“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Luke 23:34

I have heard many sermons on this verse and the common theme of the message was to forgive others like Jesus forgave us. I think there’s a lot more to that and as I was reflecting on the verse, I saw a different perspective of that verse. The question I had was what did they not know, for Jesus interceded and asked forgiveness for what they did not know. I could see how self-righteousness, legality and skewed point of view causes perceptual blindness.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life

John 3:16

By and large this verse is associated with the birth of Jesus and “gave His Son is generally associated with His birth, the manger, the shepherds, and the angelic hosts singing Glory to God in the highest. But when we associate this verse with the Cross and interpret the words, “gave His Begotten Son”, we will see the ultimate sacrifice of the Father and the obedience of the Son. There was a separation between the Father and Son, when Jesus was calling out to Abba Father, praying Why have you forsaken me?

The anguish.

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus tells his disciples, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” The previous evening and night were very stressful for Jesus. While praying to the Father, two times, Jesus prayed to take away the cup. In the mind He experienced anguish, but in actions He chose to do the will of the Father. He may have experienced a momentary weak moment in his thoughts, but He chose to display obedience in his actions. Jesus prayed to the Father saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, let Your will be done.” Jesus knew what the cup will not pass unless He drinks it. The cup was the will of the Father, which Jesus chose to drink. Choosing knowingly is obedience. He knew ahead in time that Judas Iscariot, His own, will betray Him, three times will Peter deny any association with Him and He will be mocked and whipped. We read in Luke 22 that Jesus in His anguish, prayed more fervently, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground. I am not an expert on the subject, but to my common knowledge, the blood comes out only when the blood capillaries burst. The anguish must have been so much that it caused the blood capillaries to burst. This was the physical and emotional turmoil that Jesus was going all throughout. In such conditions from the cross, He is interceding for those who did not know what they are doing.

The political complication.

On that day of the trail, the local political scene was also getting complicated. Herod, King of Judea ruled the territory with Roman approval and support. Even if Judea was an independent kingdom, it was greatly influenced by the Roman Empire. Herod Antipas had inherited part of his father’s kingdom after the Roman emperor Augustus had adjusted his father’s will. Antipas divorced his Nabataean wife, the daughter of Aretas IV, and married Herodias the wife of his half-brother. This marriage had said to have offended his former father-in-law and many other Jews as well at that time. John the Baptist was beheaded for confronting him. Herod had heard about Jesus and was keen to meet Him. Also, the Bible tells us that Herod was not in good terms with Pontius Pilate and it’s only after the crucifixion of Jesus, they became friends (Luke 23:12). We read further on how Jesus was sent back and forth between Herod and Pilate because both of them did not find any reason to penalize Him. It was Pilate who finally gave into the pressure of the masses and as advised by Herod who said that it was better to kill one person rather than have a large crowd go against them. The administration and political system were on the verge of breakdown. Pilate, the ruler of this world was torn between the demand of people and legal stand. He chose a midway as escape and washed his hands from all this. To this the Jews who had gathered around chose to take the blood of Jesus on themselves. I personally think that the Jews who had gathered around and were demanding the death of Jesus, may not be the presentation of the entire Jews. There was a division amongst the Jews, those who believed that Jesus was the Messiah, and those who did not. Those who did not believe were ready to take the blood of Jesus on their head. This same lot earlier had told Pilate that their law does not allow to kill anyone and now they were ready to take the blood of Jesus on their heads. These people were “blinded” and did not know that they were doing.

“Religious” Dilemma

The political and the religious leaders were intermingled, the decisions of the Sanhedrin and the temple administration was greatly influenced by the Roman Empire. We read in Luke 3:2 that both Caiaphas and Annas are referred to as high priests. Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, and as per the law laid down by Moshe, only one was to hold the position of the high priest and the office. The fact that both of them were referred to as high priest was probably the political reality of that time, where the power was shared and the more powerful would still influence the decisions. When one was holding the office, the other was referred to as the high priest by the “faithful” followers. This led to many practices which did not have any reference in Torah. That was the reason that one day Jesus drove such people out of the temple and had said that you all have made the temple of my Father a den of thieves.

The political power of Annas was obvious. When Jesus was arrested, the Jews brought Him first to Annas and then sent Him to Caiaphas, the current high priest. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was advantageous that one man should die for the people (John 18:13-14). Caiaphas was trying to catch Jesus in some way or the other. The frustration and the eagerness to somehow find fault in Jesus is coming out clearly in the passage given in Matthew 26:62- 65.

The high priest then stood up and said to Him, “Don’t You have an answer to what these men are testifying against You?”. But Jesus kept silent. Then the high priest said to Him, “By the living God, I place You under oath: tell us if You are the Messiah, the Son of God!”. Jesus told him, “You have said it”. “But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Look, now you’ve heard the blasphemy!

Hypocrisy

Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to the Governor’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They did not enter the headquarters themselves; otherwise, they would be defiled and unable to eat the Passover -John 18:28. Even a plain logic will fail to understand that seeking the help of the governor was acceptable, but entering into the headquarter would have defiled them. Hypocrisy corrupts the plain reasoning and logic.

Then Pilate came out to them and said, “What charge do you bring against this man?”. They answered him, “If this man weren’t a criminal, we wouldn’t have handed Him over to you.” Hypocrisy and false reporting belong to the same family of lies. Pilate knew the laws of the land and therefore answered them that, “Take Him yourselves and judge Him according to your law.” To some extent, Pilate was telling the truth. Lies always take a detour, and will try to twist the fact. The answer given by Jews reveals this. “It’s not legal for us to put anyone to death,” answered the Jews to Pilate. Half-truth, is another member of the family of lies, it will always take the help of legality to prove itself true. When the half-truth is attached to legality, it will cover the half-lie. The answer will sound to any common person as if there is some legal base for the entire trial. Also we see here that the lies have many fronts, but the truth is singular. Lies need a great deal of convincing and reasoning to prove itself, whereas the Truth will always be singular and stand for itself.

Then came the first sentence from the cross – “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Knowing the anguish, the political upheaval, the religious dilemma and the hypocrisy, this word from the cross has greater depth. What was that they did not know what they were doing. The Jews and Romans thought that they knew what they are doing. That was not the case, they were trying to remove the stumbling block named Jesus and then somehow trying to legally justify their acts. The summary of all the statements made to Herod and to Pilate will show that how the gathered Jews kept on changing their stance. They thought that the Father will not know, but the truth was that they did not “know” what they were doing. This may apply to us as well, at times we are so sure about what we are doing and think we know what we are doing. We try to justify our works through the legalities and justification, which is what the Bible calls as self righteousness. Self-righteousness, is like certifying oneself and therefore no need of a heavenly Father to do so. However, the voice of the cross is so encouraging, He forgives us, for we really do not know what we are doing.

Author: Dr. Ajit Onawale