THE FIRST WORD FROM THE CROSS

                              Jesus sacrificed even the last drop of His precious and sanctifying blood for the redemption of the world. The first word of Jesus on the Cross was His prayer addressed to His Father pleading pardon for His enemies and persecutors:

"Forgive them, Father! They don't know what they are doing" {Luke 23:34}.

                              Jesus prayed for everyone responsible for His Passion and Crucifixion including - the Jewish priests, Pharisees and the thief who ridiculed and despised Him, the Jews who pleaded for the release of Barabbas and cried for crucifying Him, Pilate who sentenced Him without justice, Roman soldiers who persecuted Him and gambled for His clothes, Peter who denied Him, the Apostles who deserted Him, Judas who betrayed Him and each one of us who, by our sinful thoughts, words and actions, crucified Him.

                              The prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled in Crucified Christ: "But because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received. All of us were like sheep that were lost, each of us going his own way. But the Lord made the punishment fall on him, the punishment all of us deserved" {Isaiah 53: 5, 6}.

                             His Divine love prevailed even at the height of His suffering. Jesus showed how to practice what He preached: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who ill-treat you'{Luke 6: 27, 28}; "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become the sons of your Father in Heaven"{Matthew 5: 44,45}. He taught us the lesson of forgiveness in the Lord's Prayer: "Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us" {Matthew 6:12}.

                             Forgiveness is a divine quality. It is the secret of peace in personal, social and spiritual life. One who does not forgive and forget the defects and misdeeds of others creates a hell in one's own life and also in the lives of all around him.

                             Through these words, Jesus taught us the need, nature and strength of prayer and forgiveness. Every sin is an act by which Barabbas is preferred to Jesus and Jesus is crucified again. It is a nail thrust on the arms of Jesus, outstretched to bless us. If we happen to fall into sin, let us confess our sins and pray for the grace to trust in the infinite mercy of God.

                             Let us kneel at the foot of the Cross, the pulpit of love, and raise our hands to him, to praise Him, thank Him and adore Him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By: N.G.Philip, Bethel, Nalamchira, Thiruvananthapuram-695015, Kerala, India &
Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India.

This is Message No. 60 in this site. Please click ‘Older Posts’ at the bottom of this page to read previous posts and click 'Newer Posts' at the bottom of this page to read newer posts in this site.