Luke 23:34

34. Father, forgive them] Isa_53:12, “He bare the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” These words were probably uttered at the terrible moment when the Sufferer was outstretched upon the Cross and the nails were being driven through the palms of the hands. They are certainly genuine, though strangely omitted by B, D. We must surely suppose that the prayer was uttered not only for the Roman soldiers, who were the mere instruments of the executors, but for all His enemies. It was in accordance with His own teaching (Mat_5:44), and His children have learnt it from Him (Act_7:59-60; Euseb. H.E. ii. 29). They were the first of the seven words from the Cross, of which three (Luk_23:34; Luk_23:43; Luk_23:46) are recorded by St Luke only, and three’(Joh_19:27-28; Joh_19:30) by St John only. The last cry also began with the word “Father.” The seven words are

Luk_23:34. The Prayer for the Murderers.

Luk_23:43. The Promise to the Penitent.

Joh_19:26. The provision for the Mother.

Mat_27:46; Mar_15:34. Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?

Joh_19:28. The sole expression of human agony.

Joh_19:30. “It is finished.”

Luk_23:46. “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.”

Thus they refer to His enemies, to penitents, to His mother and disciple, to the agony of His soul, to the anguish of His body, to His work, and to His Heavenly Father. St Luke here omits our Lord’s refusal of the sopor—the medicated draught, or myrrh-mingled wine (Mar_15:23; Mat_27:34), which, if it would have deadened His pains, would also have beclouded His faculties.

forgive them] aphes; Christ died “for the remission (aphesin) of sins,” Mat_26:28.

they know not what they do] Rather, are doing. “Through ignorance ye did it,” Act_3:17; 1Co_2:8. “Judaei clamant Crucifige; Christus clamat Ignosce. Magna illorum iniquitas sed major tua, O Domine, pietas.” St Bernard.

they parted his raiment] For the fuller details see Joh_19:23-24.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk_23:34

Father, forgive them, for they know not

The unknown depths of sin

I.

HOW DO SINNERS COME AT THEIR NOTION THAT SIN IS SO TRIFLING AN AFFAIR?

1. They have a very limited view of their own feelings and purposes while in a course of sin; and infer that they cannot be very guilty, because they have never been conscious of a very evil intention.

2. Many derive their limited views of their sins from their meagre conceptions of the Divine law.

3. Others erect a bar to conviction of personal guilt out of materials taken from infirmities incident to human nature.

4. Others diminish their conceptions of their guilt, by comparing themselves with greater sinners.

5. Sin appears very different according to the different light and circumstances in which it is seen.

6. Again, delay of punishment goes to confirm men in the opinion that sin is a trifle.

II. THAT THEIR VIEWS OF SIN ARE EXCEEDINGLY LIMITED, OR THAT SIN IS QUITE ANOTHER THING IN FACT, FROM WHAT IT IS IN THE SINNERS ESTIMATION.

1. It is very different in its effects from what they esteem it.

2. Sin is very different if we consider the state of heart which gives birth to it.

3. The costly expiation for sin shows it to be no trifle.

4. The retributions of eternity will make sin to appear quite another thing from what it is here esteemed. (P. Cooke.)

Prayer for a murderer

Joseph Robbins was a bridge watchman on a railway. He was murdered by a neighbour who wanted to get his money. The murderer was caught directly after. During the trial he made this confession in open court:--I knew that Robbins had just received his months wages, and I resolved to have his money. I got a shot-gun and went to the bridge. As I came near to the watch-house, on looking through the window, I saw Robbins sitting inside. His head and shoulders only could be seen. I raised the gun, took aim and fired. I waited a few minutes to see if the report of the gun had alarmed any one, but all was still. Then I went up to the watch-house door, and found Robbins on his knees praying. Very plainly I heard him say: Oh, God, have mercy on the man who did this, and spare him for Jesus sake. I was horrified; I did not dare to enter the house. I couldnt touch that mans money. Instead of this, I turned and ran away, I knew not whither. His words have haunted me ever since.

Christs pardoning mercy

God is great in Sinai. The thunders precede Him, the lightnings attend Him, the earth trembles, the mountains fall in fragments. But there is a greater God than this. On Calvary, nailed to a cross, wounded, thirsting, dying, He cries, Father, forgive them, they know not what they do! Great is the religion of power, but greater is the religion of love. Great is the religion of implacable justice, but greater is the religion of pardoning mercy. (Senor Castelar.)

The first word of the dying Jesus

Let the first word of the dying Jesus be the subject of our meditation. It is--

I. A word of peace in the storm of suffering.

II. A word of love in the tumult of hatred.

III. A word of excuse amid the depths of wickedness. (A Stucker.)

I. OBSERVE THE PETITION ITSELF.

Christs intercession on the cross

1. The magnitude of the blessing prayed for.

2. The extreme unworthiness of the objects.

3. The heinous nature of their offence.

4. The efficacy of the petition in securing the blessing prayed for.

II. THE PLEA BY WHICH THE PETITION IS ENFORCED--THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.

1. It is such as would have not been found by any other advocate.

2. It is a plea which shows theft sin has different degrees of guilt, according to the circumstances under which it is committed.

3. It is a plea which teaches us that for some there was no mercy, though there might be for those on whose behalf it was offered. There is a sin unto death, which has no forgiveness in this world, nor in that which is to come Mat_12:32).

4. Though their ignorance afforded a plea for mercy, they were not to be pardoned without repentance.

Application:

1. We see there is that in the nature of sin which surpasses all our conceptions.

2. Still, we learn that notwithstanding the evil nature of sin, there is no reason for despair, not even for the chief of sinners.

3. The conduct of our blessed Lord is set before us in this instance as an example, teaching us what must be our spirit towards our enemies and persecutors. Stephen followed this example, and we must learn to do the Act_7:60; Mat_5:44-45). (Theological Sketch-book.)

