He had a perfect family! A wife that loved him and kids that adore him. It’s been seven years of a happy home and then the devil struck. Gbade started cheating on his wife with his female boss and just three months before their seventh wedding anniversary, he disappeared with his boss for a happy life in Canada without looking back.
Twenty years later, he showed up empty-handed. Life had dealt him a big blow and for all those years his only reward was a divorce from her boss who is now tired of the twenty years without kids. His arrival coincided with the wedding of his first son whom he abandoned twenty years ago. How can Fola summon the courage for forgiveness? Even if she can, how will she convince Williams and Jude that their runaway Dad deserves any space in their life now?
She looked up to Jesus and in him, she found a perfect example of a man who has forgiven worse. In Luke 23:34 Jesus looked down from the cross upon a scene that must have been distressing to Him. The Roman soldiers were gambling for His clothing (John 19:23–24); the criminals on the crosses to either side of Him were reviling Him (Matthew 27:44); the religious leaders were mocking Him (Matthew 27:41–43), and the crowd was blaspheming Him (Matthew 27:39). Surrounded by this most unworthy lot, Jesus prayed for them. “Father, forgive them” is a prayer of unmatched mercy and love.
Even in His agony, Jesus’ concern was for the forgiveness of those who counted themselves among His enemies. He asked the Father to forgive the thieves on the cross who jeered at Him. He asked the Father to forgive the Roman soldiers who had mocked Him, spit on Him, beat Him, yanked out His beard, whipped Him, put a crown of thorns on His head, and nailed Him to the cross. Jesus asked forgiveness for the angry mob that had mocked Him and called for His crucifixion (Mark 15:29–30). Why? He recon that they don’t know what they were doing!
The sinners who put Jesus on the cross were ignorant of the true import of their actions. The soldiers personally held no ill will toward Him. They were simply following orders. This was how they normally treated condemned men, and they believed that He truly deserved it. They didn’t know that they were killing the Son of God (see 1 Corinthians 2:8). The mob didn’t really know whom they were trying to destroy. The Jewish leaders had deceived them into believing that Jesus was a fake and a troublemaker (Acts 3:17). In praying “Father, forgive them,” Jesus revealed His infinite mercy; He still loved them and would forgive them if only they would humble themselves and repent (Matthew 18:14; 2 Peter 3:9).
In the same way today, forgiveness will only be difficult as long as we assumed that the people that hurt us know what they are doing, in reality, they don’t. The man who abandons his wife to follow a sugar mummy may think he is smart but in reality, he doesn’t know what he is doing. The lecturer that victimizes his female students for refusing his sexual advances will think he’s exercising power and enjoying life but he actually does not know what he is doing.
There’s a spirit behind every ill act of men and whenever we are on the receiving end of it the only thing that can strengthen our resolve to forgive is our deliberate choice to look to Jesus, find strength in his example and the courage to be able to say ‘Father forgive them, they know not what they’re doing.
