Throughout His trial, Jesus never complained nor struck back at the affront that was hurled at Him. He was silent, except when it was necessary to witness to the truth or proclaim God’s honour. However, after the die was cast and He was hung upon the cross, He spoke treasured words.
The saying appears both in the Gospel of Mark and in the Gospel of Matthew. There are lessons we can learn from the cross. Some of them will be discussed here.
A. The First Lesson from the Cross is Forgiveness
One of the questions the Bible clearly answers is “How do I forgive those who offend me?” At other times, we seek to know how we will know we have truly forgiven the other party.
Probably, the reason why many withhold forgiveness is simply that they are concerned about how much one can forgive so as not to become a doormat.
All these and many more concerns related to forgiveness have been clearly dealt with in God’s Word. Even the early disciples of Jesus lived their lives based on these principles of forgiveness.
1. Jesus lived a perfect life
Jesus lived a perfect life while on earth. He demonstrated beautiful virtues that made people of His day see Him as a greater prophet. Read Isaiah 53:7. He was offended in every way, but he offended no one.
People spat on Him and despised Him on many occasions, yet He never held any grudge against anyone.
2. Jesus’ attitude of forgiveness
The high point of the demonstration of Jesus’ attitude of forgiveness was brought to bear on the cross as recorded by Luke in our passage. Jesus was brought here in the company of two robbers. While on the cross and in pain, He was still able to pray to the Father to forgive His accusers and persecutors.
Jesus lived as an example for us; He taught that no offence is too grievous or beyond forgiveness. Later, His early followers as recorded in Acts 7 54-60. While he was being stoned by his persecutors, he prayed that God would not hold their sins against them.
3. Forgiveness as the attribute of God’s kingdom
We must understand that forgiveness is one of the attributes of kingdom citizens. Jesus had earlier illustrated this with a parable in Matthew 18:21-30. A servant who owed his master ten thousand talents and could not pay was ordered to be imprisoned. He, however, pleaded for mercy with his master and was forgiven (Matthew 8:26).
This same servant had another fellow servant who owed him a hundred denarii; this fellow servant also pleaded with him for mercy the same way he did with his master.
But he refused to forgive. Instead, he grabbed him and began to choke him and had him thrown into prison (Matthew 18:30).
When he was reported to his master, he (His master) was disappointed with his behaviour and, in anger, ordered that he too be tortured and thrown into prison.
This means that when we withhold forgiveness from others, we simply open the door of our lives to the devil to torment us.
When we forgive others, we prove that we are children of God – a demonstration that we have also received mercy from our heavenly Father.
4. How do I forgive?
Desire: The first step is to have the desire to forgive, no matter how you feel towards the person who hurt you.
The power of the Holy Spirit: You must learn to depend on the Holy Spirit to help you do what you have decided to do. Humankind lacks the power to offer forgiveness to others. Our fallen nature is too weak to do that. It is only the power of the Spirit that can enable us.
Forgive ahead of time: Adopt the principle of forgiveness in advance; it means you would have made provision in your heart for forgiveness even before offence comes.
The Love of God: Let your heart be filled with the love of God always (1 Corinthians 13:4, 5). The more we grow in God’s love, the more it becomes easy to be able to forgive other people. The love of God can constrain our hearts to love God and others, even those who offend us.
Forbearance: Until we learn to forbear, forgiveness will be difficult to practice. Learn to bear with the weaknesses of others, and make allowance for other mistakes (Ephesians 4:31).
Give Forgiveness: Know that forgiveness is an act of God’s generosity to us, and we must be like our heavenly Father (Matthew 5:45). So we must learn to offer forgiveness and generosity just as we learn to give material things.
Conclusion
God is not asking us to be doormats for people to walk on. There are times when He leads you to confront someone about their bad behaviour. Forgiving others has to do with your attitude towards them and how you treat them.
He confronted them in the spirit of gentleness and then continued to love them. Someone once said, “He who does not offer forgiveness to others destroys the bridge over which God’s forgiveness passes to his own heart.” Think about that statement.
B. The Second Lesson from the Cross is Hope
The truth is that there is hope for you as long as you have the breath of God in you. Many are down with hopelessness and have concluded that things can never work well with them again. Job captured this theme clearly, as written in Job 14:7.
