Have you forgiven Judas?

Jesus has. Betrayed by Judas into the hands of those who would crucify him, Jesus neither attempted to stop the betrayal nor did he express any bitterness because of it. In his well-known and ultimate forgiveness statement, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34 ), Judas was included.

How could Jesus forgive such horrendous wrong by his own disciple who betrayed him and by those who crucified him? He fully understood the allness, the all-power of God, good, and the absolute nothingness of evil in all its forms. He understood that all such things could only “work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28 ). And, of course, that is just what happened. The crucifixion made possible Jesus’ resurrection from death, which forever stands as proof that evil in any form, including death, has no power whatsoever.

Many since that time have followed Jesus as he encouraged us all to do in forgiving the most unjust betrayals and wrongdoings. Mary Baker Eddy is one of them. In her lifetime she forgave many who betrayed her, prayed against her, and did everything they could to bring her mission of giving humanity her discovery of the Christ Science to a halt. None of it stopped her from fulfilling her God-given mission. Near the end of her life, following an attempt by friends and family to publicly discredit her ability to handle her own affairs and wrest from her hands the Church and movement she had established, she immediately penned a note of forgiveness when she heard that the legal case against her called the “Next Friends” suit had failed.

Mary Baker Eddy follows the Master, Christ Jesus, in expanding on that directive to love and forgive one’s so-called enemies.

Prior to Jesus’ crucifixion, in his perhaps best-known sermon, universally known as the Sermon on the Mount, he encouraged his followers to: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:44–48 ).

And in answer to a disciple’s question about how many times should one be expected to forgive someone, Jesus’ answer was “seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22 ), meaning as many times as there is something to forgive.

In an article titled “Love Your Enemies,” Mary Baker Eddy follows the Master, Christ Jesus, in expanding on that directive to love and forgive one’s so-called enemies. Like Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, this article is well worth reading again and again. Here’s just one small glimpse: “We have no enemies. Whatever envy, hatred, revenge—the most remorseless motives that govern mortal mind—whatever these try to do, shall ‘work together for good to them that love God.’ ”

Another morsel from this article: “We must love our enemies in all the manifestations wherein and whereby we love our friends; must even try not to expose their faults, but to do them good whenever opportunity occurs. To mete out human justice to those who persecute and despitefully use one, is not leaving all retribution to God and returning blessing for cursing. If special opportunity for doing good to one’s enemies occur not, one can include them in his general effort to benefit the race.”

You’re really going to want to read the whole article (see Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, pp. 8–13 ) just as you’re going to want to read the whole Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew, chapters 5—7).

Have you forgiven the Judases that have appeared in your experience over the years? Have you loved, truly loved, every one of your so-called enemies, past and present, and earnestly and lovingly prayed for them? Have you understood that only the goodness of God has ever been the reality of your life and others, and that all that has occurred in your experience has only worked together for good to bring you to this understanding?

I can’t say that I have fully yet, but I know that if I truly want to be a follower of my Master, Jesus Christ, and my Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, then I need to get on with doing it now. Won’t you join me?