Would you forgive the people who dislocated your arms and drove cold iron spikes through your wrists? Jesus does. And he goes further: “They don’t know what they’re doing.” He says this not out of denial, but discernment.

There is a far more compelling story that has less to do with Heaven and everything to do with a man hanging on a cross beside Jesus, trying to make sense of the final moments of his life.

At the foot of the cross stands Mary, the mother of Jesus, surrounded by a small group of women and the beloved disciple. What must have been going through Mary’s mind as she watched her son die at the hands of the state?

No legion of angels was coming. No divine intervention to stop what had already begun. Jesus entered a loneliness so deep it bordered on Hell itself. With the last of his strength, he cries out.

Injustice is far too common in our world. It is something that feels uncomfortable and hard but recognizing how to navigate the required care is difficult.

When Jesus says, “It is finished,” we’re often told the Greek word means “paid in full.” The idea fits neatly with “Jesus pays the debt for our sin.” But what if that’s a shortcut? If so, the real question becomes: what exactly is Jesus finishing?

At 3:00 p.m., the lamb was slain. At 3:00 p.m. that Friday, the Lamb of God gave his life. But before Jesus released his spirit, he once again turned to the words of his ancestor David: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”