The implication of this is that with God, hope could be revived. In other words, when you have come to your end, God has the power to give you a fresh beginning. It means that when you are down to nothing, God is up to something.
Meaning of Hope
The subject of hope runs through the scriptures from Genesis through Revelation. In the Old Testament, the people of God were looking forward in hope to the birth of the saviour and the redemption of humanity from the plague of sin (Genesis 3:15).
In the New Testament, the church, in hope, is waiting for the return of the bride to take us to heaven (Titus 2:11-13). Therefore, we must live perpetually with a living hope.
What Is Hope?
Hope is the anticipation of good things to come. It has a good feeling of better days ahead. Job rightly counsels that though your beginning may be small, your end shall greatly increase. Hope is the expectation of what is yet to come, but it is sure to come.
This means that though what is expected may not be tangibly visible, the spectacle of hope makes the future visible. Furthermore, hope is light in a dark tunnel. At times, the future may look dark and bleak, but through the force of hope, confidence is sustained that things will be okay at the end of the day.
Jesus Christ Brought the Message of Hope
Throughout Jesus’ ministry on earth, He brought encouragement and comfort to everyone He came across. He gave people the message of hope. He always encouraged them to be of good cheer.
He knows that hopelessness is a state of despair which often leads to depression, so He helped them to see a future filled with hope. Luke clearly wrote about him. Read (Acts: 38).
In other words, His major concern was to give hope to the hopeless. Indeed, there were many whose hopes were revived through contact with Jesus: Bartimaeus received his sight back (Mark 10 46-56); a widow whose only son died received him back to life (Luke 7:11-17), and He raised Lazarus from the dead (John 1 36-44)
The Aspect of Jesus’ Ministry
The climax of this aspect of Jesus’ ministry was demonstrated on the cross at the very last hour of His stay on earth. He gave hope to the thief who was hanged with Him.
Obviously, this thief has been written off and condemned to eternal doom, but by divine providence, he met the resurrection and the life Himself and his destiny was changed. It was clear that this thief was resolved, and he believed he could receive help from Jesus (Luke 33:42.
Perhaps you think life is done with you, but your situation will change as soon as you get up and begin to trust again that what God said in His word is true and sure. Hope is the anchor for the soul. Hence, it is important never to lose hope even if every other thing is lost.
The hopeless one will definitely be helpless. Help is definitely in view to anyone who can look up to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.
Restore your Hope
If you have lost hope in any way, it can be recovered. There are certain habits you must cultivate to be able to sustain your hope in God.
Dwell perpetually in God’s Word: When you are full of God’s Word, your faith comes alive automatically. David set an example for us in his writing. (Psalm 119:28). The word of God brings light to every dark spot on our path so that we can walk without stumbling. (Psalm 119:105).
Listen to the testimonies of others: Testimonies are proofs that God’s Word works. They are like messages preached by others who have experienced God at work in their lives.
Be regular in worship: The Bible makes it clear that there is fullness of joy in the presence of God and that pleasure can be secured at His right side. Read Psalm 122:1. When you join other believers in lively worship, it brings refreshment to your soul.
Why do you need hope?
Hope is the foundation upon which faith is built: Hope galvanises faith to demonstrate its activeness. Read Hebrews 11:11. In other words, your faith will not have space to deliver to its maximum capacity if you are hopeless.
Hope is the basis for true joy: It takes a man who has a deep confidence in God to hold on in the face of an unpleasant situation. It is very hard to be happy when things are going well around you. But when life turns on its head, it takes the power of the Holy Spirit generated by hope to be jubilant.
Hope gives you security from shame: When you keep your hope in the Lord, there is all assurance that you will not be put to shame, even if it seems things will not work out again. That was exactly what the thief on the cross had. He believed Jesus could save him at that dying moment. Romans 5:5 affirms this.
Hope is the birthplace of expectation: For you to see God manifest in your situation, you must hold on in hope as a security for what is to come. We must never give up on God because it is not over until it is over (Proverbs 218). Read further on this page.
Conclusion
This was the kind of attitude Ruth demonstrated when she lost both husband and father-in-law in one season. Her story encourages us to be courageous and that there is a ray of hope in any difficult season. So, let your hope come alive.
