Saturday, March 2, 2013
Luke 23:33-34 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." And they divided His garments and cast lots.
PASSIONATE PRAYERS OF OUR SAVIOR -- FOR ENEMIES
Jesus, in Thy dying woes, Even while Thy life-blood flows,
Craving pardon for Thy foes: Hear us, holy Jesus.
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 180:1)
Stop and take a moment to reflect on your short life. Picture in your mind your greatest enemy. Picture the person who has hurt you and has made you feel the worst you have ever felt. Did you ever pray for that person? When was the last time you or I prayed for our enemies? Now stop again for another moment and imagine someone doing the worst possible thing he could do to you or to those you love most in life. COULD you pray for that person after it happened? How about WHILE it happened?
That's what Jesus did. He prayed for His enemies, those people beneath the cross who just nailed Him there. He prayed for those people who were spitting on Him, mocking Him, and cursing His perfect name. He prayed to God His Father to forgive them and not hold these sins against them!
But it wasn't just for them that Jesus prayed. Just a few hours earlier Jesus had prayed for His disciples, their message about Him, and that through their message "the world may know that You [God the Father] have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me" (John 17:23). Jesus prayed for me also, because I too am guilty of the sins which caused Him suffering while He hung on the cross!
Savior, for our pardon sue, When our sins Thy pangs renew,
For we know not what we do: Hear us, holy Jesus.
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 180:2)
Lately I've been thinking a lot that it wasn't SIN that put Jesus on the cross, but it was His LOVE. Jesus didn't have to go to the cross to die for all the world, but He wanted to go the way of the cross to fully demonstrate His love for His enemies, you and me! To teach us -- who now know His love because of His Word -- how to show and share that forgiving love! May we ever thirst to better know how to "pray like Jesus!"
Oh, may we who mercy need, Be like Thee in heart and deed
When with wrong our spirits bleed: Hear us, holy Jesus.
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 180:3)
