Father Forgive Them

In Luke 23:34 we find Jesus on the cross between two thieves. I can imagine him looking out at all the people around who were all just part of the action. I don’t know how many were there, but there must have been quite a few. We know there were people standing around watching. The rulers were there. They had sentenced him to death and they were now there sneering at him. And the Roman soldiers were also on the scene. They had fun with Jesus and mocked him.

Jesus saw all these people who all had something to do with his crucifixion. And as he looked out at them, he said one of the most amazing statements recorded in the history of mankind. He looked at the evil people who were killing him. He turned his head to heaven and said,

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

In the middle of his crucifixion, Jesus was thinking about the souls of the ones doing the crucifying. He saw beyond their immediate actions and he saw their eternal destiny. He didn’t look down and see executioners. Instead, he looked down and saw future evangelists, prophets, preachers, elders in the church. He saw their potential.

May we have that same attitude as we see people. May the Lord give us eyes to see beyond a person’s immediate actions and may we see their God-given potential.

And, oh, by the way, I am convinced that many of those at the cross became followers of Jesus in the months to follow.