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...JESUS LOVES YOU MORE THAN YOU CAN KNOW

 

One of the most radical things about the Christian gospel is that we are not expected to forgive in order to be forgiven; we forgive because we have been forgiven. Think of the Roman soldiers and the Pharisees who gathered like a committee of vultures at the foot of his cross, gloating and picking through his meagre belongings.

The Pharisees wanted him dead because they knew who he was. To the Roman soldiers – with perhaps one exception – he was just another day’s work. And yet Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them!’ Did he demand that they rummage deep in their souls to make sure they weren’t holding a grudge against someone before they could be forgiven? Hardly; and I think it’s safe to assume that Jesus’ prayer was answered in the affirmative.

So why did Jesus pray for them? Because he loved them. Had they done anything to deserve his love? No, he loved them because he loved them. He didn’t need to have a reason. All through the life and ministry of Jesus he spoke of love, he demonstrated love. The only people he ever seemed to be angry with were the religious people, and yet that prayer he spoke as he was dying raises the question that it might not have been them he was cross with, perhaps the religious system was his target because that’s what kept them from him.

Most of us have said and done awful things and there have been times when we have used people to satisfy our own greed and lust. Sometimes the people we have hurt have difficulty in forgiving us, so do we always have to reconcile ourselves to them? There are times when it’s right to do that, and there are times when it’s not; sometimes it’s better to let sleeping dogs lie. But one thing’s for sure, when we crash and burn and when we cry out for healing and mercy and forgiveness, we should never allow our past to stand between us and God’s forgiveness. And the reason is that we can never truly forgive ourselves unless and until we know that we have been forgiven by God.

In Paul the apostle’s letter to the church in Colosse he said something quite remarkable; ‘Forgive as the Lord forgave you’ – he did not say, ‘Forgive so that God will forgive you.’

I often think of this when I hear Simon & Garfunkel sing the soundtrack from the 1967 film, ‘The Graduate’ – ‘And here’s to you Mrs Robinson, Jesus loves you more than you will know...’

Do you know what? Jesus carried our greed and our lust and our ugliness with him to his grave so we don’t have to carry it with us to ours. There is nothing we can add to what he did for us – so Mrs Robinson, you were forgiven before you even asked, so forgive yourself. Jesus loves you more than you will know.