“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
The context for this first of seven entries comes from the book of Luke:
And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
Luke 23:26-39
When we speak of Christ’s Seven Last Words, let us not make the assumption that they were the only words He spoke before His death. As we can read in this collection of verses, He had much more to say, than the phrase in question.
Simon of Cyrene was seized, and they forced him to carry the cross behind Jesus… but behind Christ, and behind Simon was a ‘great multitude… mourning and lamenting for Him’. It was to them that Christ said so much – addressing the women possibly in the multitude, He says, ‘do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves… For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?’
Off the bat, I’m thinking that Christ said that last line to warn them of the cause to weep in the future; They persecuted Him to such extreme degrees now (when the wood is green), surely we would be experiencing the same, if not greater distress in the future (when it is dry). Yes, I am aware of the many possible interpretations to what He had to share, but we can at least say that this is what He had to share to those who were following Him, again, ‘mourning and lamenting for Him’.
And compared to the phrase in question, it was quite the mouthful, wasn’t it? I suppose that Christ took advantage of the fact that He wasn’t pierced just yet, nor was the weight of the cross upon Him (meaning, He was saying all this while Simon was carrying the cross for Him) – He took advantage by saying as much as He could, to the great multitude, speaking comprehensively.
Could it be, then, that a factor to Christ’s speaking the fewer words we have in focus are because of the plight placed upon Him – Being held high, stuck to a wooden cross with nails through His hands and feet?
Perhaps, but I also think that, by His grace, He wanted to be straight to the point, knowing that those who came against Him were the ones with quite a lot to say. To them, He says out loud: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Who were ‘they’? We see ‘them’ in the verses that follow.
‘They’ were the soldiers who crucified Him, cast lots to divide His garments, and mocked Him. ‘They’ were joined by rulers who were scoffing at Him; And, look – even one of the criminals who was crucified beside Him joined in the common chorus of mockery!
Take a look at their words:
‘…let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”
“If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
“Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
The rulers refused to believe what He had to say about Himself. The soldiers refused to believe what others were saying about Him. The criminal insisted on believing what he wanted to think about Him, according to his own circumstances.
‘They’ crucified Him, ‘They’ watched Him crucified, and ‘They’ were even crucified WITH Him – and they all cried, after the worst ‘They’ could do, mocking Jesus – ‘Save Yourself!’ They cried in arrogance, disbelief, and frustration – If You truly are who You are, SAVE YOURSELF!
I don’t think it’s an accident that Luke wrote in the order that he did, because before we read any of this, Christ’s words were already recorded as said ‘out loud’ – And to this crowd full of defiance and unbelief, as if to say it even BEFORE they mocked Him, He calls out: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
To those who believed Him and trusted in who He was, He warned them of persecution to come.
To those who persecuted Him, He showed them who He was.
By saying ‘Father’, they would know that He is the Son of God.
By saying ‘they know not what they do.’, they would know, that even in all they claim they know, they do not know what they are doing.
And by saying ‘Forgive them’, they would know that in spite of all that is in their hearts, He still calls for their forgiveness.
They plotted and attempted to kill Him while He was performing His miracles. They attempted to trap Him with questions and problems. They were willing to pay one of His disciples to betray Him. They falsely accused Him, and insisted on setting a known killer free in His place. They didn’t merely ask for Him to be put to death, but they wanted Him crucified. They wanted Him crucified, even if the governing authority saw nothing wrong with Him.
They were glad to oblige, not merely scourging Him, beating Him to a pulp, but also mocking Him and humiliating Him. Herod saw Him are a mere amusement, a magic man who couldn’t entertain him.
Jew and Gentile were united under a sick banner, coming against His entire existence, and mocking Him in arrogance… and to they who screamed to Him, ‘SAVE YOURSELF!’, He said in advance: ‘Forgive them’.
I suppose there’s a reason why we never heard of Christ’s words to the multitude that did mourn for Him as part of the definitive 7 Last Words… it’s because, genuine as their hearts may have been in following the disgraced Christ that day, it’s what He said regarding those who persecuted Him that we all have to hear.
To a proud, hateful, inconsiderate world that persecutes who it could not understand, He says, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’
Let us pray.
Father, thank You for the forgiveness that You have given us through Christ. Jesus, Son of God, You have proven who You were, through Your forgiveness. You have forgiven us in spite of all the darkest and most twisted of sins in our hearts, the things that confuse us, and the things that blind us from the light. Thank You so much. We remember this today, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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