Father Forgive Them Part 2

Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do...

As blood flows from His wounds, forgiveness flows from His words.

The Greek verb here that we translate as “forgive” is a very rich word-it has several shades of meaning so we need to look closely if we are to understand every facet of Jesus’ prayer.

First off, the word “forgive” expressed the idea of letting go of a debt by not demanding its payment. Jesus was asking that our sin debt be forgiven. But you see, this could only be done by placing the obligation on another. So in His prayer for our forgiveness Jesus was asking that our sin be placed on Him. In short Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them by condemning Me.” As He hung there on the cross, Jesus did not ask that God IGNORE our sin. A righteous God could not do that. God could not simply say, “Let’s just forget about mankind’s sin and let bygones be bygones.” No-God’s searing holiness demanded an infinite penalty. Our sin had to be atoned for. There was a price to be paid-and only Jesus could pay it. And that’s what He was doing. Jesus was saying, “Father, let Me pay the price for their sin.”