When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Luke 23:33-34
When Jesus spoke these words, he spoke them as a prayer to the Father. They were not addressed to those who were torturing him, nor are these words about our need for forgiveness. These words are the intimate conversation between the beloved Son and his beloved Father. They reveal to us the heart of God, a heart shaped not by vengeance, punishment or retribution, but by love and mercy we cannot imagine. Jesus does not ask the Father to hunt down those who are killing him, to bring them to justice dead or alive. He asks that they be forgiven. Jesus does not use his power to strike down evildoers, but to forgive, to redeem those who sin, whether they are aware of their sin or not.
As we ponder this word from the cross this week, I invite you to be mindful of this story, shared by Stanley Hauerwas in his book Cross Shattered Christ: Meditations on the Seven Last Words. He tells the story of Christian de Cherge, a Catholic monk who was in charge of the Tibhrine monastery in Algeria. Hauerwas writes,
Christian and his fellow monks knew their refusal to leave Algeria after the rise of Islamic radicals in 1993 might result in their deaths. Anticipating his death – he was beheaded in 1996 by Muslim radicals – Christian left a testament with his family to be opened on his death. In that testament he asks that those who love him pray that he was worthy of such a sacrifice. He expresses the fear that his death will be used to accuse in general these people, these Islamic people, whom he has come to love.
He ends his testament observing:
Obviously, my death will justify the opinion of all those who dismissed me as naïve and idealistic: 'Let him tell us what he thinks now.' But such people should know that my death will satisfy my most burning curiosity. At last, I will be able – if God pleases – to see the children of Islam as He sees them, illuminated by the glory of Christ, sharing in the gift of God's Passion and of the Spirit, whose secret joy will always be to bring forth our common humanity amidst our differences. . . And to you, too, my friend of the last moment (a reference to his executioners), who will not know what you are doing. Yes, for you, too I wish this thank you, this 'A-Dieu,' whose image is in you also, that we may meet in heaven, happy like thieves, if it pleases God, our common Father."
We are invited to forgive not because it is good for our physical or emotional health, but because we are made in God's image and God has chosen mercy, grace and forgiveness instead of vengeance or retribution. Of course this does not mean forgiveness is easy. Imagine being Christian de Cherge's mother or father, brother or sister, reading his testament after his death. Imagine the overwhelming depths the Father felt as His beloved Son was crucified, then hearing, "Father, forgive them." To bear the cross, to follow Jesus is to forgive.
The last words of Jesus from the cross are words that only describe his death. Instead they reveal the fullness of his character, revealing a live lived in faithfulness to God and to us. As we listen to Jesus' prayer for forgiveness I invite you to listen to these passages of Scripture:
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