Akofa Ahiable

While they were nailing Jesus to the cross, he prayed over and over, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” The soldiers, after they crucified him, gambled over his clothing.
Luke 23:34 (TPT)

The 7 last sayings of Jesus capture His final thoughts before His death. We typically reflect on them during Good Friday as we spend some time acknowledging the significance of what Jesus did for us when He gave up the ghost. In this final week of Lent, we will be focusing on these 7 final words, and considering what they mean for us today. They are:

• Forgiveness
• Salvation
• Relationship
• Distress
• Abandonment
• Triumph
• Reunion

Forgiveness

I don’t know about you, but the last thing that’ll be on my mind while someone is hammering a nail through my hand, is forgiveness. But Jesus thought about it. He not only thought about it, He asked His father to forgive them. Not only once, but over and over. In the midst of His pain and anguish, He pleaded with His Father to not hold their sin against them.

At this point, His blood hadn’t been shed yet, so He spoke out for them. He gave us a visual representation of what the writer of Hebrews meant when he said, “And we have come to Jesus who established a new covenant with his blood sprinkled upon the mercy seat; blood that continues to speak from heaven, ‘forgiveness,’ a better message than Abel’s blood that cries from the earth, ‘justice.’ ” Hebrews 12:24 (TPT)

Finally, another thing in this verse that struck me is that, even in their ignorance, they were fulfilling a prophecy. Psalm 22:16,18 says, “They have pierced my hands and my feet. Like a pack of wild dogs they tear at me, swirling around me with their hatred. A band of evil men surrounds me…With a toss of the dice they divide my clothes among themselves, gambling for my garments!” In those soldiers’ minds, they were following orders, they treated Jesus with the same disdain they would treat any criminal with, and made a mockery of Him, just because He dared to call Himself the son of God. While all of this is true, the other truth we need to consider is that all of this had to happen in order to fulfill scriptures, so that we can have eternal life and immediate access to the blood that gives us remission of our sins. Keeping this in mind, it can help us better understand why Jesus asked God to forgive them. He knew that all of this had to happen, it was necessary, so that He could be the Word come to life.

Prayer: Thank you Jesus for the forgiveness that comes because of what You endured on the cross. Give me the grace to continue to live like You did, and let forgiveness come to me even in times when that would seem impossible. Amen.