Father, Forgive Them

Since the Charlie Kirk memorial, forgiveness took up a major theme in conversation, because of what Erica Kirk, his widow, said in her speech. What does scripture say about forgiveness? Essentially, the verse to which she alluded: Luke 23:34 – “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” This was not an exegesis or theological treatise on forgiveness. It was a woman forgiving a man who murdered her husband and especially with a certain context. The assassin of her husband, she treated as a lost, deluded reprobate. She explained that her husband was concerned for young men in the United States over the exact problems this young man had.

It is very bad out there with young men, despite what seems to be some improvement in the last year or so. If someone is going to reach them like Kirk was trying, he cannot just quit. He must first understand the problem, second, want to help it, third, come to a scriptural solution, and then fourth, go about trying to solve it. From Charlie’s and her perspective, his murderer was in the category for which Jesus prayed — “he knew not what he did.” That’s a very generous assessment of the young man. They saw him as overtaken by something very powerful and in that sense these forces deceived him. To reach many others like him, one cannot be thinking of vengeance or vindictiveness. He must see the powerlessness of these individuals.

To love all the lost boys, you’ve got to start with lost boys that hate you, because they don’t know what they’re doing. This isn’t a complete statement on forgiveness, but it is important in this unique category. It’s also a legitimate application of what Jesus said on the cross. They killed Jesus and this young man killed Charlie Kirk. By forgiving him, she also could release herself from burdensome and grievous emotions and turn them over to the Lord Jesus.