When He was being nailed to the cross Ge begged God to forgive the men who had beaten Him and were crucifying Him "for they know not what they do."
What if this also applies to us? Not knowing the pain and power of our own sins we just make mistakes but some take a wrong turn and just keep going.
When the soldiers came for Jesus Peter cut off the ear of one of them. Did Jesus also resort to violence? No. He practiced what He preached and showed His enemy love by healing him.
Jesus served each of us through the Atonement and He went like a lamb to His own slaughter. He was the lamb of God after all.
All of Jesus' teaching were tested in His final hours. He asked that if it were possible to let the bitter cup pass Him by. But in the end He prayed that The Lords will be done rather than His own.
Unlike Pope Benefict, He refused to just quit His mission despite the harshness of it. He was willing to take upon Himself the suffering resulting from each of our sins.
Jesus seems to have been willing to lay down His life for the good, for the betterment of every person, all His brothers and sisters , every child of God.
God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son to save it rather than condemn it. And Jesus so loved each of us that He laid down His life and suffered the pains of His Atonement.
The Atonement is not something that takes place at one singular moment in time, it is continuous and ever present so that as we make mistakes and we misstep we may be forgiven and granted the pardon Christ Himself paid for in blood.
Now none of this can be proven. We have, at best, second hand accounts of everything regarding Jesus.
So while it may be easier to believe it is simply made up, what does that prove? That faith in Christ is unfounded? Maybe so. Faith by it's very definition is unprovable.
But what is the cost of discipleship? Isn't living as Christ did, extending love and forgiveness to the very people who murdered Him, harder than the cost of believing it never happened?
Because if Christ forgave and bore the burden of that forgiveness of the world doesn't that mean each if us should extend that forgiveness to our enemies?
Aren't we as His disciples tasked with being unconditionally loving as He was to all He met?
Here's what He said about the two greatest commandments:
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:37-40
And here is the one new commandment Jesus gave: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." John 13:34-35
Jesus loved us unconditionally despite our sins. He never cast the first stone even when He had every right to. He forgave instead of condemned, He loved us instead of hating us or treating us with contempt. He gave His life in the name of God rather than taking lives in the name of God .
We can be that loving, forgiving, peaceful and compassionate. We have the iron rod of scripture to guide us and even if we stumble along the way we can still move forward.