March 23, 2013: Seven Last Words: Forgiveness

In the days leading up to Good Friday, I will be meditating on the Seven Last Words of Christ.


Lent is a time of solemn contemplation of the Passion of Christ. We may choose to meditate, contemplate, or pray on His suffering for us. One way in which me might do this is through devotion to His Seven Last Words—the seven final phrases uttered by Christ as recounted in the Gospels. These Seven Last Words of the Passion of Christ are understood only in light of the true one Word of Life and Resurrection—the phrases uttered by Jesus before His death take on new life and new meaning following the glory of His resurrection. We sit with the pain and loss of crucifixion during Lent, but look forward to the brightness of new life on Easter.

The Seven Last Words

1. “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
2. “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
3. “Woman, Behold your Son. Behold your mother.” (John 19:26-27)
4. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Mark 15:34)
5. “ I thirst.” (John 19:29)
6. “It is finished.” (John 19:30)
7. “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)

“Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

Jesus started with forgiveness. His whole life was a steady march towards the ultimate sacrifice for our forgiveness, His brutal crucifixion at the hands of man. It makes sense, therefore, that His seven last words begin with forgiveness.

But if we look a little deeper, we realize something incredible about this phrase. Jesus spoke this before He was crucified, before the humiliation of hanging on a cross for public display, before the outrage of His death. He came into this world to bring forgiveness, to create new life from death, to make the barren wood of the cross flower with abundance. And this is the bittersweet mystery of Christ’s act of sacrifice—we are forgiven, despite the fact that we are the ones who killed Him.

We are forgiven.
We don’t need to ask for it.
We don’t need to earn it.
We don’t need to do anything.
We are forgiven.

But does this give us license to do anything we want, without regard for others, because we are already forgiven? Does this render our actions and our motivations meaningless? The answer, of course, is no. It is quite the opposite. Only because we have been forgiven do we dare look back at our lives, at the history of mankind. Only because we have been forgiven by a loving creator, do we dare sit in church and contemplate the Passion of Jesus Christ. Only because we are forgiven do we have the ability to turn our gaze inward, considering our sins, how we have wronged others, how we continue to wrong others. Without the grace of forgiveness we would break. We would avoid. Our lives would be without meaning. But through forgiveness, through opening the doors to our innermost selves, we are transformed. Like the brutal cross covered with the shoots of new life, our ugliness is made beautiful in the eyes of the Lord.

God has forgiven us our many sins. But this only serves to remind us that we, too, need to forgive—others who wrong us, and more importantly, ourselves for our won wrongdoings. In forgiveness, we find the sorrow of the cross, and the joy of the resurrection.