Forgiveness

In chapter three, Jane thinks “Yes, Mrs. Reed, to you I owe some fearful pangs of mental suffering, but I ought to forgive you, for you knew not what you did…” There is no doubt that Charlotte Bronte was recalling LUKE 23:34, which records that “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus spoke of the Romans and Jews who took part in Him being crucified. The Apostle Paul confirms in 1 CORINTHIANS 2:8 that “had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.” This ignorance did not make them worthy of Jesus’ forgiveness, though, because they “loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (JOHN 3:19). John later tells us, though, that “If we confess our sins, He [Jesus] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 JOHN 1:9).