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“Father forgive them; for they know not what they do” (St. Luke 23:34)
What love is this? Who can comprehend such love? For Jesus, love and forgiveness go hand in hand.
We have difficulty forgiving someone for cutting in front of us in the checkout lane at the grocery store. Forgiveness comes very hard to us; we seem to embrace and nurture those things which we perceive to be an affront.
Jesus had a sham trial, was flogged, ridiculed, nailed to a tree, and hoisted high so that His shame could be viewed by all. Yet He begs forgiveness for us. Jesus is forgiveness. It is only through Him that we are forgiven by our Father Who art in heaven and Whose name is holy.
Dear Jesus, my forever Friend, thank you for standing between me and God. Thank you for the forgiveness you have offered to me. Thank you for not being ashamed, before your Father, for knowing me. I’ve never done anything to deserve forgiveness. “And there is no health in us (me). But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us (me) miserable offenders” as You did that day on Calvary (General Confession, 1928 BCP, pg 6) and as You have to this very day. Amen.
Words on the Word 