27/06/2025
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
That line says more about human nature than almost anything else in the Bible.
Most people don’t set out to do evil. They act based on what seems right in the moment. But that’s exactly the problem. Our sense of good is often skewed.
Adam ate the fruit thinking he’d become more like God.
Eve wanted wisdom. The fruit looked good.
Saul spared animals and a king, thinking he was honouring God with a better sacrifice.
Peter drew a sword to protect Jesus.
Paul hunted Christians thinking he was defending the truth.
The Pharisees resisted Jesus believing they were guarding the faith.
None of them said, “I want to go against God.” They were aiming at the wrong version of good.
That’s why Romans says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” It’s not always deliberate rebellion. Sometimes it’s misplaced conviction. Sometimes it’s fear. Sometimes it’s pride dressed up as virtue.
Jesus saw it clearly. And still, he said, “Forgive them.”
That’s what makes grace so powerful. It doesn’t just meet us at our worst. It meets us in our confusion.
So what do we do with that?
We stop writing people off as wicked when they might simply be lost. We challenge evil, but we do it with understanding. We ask where their compass might be broken instead of assuming there’s no compass at all. And we turn that same lens inward. We stop assuming our motives are always right. We slow down and ask what good we’re really aiming at, and whether it lines up with God’s.
Grace doesn’t just pardon. It invites us to see differently.
- Michael Clarkson
