How Could This Be

Lyrics   |   Scripture

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Jesus’ words on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34), have always deeply touched me. But the longer I think about those words, the more unfathomable they become to me. Because when you really stop and consider what Jesus endured in those hours, His prayer takes on a depth that is almost impossible to comprehend.

 

His flesh was torn open, His body covered in the marks of brutal blows, thorns pierced His head, and His face was marked by agony and pain. He was mocked, beaten, spit on, and humiliated. Finally, nails were driven through His hands and feet, and He was hung on a cross. The One who came to save people was killed by people. The One who had done nothing wrong was treated like a criminal. His appearance was disfigured, beyond recognition as a human being (Isaiah 52:14). And right there, in the middle of all that suffering, something happened that leaves me speechless again and again.

 

With His weak, labored breath, Jesus did not pray against His tormentors. He did not call for revenge. He did not curse them. He did not ask the Father to give them what they deserved for what they had done to Him. Instead, He prayed for the very people whose hands had beaten Him, flogged Him, and nailed Him to the cross:

 

“Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

 

How could that be? How could love still come from someone who had been treated like that? How could He pray for His enemies while they were still mocking Him? How could He forgive while His body hung on the cross in unimaginable pain? How could a love that rose above it all be revealed in the very place where human hatred and cruelty were on full display? I believe that question is what ultimately led me to write a song based on this verse. The more I thought about it, the less I could simply move past it. “How could this be?” became more than a question about Jesus. It became a question for my own heart.

 

And while I was writing the song, I felt a little uncomfortable myself. I said to Jesus, “Lord, I really can’t write this song. I still struggle with bitterness and unforgiveness myself.” Because forgiveness sounds easy when you’re only talking about it. But when you’ve been hurt yourself, when words have cut deeply, or when someone has wronged you, you realize just how difficult forgiveness can actually be. Still, I felt that I was supposed to write this song. So I did. And rarely has a song flowed out of me so quickly. This song isn’t just a message for others. It’s also a reminder to me.

 

When I think about my own bitterness and then look at Jesus, I see forgiveness in a completely different light. Not because my wounds don’t matter. Not because what happened suddenly becomes okay. And not because forgiveness means you have to trust someone again or let them back into your life. But because Jesus showed me that evil does not have to have the final word.

 

Paul writes in Romans 12:21, “Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” And when I look at the cross, that is exactly what I see. Evil did the worst it could possibly do to Jesus. And yet Jesus did not respond with evil. He responded with love. With mercy. With forgiveness.

 

Forgiveness takes away evil’s power to rule our own hearts. It doesn’t say, “What you did was okay.” Instead, it says, “I will not allow what you did to me to determine who I become.” Forgiveness breaks chains - not only for the person we forgive, but for ourselves as well. Because sometimes we think that by refusing to forgive, we are keeping the other person bound. Yet we don’t realize how much we are still bound to what happened ourselves.

 

Forgiveness can break that cycle. It can mean choosing not to carry the wrong in our own hands anymore, but placing it into Jesus’ hands instead: “Lord, You know what happened. You know how much it hurt. You know how hard this is for me. But I don’t want to carry this weight anymore.”

 

And still, I don’t want to romanticize forgiveness. It certainly isn’t easy. Sometimes forgiveness isn’t a one-time decision but a journey. Sometimes you have to bring the same wound back to Jesus again and again. Sometimes you say, “Lord, I forgive,” and the next day you realize the pain is still there. Then you can go back to Him again.

 

Because Jesus didn’t just tell us to love our enemies. He showed us what that looks like. “But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44) And on the cross, He lived those very words. He didn’t just show us how to talk about forgiveness. He showed us how to forgive.

 

That’s why the response of the centurion at the cross also touches me so deeply. After witnessing everything that had happened, he said, “Certainly this was a righteous man.” (Luke 23:47)

 

And that is what moves me so deeply about Jesus again and again: He is different. He shows us a love that isn’t dependent on how other people treat us. He shows us mercy where we might expect revenge. He shows us forgiveness where, from a human perspective, we might have every reason to become bitter. And maybe I’ll never be able to fully answer this question:

 

How could this be?

 

How could Jesus still love in the face of all that? How could He forgive? Maybe I don’t have to fully understand it. Maybe I can simply stand in awe—and ask Him to keep changing me.

 

Because I want to learn from Him: how to live, how to love, and how to forgive.