“Jesus was
saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing”” (Luke
23:34).
Betrayed by one
who has been near Him for three years. Abandoned by those with whom He has
shared the intimacies of love, friendship, truth, kindness; whom He has invited
into the depths of the love of the Father and the Son. Mocked, slandered, delivered
for crucifixion by the religious leaders – the leaders who are supposed to be
the guardians and transmitters of the covenant which He and His Father gave to
Moses. Tortured and crucified by Rome, embodying the governments and powers of
this world.
“The rulers were
sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the
Christ of God, His Chosen One.” The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him,
offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save
Yourself!”” (Luke 23:35 – 37).
Can we hear the
voices?
“If You are the Christ
of God!”
“If You are His
Chosen One!”
“If You are the
King of the Jews!”
Can we hear the
criminals in their suffering saying, “Save Yourself and us!” (Luke 23:39).
Now my friends,
let me ask you, what proof would you have that Jesus is the Son of God as He
hangs on the Cross, suffering, bearing our sins, bearing the iniquity of
mankind in realms that we cannot comprehend? As God of very God hangs there in the
suffering of His soul, what proof would you have?
Would you like
Him to come down from the Cross?
Would you have
Him call his angels (Matthew 26:53)?
What proof would
you have that Jesus is the Son of God as He suffers and dies for you? What
would satisfy you that you might give your life to Him and take up your cross and
follow Him?
Behold the
cruelty He is enduring! Behold the isolation! Behold the hatred! Listen to the
vitriol! Sense the venom spewing from the mouths of the religious leaders! See
how pleased they are to finally be rid of Jesus! (Does He not threaten their detente
with Rome, with the Imperial Cult? Does not Jesus threaten their religious –
political alliances? Does He not pose the same threat to us today?)
What proof must
we have that Jesus is God?
Jesus is
displaying what is perhaps the greatest evidence of His Divinity as mockery and
hatred is hurled as Him, as His suffering body undergoes the torture of
crucifixion, as His very soul bears our sins, our wickedness, our evil –
personal and collective, as He moves toward a curtain of darkness, as the
judgment of God falls upon Him as both Priest and Sacrifice…as all of this swirls
around Him and within Him…
He is saying, “Father,
forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
Now, dear
friend, what more would you have?
What more would
you ask from Jesus?
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