Father, forgive them
This article provides an exegetical meditation on Jesus' prayer of forgiveness from the cross (Luke 23:34), examining His willing submission to the Father's will throughout His passion and the theological meaning of forgiveness as the dismissal of sin's debt and guilt. Marcus explores how Christ's intercession demonstrates His determination to accomplish redemption and offers comfort to believers regarding the nature of divine forgiveness and our inability to satisfy sin's demands on our own.
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. Luke 23:34a One of the outstanding features of Jesus' ministry was His willing and wholehearted determination to do His Father's will. Determined to do His Father's will, Jesus "steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51), even though He knew that He would "suffer many things, and be set at nought" (Mark 9:12). Determined to do His Father's will in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, "not my will, but...
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