God saw it all.
And He was heartbroken, I’m sure.
He saw the men in religious garb spit in Jesus’ face as if He were some filthy ditch.
He saw them punch Jesus with their fists as if He were a midnight assailant breaking into their homes.
God saw them slap Jesus.
And He saw them mock the Preacher/Shepherd sent to save those now bent on destroying the Messiah they rejected.
Matthew 26:67-68 is a tragic passage.
For it describes the power of corrupted rage that was physically directed at Jesus, but which ultimately, I believe, was directed toward God the Father.
God knew that this abuse of His Son was really a message to the throne room of heaven.
“Keep Your hands off of our property!” the Sanhedrin was saying in a very tactile way.
“We’re in charge and no street preacher is going to take our place, even if He can do miracles that are impossible without divine help,” they seemed to be saying.
Amazingly, God still loved those who hated His Son.
Even more amazing, Jesus still loved those who were aggressively venting their hatred toward Him.
Later, while anguishing in crucifixion pain beyond that we can imagine, pain triggered by these enraged clerics, Jesus asked God to forgive them.
Wow.
Why did God allow this unrighteous treatment of His righteous Son to carry on so long and even lead to the cruelest of deaths?
Because God loves, that’s why.
He loves sinners and wants them to find salvation in a relationship with the One who died on the cross for them.
God knew that the loving mercy that could provide salvation HAD to be stronger than the sinful selfishness that destroys souls.
To be the Savior, Jesus had to take the worst that Satan could dish out, yet still show the love of God to be stronger than the hatred of man.
I’m very glad that the early converts to Christianity in the 1st Century church included some priests and even some Sanhedrin members.
Thank God that Jesus chose to love them even when they were hating Him.
“Father, forgive them….”
Dear friend, if you are a Christian now, please thank God that He didn’t reject you when you had rejected Him earlier in your life.
Please rejoice that God saw all your foolishness and “It’s MY life” denial of Christ’s authority yet He still continued loving you, desiring your soul and offering the sacrificial blood of His Son to cleanse you of sin.
God has seen every one of your sins, just as He has seen mine. And He still does.
They break His heart.
But they don’t break His promises.
“But God demonstrates His love for us in this: for while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25)
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).
We serve an incredible God who has incredible patience rooted in an incredible love.
We’re offered an incredible promise.
Please live in a way that brings joy to God’s heart, not the opposite.
It will make His task of loving you SO much more pleasing to Him during this life and SO much more rewarding for you in the next life.
Oh, and one other thing…. just as God forgave us after we’ve broken His heart, so are we to forgive others after they have broken our hearts.
It’s the right thing to do.
As always, I love you
Martin
