But he who could make such a man repent, could make him so
sorrowful and lowly, and so glad that he had repented, that he would
wish to live ever that he might ever repent and ever worship the glory
he now beheld. When a man gives up self, his past sins will no longer
oppress him. It is enough for the good of life that God lives, that the
All-perfect exists, and that we can behold him.
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," said the
Divine, making excuse for his murderers, not after it was all over, but
at the very moment when he was dying by their hands. Then Jesus had
forgiven them already. His prayer the Father must have heard, for he
and the Son are one. When the Father succeeded in answering his prayer,
then his forgiveness in the hearts of the murderers broke out in
sorrow, repentance, and faith. Here was a sin dreadful enough surely--
but easy for our Lord to forgive. All that excuse for the misled
populace! Lord Christ be thanked for that! That was like thee! But must
we believe that Judas, who repented even to agony, who repented so that
his high-prized life, self, soul, became worthless in his eyes and met
with no mercy at his own hand,--must we believe that he could find no
mercy in such a God? I think, when Judas fled from his hanged and
fallen body, he fled to the tender help of Jesus, and found it--I say
not how.
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