Open your Bible and read Luke 23:32-49
“And Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'”
Luke 23:34 · ESVRead what He said while it was happening. Not what people said about Him later. What came out of His own mouth with nails through His wrists.
He asked for the forgiveness of the men driving them in. He told a convicted criminal hanging next to Him that they would be together in paradise that day, and that man had no time left to fix his life or make anything right. He made sure His mother would be cared for. And He cried out asking God why He had been forsaken, which is not a line you invent for your hero.
There is no self defense in any of it. No cursing the crowd. No bargaining.
Whatever you conclude about who He was, sit with the fact that under maximum pressure, with nothing left to gain, the thing that came out of Him was forgiveness. That is either the strangest performance in history or it is who He actually is.
Do this today
Read Luke 23:32-49 slowly and underline every word Jesus speaks.
An honest thing to say to God
“God, I have never seen anyone respond to cruelty the way He did. I want to understand it.”