Father Forgive Them

Father Forgive Them for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34)

I used to misunderstand the season of Lent. I am impatient by nature and this season of preparation was not something to which I was accustomed. The fact that Lent culminated in Holy Week, the Passion, and the Death of Christ, didn’t help my early steps into the depth of our shared faith. I just wanted to jump straight to Easter Morning. Taking the time to look at yourself, what needs to change, and what needs to die, is a tough journey. But I leaned into the words I had taken from a Scottish Hero, “Where so ever my Lord and Savior leads, there will I follow.”

So, I learned to follow Jesus into Lent; into his 40 days in the desert; on his path from the place of judgment to the place of his death. I learned to take the time to consider the things he said ‘for us’ as he journeyed to finish the work he had been given to do.

We start with, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” “They do not know what they are doing.” The wisdom of this world would not have had its Savior killed. It doesn’t make sense to have the world’s salvation die, to save all of creation. As St. Paul has written, “None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” Some of those who crucified Christ were jealous. Some feared a conflict with Rome. Better for one to die than the whole country. Some doubted and some did not believe Jesus was the Lord of glory. Even to his death, they said, “Come down from that cross, and then I will believe.”

Jesus did what he did, not just for them, but for us all. One might find himself in a situation in life where he lacks faith in the one who saved him and raised him from the dead. The world can be the kind of place where we can forget or just not hear the words, “I will be with you always, even to the end of the age!” Or we lose our ability to see the truth and lose our belief. Sometimes, we just don’t know what we are doing.

And so, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them.” Not just those at the crucifixion. Not just to those who wanted to get him out of the way, so they could go back to business as usual. His words went back to the first couple—Adam and Eve—forgiving them because they didn’t know what they were doing. It reached out to Peter, who denied him because he didn’t know what he was doing. And it echoed to all of us because we forget and wander and don’t know what we are doing.

Then Jesus asks us to do as he has done. “Forgive others as you have been forgiven. Serve one another as I have served you. Love others as I have loved you.”

So, we start our journey into Lent. We start that journey forgiven. “You are forgiven.” What good news.

Dcn. Mathew Allen