In
2008 a twelve-year-old boy, Christopher Rodriguez, was in the middle of his
piano lesson while at the gas station across the street a robbery was in
progress. As the thief ran out of the convenient store, his gun discharged and
a stray bullet from the assailant’s gun pierced a wall and lodged in
Christopher's spine. The shot paralyzed him for life.
Police
caught the gunman and he was tried and convicted in an Oakland, California
court. In 2009 the judge sentenced the criminal to 70 years to life in prison,
seemingly a just outcome, but what happened next transcended justice. After the
sentencing was pronounced Christopher rolled his wheelchair to the front of the
courtroom, shook the hand of the man who had shot him, and said, “I forgive
you.” It is uncertain whether the criminal felt true remorse, but Christopher
left the court that day unburdened by hate.[1]
“Father,
forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Before He
died, Jesus forgave all those who participated in murdering Him. Jesus forgave
the Roman soldiers who cast lots for His clothing and mocked Him. He forgave
the religious leaders who sneered at Him and challenged Him to save Himself. He
forgave the gawking and passivity of the watching crowd. He forgave the
followers who had run away and hidden, including the remaining disciples.
Erwin
Lutzer wrote, “When man had done his worst, Jesus prayed not for justice but
mercy. He prayed that His enemies would be exempted from the just consequences
of their evil deeds. And He prayed not after His wounds were healed, but as
they were yet open. Words of forgiveness came from his lips as nails were driven
through His body, when the pain was the fiercest, when the jolts of anguish
were the sharpest; He prayed as the cross was lowered into a hole with a thud.
It was then, when His nerves were the most tender, when the pain was most
unfathomable, He who was the victim of history’s greatest crime prayed for the
criminals.”[2]
Forgiveness
is not a natural thing to do; it's supernatural. That is one of the amazing
things about true followers of Jesus: they have the capacity to forgive people,
not because they are special, but because God gives them the ability to do it.
If
you are an unforgiving Christian, then one must question how much you know
about the Cross. You see it’s only reasonable that forgiven people should be
forgiving people. God has forgiven us of such an incredible debt. All of us
have sinned. All of us have broken God's commandments. But God has pardoned us
of all of our sins, and therefore we should be willing to extend that same
forgiveness to others. As C. H. Spurgeon advised, “If you want to learn about
your need for forgiveness, go to the cross. If you want to learn about
forgiving others, hang out there for a while.”
What
Jesus’ cry for pardon teaches us is that we should offer forgiveness to those
who don’t ask for it. Why? For one, because God offers us that pardon even before
we bow our knee and ask for it and two, because It puts the situation in God’s
hands. Forgiveness is the antidote that extracts the deadly poison of
bitterness from your heart. Forgiveness stops the cycle of evil, hate and pain.
It opens the prison doors and lets the captives free and it creates an opportunity
for God to do miraculous things!
Case
in point: hanging to Jesus left and right were two condemned criminals who
reviled Him (Mark. 15:32); yet one of them had a change of heart as He observed
Jesus. This broken malefactor started to believe, “He turned to Jesus and said,
‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom’” (Luke 23:42). Amazingly,
Jesus told Him that Kingdom gates would be flung open for him. What do you
think changed his heart? I fancy that it was the radical forgiveness that Jesus
offered to the undeserving.
Amen !!
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