Experience - Day 18

17 “Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. 18 But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things.”

When I was little, somewhere around 7 or 8 years old, I can remember getting into a fight with my oldest brother that led to a yelling match.  Things got pretty heated, until I called my brother a word I had made up; at least, I thought I had made it up.  As soon as I said it, the yelling stopped, and I heard my mom immediately inhale all the oxygen in the house as she stormed into our room.

“What did you say Paddy Sean?” Saying my nickname and my middle name in the same breath was a sure sign that I was about to die.  But even though her reaction communicated that I had done something wrong, I had no idea what it was.

She then went on to tell me that she was going to wash my mouth out with soap, a punishment in our home for those times when you said a swear word.  Only problem was, I didn’t say a swear word, I said a made up word.  It was then that my mother educated me that the word I said was, in fact, not made up, but a word that means a son without a father.  She continued to educate me, as she cleaned my mouth with soap.

From my perspective, it was a sin of ignorance, but I was treated as it was a sin of presumption.  Either way, my mom was right; what I said was wrong and correction was needed.

When Jesus was being nailed to the cross, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” The soldiers didn’t know who it was they were nailing to the cross, but I’m going to take it even further.  What if Jesus was referring not just to those nailing Him to the cross, but the ones who put Hi there in the first place?  Because of their own stubbornness, they didn’t know that He was who He was, even though He said who He was.  Still, Jesus prayed for them.  Jesus died for them.  And He died for us; for the sins we know we do, and the ones we don’t.  He died for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5: 6-7) because more than anything, He wants to spend eternity…WITH US!

That’s a God I can get onboard with, that’s a Savior I can follow, and that’s a gospel I desperately want to share with others.

JOURNAL

1. Because repentance is important, as is asking forgiveness for sin, what are the sins you know of today that you need to ask God to forgive you for?  How about asking God to forgive the sins you do that you don’t know about?
2. Jesus is the God who said to turn the other cheek, to love our enemies, and to pray for those who persecute you, and He is the God who prayed forgiveness over those that were murdering Him.  Is there someone in your life that has caused you great pain, that you need to forgive?  Ask God for help because