Thoughts on Good Friday

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” [Luke 23:34]

Jesus’ first saying from the cross raises many questions:
Why did Jesus, who forgave the sins of a paralytic, appeal to the Father?
Was Jesus, as human and frail, too weak to forgive sins from the cross?
Or was this sin of such cosmic proportions that only One in heaven could grant pardon?
And how could God forgive someone who had yet to repent?

For these questions, we cannot answer. But this we know:
(1) On the cross, Jesus practiced what he preached. The One who commanded his disciples to love enemies and pray for persecutors, provided an example amidst great injustice.

(2) By this prayer, Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophesy. Isaiah 53:12 states, “He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

(3) In this scene, Jesus provides the ultimate picture of peacemaking. To those unlovable in Jewish society – thieves and Roman soldiers – Christ offered his communion.

(4) And here, Jesus embodied the Law. The Scriptures distinguish two types of sin. For “sins done in ignorance” or unintentionally, a sacrifice provided forgiveness. But for sins done deliberately and defiantly, the sinner was to be cut off and “no sacrifice for sins was left.”

By this word, then, Jesus offered many prayers:
He prayed for his disciples, that they would learn to lay down their lives for one another.
For the Jews, that they would see he was the Messiah.
For the soldiers that they, though steeped in racial hostilities between Jew and Gentile, might experience true reconciliation.
For God, that he would keep his covenant and grant sinners a second chance.


"Abba, the priests are trying to correct blasphemy; the soldiers, just doing their jobs.
Daddy, they don’t realize they’re killing the Son of God.
Papa, take my sacrifice as the ultimate Day of Atoning!
Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.”