FORGIVENESS

LUK 23:34, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."
At times it is very difficult for us to forgive people, and it is very easy to harbor an unforgiving spirit. However, to be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you. Forgiveness means to give up resentment, excuse a guilty party, release from payment, and forget an offense never bringing it up again, not even to discuss it. The ultimate expression of forgiveness is found in our Lord's words, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."

The greatest illustration of forgiveness is the Cross itself, where all the personal sins of the human race were imputed to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Lord demonstrates His graciousness in forgiving someone who was guilty in LUK 7:36-50; verse 36 reads, "Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him. And He entered the Pharisee's house, and reclined at the table."
Simon the Pharisee was a user. He wanted to use Jesus to gain power with the crowds following Him. Often these meals were eaten in the courtyard, and when a rabbi was at the meal, people came in to hear his wisdom. When a guest entered such a house, three protocols were always followed. First, the host placed his hands on the guest's shoulder and gave him the kiss of peace as a mark of respect. Secondly, since the roads were dusty and dirty and they wore sandals, their feet became dirty; therefore, water was poured over the guest's feet to cleanse them. Thirdly, a pinch of sweet-smelling incense was burned or a drop of aroma of roses was placed on the guest's head as an anointing. However, none of these were offered to the Lord when He entered. Yet His attitude of grace and restoration was the same toward the Pharisees, the tax collectors, and prostitutes.

THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST

It is the focal point throughout every book in the Bible…. it is the cross of Jesus Christ. The doctrines concerning the cross mean nothing to those who are pursuing foolishness but to those who are saved and positive toward God's truth the cross is the very power of God, 1CO 1:18. The cross, to many uninformed Christians, is nothing more than an excuse to be lazy and claim charity under the name of Jesus. To such Christians the glory of the cross eludes them. God has nothing more marvelous to reveal to man than the cross and it goes way beyond salvation. His marvelous plan goes way beyond the fact that we are forgiven of all our sins but that we have a new life in Christ. Calvary marked the greatest hour in the entire meritorious history of deity! At the cross we have the meritorious attributes of God coming to their maximum expression.

At the cross God found a way to justify the ungodly and still remain just, ROM 3:26. And, the cross not only crucified Christ to the world but it crucified the world to us, we have a new life in Christ, GAL 6:14. At the cross we have God declaring the wicked perfectly righteous without a shadow of blame falling on His perfect character. Only when the Christian has the divine focus on what the cross is all about will he then see the Bible in its true light with all its deepest doctrines and treasures. So, the central message of the word of God deals with sin-stricken humanity and the cross of Jesus Christ. God demonstrated his perfect righteousness in displaying publicly His Son on the cross as a propitiation on behalf of all, ROM 32:25-26.

As we participate in the Communion table, we remember the cross of Christ which actually is our cross that Christ bore for us. When we see the cross we remember that we were once sinners but now are forgiven. Let us approach the cross with penitent and repentant hearts.