Luke 23:32-35
Jesus Forgives Us for Crucifying Him
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.”
Matthew 5:48
Be Perfect as God is Perfect
48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 7:13-14
The Narrow and Wide Gates of Life
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Matthew 9:2
Take Heart Son, Your Sins are Forgiven
2 Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
Mark 2:17
Jesus Came to Help Sinners
17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 10:18
No One is Good But God Alone
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.
There is evil in this world...There is both evil and goodness...And even though there is evil in this world, God allows it...But God is in control...For some reason in life and this world, evil has this wide gate that we can easily enter and it seems that it is in our nature to be pulled toward this dark wide sided gate with its allure...The evil path almost seems to be robust and tempting...And if you believe this, you might also believe that goodness has this small gate that is narrow in size and for those who do see it, and it has a humbly-small Light that seems not as tempting, even though it is...The darkness seems as more temptation and more tempting than the small narrower gate...We are told that the wide dark gate leads to destruction, and the small narrow gate leads to life...
We can believe that Jesus believes the world is broken...When He walked the earth He went around forgiving people...He really did not say why He forgave someone, He would just forgive them, in a compassionate way...We can add to the idea that Jesus thinks the world needs His help, when He said He came to earth to call on sinners and not the righteous...When He tells the rich young man that there is no one good but God alone, He seems to be saying that no one on earth is righteous...So He only came to earth for sinners and that just happens to be all of us...And He thinks we all need His forgiveness...
For me, this statement on Goodness, goes with His statement on being perfect as God is Perfect...And only God is Perfect...And I think in these statements on Being Good and Being Prefect, we are given hope...We can see and believe there is One who knows all about Genuine Goodness...There is One who sets the standard for Genuine Goodness...There is One who is Perfect...There is One who does give us our moral examples, through His moral teachings about God and the eternities...There is One who sets and tells us that there is right and there is wrong in this world...And we see it...Each of us can turn inward and ask ourselves are we good like Jesus, and are we Perfect like Him...He is our Moral Compass...He is our path that sets us in the right direction...But to go in the right direction is very difficult -even hard, because for mankind it seems the path of righteousness is a very, very narrow one...It is just plain easier to go through the big-wide gate...I wish the gates were different in size and in allure, but they are not...It seems like there is almost this challenge to be good, while the wide gate is a natural way to go...I expect for the Perfect and Good, they easily find the small gate and keep on its path and do not ever veer or get lost...
So I find hope in that Jesus did go around forgiving men and women without much explanation...