Jesus on the Cross
“…As Jesus comes to His hour, He trusts completely in God despite the terrible dark feelings of abandonment.
If you have never felt abandoned by God, do not even try to comprehend these words. If you have felt abandoned, then you can know what Jesus went through. Jesus went into the darkest of pits that the human mind can enter. When we remember that union with God was His whole being, His whole life from all eternity, then the fact that His humanity experienced abandonment by God is painful beyond anything we can imagine.
Jesus on the Cross is concerned with forgiveness. He pays no attention to the mockery; He hardly seems to relate to the terrible physical pain.
…He uses His time and His last energy to give a most important message: Sinners are forgiven. The thief who never walked on the straight way or entered by the narrow gate is forgiven. He who is the Son of God asks pardon for His killers−the scribes, the Pharisees, the high priest, Pilate, and the Romans.
…Whatever may have happened in the lives of these little people who were drawn into the drama of the ages, we know one thing for certain: Jesus forgave them all and asked pardon for them.
We must be as careful and accurate as possible in acknowledging our sins large and small, known acts and unknown omissions, deeds and attitudes, and bring them under the Cross as Jesus hangs on it. We must look at the incredible and mysterious event of the death of a God, the only God who ever died, and realize that it happened for us that we might live forever. We are forgiven−we need only accept and acknowledge the forgiveness and the need to repent, to change as much as we can.
We have two more things to do. As Jesus Christ made clear in His life and works: We also must forgive, and we must love and help others in return for what God has done for us.
Prayer:
Jesus, I kneel beneath Your Cross. You are in glory, but here on earth You suffer and die every day in the poor, the sick, the abandoned, the abused, and the killed. Help me to recognize You and care for You, and give me the grace to forgive. Amen.”
~Benedict Groeschel
If you have never felt abandoned by God, do not even try to comprehend these words. If you have felt abandoned, then you can know what Jesus went through. Jesus went into the darkest of pits that the human mind can enter. When we remember that union with God was His whole being, His whole life from all eternity, then the fact that His humanity experienced abandonment by God is painful beyond anything we can imagine.
Jesus on the Cross is concerned with forgiveness. He pays no attention to the mockery; He hardly seems to relate to the terrible physical pain.
…He uses His time and His last energy to give a most important message: Sinners are forgiven. The thief who never walked on the straight way or entered by the narrow gate is forgiven. He who is the Son of God asks pardon for His killers−the scribes, the Pharisees, the high priest, Pilate, and the Romans.
…Whatever may have happened in the lives of these little people who were drawn into the drama of the ages, we know one thing for certain: Jesus forgave them all and asked pardon for them.
We must be as careful and accurate as possible in acknowledging our sins large and small, known acts and unknown omissions, deeds and attitudes, and bring them under the Cross as Jesus hangs on it. We must look at the incredible and mysterious event of the death of a God, the only God who ever died, and realize that it happened for us that we might live forever. We are forgiven−we need only accept and acknowledge the forgiveness and the need to repent, to change as much as we can.
We have two more things to do. As Jesus Christ made clear in His life and works: We also must forgive, and we must love and help others in return for what God has done for us.
Prayer:
Jesus, I kneel beneath Your Cross. You are in glory, but here on earth You suffer and die every day in the poor, the sick, the abandoned, the abused, and the killed. Help me to recognize You and care for You, and give me the grace to forgive. Amen.”
~Benedict Groeschel
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