Christs prayer for ignorant sinners

I. SIN IS FOUNDED IN MUCH IGNORANCE.

1. Men are ignorant of its extreme evil in the sight of God.

2. Men are ignorant of the baneful influence of sin upon themselves. They are not aware how it hardens the heart, stupifies the conscience, settles into habit, and at length gains complete ascendency.

3. Men are ignorant of the pernicious effect of sin on others. Few sins are confined to the transgressor only: they have a relative influence.

4. Men are ignorant of the dreadful consequences of sin in another world. There is a future state of gracious reward for the righteous, and of awful retribution for the wicked.

II. IGNORANCE IS NO SUFFICIENT EXCUSE FOR SIN. In some instances it mitigates offence.

1. Ignorance itself is sin. In all cases it is so, where the capacity and opportunity of knowledge are afforded.

2. The law of God condemns all sin, every kind and degree of sin.

3. Every act of sin implies a sinful nature: it springs from a depraved heart.

III. FORGIVENESS OF SIN IS AN ACT OF DIVINE MERCY, AND THE FRUIT OF THE SAVIOURS INTERCESSION. From the subject learn--

1. To regard the intercession of Jesus in the forgiveness of sins.

2. To imitate Jesus in the forgiveness of injuries. (T. Kidd.)

Father, forgive them!

I. WE SEE THE LOVE OF JESUS ENDURING.

II. WE SEE THAT LOVE REVEALING ITSELF. Love can use no better instrument than prayer. To this present our Lord Jesus continues to bless the people of His choice by continually interceding for them (Rom_8:34; Heb_7:25).

III. WE SEE FOR WHAT THAT LOVE PRAYS. Forgiveness is the first, chief, and basis blessing. Forgiveness from the Father can even go so far as to pardon the murder of His Son. Forgiveness is the great petition of our Lords sacrifice. Love admits that pardon is needed, and it shudders at the thought of what must come to the guilty if pardon be not given.

IV. WE SEE HOW THE LOVING JESUS PRAYS. Are there any so guilty that Jesus would refuse to intercede for them?

V. WE SEE HOW HIS PRAYER BOTH WARNS AND WOOS. It warns, for it suggests that there is a limit to the possibility of pardon. Men may so sin that there shall remain no plea of ignorance; nay, no plea whatever. It woos, for it proves that if there be a plea, Jesus will find it.

VI. WE SEE HOW HE INSTRUCTS FROM THE CROSS. He teaches us to put the best construction on the deeds of our fellow-men, and to discover mitigating circumstances when they work us grievous ill. He teaches us to forgive the utmost wrong (Mar_11:25). He teaches us to pray for others to our last breath (Act_7:59-60). That glorious appeal to the Divine Fatherhood, once made by the Lord Jesus, still prevails for us. Let the chief of sinners come unto God with the music of Father, forgive them, sounding in their ears. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The prayer of Christ for His murderers

You have in these words an affecting prayer, enforced by a plea equally affecting.

I. Your attention is invited to the prayer, which, in whatever light regarded, is fitted to awaken profound emotion and salutary reflection.

1. Observe the persons on whose behalf it was presented--the men who perpetrated the most flagitious and sanguinary deed that ever stained with its pollutions the face of the earth--the men who crucified the Son of God. The moral turpitude of their crime was aggravated by two considerations. In the first place, the victim of their ferocity was guiltless of the smallest offence. They were guilty of innocent blood! In the next place, their conduct was aggravated by the more than ordinary rancour, the pitiless hatred with which they pursued Him to the grave.

2. Not less remarkable is the subject of the prayer itself. It amounts to nothing less than that the men who nailed Him to the cross might live to put off the savage nature which could revel in the blood of innocence, and, through repentance and faith, be qualified for an eternal alliance with Himself in the glory of His mediatorial kingdom. Such is the compassion of Jesus Christ.

3. The time and the circumstances of this prayer render it peculiarly interesting. That which renders it worthy of particular notice, as illustrative of the grace of Christ, is, that He offered it up just at the time of His suspension on the cross, at the moment when His agonies were most severe, when His nerves were racked with keenest suffering. His languor and exhaustion might be greater afterwards, but His sensibility to pain was, perhaps, most exquisite at this critical moment. Yet this is the point of time at which He breathes forth the desires of His soul for mercy on His destroyers. There are two observations suggested by this fact. In the first place, the calmness, the self-possession, the sustained dignity of the mind of the Redeemer at this appalling crisis, demonstrate the fixed resolution with which He was bent on the design of His death. In the second place, I observe, that there was a remarkable fitness in the prayer of Jesus Christ, presented by Himself at this awful season. He suffered and He died as the Lamb of the great sacrifice for the expiation of human guilt. And being Himself both the victim and the priest, there was a peculiar fitness in His also interceding on behalf of the guilty, at the time when, as the High Priest of our profession, He was offering the blood of atonement.

II. This prayer is accompanied by a plea not less remarkable and affecting. For they know not what they do!

1. How far were the men who crucified our Lord ignorant of the nature of the transaction in which they were engaged? That they were implicated in innocent blood they knew; but that their crime was still more deeply coloured from the supernatural dignity of their victim, of this they were ignorant.

2. How far, then, was this their ignorance a plea for their forgiveness? The plea does not proceed, I conceive, on the concession of their comparative innocence, but upon the hopeless and inevitable ruin into which these blinded wretches were hastening to plunge. It was the dreadful ruin to which the blind madness of these men was hurrying them onwards, that awakened the pity of the Redeemer, even amidst the agonies of His own broken heart, and drew from His suppliant voice that prayer, Forgive them, Father! they know not what they do! Oh, how mysterious, how ineffable, the compassion of Jesus Christi The prayer itself contained a touching proof of the infinite mercy of the Redeemer; but, if possible, the plea by which He enforces that prayer, multiplies that proof, and places His love to miserable men in a light still more affecting and overwhelming. (N. Emmons, D. D.)

