Jesus's prayer for forgiveness in Luke's gospel

Forgiveness of the Gopsel of Luke

Luke 23:24

The Gospel of Luke

Author Controversy

Single Biblical Accounts

Primary Perspective

Forgiveness

Times in Bible

Focus of the Prayer for Forgiveness,

Concluding Thoughts

The Forgiveness Jesus Offers

Sustenance that Fuels Healing and Love

Recount of Thesis Statement

FORGIVENESS OF THE GOPSEL OF LUKE

"…Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do…"

Jesus (Luke 23:34a).

The only recorded account of Jesus praying for those who crucified Him occurs in Luke's gospel, noted in Luke 23:34a, the verse introducing this paper (Profile: The…, 2008). In the article, "Christ-like Love and Forgiveness: A Biblical Foundation for Counseling Practice," Robert K. Cheong, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Frederick A. DiBlasio (2207), University of Maryland, Baltimore, argue that forgiveness cannot be rightly understood apart from love, just as love cannot be understood correctly apart from forgiveness. Cheong and DiBlasio explain that given sin's reality of sin in each human relationship, from a psychological perspective, "one cannot love another without forgiveness. Second, from a biblical and theological perspective, God's love and forgiveness are inextricably connected all throughout Scripture, and are seen with converging brilliance in the cross of Christ" (Cheong & DiBlasio, Conclusion section). In light of this consideration, this paper asserts that Jesus' prayer recorded in Luke 23:34a: "…Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do…," not only serves as the ultimate example of forgiveness, it portrays God's love, inherent in forgiveness, as a guide for those who follow Christ.

The Gospel of Luke

The Gospel of Luke, the first part of a two-volume work, which includes the Acts of the Apostles, appears to have been written during the time the Gospel of Matthew was written by Matthew (Profile: The…, 2008). Charles H. Talbert (2002) asserts in the book, Reading Luke: A literary and theological commentary, that internal evidence contends that Luke wrote the third gospel by this name. Early external data, on the other hand, indicates that Luke, a companion of the fall, recorded in a book the gospel preached by Paul, "says the blue promote the gospel was not an apostle but a companion of Paul" (Talbert, p. 1). Most scholars date the Gospel of Luke to AD 80-100.

Although controversy exists regarding the author of Luke, according to Bill Bright (2006) in"10 Basic Steps to Christian Maturity" Luke, a physician, wrote the Gospel of Luke, reportedly the most comprehensive of the Gospels, to the Greeks, considered a cultured people. "Luke, an educated Greek himself, knew his readers would be captivated by Jesus as the perfect Man, an idea prevalent in Greek mythology" (Bright, Lesson 3 section). The text recorded in the Gospel of Luke most likely originated around the Aegean Sea or in Asia Minor. Luke relates the most detailed description of Christ's birth and also relates more prayers that Jesus prayed than are recorded in the other Gospels.

In addition to the focus for this paper, Jesus praying for forgiveness for His crucifiers, the following other there accounts are only recorded in Luke's Gospel:

1. Jesus healing the servant's ear that Peter severed during the scuffle at Jesus' arrest [22:51].

2. Herod Antipas and Pontius Pilate becoming improbable friends after being in Jesus'

presence [23:12].

3. One of those crucified with Jesus expressing faith in Him [23:39-43] (Profile: The…,

2008).

The primary perspective Luke presents about Jesus is that He is the one Who brings shalom. Along with peace, Luke reports that Jesus brings healing, reconciliation, wholeness, and most of all - forgiveness (Profile: The…, 2008).

Concluding Thoughts

In the article, "Interpreting the Scriptures Together: Seeking the Visible Unity of the Church, Beverly Roberts Gaventa (2007), Professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis at Princeton NJ, encourages those who study excerpts such as Luke 23: 34a, to consider that God's action in Jesus Christ does merely recount a single historical incident, but includes, receptions and contexts to inform the thinking of those living in other times and cultures. Gaventa explains that an ecumenical hermeneutic depicts "a hermeneutic that interprets scripture in the service of God's horizon…" (¶ 38). Along with anticipating that Scripture will speak some new word and searching to see what God is doing in the text, those reading the Scriptures need to also bring to their reading "that sense of praise, gratitude, and wonder that is the rightful stance of the created being toward the Creator" (Ibid.). In examining as Luke 23: 34a, this searching of the Scripture as Gaventa suggests becomes an adventure on to embark open with gratitude and expectation. This researcher perceives Jesus prayer for forgiveness for those who crucified Him, not only to depict a prayer Christians are to follow when praying for those who offend them, but also poignantly portrays the forgiveness Jesus offers for those in their sin, who like the Roman soldiers, do not know what they do in their sin.

William Augustus Jones (2007), the long-time pastor of Bethany Baptist Church, Brooklyn, New York, a noted preachers and revivalists of the Twentieth Century, challenges the myth that forgiveness is not completed or finished until or unless the forgiver forgets. In the article, "An Anatomy of forgiveness. The African-American pulpit," Jones argues with perceptions such as: Why don't we just forgive and forget? Or I may forgive him, but I will never forget what he did. "To forgive is not to forget….[One has] to remember in order to know that…[they] have forgiven" (¶ 13). . If people do not remember what they have forgiven, they will not know that they have forgiven. Jones stressed that people do not forget what they forgave, however, they do drop it or let it go.

In the article, "High-calorie spirituality," Melinda Berry (2006) purports that a theology professor taught her to value the organic expressions of faith and hope. Expressions of the Word living with us, such as that in Luke 23: 34 nourish one's spirit. Jesus' prayer for forgiveness for those who crucified Him mirrors sustenance that fuels healing and love. In His death, Jesus models the way God does things; the way He shows his love; His forgiveness. Grace, God's unmerited favor, extends not only to those who crucified Him centuries ago; it forgives those today who, in spite of their utter unworthiness - trust Him, God's grace and mercy came through Jesus Christ at Calvary, where He prayed the prayer that echoes its power throughout eternity: "…Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do…" (Luke 23:34a). This prayer, as the researcher asserted at the start of this paper, serves as the ultimate example of forgiveness, as it portrays God's love, inherent in forgiveness, as serves as a guide for those who follow Christ to daily do likewise.