Embrace Prayer: Forgiveness Prayer

Today marks the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey, hailed as the Savior of Israel. Coats lined the road. Palms waved overhead. Shouts of “hosanna” rose in the air. This ‘triumphal entry’ of Jesus was His intentional, public pronouncement of Kingship; He finally and fully claimed His Messianic title and role.¹ 

We might hear ‘hosanna’ and think of it only as a cry of praise, but in this context it was more of a plea for rescue. In the original biblical languages, ‘hosanna’ means “save us!” But the crowds that cheered for King Jesus on this day had only deliverance from the Romans in mind – not spiritual salvation.

We continue to observe Palm Sunday as the joyous moment it was twenty centuries ago. It also initiates a week of remembrance, a time to recall the way the shouts of praise of Sunday turned to cries of crucifixion by Friday. Holy Week will take us from the celebration of Jesus’ Jerusalem entry to the tension of the Temple tables being turned. From the heartfelt teachings of Jesus to the Last Supper with the Twelve. From the confident affirmations of His disciples to their denials, betrayals, and abandonment. From the pit and pain of His arrest and torturous death to the greatest victory of all time – His resurrection!

And packed into this Passion Week are more Jesus Prayers. 

So as we look ahead to all this week will hold, let us carry with us the sober words of the prophet Isaiah with us, recognizing that everything Jesus experienced was always planned, held great purpose, and fulfilled hundreds of prophecies.

We’ll allow Isaiah’s words to paint the pictures of the coming seven days for us, all the while keeping in mind that Christ embraced every challenge without ever changing His holy mindset or His own sinlessness. He remained true to His mission, forever modeling for us the way to carry our own crosses.

Suffering Servant
Who has believed our message?
    To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
    like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
    nothing to attract us to him.
He was despised and rejected—
    a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
    He was despised, and we did not care.
Isaiah 53:1-3 NLT

Isaiah opens this famous prophecy about God’s coming Messiah, nicknamed the Suffering Servant, with a key question that captures the heart of the crowd, the Jewish leaders, and the disciples as Jesus rides into Jerusalem – a question articulated well in The Message:

Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this? (v.1)

Indeed. No one present the day of palms and hosannas would’ve thought God’s saving would look like the Savior’s death. And, how often are we just like this crowd of hopefuls, thinking we know what God is up to…

Even though Isaiah prophesied the way Messiah would be despised and rejected, every person present that sunny, first-century Sunday missed the moment for what it truly was. Salvation had come! But not in the way they expected. Not in the ways we often anticipate…

Sin-Bearing Savior
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
    it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
    a punishment for his own sins!
But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
    the sins of us all.
Isaiah 53:4-6 NLT

Recall that every first century, God-fearing Jew would have been familiar with prophecies about the Messiah. They lived acutely aware that He could arrive at any moment yet failed to discern and differentiate the two advents, or arrivals, of the Messiah. 

Their hearts so longed for relief that they leapt ahead to His foretold second coming when a sword-bearing Savior would swoop in to make everything whole and good and right. Even the disciples overlooked prophecies, such as Isaiah’s Suffering Servant, until after Jesus’ ascension.

That’s why on the night of Jesus’ arrest the disciples asked Him if they should draw their swords against the armed mob (Luke 22:49-50; Matthew 26:50-54). Jesus’ response was a big, “No more of this!” (Luke 22:51). He admonished, “Those who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52), then He healed the servant’s ear Peter had already cut off (Luke 22:51).

Jesus demonstrated with clarity that He had not come as a rebel to lead a revolt. And despite the sorrows that weighed Him down, He stepped into this moment of betrayal with crystal-clear vision, “This has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled” (Matthew 26:56). 

Historical context and biblical scenes grant perspective, allowing us to grasp just how difficult it would have been for this band of mix-matched men to understand what Jesus was about. They thought He would lead them in earthly victory over flesh and blood enemies, but then their Messiah allowed Himself to be arrested. Beaten. Unfairly tried. Hanged on a cross. They knew He held all the power to stop these from happening (Matthew 26:53). But He didn’t. And they fled (v.56).

