Luke 23:26-49
Forgive Them Father, for They Do Not Know What They Are Doing
26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then
“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35 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.”
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
John 6:35-40
Jesus Came Down from Heaven
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me,but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
Luke 7:36-47
If We Forgive Little, We Love Little
36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet,he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
John 13:34-35
Love One Another
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Jesus was abandoned by His disciples and friends...He was betrayed...He was being treated as a criminal...He was led to His death for teaching about God, and saying that He was from heaven, and that God had sent Him...The mock trial He got, did not search for the Truth...The ones in charge just appeased the religious leaders and the unruly crowd...No evidence for Him was presented...As His life is soon to be taken, He forgives us, the very ones who are going to hang Him from His cross...Yet, He forgives us for His upcoming suffering on the cross...Then He dies for us...And though He was abandoned He remains in control of the situation...Jesus was a victim...Our victim on the cross...And through all of the things we did to Him, He forgives us...
Man is different...We want to be in control of things and of others, yet we cannot be -and we are not (in control -God is)...And so when we feel victimized by whatever circumstances, we find it very, very hard to forgive...If forgiveness were easy the world would be at peace...Sometimes we seem never to forget those things that happen to us, or our friends, or our families, and we can never forgive...But, if somehow we ever learn to forgive, we learn to love more and better...And when we love each other, we are His disciples...But for centuries man keeps getting very hung up on this forgiveness part...It is not an easy thing to do...In fact, complete forgiveness is very, very difficult...Forgiveness would make the world better and people could easier live together...
Jesus gave His life on the cross...He shows us how the world can live together...If we can only learn to forgive, and forgive unconditionally good things will happen in the world...Then we will LOVE unconditionally...For those who can only forgive a little, can only love a little...And when we learn to LOVE unconditionally, the world will be a much better place...Then we will be His disciples...
The Greatest Man ever to walk the earth taught us how to forgive...When we look at His life, we can see by His very act of forgiving us, that He did come down from heaven...He is Divine...He taught us how to love...Two thousand years later we are still learning these things...