Jesus’ Forgiveness
I’m not sure if y’all know this, but I am many things, and emotional is definitely one of them. I feel emotions completely and thoroughly, and it’s so hard to move past them sometimes!
Recently, I struggled with fear. I woke up in the middle of the night to my baby struggling to breathe. It went on for hours (really just a few minutes) and I don’t think that feeling went away for a few days.
Another time, I struggled with anger. Frustration with someone that led to anger towards them and honestly, everything they were doing.
Feelings are so powerful. They can encourage us, inspire us, and even protect us. But if we’re honest with each other, they can also mislead us, trap us in bitterness, and cloud our judgment. In our walk with Christ, there comes a point when we must learn to put our feelings on the back burner—not to ignore them completely, but to choose obedience to God over the emotional impulse of the moment.
It’s easy to give in to the desire to defend ourselves, sometimes to the detriment of the conversation. It’s easy to choose ourselves over others, especially when they’ve hurt us, frustrated us, or made us feel less than.
But, as Christians, we are called to do more than give into these emotions. We’re called to love others.
But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. (Matthew 5:39 CSB)
Jesus isn’t telling us to do this impossible thing, instead He’s telling us to do something He had done, and will continue to do. No one exemplified this more than Jesus Himself.
Just days before the crucifixion, the streets of Jerusalem rang with hosannas. Palm branches waved as crowds shouted, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matthew 21:9 somewhere in the middle). These same voices, however, would soon turn. Days later, they were yelling, “Crucify Him!” (Matthew 27:22)
Sometimes it’s easier to think of these horrible people as brainwashed hooligans who fell victim to bad propaganda and didn’t know him. Right? But truly? The betrayal was not just from strangers, but from people who had once celebrated Him.
I get hurt when someone I consider a friend says something mean to me. I get angry when someone is mean to my friends and family. But, Jesus, fully God and fully man, knew the sting of human rejection. He knew what it was to be misunderstood, abandoned, and hated unjustly. And yet, He forgave. Not after time had passed. Not once people repented. He forgave in the moment, right in the middle of their cruelty.
He didn't say, “Father, forgive them, but only if they realize what they’ve done.” He said, “They don’t know what they’re doing.” (Luke 23:34) He extended grace while the hammer still echoed from the nails being driven in.
His blood didn’t cover the sins of only those who realize they were being punks, but instead HIs blood covers it all.
That’s the kind of Savior we follow. And that’s the kind of forgiveness we’re called to practice.
When someone offends us, betrays us, or turns their back on us, our first instinct is often to protect ourselves, to withhold our love or lash out. But Jesus shows us a different path—the harder one. He calls us to choose obedience over emotion.
That doesn’t mean your feelings don’t matter. They do. God gave them to you. But we have to learn to bring them under the authority of Christ. We’ve got to let the Holy Spirit guide us to act in love, even when we don’t feel loving. And Lord knows it’s impossible to feel loving when someone is proverbially smacking you across the face (again, see Matthew 5:39).
So, as we enter this Easter weekend, pause and remember the cross. Remember that Jesus didn’t wait for an apology. He didn’t wait for the crowd to change their minds. He chose mercy, and because of that, we have life.