Lest we judge the disciples for missing the mark, we must realize we’re no different. 

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.

Jesus came to be pierced for our rebellion. God allowed His sinless Son to be crushed for our sins, to be beaten so we could be made whole. 

It’s our weakness He carried.

Silent Savior
He was oppressed and treated harshly,
    yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
    And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
    he did not open his mouth.
Unjustly condemned,
    he was led away.
No one cared that he died without descendants,
    that his life was cut short in midstream.
But he was struck down
    for the rebellion of my people.
He had done no wrong
    and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal;
    he was put in a rich man’s grave.
Isaiah 53:7-9

Jesus had much to say during the three years He ministered on this earth. Offering sermons and stories, parables and prayers, Jesus spoke a lot. But not after His arrest. Just as Isaiah prophesied, the Lamb remained silent as He was led to His slaughter. He never defended Himself or raised His voice at His accusers. 

He chose the path of the cross, and He endured the passion of it all without ever slipping into sin. He remained faithful to the plan without complaint – despite the hits and whips, the thorn-crown and nails.

Satisfied Savior
But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
    and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
    he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
    and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
    he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
    my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
    for he will bear all their sins.
I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
    because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
    He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
Isaiah 53:10-12 NLT

Jesus not only knew ahead of time the anguish He would suffer during His trial and crucifixion, but He also held the foreknowledge of what lay on the other side of His offering for sin: Many descendants counted righteous. Long life. Honors. The writer of Hebrews describes the object of Jesus’ focused vision as “the joy set before Him” (12:2). Jesus endured the cross because He knew the coming victory would be worth it!

He will see the fruit of His suffering and will be satisfied.²  

With the end in mind, Jesus submitted to mocking taunts and false accusations, betrayals and beatings. In doing so, He willingly stepped into His “terrible travail of soul” (Isaiah 53:11a MSG). 

Forgiving Savior

After His conviction, Christ trudged toward the place of His execution, bearing the burden of His own cross – so exhausted that another man was pulled from the crowd to help Him. Yet, even in these conditions, Jesus remained others-focused.³ He exhorted the weeping women in the crowd to cry not for Him but for themselves (Luke 22:28-29). He knew that, like most of Israel, they continued to miss the point of His coming, His dying. And, He knew what lay ahead for them – the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. With compassion, He lamented “the pain they [would] have to endure.”⁴ 

Then His body was nailed to a cross, lifted up – just as He foretold (John 12:32). Weak, He struggled to breathe. Burdened by the weight of our sins, Jesus remained unchanged. He thought of the Twelve who had betrayed, denied, and abandoned Him. He looked down upon His accusers, mockers, and torturers – and prayed the sixth Jesus Prayer:

“Abba, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Luke 23:34

This is our Jesus. He takes on our sins and hangs on a cross for us – all the while interceding for all who fail Him, deny Him, hurt Him. 

He forgives.

Shaped by the prayer He taught His disciples to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” (Matthew 6:12), the One who needed no forgiveness forgave. He lived out His own words. And He has left us a legacy of long-suffering and love, grace and goodness, faithfulness and forgiveness.

May this week of reflection on all that Jesus endured for our sakes keep us anchored in the truths of who He is and who we are in Him. May we let His prayer from the cross be our model for how to live in this world, the place where Jesus assured us we will be wronged (John 16:33). 

May we allow this prayer of Jesus to shape our lives of faith in such a way that we can, from under the weight of all our burdens, remain others-focused. May we offer compassion and prayers for the forgiveness of those who hurt us most – and in doing so find our burdens made light (Ephesians 4:32; Matthew 12:20). 

May we find the freedom that comes from laying down bitterness, resentment, and prodded pain when we forgive others – even as we repent of our own trespasses. May we acknowledge our own need of Christ’s cross-purchased forgiveness.

Lord, teach us to pray.