Christs prayer for His murderers

The words of the dying are wont to be much observed. When men depart out of the body, they are usually more serious and divine, and speak with greater weight. Especially the speeches of the godly dying are to be regarded, who, having laid aside worldly affairs and earthly thoughts, are wholly exercised in the contemplation of heavenly things. Now certainly, if any mans dying speeches are to be observed, Christs are much more.

I. Christs request, Father, forgive them. Father is a word of confidence towards God and of love to His enemies; He mentioneth the sweetest relation. Father is a word of blandishment, as children, when they would obtain anything at their parents hands, cry, Father! Christ speaks as foreseeing the danger and punishment which they would bring on themselves as the fruit of their madness and folly, and therefore He prays, Father, forgive them. This act was provocation enough to move God to dissolve the bonds of nature, to cleave the earth, that it might swallow them up quick, or to rain hell out of heaven upon them. Lesser offences have been thus punished, and one word from Christs mouth had been enough. But, Father, forgive them. We hear nothing but words of mild pity. When He says, Forgive, He means also convert them; for where there is no conversion there can be no remission. I shall look upon this prayer under a twofold consideration.

I. Let us look upon it AS A MORAL ACTION. He doth not threaten fearful judgments, but prayed for His enemies; there was no stain of passion and revenge upon His sufferings (1Pe_2:21). One great use of Christs death was to give us lessons of meekness and patience and humble suffering. In this act there is an excellent lesson. Let us look upon the necessary circumstances that serve to set it off

(1) For whom He prays;

(2) When He prays;

(3) Why He prays;

(4) In what manner. Information:

1. It informeth us that the love of Christ is greater than we can think or understand, much less express.

2. That all sins, even the greatest, except that against the Holy Ghost, are pardonable.

3. That remission of sins is the free gift of God, and the fruit of His pity and grace. Christ asketh it of His Father.

4. That pardon of sins is a special benefit. Christ asked no more than, Father, forgive them. It is a special benefit, because it freeth us from the greatest evil, wrath to come (1Th_1:10). And it maketh us capable of the greatest blessing, eternal life (Tit_3:7).

5. That love of enemies, and those that bare wronged us, is an high grace, and recommended to us by Christs own example. Sure it is needful that we should learn this lesson, to be like God (Luk_6:36).

6. Reproof of those that are cruel and revengeful. How different are they from Christ who are all for unkindness and revenge, and solicit vengeance against Gods suffering servants with eager aggravations! Oh, how can these men look upon Christs practice without shame! How can they look upon these prodigies of love and grace, and not blush!

II. The next consideration of this prayer of Christ is AS A TASTE AND PLEDGE OF HIS MEDIATION AND INTERCESSION. So it is prophesied: He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bare the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors (Isa_53:12).

1. It is an instance of Christs love and bowels to sinners; He loved mankind so well that He prayed for them that crucified Him. Look on the Lord Jesus as praying and dying for enemies, and improve it as a ground of confidence.

2. See what is the voice and merit of His sufferings, Father, forgive them. This is the speech that Christ uttered when He was laid on the cross. Abels blood was clamorous in the ears of God (Gen_4:10). Christs blood hath another voice, it speaketh to God to pacify His wrath, and to pardon us, if penitent and believing sinners; it speaketh to conscience to be quiet, God hath found out a ransom.

3. In the mediatory consideration it hinteth the coupling of His intercession with His satisfaction. On the cross, there He dieth and there He prayeth; He was both priest and sacrifice.

4. This is a pledge of His constant intercession in heaven.

5. It shows the nature of His intercession.

6. The success of Christs intercession, Father, forgive them. Was He heard in this? Yes; this prayer converts the centurion, and those above three thousand (Act_2:41), and presently after five thousand more Act_4:4). In the compass of a few days above eight thousand of His enemies were converted. Christ is good at interceding; His prayers are always heard (Joh_11:42).

II. I come now to the argument used, They know not what they do. (T. Manton, D. D.)

A prayer for ignorant sinners

I. THAT IGNORANCE IS THE USUAL CAUSE OF ENMITY TO CHRIST. These things (saith the Lord) will they do, because they have not known the Father, nor Me (Joh_16:3).

1. What was their ignorance, who crucified Christ? Ignorance is two-fold, simple or respective. Simple ignorance is not supposable in these persons, for in many things they were a knowing people. But it was a respective particular ignorance, Blindness in part is happened to Israel (Rom_11:25). They knew many other truths, but did not know Jesus Christ. In that their eyes were held.

Though they had the Scriptures among them, they misunderstood them, and did not rightly measure Christ by that right rule.

(1) They supposed Christ to arise out of Galilee, whereas He was of Bethlehem, though much conversant in the parts of Galilee. And

(2) they thought, because they could find no prophet had arisen out of Galilee, therefore none should. Another mistake that blinded them about Christ, was from their conceit that Christ should not die, but live for ever Joh_12:34). Thus were they blinded about the person of Christ, by misinterpretations of Scripture-prophecies.

2. Another thing occasioning their mistake of Christ, was the outward meanness and despicableness of His condition.

3. Add to this, their implicit faith in the learned rabbles and doctors, who utterly misled them in this matter, and greatly prejudiced them against Christ. Let us see, in the next place, how this disposed them to such enmity against Christ. And this it doth three ways.

