The Harsh Reality of Forgiveness

Jesus embodied the reality of heaven on earth. He healed untold numbers of the sick, the lame, the blind, and the deaf. He raised people from the dead. He cast out demons on a regular basis. He proclaimed truth in synagogue after synagogue. What a transformative presence He was! But His Jewish captors spat in His face, slapped Him and beat Him with their fists. The Romans scourged Him. They placed a crown of thorns on His head, spit on Him, beat Him on the head with a reed, and slapped Him in the face. All before they crucified Him. Yet, as He hung on the cross, Jesus cried out, “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Jesus consistently prophesied to His disciples about the coming wrath that He would face, but this was not His starkest warning. For He plainly told His disciples: “If anyone desires to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me (as a disciple) every day” (Luke 9:23). The implication is that His disciples (all those who choose to live life according to His teaching and His role model) must be prepared to make the same sacrifice. Jesus’ sacrifice was for the sins of the whole world. Our sacrifice is for those who have wounded us or those whom we love, for anyone we might have occasion to bear a grudge against or harbor bitterness towards. This is our Via Dolorosa (‘The Way of the Cross’), our crucifixion, our Good Friday. Fortunately, we are empowered to forgive because we have been forgiven. God’s forgiveness erases our debt and grants us capacity to forgive others. Thus, forgiveness is not a matter of faith or emotions; it is a matter of obedience, an obedience to the point of death, even death on a cross. Forgiveness is the ultimate test of our submission to God’s sovereignty. The harsh reality of forgiveness is that we must forgive because we have been forgiven. For if we do not forgive men for their transgressions against us, then neither will our heavenly Father forgive us our transgressions against Him. We must forgive others or forfeit our right to be forgiven by God. Forgiveness for Jesus was a brutal process. He was spit on, slapped, beaten, and crucified. He paid the cost of others’ sins by offering up His own body as a sacrifice. Obedience cost Him His life but granted Him to sit at the right hand of God and to receive the name above all names. Forgiveness is a brutal process for us as well. We must offer ourselves up as living sacrifices; we must pay the debt we are owed by our abusers; we must pay on their behalf what they owe us. We must bless with forgiveness those who have cursed us. Forgiveness is a brutal process, but it will grant us the capacity to experience heaven on earth, the full measure of all the spiritual blessings that God has stored up for us. This Good Friday, as you contemplate Jesus’ sacrifice on behalf of your sins and the sins of the world, ask your heavenly Father to manifest in your life a greater capacity to forgive, a deeper commitment to offer yourself up as a living sacrifice, and a more steadfast courage to walk in obedience, even to the point of death on a cross. The traditional route that Jesus walked on His path to Golgotha is known as the Via Dolorosa. “Trust in Yahweh with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). Look to your heavenly Father, for He will make your path to forgiveness, your Via Dolorosa, plain before you; He will grant you courage and strength to walk in it; and He will shower you with His favor and goodness as you do.