Red Letters – Forgiven – April 2

RED LETTERS
April 2, 2021

Forgiven

Luke 23:32-34, ‘When they came to the place known as The Skull, the guards crucified Jesus, nailing Him on the center cross between two criminals. While they were nailing Jesus to the cross, He prayed over and over, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” The soldiers, after they crucified Him, gambled for His clothing.’ (TPT)

Everything was in slo-mo. I had crawled beneath a thicket because the Roman guards were watching furtively and defensively. The smell of death hung like smoke from a chimney on a cold day even though something as black as hell was thick in the air. Even the dirt blowing in the wind levitated and stood at attention. Sweat from all the bodies gathered in pools and the sparse weeds at the foot of the middle cross bowed as if in reverence. Like a coward I hid.

The blood from His wounds, this Jesus, congealed, outlining His pain. A crown of vicious thorns was crammed around His head, and a calling card, a placard, reading JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS, hung crookedly from the tree like a mimic. Mockery soaked up what air remained as the soldiers and socialites bartered for His robe. A sound escaped His lips, and a hush absorbed the laughter.
Was He really calling out to Almighty God for forgiveness for all of us responsible for His demise? I hung my head as we all anticipated if His God was going to get Him down from there. What a lonely place to be, I mused to myself; surrounded by many and yet totally alone, waiting for a God to come, or death, wondering what would arrive first.

Suddenly a scuffle arose between two criminals whose crosses flanked Jesus as they waited for death to relieve them of their earthly battles. Jeering and crudeness fell from the mouth of the one, and people moved even closer to listen. But humility and reckoning settled like peace around the other as he hung with his shame. His request spanned a bridge between two wooden crosses, and this Jesus softly replied, “Before the sun sets the sky, assuredly today, you will be with Me in Paradise.” A chill traveled my spine; even in death, He was offering life.
Time turned on a dime; one could even taste the dread of the moments as they drug. Yet there was an aura, a serenity, I will never be able to describe after today. I should have done more. Could I have stood for Him, rescued Him? Could I have made a difference? I didn’t want this to be for nothing. I wanted the death of this Jesus of Nazareth to count for something. It wasn’t supposed to end like this. He was to be The One to rescue us and liberate mankind, but here we are, I thought. Maybe there can still be a message of hope in His dying, from all the proclamations He brought to us and all the miracles we witnessed with our own eyes. Even still, it wasn’t enough to thwart the evilness of the society we walked in. Could I possibly still make a difference, and I vowed to myself I would as I cowardly burrowed even further in my bush. Tomorrow would welcome a new day for me, Jesus of Nazareth, I promised under my breath; I won’t let You die in vain! I pledged with my soul intact. Today I am so tired, but tomorrow will see a new day and a new me, I reckoned.

Sometime later I came to, cramped and frightened beyond anything I had ever before experienced. The world had turned black as if He had wiped out all the light He’d brought with Him and now removed it. A great ruckus had risen, and the atmosphere had changed yet again. At once, this Jesus raised His eyes heavenward one last time, and with a shudder, cried, “It is finished. Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.” Suddenly, it was if the life had been sucked from the atmosphere and a loud crack resounded and on everyone’s tongue, people wondered, ‘Could it have been the Christ Who was prophesied? Could that have been God’s one true Son Whom we just put to death?’

I’ve been reading RED LETTERS all my life, but never with my heart.
During the month of April, let’s JOURNEY where JESUS journeyed,
and listen with our hearts to all He came to proclaim.