Easter Service Countdown- Day 2, "Forgiveness"

Day 2 - This is a blog leading up to Metro Praise's Easter Service April 24th, 2011. The purpose is to give a short Word to prepare people's hearts for the next season at Metro Praise and to help all grow closer to Jesus.

Today's Word: "Forgiveness"

As Jesus was on the cross of Calvary with 100's of people around mocking and cheering, His words were, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). Can you even begin to imagine what this took for Jesus to say? I know that I could have thought of a thousand different things to say and not one of them would have been "I forgive you." In my anger I might have said, "I am coming back to send you all to hell!" "Wait until judgment day, just wait!" Lastly, "Father, destroy them all!"

However, Jesus does not talk or act out of anger and revenge, but love and mercy. He pleads with the Father to "forgive them." Why? Because Jesus said, "They do not know what they are doing." Really? It sure seemed like the Jews knew what they were doing when they got Judas to secretly hand over Jesus in the night so the crowds wouldn't revolt. It sure seemed like Pontus Pilate knew how to be a politician and avoid public dislike by being a man-pleaser. And certainly the Roman guards who were professionals at punishing men for their crimes knew what they were doing in torturing Jesus with precise detail and extreme pain.

Therefore, why did Jesus say, "They did not know what they were doing?" I believe it was because they could only see their actions within their own moment and immediate context. It was impossible for them to see the "bigger picture." For example, the Jews really did not know that Jesus was the Christ- they really thought He was a false prophet. Pilate really thought Jesus was worth sacrificing to keep the peace of the ultra sensitive-oppressed-volatile Jewish people. Lastly, the Roman soldiers really believed that by the time someone made it into their hands to be tortured and killed, that they were the scum of the earth and needed to be made an example of so the society they lived in didn't fall into the hands of thieves, robbers, and murders.

On the other hand, Jesus- God in the flesh, knew everything in exact and perfect detail. He knew that they had no understanding of what they were "really" doing. Just like Adam and Eve in the Garden at the time of man's first sin. They had no idea that actually eating the fruit was going to bring the curse of evil to all mankind. Therefore, out of love and mercy Jesus has been forgiving ignorant mankind of their sins from the very beginning.

Therefore, the question remains, "Do you forgive like Jesus?" Do you offer the same kind of forgiveness that Jesus gave you? When you are hurt by someone and rejected by even your closest friends can you say, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing?" "Father, forgive my abuser they do not know what they are doing is scarring my life." "Father, forgive the parent that left me, they did not know the pain that I would face as a child." "Father, forgive the cheater, the liar, and the criminal because they do not know how this affects everyone else."

As you remember Jesus and the cross at this season, please remember forgiveness, mercy, and love. Read carefully the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:14-15, "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

Reading: Matthew 18:21-35, 1 John 2:1-2, & Luke 23:26-56.

Metro Praise Easter Service will be April 24th at 9am & 11am at 4323 W. Irving Park Rd, Chicago, IL. 60641