(1) Ignorance disposes men to enmity and opposition to Christ, by removing those hindrances that would otherwise keep them from it. As checks and rebukes of conscience, by which they are restrained from evil; but conscience binding and reproving in the authority and virtue of the law of God; where that law is not known, there can be no reproofs, and therefore we truly say, that ignorance is virtually every sin.

(2) Ignorance enslaves and subjects the soul to the lusts of Satan, he is the ruler of the darkness of this world (Eph_6:12). There is no work so base and vile, but an ignorant man will undertake it.

(3) Nay, which is more, if a man be ignorant of Christ, His truths, or people, he will not only oppose, and persecute, but he will also do it conscientiously, i.e., he will look upon it as his duty so to do (Joh_16:3).

1. How falsely is the gospel charged as the cause of discord and trouble in the world. It is not light, but darkness, that makes men fierce and cruel. As light increases, so doth peace (Isa_11:6; Isa_11:9).

2. How dreadful is it to oppose Christ and His truths knowingly, and with open eyes? Christ pleads their ignorance as an argument to procure their pardon.

3. What an awful majesty sits upon the brow of holiness, that few dare to oppose it that see it!

4. The enemies of Christ are objects of pity. Alas, they are blind, and know not what they do.

5. How needful is it before we engage ourselves against any person or way, to be well satisfied and resolved that it is a wicked person or practice that we oppose.

II. THAT THERE IS FORGIVENESS WITH GOD FOR SUCH AS OPPOSE CHRIST OUT OF IGNORANCE. I have two things here to do:

1. To open the nature of the forgiveness, and show you what it is.

2. To evince the possibility of it, for such as mistakingly oppose Christ.

For--

1. Forgiveness is Gods gracious discharge of a believing penitent sinner from the guilt of all his sin, for Christs sake.

2. Now, to evince the possibility of forgiveness for such as ignorantly oppose Christ, let these things be weighed.

(1) Why should any poor soul, that is now humbled for its enmity to Christ in the days of ignorance, question the possibility of forgiveness, when this effect doth not exceed the power of the cause; nay, when there is more efficacy in the blood of Christ, the meritorious cause, than is in this effect of it?

(2) And as this sin exceeds not the power of the meritorious cause of forgiveness, so neither is it anywhere excluded from pardon by any word of God.

III. THAT TO FORGIVE ENEMIES, AND BEG FORGIVENESS FOR THEM, IS THE TRUE CHARACTER AND PROPERTY OF THE CHRISTIAN SPIRIT.

1. Let us inquire what this Christian forgiveness is. And that the nature of it may the better appear, I shall show you both what it is not and what it is.

(1) It consists not in a stoical insensibility of wrongs and injuries.

(2) Christian forgiveness is not a politic concealment of our wrath and revenge because it will be a reproach to discover it, or because we want opportunity to vent it. This is carnal policy, not Christian meekness.

(3) Nor is it that moral virtue for which we are beholden to an easier and better nature and the help of moral rules and documents.

(4) Christian forgiveness is not an injurious giving up of our rights and properties to the lusts of every one that hath a mind to invade them. But, then, positively, it is a Christian lenity or gentleness of mind, not retaining, but freely passing by the injuries done to us, in obedience to the command of God. This is forgiveness in a Christian sense.

2. And this is excellent, and singularly becoming the profession of Christ, is evident, inasmuch as this speaks your religion excellent that can mould your hearts into that heavenly frame to which they are so averse, yea, contrarily disposed by nature.

Inference

1. Hence we clearly infer that Christian religion, exalted in its power, is the greatest friend to the peace and tranquillity of states and kingdoms.

2. How dangerous a thing is it to abuse and wrong meek and forgiving Christians?

3. Let us imitate our pattern Christ, and labour for meek forgiving spirits. I shall only propose two inducements to it--the honour of Christ, and your own peace: two dear things indeed to a Christian. (J. Flavel.)

The first cry from the cross

I. Let us look at this very wonderful text as ILLUSTRATIVE OF OUR LORDS INTERCESSION.

1. The first point in which we may see the character of His intercession is this--it is most gracious. Those for whom our Lord prayed, according to the text, did not deserve His prayer.

2. A second quality of His intercession is this--its careful spirit. You notice in the prayer, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, our Saviour did, as it were, look His enemies through and through to find something in them that He could urge in their favour; but He could see nothing until His wisely affectionate eye lit upon their ignorance: they know not what they do.

3. We must next note its earnestness.

4. It is interesting to note, in the fourth place, that the prayer here offered helps us to judge of His intercession in heaven as to its continuance, perseverance, and perpetuity.

5. Think yet again, this prayer of our Lord on earth is like His prayer in heaven, because of its wisdom. He seeks the best thing, and that which His clients most need, rather, forgive them. That was the great point in hand; they wanted most of all there and then forgiveness from God.

6. Once more, this memorable prayer of our crucified Lord was like to His universal intercession in the matter of its prevalence.

II. The text is INSTRUCTIVE OF THE CHURCHS WORK. As Christ was, so His Church is to be in this world.

1. Christs prayer on the cross was altogether an unselfish one. He does not remember Himself in it. Such ought to be the Churchs life-prayer, the Churchs active interposition on the behalf of sinners. She ought to live never for her ministers or for herself, but ever for the lost sons of men.

2. Now the prayer of Christ had a great spirituality of aim. You notice that nothing is sought for these people but that which concerns their souls, Father, forgive them.

3. Our Saviours prayer teaches the Church that while her spirit should be unselfish, and her aim should be spiritual, the range of her mission is to be unlimited.

4. So, too, the Church should be earnest as Christ was; and if she be so, she will be quick to notice any ground of hope in those she deals with, quick to observe any plea that she may use with God for their salvation.

5. She must be hopeful too, and surely no Church ever had a more hopeful sphere than the Church of this present age. If ignorance be a plea with God, look on the heathen at this day--millions of them never heard Messiahs name. Forgive them, great God, indeed they know not what they do.

