Forgiveness stood at the center of everything Jesus taught and did. He told Peter to forgive not seven times but seventy times seven, forgave the paralytic's sins before healing his body, and from the cross prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. He taught us to ask for pardon as we pardon others, and made mercy the unmistakable mark of his people.
Jesus and Forgiveness
When Peter asked how often he must forgive a brother, offering what he thought was generous, up to seven times, Jesus answered seventy times seven and told the parable of the unforgiving servant, who was pardoned an unpayable debt yet throttled a fellow servant over a small one (Matthew 18). The lesson is plain: those who have been forgiven much must forgive. In the prayer he taught, he tied the two together, asking God to forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors (Matthew 6).
His forgiveness was not only spoken but enacted. When friends lowered a paralyzed man through a roof, Jesus first said, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee, and then healed him to prove he had the authority to do both (Mark 2). In the parable of the prodigal son, the father runs to the returning boy and throws a feast, a portrait of how God receives the repentant (Luke 15).
The deepest word comes from the cross. As soldiers nailed him down and mocked him, Jesus prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke 23). He did not merely teach forgiveness; he died asking it for the very people killing him.
What Jesus said and did
“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”
“And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.”
“And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.”
At the heart of the gospel is a Savior who forgives. Jesus does not wait for us to earn our way back; like the father in the parable, he runs to meet us, and from the cross he asks pardon for his enemies. To know Christ is to be met by a mercy deeper than our failure.
In Matthew 18, Peter suggested seven times, and Jesus answered seventy times seven, meaning without limit or bookkeeping. He then told the parable of the unforgiving servant to show that people who have been forgiven a great debt must forgive the smaller debts owed to them.
Did Jesus forgive the people who crucified him?
Yes. According to Luke 23:34, while he was being crucified Jesus prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. He asked God's pardon for the soldiers and the crowd even as they were putting him to death.