Costly Forgiveness and Gratitude
The last week in the life of Jesus as a human being on this earth was the most emotionally and physically painful days of his life. If you read the story slowly you soon begin to wonder if Jesus would be able to endure the pains of mockery, flogging, slapping, and the bloody nailing of hands and feet to a wooden cross. Death by crucifixion was one of the worst forms of dying and reserved only for Rome’s enemies.
Yes, Jesus knew beforehand just how bloody painful the two long days would be and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me: yet not my will, but yours be done. An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”(Luke 22:42-44).
The grand “good news” is that Jesus did remain steadfastly faithful to his Father’s mission of redeeming humankind back to himself. And as he was nakedly hanging from that torturous cross, with his life-blood bleeding out from head, hands, and feet, he prays “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34).
I am often eager to let my heart and thoughts jump quickly from the story of Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem to his glorious resurrection on Easter morning. But I have discovered that the more I slowly walk with Jesus through this difficult and painfilled week, intentionally sharing in his feelings and thoughts, the more grateful I am for his gift of forgiveness, and the more enthusiastic I am in celebrating his resurrection on Easter morning.
Many writers have told us that gratitude reveals a loving heart. And I know that the more I love someone, the more grateful I am for their friendship. And yet, the epidemic of ingratitude is so prevalent today. We are prone to be like the little boy who was given an orange by a man. The boy’s mother said to the boy, “What do you say to the nice man?” The boy thought for a moment and handed the orange back to the man and said, “Peel it.”
In his book, The Robe of God, Myron Augsburger shares the story of Abraham Lincoln, as a lawyer in Springfield, Illinois, taking a trip down the Mississippi River to visit New Orleans. While there, he went to a slave market and watched as people of color were brought out and auctioned off to the highest bidder. When they brought a young woman out, with clothing awry, hair disheveled, and eyes flashing anger as men examined her to decide on their level of bidding, Lincoln suddenly became so incensed that he began to bid.
Lincoln kept bidding as one bidder after another dropped out, and he bought her. He walked down to the platform, took the rope that bound her wrists, and led her to the edge of the crowd. There he stopped and untied the rope. The young woman rubbed her wrists to relieve the pain and promote the circulation. Lincoln looked at her and said, “You are free to go.”
She looked at him in amazement “What’s that, Massa?”
“You are free to go.”
“You mean I can go where I want to?”
“Yes,” he said, “you are free to go.”
“Do you mean that I can say what I want to?”
“Yes,” he replied, “you are free.”
“I can think the way I want to?”
“Yes, you are free to go.”
The tears began to run down her cheeks. She fell to her knees, clutched his ankles, and declared, “Then, Massa, I want to go with you.”
Myron then writes that “This is the moral response of the thankful person who recognizes God’s wonderful grace in releasing us. To be forgiven is to be set free. To be forgiven calls us in turn to walk in this freedom; that means walking with the One who forgives us.” (p.109-110).
While preparing for a communion service in 1707, Isaac Watts wrote his personal expression of gratitude for the amazing love that Jesus’ crucifixion death revealed to him in “When I Survey The Wondrous Cross.” The third verse calls us to “See, from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down; did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown? And verse four is his overwhelming grateful response. “Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”
This hymn resonates with my thoughtful pondering of this week’s events in Jesus’ life and challenges my sometimes-lackadaisical response of love and gratitude to Jesus for his very cruel and costly sacrifice in my behalf. These few days are so critically important to my being forgiven and given an eternal future. The last verse of above hymn echoes my present thoughts. Will you join me in such a response?
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Ray M. Geigley – “Healing Rays of Righteousness” – www.geigler13.wordpress.com – 4/1/26
Healing Rays of Righteousness 