III. A word, in conclusion, TO THE UNCONVERTED. Remember your ignorance does not excuse you, or else Christ would not say, Forgive them; they must be forgiven, even those that know not what they do, hence they are individually guilty; but still that ignorance of yours gives you just a little gleam of hope. Bring forth, therefore, fruits meet for repentance. But there are some here for whom even Christ Himself could not pray this prayer, in the widest sense at any rate, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do, for you have known what you did, and every sermon you hear, and especially every impression that is made upon your understanding and conscience by the gospel, adds to your responsibility, and takes away from you the excuse of not knowing what you do. You know that there is sin and God, and that you cannot serve both. You know that there are the pleasures of evil and the pleasures of heaven, and that you cannot have both. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Christs forgiveness

This prayer included many. It included all who had any share in the mockery, and crucifixion, and death of Christ. It included the.Roman governor, who had given authority to crucify Him; the Roman soldiers, whose duty it was to see the sentence carried out into execution; the Jewish priests and rulers, who cried out for judgment; the multitude, who were stirred up by their religious guides and rulers. All these various classes were ignorant of the true nature of the deed which they were committing, but all were not equally ignorant. Some knew more than others; and according to their greater knowledge was their guilt, according to their ignorance was their personal share in the prayer offered at the cross. Not one of these knew altogether what he was doing, or how great was the sin in which he was taking part; and each of these individuals or groups of individuals has some one or many to correspond to them in our own day and amongst ourselves in this age. The cross is for ever the sign of the worlds darkest crime: it reveals what is lying at the root of all sin; and it opens up the nature of that dread conflict which is ever going on between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of God. Christs prayer to His Father is to be regarded in the further light of a declaration of forgiveness, and an assurance of it. Forgiveness is easier for God to give than for man to take. Forgiveness cannot be received by every one. If a man says he forgives me, I can only accept his word if I believe that I need his forgiveness--in other words, if I am conscious that I have offended him and done something wrong. If I am in my own mind sure that I hare not injured him, I decline to place myself on the footing of a forgiven man. I put away his forgiveness, I refuse to take the benefit of it, and I stand towards him as one claiming to have as much right to forgive him as he to forgive me. And if we transfer this comparison from earth to heaven, and inquire into the forgiveness which comes from God, we shall find that the only channel through which we can receive it is by accepting forgiveness as men who have done wrong, and who know the wrong they have done, and have confessed it and hated it. There are many who have passed a long way through the journey of life before they find out what they have been doing. Youth has often to pass into age before a man truly says, Remember not the sins of my youth; the hour of anger has to pass away before a man hears the voice of conscience, Doest thou well to be angry. Perhaps it is only to-day that we see yesterdays faults, and not until another year may we see the faults of this; the scales fall away from our eyes, and we marvel that follies which are now so plain were not observed by us; we wonder how it was possible for us to do what we did, and not see its true character all the while. Conscience does not arouse us, and it is often not until the voice of memory cries aloud that the soul of a man is awakened, and his past life looks to him as if he had been walking in his sleep. Is it not time for every one to bestir himself, and ask whether he knows what his present life and actions mean? But there is another turn which we may give to the words. We may accept them as expressing our own spirit and our own life. And until we have received them into our hearts as the law of our own being, we have failed to see their true beauty and power. As He was in the world, so are we in the world. (A. Watson, D. D.)

Ignorance and forgiveness

What makes so wide a difference between Judas and those who carried out what Judas had begun? The answer is in the text: they knew not what they did. Doubtless they knew that He was innocent; but of His person, office, authority, they had no conception. Their ignorance did not wipe out their sin, but it did palliate it. It mitigated the awful blackness of the crime which they wrought. It brought it within the limits of Divine mercy.

I. OUR SINS OF IGNORANCE NEED PARDON.

1. In matters that concern the soul, much of our ignorance is simply the fruit of neglecting or despising information.

2. A vast amount of religious ignorance springs from a willingness to be misled. Let a book appear that controverts the clearly defined truths of evangelical belief. Let popular clamour lift its voice in wild hue and cry against creeds and dogmas. Multitudes of men are at once ready to fall in with such a drift, not because they have carefully satisfied their minds that the current is bearing them in the right direction, but because it is in accord with what they wish were true.

II. WHAT IS IT WHICH MEN DO NOT KNOW? There is an ignorance of our own doings which is absolutely marvellous. Visiting a factory not long ago I was shown a machine which produces a little article of commerce with an inconceivable rapidity. But the ingenious inventor had contrived an apparatus which registered every one produced. If it were a hundred in every minute, each one was noted by the contrivance that created it. But it is a strange fact that man, with all his powers of consciousness, keeps himself in utter ignorance of much that makes up his action. Our actions flow out from us into the great world so unheeded that they are forgotten as soon as done; as water through the parted marble lips of a statue which does duty as a fountain.

1. Men know not the origin of what they do. Has it never puzzled, while it saddened you, to talk with some friend in the last stages of consumption? The hectic flush if on his cheek. There is an unnatural lustre in his eye. His breathing is short and hurried. A hollow cough continually interrupts his speech. But he tells you that he is perfectly well. Of course he sees these symptoms. He freely acknowledges that they are unfavourable. But then be is thankful that his lungs are wholly unaffected. It is the seat and origin of the disease of which he is ignorant. Precisely identical is the way in which many treat the whole question of sin.

2. Equally is it true that the vast majority of men know not the effects of what they do. How thoughtlessly we sin I We may not think when we scatter sparks into a powder magazine, but it is none the less dangerous to do so. (Bishop Cheney.)

