Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 12

January 12;   Luke 23:34;   67/260(VI);   ‘Father Forgive Them’

Luke 23:34 Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."And they divided His garments and cast lots. 

The Lord Jesus now hung on the cross, fulfilling God’s plan of redemption.  Even though Jesus, after His three and one half year ministry, was doing what He ultimately came to do, the abandonment of His disciples, the incredible cruelty of the religious leaders and the brutality and mockery of the Roman soldiers must have tried to stir in His soul bitterness.  Yet the sinless Lord Jesus was ever the Master of His emotions.  Jesus’ love for humanity, is beyond comprehension, and saw past our carnal nature and focused only on our desperate need for salvation.  The Lord was our Example as well as our Redeemer.  An extremely powerful means of being able to forgive, was the relationship the Lord Jesus had with His Father.  His prayer time was a sacred time of Jesus loving His Father and the Father reciprocating that love.  During His prayer time Jesus recharged His spirit for ministry.  I believe that a vitally important part of His prayer time was ‘venting’ concerning the way He was hated by the religious leaders.  As Jesus poured out His heart to His Father, the love and compassion of Father God had to comfort Jesus and help Him to refocus on His ministry. This incredible example of forgiveness is an eternal reminder of the power of love.  The Lord knew that because they did not know Him or believe in Him yet they treated Him as they did.  He also knew that that hatred would turn to love as they did get to know Him.  His love for us and forgiveness of us all enables us to live far above the ways of those who do not know Him.  We too can respond to hatred by love.  We can live as Jesus did.