Luke 23:34
Forgiveness
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Jesus taught us to forgive...And He is our example of forgiveness...Sometimes when we think of Jesus being crucified, we might think or blame and say -it was what Pilate did, it was what the Sanhedrin did, or it was long ago, and it was something somebody else did...This may have some truth in that statement, but the whole truth about Jesus dying on the cross is this: MY sins put Him on the cross and they are why He was crucified...Each of us sin, and we had Him crucified...But He forgives us completely for our sins and He died for each one of us...Jesus knows that every man needs forgiveness...And so He died on the cross for our sins...
So when we think of Jesus, forgiveness would be something we would think about Him...
In the middle of the word forgiveness is give...Give is part of forgive...When we forgive someone, we must give someone that normally is a part of how we feel to the one we are forgiving...When we forgive, we must give something up...This giving is an emotional something...When are in a position to forgive someone, we usually do not want this person to have a part of us and a part of how we feel, because normally we are or have been hurt...We think we are the injured party (which we very well maybe)...We do not want the the one or ones around that have injured us...We are hurt and maybe in some pain, when we are to forgive or trying to forgive someone...This hurt that we have, stops us sometimes from forgiving immediately...Forgiving is hard and it can be very hard...When we get mad at someone, after they have wronged us, it is hard to give part of yourself and forgive...It seems especially difficult for us to forgive, when we are hurting from their injury (to us)...
Jesus tells us to turn our other cheek after we are hurt...This is difficult...In a way after you are hurt, one feels they should hurt back...We feel somehow that is our right...Therefore, it takes humility, a humbleness to forgive...Turning the other cheek is not easy, and forgiving is not easy...When Jesus tells us to forgive, He doesn't mean I forgive you BUT...What Jesus teaches is forgiving with no strings...No bitter emotions, no favors, or future favors from the one sinning on us...It means to completely forgive...
Jesus teaches us much about forgiveness...In the LORD's prayer He tells us we need to forgive others, so our Father will forgive us...He tells us to forgive everyone who sins against us (Luke 11:4)...When we can and are able to forgive everyone then our Father will forgive us...In Jesus' parable of the unmerciful servant, He teaches us that we must forgive like the merciful master forgave his unmerciful servant...Because God forgives us, we must be ready and able to forgive everyone...The unmerciful servant cannot forgive others who has sinned against him, even though his master has forgiven him...God will treat us like we treat our neighbors (Matthew 18:35)...The forgiving process is hard, I think this is why Jesus addresses it several times in the gospels...We generally carry around a pain, a suffering when one sins against us...We seem to want to (or feel we have to) carry around this thought of the pain, and maybe want a little (or a lot) revenge of some sorts...The sinner must suffer some or so we might think...But still we are taught to forgive everyone who sins against us...
Forgiving is a part of loving...When we learn to forgive, we learn to love...When we really want to love, we must really learn how to forgive (Mother Theresa)...Therefore, forgiveness is an important part of love...We must learn to forgive, when we learn to love...
Jesus died on the cross for our sins...How do you think He felt about us, as He was suffering on the cross for me and you?...It is my sins that He died for, and therefore, He has forgiven each of us, and He has died for each of us...So, we are forgiven everyday and each day we live, by Jesus...But we are not to go on sinning in the future, we are to repent...But Jesus knows we will sin in the future...If Jesus died for our future sins, then we would not have to forgive others when they sin against us...If this were the case, these future sins would have been already forgiven, and then there would be no reason for us to have to forgive others...He tells us to forgive everyone who sins against us...That is why in His prayer we are commanded to forgive others, as our Father will forgive us...Our future sins and our ability to forgive everyone (who sins against us) are linked to us being able to forgive...This is again hard...It is hard because in one way, we want God to forgive us, but we want to carry around this painful feeling and our unforgiving thoughts toward others...Sometimes we don't want to forgive those who have sinned against us...But this is not what Jesus teaches...
Maybe the problem of the pain that we harbor and hold inside (against others) is the very reason one does not want to forgive...Forgiveness is painful...We have been hurt...It is this problem of and in our pain, that we feel bad...We think the one who injured us, should also feel bad...When one is hurt, the one sinned against must look the sin and pain square in the face and feel the pain...True forgiveness does not try to give this pain we feel back to the one who has sinned against us...Jesus' teachings are clear on this...We are to turn the other cheek...This is very difficult, especially if one is or has greatly suffered...It is possible, the act of you forgiving may not subside the pain you feel at all...So then why forgive if we do not benefit for our forgiving?...Forgiveness is in a way, a part of forgetting...But it seems the very painful and hurtful times are very difficult to forget...But that does not mean, even if we cannot forget, we cannot forgive...Forgiveness is also a part of moving on..Sometimes to move on, we must just do our best to forget, and then move on...The painful memory or memory is there, it is a part our history and experience, but life moves on...
It seems that forgiveness and the process of forgiveness stays in our memory and we need to learn from it...Especially the first part of the process, the part when we were injured...But as stated earlier, if learning is part of the process, we must learn without regrets, turn the other cheek and move on...Forgiveness must be freely given and does not attach strings to it...
Our Father understands these things...He suffered...God sent Jesus down to earth for us...Our Father had His Son go to the cross for our sins...To watch your own Son die, is the worst and most painful thing that could happen in One's eternal life...A father on earth and our Father in heaven would never forget this (of watching their S(s)on die)...Jesus did not sin, we did...He died for us, for our sins...Sometimes I think we forget this...This is what my sins did to My forgiving Master...The next time one sins, we must think about the sin and pain we suffer and think of our LORD...He died not only for us, but the one who sinned against us...He also died for not only the sin we are to forgive, but for our pain we are suffering... He died on the cross...He felt His pain...He feels our pain when we suffer...He created us...He is our LORD and our God, how could He not feel the pain we are going through...
Pain and suffering are often a part of the sin and forgiveness process...God knows this...God felt the pain of His Son's death...We feel the pain when one sins against us...We are not in this alone...The Father and Son understand...But He teaches us to forgive others, and when we do, He will forgive us...
Forgiveness is not only linked to sin, but also in another way to love...Forgiveness is a part of love...Love would not be love, without forgiveness...Jesus teaches us if we cannot forgive much, we cannot love much...Jesus tells us is we can only forgive a little then we can only love a little (Luke 7:47)...In this same vain, we must forgive as often as the only who sins against us...Jesus teaches if someone sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him (Luke 17:4)...
Forgive and you will be forgiven (Luke 6:37)...God loves us, and forgives us completely without any debts to Him...Our debts of our sins are paid by His Son...He died on the cross for us...If God can forgive us completely, we must learn to forgive others completely...
St. John teaches us to confess our sins to our Father...If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9)...This is healthy...In life mean must learn to forgive...Harboring feelings of bitterness, resentment and unforgiving feelings is not good for our health...The better and faster we learn to forgive, and can forgive the better our lives, and the better we can love...God has the eternal way of forgiving us...Since God is Love, He forgives with all His heart...Why should we forgive if we don't feel better after our forgiving the trespasser?...If I need a reason to forgive, then remember, Jesus tells me to forgive...