Prayer for murderers

In 1831, when the cholera first broke out in Hungary, the Sclavic peasants of the north, were fully persuaded that they had been poisoned by the nobles, to get rid of them. They accordingly rose in revolt, and committed the most dreadful excesses. A gentleman who, up to that moment, had been very popular with the poorer classes, was seized by them, dragged from his house into the streets, and beaten for several hours, to make him confess where he had concealed the poison. Weary, at last, with inflicting blows, the frenzied mob carried him to a blacksmiths shop, and applied hot ploughshares to his feet. Exhausted with this excruciating torture, the innocent sufferer, finding all explanations and entreaties vain, fell back from weakness, apparently about to expire, when the dying prayer of his Lord and Saviour escaped his lips: Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do! The savage fury of the peasantry was calmed in a moment, as if by a miracle; and convinced of the innocence of their victim, and the enormity of their crime, they fled in terror from the place.

And cast lots

On gambling

Christ had been condemned to death, and His property was being disposed of. He had no real estate. He was born in a strangers barn, and buried in a borrowed sepulchre. His personal property was of but little value. His coat was the only thing to come into consideration. His shoes had been worn out in the long journey for the worlds redemption. Who shall have His coat? Some one says: Let us toss up in a lottery and decide this matter. I have it! said one of the inhuman butchers. I have it! Upon My vesture did they cast lots. And there, on that spot, were born all the lotteries the world has seen. On that spot of cruelty and shame and infamy there was born the Royal Havana lottery, in which some of you may have had tickets. There was born the famous New York lottery, which pretended to have over £144,400 worth of cash prizes. There was born the Topeka, Kansas, Laramier City, Wyoming Territory lotteries. There was born the Louisville lottery, with diamonds and pearls, and watches by the bushel. There was born the Georgia lottery, for the east and the west. There was born the Louisiana lottery, sanctioned by influential names. There was born the Kentucky lottery, for the city school of Frankfort. All the lotteries that have swindled the world were born there. Without any exception all of them moral outrages, whether sanctioned by legislative authority, or antagonized by it, and moral outrages though respectable people have sometimes damaged their property with them, and blistered their immortal souls for eternity. Under the curse of the lottery tens of thousands of people are losing their fortunes and losing their souls. What they call a wheel of fortune is a Juggernaut crushing out the life of their immortal nature. In one of the insolvent courts of the country it was found that in one village £40,000 had been expended for lotteries. All the officers of the celebrated United States Bank which failed were found to have expended the embezzled moneys in lottery tickets. A man won £10,000 in a lottery. He sold his ticket for £8,500, and yet had not enough to pay charges against him for tickets. He owed the brokers £9,000. The editor of a newspaper writes: My friend was blessed with £4,000 in a lottery, and from that time he began to go astray, and yesterday he asked of me ninepence to pay for a nights lodging. A man won £4,000 in a lottery. Flattered by his success, he bought another ticket and won still more largely. Another ticket and still more largely. Then, being fairly started on the road to ruin, here and there a loss did not seem to agitate him, and he went on and on until the select men of the village pronounced him a vagabond and picked up his children from the street, half-starved and almost naked. A hard-working machinist won £400 in a lottery. He was thrilled with the success, disgusted with his hard work, opened a rum grocery, got debauched in morals, and was found dead at the foot of his rum casks. Oh, it would take a pen plucked from the wing of the destroying angel, and dipped in human blood, to describe this lottery business. A suicide was found having in his pocket a card of address showing he was boarding at a grog-shop. Beside that he had three lottery tickets and a leaf from Senecas Morals in behalf of the righteousness of self-murder. After a lottery in England there were fifty suicides of those who held unlucky numbers. There are people who have lottery tickets in their pockets--tickets which, if they have not wisdom enough to tear up or burn up, will be their admission tickets at the door of the lost world. The brazen gate will swing open and they will show their tickets, and they will go in, and they will go down. The wheel of their eternal fortune may turn very slowly, but they will find that the doom of those who reject the teachings of God and imperil their immortal souls is their only prize. (Dr. Talmage.)

What is gambling?

