Church of the Holy City

Father, Forgive

Father, Forgive
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
March 31, 2013
Good Friday
Luke 23:1-49 Psalm 22

Falsely accused, hanging on the cross and suffering excruciating pain, enduring mockery from Jews and from Romans alike, some of Jesus final words were, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Jesus’ final thoughts were on the human race which his whole life was dedicated to save, heal, and bring back to God. Jesus came to rescue the lost sheep, to show us how to love, and to bring God’s love and power down to an earth that had forgotten Him. Swedenborg captures the nature of God’s love nicely,
Jehovah, or the Lord’s internal, was the very Celestial of Love, that is, Love itself, to which no other attributes are fitting than those of pure Love, thus of pure Mercy toward the whole human race; which is such that it wishes to save all and make them happy for ever, and to bestow on them all that it has; thus out of pure mercy to draw all who are willing to follow, to heaven, that is, to itself, by the strong force of love (AC 1735).
Jesus did not judge humanity. He did not reward us according to what we deserved. If we were rewarded according to what we deserved, none would be saved. No, Jesus says, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17). Jesus did not judge the people who brought false charges against Him. He did not judge those who mocked Him as He was dying on the cross. He did not judge the whole human race who allowed these terrible events to fall upon the innocent head of God in the flesh.
The story of the crucifixion is the epitome of love. It is the kind of love we see in parents. Parents may scold their children, but they never take their love from their children. And soon they are reconciled and will do anything they can to make their children’s life better.
It is also the kind of love we see in close friendships. I think of an event that went on in my own lifetime during my college years. In my senior year in university, I had been elected class president by majority vote of the student body. However, as can be the case in such offices, political rivalry developed between me and a student named Melanie. Melanie seemed bent on taking my position away from me and putting herself there. And this, despite the fact that I had the mandate of the student body. Well, things came to a head. Melanie had created a divisive faction among the officers of the student government. The officers of the student body called a vote to decide on my continued presence as class president. There were many students present at this meeting, as it was our tradition to hold open meetings. They spoke up on my behalf, stating that it was their will that I remain their president, as they had elected me. The officers then expelled the students from the government meeting, which caused one officer to break down in tears over the drama of the event and caused the exiting students to jeer and complain that this meeting was a farce. On the student government were two friends of mine, Kent and Chuck. When the vote came, I lost. The student government wanted me to stay on, but not as president. But I left the government altogether, and Church walked out with me as did his wife and other members of the student government. But Kent stayed on. After the meeting was over, Kent came back to Chuck’s room where we were all sitting around talking Melanie down and consoling me. We found out easily enough that Kent had voted against me–my own friend. I was mad at the time, but Kent was a good friend of mine. I had to decide whether this betrayal meant more than the years we had been friends. Ultimately, I decided not to hold Kent’s political decision against him, and we had many more years of friendship following. Kent said that had I stayed on as president, the rivalry between Melanie and me would have persisted and the student government would never have accomplished anything. So he voted me out to keep the peace. I saw that he had his reasons, and that they said something about his character. But we were able to enjoy happy years as friends. And when I ultimately left Ohio for Boston, Kent put together a surprise party for me and invited friends of mine that I didn’t even know Kent knew about.
It would have been easy for me to write Kent off and say to myself that his betrayal was unforgivable. And, indeed, there are certain betrayals that I would not forgive. But consider all the betrayals and disappointments that fallen humanity can present us with. And measure them against that ultimate betrayal, in which God Himself was cruelly and innocently murdered. And think about God’s way of responding to humanity at its worst. Jesus responded with understanding and compassion in his dying words. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
This is the message I would like to leave you with this evening: The message of divine forgiveness. The message of divine love. The message of divine understanding. In the throes of a terrible death, Jesus’ only thought was one of love and forgiveness for the human race. This is one of the purest examples of Godliness that I can think of. And in the way Jesus died, we can see His ultimate grasp of the divinity in His soul. So that His final words would be words of full union with His Heavenly Father, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
This is the gentle God we worship. This is the way God will always look at us. And in this glorious death, we still have a lesson of God-human relations. The criminal crucified on one side of Jesus prays to Him, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” May we also pray daily, “Jesus, remember me.” And God will always answer our prayers as Jesus did on the cross, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” For when we are with Jesus, in this world or the next, we are in paradise.