For We Know Not What We Do

Every Good Friday, billions of people pause to remember the death of Jesus Christ, which took place on a Roman cross over 2,000 years ago. To many people, Jesus was considered a good teacher or prophet; but for others, He was way more than that. Jesus was one with God. Jesus Himself was God! This belief was solidified in everything that Jesus said and did, but most of all when He rose from the grave three days after He died. 

If it’s true that Jesus is who He said He is - God revealed to us in human form to show us the way to God (or the way to reach our full human potential) - then that would change everything. The story of Jesus would answer countless questions that humans have been wrestling with from the beginning of time. Questions like: What is the meaning or purpose in life? Is there something bigger out there and how can we connect to it? And if there is a God, what is that being like?

For Anabaptist Mennonites, we believe Jesus to be the clearest revelation of who God is. So if we want to know what God is like, we look to Jesus. The Bible, as the written Word of God, is important because it tells us the story of God and God’s people. But the Bible is essential because it witnesses to the living Word of God - Jesus.

This is why we need to pay special attention to the teachings and actions of Jesus as they have been recorded for us in Scripture. As the apostle Peter exclaimed in John 6:68, “[Jesus has] the words of eternal life.” This applies to the words Jesus spoke to large crowds, to religious leaders, to the outsiders and outcast, and particularly to the words He spoke while on the cross.

Some of the most profound sayings of Jesus were His last - the words He spoke as He suffered a brutal death after being betrayed, falsely accused, beaten up, and mocked. In those words, we get an inside look into the heart of God and God’s heart for the world. 

“Through Jesus’ words, we hear God speaking to us.”

There are seven sayings recorded for us in the gospels that Jesus spoke while on the cross. Not all of them are written in all the gospels, and they’re also not all in chronological order, but all of them have something important to say about Jesus’ identity and the significance of His death. Through Jesus’ words, we hear God speaking to us.

Although all of His sayings are important, there’s one that I’ve been particularly drawn to during this Lent season. In Luke 23:32-34, we read of Jesus’ crucifixion:

“Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’"

Jesus was rejected, falsely accused, beaten, and put to death. Historically, crucifixion is one of the most painful ways of execution. Nailed to a tree, you had to choose whether to pull yourself up by the nails in your arms in order to breath, or to suffocate slowly. As Jesus hung on the cross, beside two other victims of the Roman regime, He prayed. He didn’t fight back or curse the people who were killing Him. He did’t try to plead His case or rally His followers to defend Him. Jesus prayed. And not even for Himself, but for the people who had put Him there. 

If there’s any text that reveals the heart of God to us - this is it! God has continually sought to invite the world into the new community of God’s family through grace. And yet, humanity has rejected God over and over again. But through the words of Jesus on the cross, we see that even in the midst of such rejection, God’s love for creation never runs out. 

That Jesus prays to the Father doesn’t mean Jesus isn’t God. Instead, it speaks to the relationship within the Trinity and that Jesus is begotten (i.e. of the same substance) as the Father. Also, that Jesus asks the Father to forgive doesn’t mean that Jesus can’t forgive. But Jesus is expressing His desire that those who don’t know any better would receive mercy and grace.

These word of Jesus speak so profoundly to me because I know that I am absolutely one of those people who often doesn’t know what he’s doing. So many times I sin against God, others, and myself, without even realizing the consequences of my actions. It’s life-changing to realize that God isn’t an angry deity who’s ready to crush me whenever I make a mistake. Instead, God longs for me to be found, to be forgiven, and to be brought into the unending flow of God’s grace.

But this isn’t just about me personally. Jesus was pleading on behalf of people who were participating in a greater systemic injustice that they didn’t realize. The religious leaders accused Jesus as their understanding of faithfulness led them to. The crowds yelled as their leaders pressured them to. And the soldiers beat and crucified Jesus the way they were ordered to. It’s these people to whom Jesus longed to show love and forgiveness.

The same goes today as well. We all know we mess up, but how often do we participate in systemic injustice of which we are not even aware? The truth is we don’t know. We don’t know how our consumption, investments, and decision making will affect others. As history shows us, even the most well-meaning actions can contribute to systems of oppression, the consequences of which we will never see (Indian Residential Schools in Canada being one example).

But God sees it. God knows it. God experienced it. Jesus, in full innocence, took on the brunt end of the humanity’s hate and rejection. That sacrifice should help us understand the extent to which God will go to show us love and to reconcile us to God. These words of Jesus are not only a prayer, but also an open invitation to repentance and to the fulness of life found in Jesus.

May the words of Jesus remind us of the goodness of God on of this Good Friday.