Gambling is risking something more or less valuable with the idea of winning mote than you hazard. Playing at cards is not gambling unless a stake be put up, while on the other hand a man may gamble without cards, without dice, without billiards, without ten-pin alley. It may not be bagatelle, it may not be billiards, it may not be any of the ordinary instruments of gambling, it may be a glass of wine. It may be a hundred shares in a prosperous railroad company. I do not care what the instruments of the game are, or what the stakes are that are put up--if you propose to get anything without paying for it in time, or skill, or money, unless you get it by inheritance, you get it either by theft or by gambling. A traveller said he travelled one thousand miles on Western waters, and at every waking moment, from the starting to the closing of his journey, he was in the presence of gambling. A man, if he is disposed to this vice, will find something to accommodate him; if not in the low restaurant behind the curtain, on the table covered with greasy cards, or in the steamboat cabin, where the bloated wretch with rings in his ears winks in an unsuspecting traveller, or in the elegant parlour, the polished drawing-room, the mirrored and pictured halls of wealth and beauty. This vice destroys through unhealthy stimulants. We all at times like excitements. There are a thousand voices within us that demand excitements. They are healthful, they are inspiriting, they are God-given. The desire is for excitement; but look out for any kind of excitement which, after the gratification of the appetite, hurls the man back into destructive reactions. Then the excitement is wicked. Beware of an agitation which, like a rough musician, in order to call out the tune, plays so hard he breaks down the instrument. God never yet made a man strong enough to endure gambling excitements without damage. It is no surprise that many a man seated at the game has lost and then begun to sweep off imaginary gold from the table. He sat down sane. He rose a maniac. The keepers of gambling saloons school themselves into placidity. They are fat, and round, and rollicking, and obese; but those who go to play for the sake of winning are thin, and pale, and exhausted, and nervous, and sick, and have the heart-disease, and are liable any moment to drop down dead. That is the character of nine out of ten of the gamblers. You cannot be healthy and practise that vice. It is killing to all industry. Do you notice that, just as soon as a man gets that vice on him, he stops his work? Do you not know that this vice has dulled the saw of the carpenter, and cut the band of the factory-wheel, and sunk the cargo, and broken the teeth of the farmers rake, and sent a strange lightning to the battery of the philosopher. What a dull thing is a plough to a farmer, when, in one night in the village restaurant, he can make or lose the price of a whole harvest I The whole theory of gambling is hostile to industry. Every other occupation yields something to the community. The street sweeper pays for what he gets by the cleanliness of the streets; the cat pays for what it eats by clearing the house of vermin; the fly pays for the sweets it extracts from the dregs of a cup by purifying the air and keeping back pestilence; but the gambler gives nothing. I recall that last sentence. He does make a return, but it is in the destruction of the man whom he fleeces, disgrace to his wife, ruin to his children, death to his soul. (Dr. Talmadge.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23:34 by throwing dice (see John 19:23-24): The prisoner’s possessions were treated as spoils of war and divided among the soldiers.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk 23:34. Ἔλεγε, said) This is the first utterance of Jesus Christ on the cross. There are in all seven such utterances to be drawn from the four Evangelists, no single one of whom has recorded them all. From this it is evident, that their four records are as it were four voices, which, joined together, form one symphony; and at one time single voices sound (solos), at another, two voices (duets), at another, three (trios), at another, all the voices together. The Saviour went through most of the ordeal on the cross in silence; but His seven utterances contain a recapitulation of the doctrine calculated to be of profit to us in our last hours. [It would not be unattended with profit to comp. with this the German hymn of the Author, composed on a particular occasion, beginning thus:—“Mittler! alle Kraft der Worte,” etc. It may be found in “Sen. Urlspergeri Unterricht für Kranke und Sterbende,” Aug. Vind., 1756, p. 408, and in “S. R. J. C. Storrii Gottgeheiligten Flämmlein, etc., Stuttg. 1755, p. 315.—E. B.” For in these utterances He hag regard to both His enemies and a converted sinner, and His mother with His disciple, and His heavenly Father. These seven utterances may also be compared with the seven petitions in the Lord’s prayer. Even in the very order of the utterances, mysteries are hidden; and from it maybe illustrated the successive steps of every persecution, affliction, and conflict (agonis) of the Christian.—Πάτερ, Father) At the beginning, and at the close of His suffering on the cross, He calls upon God by the appellation, Father.—ἄφες, forgive) Had He not uttered this prayer, the penalty might have begun at once, whilst this most atrocious crime was in the act of perpetration, as often happened in like cases in the time of Moses. The prayers of the Long-suffering One (or simply, the Sufferer) prevent the immediate execution of wrath, and obtain a full ‘forgiveness’ for the time to come, as well as ‘repentance’ [Act 5:31] for those who were about (i. e. willing) to accept it. [Who knows but that forgiveness and repentance were vouchsafed to the few soldiers who took charge of the crucifixion?—Harm., p. 563.]—αὐτοῖς, them) viz. those who were crucifying Him.—[τί ποιοῦσι, what they do) They knew certainly that they were in the act of crucifying, but Who it was that they were crucifying, they knew not. And truly it was awful ignorance on their part; but if that ignorance had been removed, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; nevertheless, even heavier guilt was incurred by him who sinned knowingly.—V. g.]

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 23:34 . Πάτερ , etc.: a prayer altogether true to the spirit of Jesus, therefore, though reported by Lk. alone, intrinsically credible. It is with sincere regret that one is compelled, by its omission in important MSS., to regard its genuineness as subject to a certain amount of doubt. In favour of it is its conformity with the whole aim of Lk. in his Gospel, which is to exhibit the graciousness of Jesus. διαμεριζόμενοι , etc., and parting His garments they cast lots = they divided His garments by casting lots.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

34. πάτερ, ἄφες αὐτοῖς. Isa 53:12, “He bare the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” These words were probably uttered at the terrible moment when the Sufferer was outstretched upon the Cross and the nails were being driven through the palms of the hands. They are certainly genuine, though strangely omitted by BD. They may come from some external source, or they may have been added by St Luke himself in a later recension. For the evidence respecting them see Westcott and Hort, Greek Test. II. They stand on the same footing as Mat 22:43-44. We hear the echo of them, as Meyer says, in Act 3:17; Act 7:60. We must surely suppose that the prayer was uttered not only for the Roman soldiers, who were the mere instruments of the executors, but for all His enemies. It was in accordance with His own teaching (Mat 5:44), and His children have learnt it from Him (Act 7:59-60; Euseb. H. E. II. 29). They were the first of the seven words from the Cross, of which three (Luk 23:34; Luk 23:43; Luk 23:46) are recorded by St Luke only, and three (Joh 19:27-28; Joh 19:30) by St John only. The last cry also began with the word “Father.” The seven words are

Luk 23:34. The Prayer for the Murderers.

Luk 23:43. The Promise to the Penitent.

Joh 19:26. The provision for the Mother.

Mat 27:46; Mar 15:34. Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?

Joh 19:28. The sole expression of human agony.

Joh 19:30. “It is finished.”

Luk 23:46. “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.”

Thus they refer to His enemies, to penitents, to His mother and disciple, to the agony of His soul, to the anguish of His body, to His work, and to His Heavenly Father. St Luke here omits our Lord’s refusal of the sopor—the medicated draught, or myrrh-mingled wine (Mar 15:23; Mat 27:34), which, if it would have deadened His pains, would also have beclouded His faculties.

ἄφες. Christ died “for the remission (ἄφεσιν) of sins,” Mat 26:28.

