When Jesus was being tortured beyond human comprehension and about to die at the hands of His own creatures, none of whom could continue to breathe or even exist without His express cooperation, He asked His Father to forgive His executioners:
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
How could these men -- men who had seen His miracles, heard His words, felt His overpowering presence and watched the "whole world" go after Him -- how could they NOT know what they were doing? Had not all of these things been foretold in the very books they safeguarded and knew backward and forwards? These men were the doctors and guardians of the Temple; if they did not know what they were doing, did anyone else, could anyone else?
Jesus IS Truth, so when He says they did not know what they were doing, there is absolutely no reason to doubt Him; in fact, we MUST believe. My imperfect understanding is this:
Those poor, wicked men were so spiritually ill, so blinded by their passions and so egomaniacal that they no longer saw anything correctly -- themselves, the world around them, how their actions affected themselves and others, God's endless and beneficent activity all around them, etc. How guilty were they before, during or after the Crucifixion? I don't know; I can't know; I don't need to know. God the Father knows, however, and He certainly heard the dying wish of His only-begotten Son.
The men who crucified Jesus were created for the very same end as those who wept at the foot of the Cross: unending union with God Himself. Every single one of us...absolutely without exception...is a product of the outpouring of God's infinite love. We are caused by His love, we are sustained by His love, we are made to love and be loved by Him...forever. This is as true for me as it is for you; it is true for your enemies and mine; it is true for the most wicked men who have ever lived, are presently alive or have yet to be born.
We are all suffering from various kinds and degrees of spiritual illness. I know from lengthy, often-painful personal experience that I have a slice of the very same egomania that led to the events on Calvary deeply rooted within my disordered heart. Every single one of my fellows, however holy or sinful, has his own issues, too. If those who crucified the God-man did not, according to His infinitely perfect understanding, know what they were doing, it is safe to presume that none of us do, either. There is no doubt that our actions can and do hurt others; we see the results all around us. Sometimes the hurt is truly and willfully inflicted and is enormously hurtful; sometimes the deed is innocent enough, but the effect produced in the mind and heart of another can do and often does untold damage of which we are largely unaware. In a word: we are all spiritually ill to some degree and we are constantly affecting and being affected by those around us. Holding on to resentments for injuries received from real or merely-apparent offenses only hurts the one who cannot let go of the resentment.
I have absolutely no doubt that I have offered offense via this medium. Some of it was certainly actual, some of it was merely apparent, some of it was probably a mixture of the two -- but ALL of it was/is real enough to the injured party/parties. I suppose this is one of the reasons why we are to avoid even the appearance of sin or impropriety: some or perhaps all of us are, at times, so sensitive that we will mis/take what is only an apparent offense for the real and be scandalized or feel the pain of an actual injury. For ALL of my offenses, whether real or apparent or a mixture of the two, I am profoundly sorry and beg the pardon of those whom I injured or feel/felt as if I injured them. As for those who injured me or whom I believe/d did so, may God's blessings rain down upon you, now and throughout all eternity.
We are only here because of the excess of God's love -- it is the cause of our creation, our redemption and, God's will be done, our eternal salvation. It is only by surrendering absolutely and without reserve to the omnipresent, omnipotent activity of divine love that we will find real happiness, on earth and in heaven. It is this immeasurable, unending happiness that I hope to obtain and wish for every single one of you. I will pray to that end for each of you; please pray for me, too.
Eamon
Topic: "Father, forgive them..." (Read 2927 times)