Easter brings message of forgiveness, eternal life

“Father, forgive them….”

It’s hard to imagine a more improbable response to human cruelty. Yet there he was, hanging from a Roman cross, his broken, bleeding body screaming in pain. His words still pierce our hearts today: “Father, forgive them.”

Those words of amazing grace sting, because Jesus saw us when he said them. He saw your face and mine. And he said, “Father, forgive them.”

Jesus faithfully endured the cross and sacrificed his own life to fulfill the Scriptures: “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities … by his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5 – NKJV).

The Bible says that we are born into sin. We’re not sinners because of bad stuff we do; that’s merely the proof of our true identity: “They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one” (Psalm 14:3).

God is holy and just; he cannot accept sin. But he loves us so much, he offered his only son, Jesus, as a sacrifice for that sin: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

We accept God’s incredible act of mercy and forgiveness simply by confessing our sin and believing that Jesus is who the Bible says he is: the son of God who died, and rose again, that we might have forgiveness and eternal life in heaven.

Do you believe?

“Father, forgive them….”

Jesus’ words would be a mere historic oddity if his body were still in a tomb outside Jerusalem. Tomorrow, Christians around the world celebrate the inarguable fact that the tomb was empty – and remains empty today.

Not all of Jesus’ disciples initially believed he had risen from the grave. Many do not believe today. But denying truth does not change that truth. The Bible says: “…Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and He was buried, and He rose again the third day….” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

After that third day, Jesus walked among his disciples again, spoke to them, taught them, allowed them to touch him. Even doubting Thomas declared of Jesus, “My Lord, and My God” (John 20:28).

Hundreds saw the risen Lord. And untold millions have seen him since through eyes of faith. Have you?

Easter Sunday is as glorious as Good Friday is somber, because the tomb is empty. Let us never forget, our Lord has risen and is alive and active in our lives today.

Believing this is all God requires to restore the relationship with him that was severed by sin: “… if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

Do you believe?

“Father, forgive them….”

Jesus set a standard for us to follow as he went to the cross. He modeled forgiveness. It is astonishing how we struggle to forgive others who have harmed us in the slightest ways. Forgiveness really runs contrary to our sin nature. How readily we insist others pay the price for their shortcomings.

I know, in my own life, that unforgiving spirit typically sprouts when I forget what I have been forgiven. It was my sin that nailed Jesus to that cross, and yet he cried out, “Father, forgive them.”

That’s a high standard. In fact, there is none higher. As we forgive others, we demonstrate that we understand how much we’ve been forgiven.

How wonderful it is that God does not hold us to the same standard we sometimes hold others to. He didn’t wait for us to deserve his love – or earn it.

In fact, we cannot earn it, and we will never deserve it. He sent Jesus to the cross when we least deserved it: “God demonstrates his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

That same amazing love – love with no strings attached – is the love God calls us to show others. As we remember the empty tomb, let us remember the names of those we still must forgive.

“Father, forgive them….”

In a sense, Christians are surrounded by “them.” We are surrounded by those who still need to hear the gospel. They are friends and family members, co-workers and people we stand next to in the grocery store line.

The empty tomb reminds us that Jesus is preparing a place for us in heaven, but he will not return until all of “them” have had an opportunity to accept his gift of salvation. Let us never tire of telling the good news.

That is the message of Easter. Our sins are forgiven, and we have the hope of heaven for one simple reason: Christ is risen!