdom attached to Jesus because he says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (vs. 42).  Jesus. Remember me. 

Last week, I wrote about my “chatting with God revelation” that the opposite of remember is dismember. If dismember means disconnected from, does remember mean connected to? Could the second criminal have been saying, Jesus, connect me to you. I want to be with you, connected to you, in your kingdom. 

Colossians 1:15 tells us Jesus is the perfect image of the invisible God. When we see Jesus, we see God. I personally believe that God’s becoming flesh, living among us, teaching us, loving us, modeling for us how to love others, dying, living again, and conquering the power of death was all about remembering– connecting to us after sin had disconnected us. Honestly, he did for us what the first criminal asked…he saved us. The prophet Isaiah wrote: “Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call. It’s your sins that have cut you off from God” (59: 1-2a NLT). Sin dismembered us. Jesus re-membered us. Jesus, whose arm is not too weak to save, nor his ear too deaf to hear, responds to criminal number 2 and says: “Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (v 43). Truly, you will be re-membered. You will be remembered. 

Truly. Do you know what the Hebrew word for “truly” is? It’s amen. Amen. A simple word that has two different meanings. At the beginning of a phrase it means “of a truth, truly, verily”. At the end of a phrase it means “so it is”, “so be it”. (Strong’s Concordance G281).  Remarkably, this very common and familiar word was kept intact through centuries beginning with Hebrew, then Greek, then Latin, and then many other languages, including  English. The Blue Letter Bible’s notes state: “The word is directly related to–in fact almost identical— to the Hebrew word for ‘believe' (aman)...an expression of absolute trust and confidence”. Jesus' choice to use the word “truly” at the beginning of his phrase was intentional. He was saying, it’s true. Believe me. It will be so today. You will be with me in paradise today. Believe it. Paradise meant a lot of different things in Jesus’ day, but my favorite of Strong’s Concordance’s possibilities is Eden. The first Eden was the place dis-membering first happened. Could that criminal, a valued and loved image-bearer, have met Jesus on the other side of the veil in a perfectly restored and re-membered Eden? What a beautiful thought to ponder. 

One final thought to explore before I bring this blog to a close: Jesus promised the man on the cross next to him, “You will be with me”. Nothing was required of the man. He simply asked Jesus to remember him, and Jesus said yes. It was that simple. Is it that simple for us? Yes.

Less than 24 hours before this exchange on the cross, Jesus and his disciples were together for the annual Passover meal. During that meal, Jesus asked them to remember him and  the new covenant established in his blood when they celebrated future Passovers. “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk. 22:19). He wanted them to connect themselves again to the fact that the Old Covenant, the law and prophets were fulfilled through him, and the New Covenant of grace, of new-life, of total forgiveness, was now and forever in place. That’s for us remember too. He  told them the Father was going to send them an advocate, the Holy Spirit,  who would never leave them, who would be in them and with them (John 14: 16-17). A few verses later, he said, “When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you” (vs 20, NLT). We don’t have to wait for the afterlife to be with Jesus. We are with Jesus now, and Jesus is with us and in us. He’s done all the work. He’s provided the way. He’s said yes. We just need to re-member/connect ourselves to the One who’s re-membered/connected himself to us. Then we can spend our days as branches of the life-giving vine inviting others to be re-membered too. 

The forgiving nature of God, the restorative nature of God, the remembering, reconnecting nature of God, the always and everyone unconditionally loving nature of God, the “withness” of God runs throughout scripture. Today, we are with Jesus, and Jesus is with us. Today. Right now. We are remembered. Amen. 

What a gift. Re-member.