Stress Test Devotional May 4
May 04, 2024
LUKE 23:32-34 | 32 Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing.
The first word on the cross is a word of forgiveness. “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.” One source of our brokenness is our ignorance and misunderstanding. The Jewish leaders felt that crucifying Jesus was a righteous deed, the quickest way to end an illegitimate movement and expose a false Messiah.
They heard Jesus’ claims of divine Son-ship as blasphemous violations of the first commandment. They understood His relationships with prostitutes and tax collectors to be scandalous. They found talk of enemy love to be a wild revision of proportionate justice, an eye for an eye. His disinterest and down playing of food laws and cleanliness rituals they believed a threat to Jewish identity.
When have you acted according to your conscience, but against God’s purposes?
Jesus asks God to forgive our ignorance and misunderstanding. Confess any instances of this in your life.
