At this horrid place, Jesus is attached to a wooden cross, with spikes driven through His hands and feet to hold Him in place. The entire contraption is then lifted up and pushed into the ground in a standing position, such that Jesus is on full display of the gleeful multitude who are there to watch Him writhe in agony and struggle to take what will be His last breaths on earth.

Now, if that were you or me put in that position, when we had done nothing to warrant such treatment, the last people we would want to see would be the people who had caused this to happen. And, if we did, we would almost certainly be wishing for them to one day suffer some type of pain or tragedy in their lives to repay them for the evil they had done. Instead, Jesus offers a short prayer on their behalf:

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

Can we even fathom this level of love and forgiveness? 

At the moment of the most intense pain of His earthly life, Jesus is asking the Father to forgive the very people who had caused Him to be nailed to the cross. Of course, the people would have had to repent of what they were doing in order to actually be forgiven, but it’s still amazing that Jesus was this considerate of them. And, if Jesus was willing to seek forgiveness for the people who did that horrible evil to Him, then it’s fair to ask — Is there anything that any of us can do that would be too much for Jesus to forgive?

As we consider this question, it’s important to recognize that, in a way, we can be counted among the people who caused Jesus to be nailed to the cross. Jesus came to earth expressly to be crucified to provide a way for mankind to be forgiven of their sins. If we were without sin, Jesus wouldn’t have had to go through that horrible ordeal. However, since “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), we all are party to the necessity of Jesus being crucified.

However, looking beyond the simple statement that we all have sinned, let’s consider our own individual sins that we repented of when we gave our lives to the Lord (as well as those that we have had to repent of since). Of whatever sins we were guilty of, were there any that we think were too big for Jesus to forgive? If we thought there were, then there wouldn’t have been much sense in being baptized since not all of our sins would have been washed away. Nothing we did was too big for Jesus to forgive.

Since being baptized, is there anything that we’ve done (or are doing now) that we think disqualifies us for the kingdom of heaven? Yes, there’s the one exception of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost (see Matthew 12:31, Mark 3:29), but other than that, there is still nothing that we can do that we can’t be forgiven of when we sincerely repent. To say otherwise is limiting the ability of Jesus to forgive sins. Of course, we shouldn’t take that as license to sin, but it should be comforting to know that there is no sin that’s too big for Jesus to forgive. If He forgave the people crucifying Him, why not us?

So, don’t let the enemy convince you that mistakes you’ve made or sins you’ve committed in life are too much to be forgiven of. God is not poised with a hammer, ready to smite you when you step over the line. God sent His Son to make it possible for all to be forgiven of their sins. He wants you to be successful in serving God and to spend eternity with Him. 

So, take advantage of God’s plan of redemption. When you repent of your wrongdoings (and are baptized when you first come to Christ), Jesus is more than able to cause you to be fully cleansed of all of your sins. Nothing is too big for Him to forgive. Praise God!