Heavenly Father, we come to You most humbled, with hearts full of conviction. We watch the disciples and see ourselves. We look upon Jesus as He endures every betrayal and denial, each accusation and unwarranted beating, and we weep with a gratitude that finds its source in a growing sense of unworthiness and sorrow. We see Him hanging on that cursed tree, bleeding, dying – burdened with sins that are not His own. But ours. And we fall to our knees, repentant for all we get wrong in this world, yet grateful that Jesus would choose to endure such terrible travail of soul – for us. For our forgiveness, for our good, for your glory. We desire to lead lives worthy of your calling. We long to be humble and gentle with every person we meet, unswerving in our allegiance to You and your Word. We want to live like Jesus, patient and kind, led by truth and love. We know living like Jesus and carrying our crosses are worth it because You have called us to a glorious hope for the future! Holy Spirit, teach us to seek forgiveness and to truly live as forgiven. Help us to live out the prayers Jesus modeled for us – to forgive just as we’ve been forgiven. Show us how to get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, slander, and every type of evil behavior. Help us to be kind to others, tenderhearted and forgiving – just as God through Christ has forgiven us. In our Savior’s name we pray, amen. 
(inspired by Isaiah 53; Ephesians 4:1-4,31-32)

Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.

• 1 – This Got Questions article gives some great history and context for this important scene – for what we celebrate as Palm Sunday.
• 2 – How the Masoretic Text (the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible [Tanakh] in Rabbinic Judaism) for verse 11b reads.
• 3 – In Annie F. Downs podcast interview with Jon Tyson this week, Pastor Tyson made this very point — and it stuck with me.
• 4 – Quoted from this article.
• Songs on our Spotify playlist, Embrace Prayer, like “Find Me” give us words to say when we find ourselves at a loss for how to articulate all our souls long to say as we bow before the cross. Hymns like “Before the Throne of God Above” offer lyrics packed with truth about what Jesus accomplished on the cross and who we are in Him! The song “Calvary’s Enough” echoes with images of Scripture on the day Jesus died and allows us to hear them in tandem with the truth that everything Jesus did on the cross is enough. May we all live the anthem of the song,”Grave:” “I wouldn’t know the sweetness of freedom if I didn’t know my sin, if there hadn’t been forgiveness that covered all my shame.” May the blood of Christ’s sacrifice flow into our hearts, moving us by forgiveness and toward freedom!
• Each Wednesday I upload a “Teacup” teaching video that carries on the topic here. You can find all the videos on my Facebook Author Page, Instagram, and YouTube.
• Many of you have already found me on Substack! Thank you so much! While you’re on Substack, check out the ministry I’m blessed to be part of, the Devoted Collective.
  
  AND…don’t forget if you’d rather listen to these weekly posts, you can now do so on Substack — it’s easy to see and use the audio bar across the top of each post.
• My monthly newsletter, The Abiding Life, goes to email inboxes of those who have subscribed on my website, and I post them on Substack — usually within the first week of the month. My most recent edition can be found there, and you can subscribe for future newsletters on Substack, here.

Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is one way to aid us in our desire to become more Christlike. This Lent, we’ve put our focus on the rhythm of prayer.

• Today we turn in our Prayer Bibles to Luke 23:34 to highlight the passage and add our tabs so that we can find it easily. Now we have SIX Jesus Prayers we can pray straight out of the Bible!
  
  This week I hope that we’ll work our way slowly through one of the Gospel’s accounts of this Passion Week, meditating on each scene. allowing the horror of it all to move us — while letting the hope and purpose of it all to strengthen our faith. Let’s keep our eyes open for all the ways Jesus maintains the path laid out for Him and compassion for others. Let’s hear His prayer for forgiveness from the cross with ears that fully receive what He died for. And may we live as people of forgiveness in the world, forever shaped by our Savior’s heart and words. XOXO
• Something about this season opens people up a little more to hear God’s story and the work of Jesus. One way you can do that is by sharing this site and telling others your own stories of faith experiences. Maybe, just maybe, God will even give us opportunities to pray for people He puts in our paths. I’d love to hear about it when He does!

Featured Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash. “All the Bits and Pieces” photo by Aleksandra Sapozhnikova on Unsplash.
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