Father Forgive Them
Luke 23:34
By Harold Dinsmore, M.Div.
© 2008 Harold Dinsmore

The cry of death hung in the air that day.  A throng of angry people filled the streets of Jerusalem.  They were hungry for a show, ready for the shedding of blood, eager for the gruesome.  Stirred to a frenzy, they exhibited a natural love for death on display.

So it was, over two thousand years ago, when they paraded Jesus and the two thieves through the streets on their way to the place of the skull, the place of death by execution; the hill of the cross.

The people had, just the week before, been crying Hosanna in the highest, praising Jesus as He rode into town.  But today they had grown increasingly bitter.  With each passing moment, they smelled the blood that was about to be shed and they cried out for their execution.  The howls of the mob grew louder, as finally the man Jesus was nailed to the cross and slowly raised into the air before them.