Lesson 22: Examples of Forgiving – Jesus (part 2)

Luke 23:33-38 - And when [the soldiers] came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on His right and one on His left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide His garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself, if He is the Christ of God, His Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up and offering Him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over Him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

 Does forgiving someone mean that we are saying that what the other person did was right?

The answer is NO. In our verses above, the soldiers, who had already been beating Jesus (John 19), now crucified Jesus the most painful way any government has ever designed to execute a person. Yet, from the cross Jesus asked God to forgive these soldiers who were killing Him. Even though the government (Pilate, the Governor) had passed the sentence of death, and the soldiers were simply carrying out that order, killing Jesus was not a just or even a legal judgment. Pilate knew he was executing an innocent man – he simply followed the demands of the religious leaders because he wanted to save his own career.


Forgiving is not about justice, it is about obedience to Jesus. Jesus Himself takes responsibility for the justice of a matter when we choose to release the wrong that has been done to us, to Him (Romans 12:19).

Vengeance for something wrong that has been done to us hurts us far more than it does the person who has wronged us. We are the ones filled with anger, which soon turns to bitterness; and bitterness turns into depression in us. It affects our relationship with others because we become critical of many others around us – people who had nothing to do with the incident we do not forgive. We find people we’ve loved begin to turn away from us. The bitterness in our heart makes us believe they have turned against us too, because we cannot see that they are simply uncomfortable being with us when they cannot help us be happy again.

Our relationship with Jesus also suffers. Remember – the prayer so many of us quote so often from Matthew 6, includes the words “forgive us our debts as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We give Jesus the permission not to forgive us when we refuse to forgive others!

Forgiveness is not about justice for us. It is about releasing our burden of anger and bitterness to Jesus, so we can be free from the slavery to anger and bitterness that comes if we hold onto the wrong done to us. Jesus forgave the soldiers who tortured and killed Him to show us this was what He wants us to do as well.

Pray today: Lord Jesus, help me to forgive [name] and forgive me for trying to carry this burden myself.