The Transformative Power of Forgiveness

Luke 23:34

This evening I want talk about the transformative power of forgiveness by fully ‘embracing a profound moment captured in Luke 23:34, where Jesus, in the agony of crucifixion, uttered words of forgiveness: Jesus said"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." In these simple yet profound words, Jesus expresses the transformative Power of forgiveness through His teachings and the depth of His love. These 7 phrases that Jesus mutters on the cross has much meaning and power to His overall Purpose and Mission.

Obviously we know that Jesus is praying to God. It’s a personal conversation, that involves 3 characters in the conversation. God, Jesus and Us. Jesus speaks in the form of the second person. So what does that mean? The “first person” points to the speaker or performer . The “second person” points to the person being addressed (“you”); and the “third person” refers to the person being spoken about (“he,” “they”). So God points to Jesus the (I) and Jesus speaks about us which is referred to as (them, they).

There are two words that we are going to focus on. The first word is forgive and the second word is know.

**Forgive**

“Forgive” When you do a word study on the word forgive in this text, It means to “stop blaming or taking an offense into account.” So jesus is praying to His dad and asking Him to stop blaming them. We live in a world where the name of the game is to blame.

**Know** “Know” means to know the nature or the character of. The character or nature of humans are they were created in the image of God and possess inherent dignity and worth. However, due to the origin of sin, humans are seen as inherently flawed and prone to sinfulness.

Jesus acknowledges that those who crucified him "do not know what they are doing." This speaks to the ignorance and blindness of humanity when it comes to understanding the full implications of our actions. It prompts us to examine our actions and intentions, recognizing our shortcomings and need for forgiveness. Sin does not make us a sinner, we sin because we are sinners” That’s our nature.

So Jesus stands between God and us and says to his Father stop blaming these people. You know they got issues. You know what we are dealing with and what needs to be done. Do you see that?

Despite enduring unimaginable suffering, hurt, pain, and agony, Jesus chose forgiveness over retaliation. His compassion for forgiveness is not limited to those present at the crucifixion but extends to all mankind. This challenges us to reflect on our capacity for forgiveness in the face of adversity.

Now I mentioned the characters in this prayer, now let me give you a little more. Have you ever heard the term “grammatical actor” a grammatical actor is a noun phrase or pronoun that identifies the person who performs an action in a spoken or written communication. Example would be the cat chased the mouse” the cat is the grammatical actor because it is the subject that performs the action(chasing) on the object which is (the mouse). Today begins the process of Jesus’ Grammatical Action, we call it “The Resurrection.” Jesus performs an action in order for (them, they us) to be reconciled, restored, renewed to God through His mercy and grace. Jesus stood between God and us. Only Jesus’s actions shows us how to forgive? We are thankful for the forgiveness that was done by our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, who was capable of redemption through faith and grace.

By giving you a vivid picture of this power, and because of this weekend. We now have the power of forgiveness. we can become the 2nd person in the story. We have the power to heal all wounds, and mend broken relationships. We have the power to bring about reconciliation.

It’s a radical act that can break the cycle of violence and hatred. When we forgive, we release ourselves from the burden of resentment and open ourselves to the transformative work of God's love. Just stop and think about that for a minute. There are many here today who need to call on the transformative power to recover peace and break the shackles that enslave us. We need to call on His redemptive spirit to transform our mind, body, and spirit.

Let us be inspired to embody the same spirit of compassion and mercy in our own lives. May we embrace this power by extending grace to others as we have received it from God. In doing so, we stand in the way to offer peace to others by joining the action in God's redemptive work in the world, so that all can experience the true freedom that comes from letting go of bitterness and embracing love.

Remember this is a prayer and we know that there is power in prayer and we can call on Jesus to help us embrace that power. A power that echoes throughout history, calling us to embody the same spirit of forgiveness in our lives. I challenge each of you to extend mercy and grace to others, just as we have received it from God.