οὐ γὰρ οἴδασιν. “Through ignorance ye did it,” Act 3:17; 1Co 2:8. “Judaei clamant Crucifige; Christus clamat Ignosce. Magna illorum iniquitas sed major tua, O Domine, pietas.” St Bernard.

τὰ ἱμάτια. For the fuller details see Joh 19:23-24.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Christ in praying for his enemies, showeth that he is both the sacrifice and the Priest.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 34. They know not what they do.] If ignorance do not excuse a crime, it at least diminishes the atrocity of it. However, these persons well knew that they were crucifying an innocent man; but they did not know that, by this act of theirs, they were bringing down on themselves and on their country the heaviest judgments of God. In the prayer, Father, forgive them! that word of prophecy was fulfilled, He made intercession for the transgressors, Isa 53:12.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(34) Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.—Again, the silence is broken, not by the cry of anguish or sigh of passionate complaint, but by words of tenderest pity and intercession. It is well, however, that we should remember who were the primary direct objects of that prayer. Not Pilate, for he knew that he had condemned the innocent; not the chief priests and scribes, for their sin, too, was against light and knowledge. Those for whom our Lord then prayed were clearly the soldiers who nailed Him to the cross, to whom the work was but that which they were, as they deemed, bound to do as part of their duty. It is, however, legitimate to think of His intercession as including, in its ultimate extension, all who in any measure sin against God as not knowing what they do, who speak or act against the Son of Man without being guilty of the sin against the Holy Ghost. (See Note on Act_3:17.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the soldiers also mocked him,.... The Roman soldiers, to whom the execution was committed, who crucified him, and parted his garments, and stood at his cross watching; these joined in the insult, which is not to be wondered at. Coming to him and offering him vinegar; which was what was a part of their allowance, and was their drink; See Gill on Joh 19:29.

.

Luke 23:37

luk 23:37

luk 23:37

luk 23:37And saying, if thou be the King of the Jews,.... Or their Messiah, who was spoken of as a divine person; for otherwise he might have been their king, and not have been able to have done what is proposed:

save thyself: or deliver thyself from the cross.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

Ver. 34. Father, forgive them] See the sweet mercy of Christ, mindful and careful of his enemies when the pains of hell had taken hold of him, and they, like so many breathing devils, were tormenting him. Pendebat et tamen petebat, saith Augustine. He was slain by them, and yet he begged for them.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Father, forgive them - This is a fulfillment of the prophecy in Isa 53:12; “He made intercession for the transgressors.” The prayer was offered for those who were guilty of putting him to death. It is not quite certain whether he referred to the “Jews” or “to the Roman soldiers.” Perhaps he referred to both. The Romans knew not what they did, as they were really ignorant that he was the Son of God, and as they were merely obeying the command of their rulers. The Jews knew, indeed, that he was “innocent,” and they had evidence, if they would have looked at it, that he was the Messiah; but they did not know what would be the effect of their guilt; they did not know what judgments and calamities they were bringing down upon their country. It may be added, also, that, though they had abundant evidence, if they would look at it, that he was the Messiah, and enough to leave then without excuse, yet they did not, “in fact,” believe that he was the Saviour promised by the prophets, and had not, “in fact,” any proper sense of his rank and dignity as “the Lord of glory.” If they had had, they would not have crucified him, as we cannot suppose that they would knowingly put to death their own Messiah, the hope of the nation, and him who had been so long promised to the fathers. See the notes at 1Co 2:8. We may learn from this prayer:

The duty of praying for our enemies, even when they are endeavoring most to injure us. The thing for which we should pray for them is that “God” would pardon them and give them better minds. The power and excellence of the Christian religion. No other religion “teaches” people to pray for the forgiveness of enemies; no other “disposes” them to do it. Men of the world seek for “revenge;” the Christian bears reproaches and persecutions with patience, and prays that God would pardon those who injure them, and save them from their sins. The greatest sinners, through the intercession of Jesus, may obtain pardon. God heard him, and still hears him “always,” and there is no reason to doubt that many of his enemies and murderers obtained forgiveness and life. Compare Act 2:37, Act 2:42-43; Act 6:7; Act 14:1.

They know not what they do - It was done through ignorance, Act 3:17. Paul says that, “had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory,” 1Co 2:8. Ignorance does not excuse altogether a crime if the ignorance be willful, but it diminishes its guilt. They “had” evidence; they “might” have learned his character; they “might” have known what they were doing, and they “might” be held answerable for all this. But Jesus here shows the compassion of his heart, and as they were “really” ignorant, whatever might have been the cause of their ignorance, he implores God to pardon them. He even urges it as a “reason” why they should be pardoned, that they were ignorant of what they were doing; and though people are often guilty for their ignorance, yet God often in compassion overlooks it, averts his anger, and grants them the blessings of pardon and life. So he forgave Paul, for he “did it in ignorance, in unbelief,” 1Ti 1:13. So God “winked” at the ignorance of the Gentiles, Act 17:30. Yet this is no excuse, and no evidence of safety, for those who in our day contemptuously put away from them and their children the means of instruction.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

See Poole on "Mat 27:35", and following verses to Mat 27:50. See Poole on "Mar 14:24", and following verses to Mar 14:37. This part also of the history of our Saviour’s passion is best understood by a comparing together what all the evangelists say, which we have before done in our notes on Matthew, so as we shall only observe some few things from it as here recited.

And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, Luk 23:35. Matthew saith, Mat 27:41, the chief priests, scribes, and elders were there mocking. So saith Mark, Mar 15:31. How doth malice and hatred for religion’s sake, not only out show men’s reason, but also all their moral virtue! And make nothing accounted uncharitable, unjust, or indecent to them, into whom this devil hath once entered. To say nothing of the injustice and indecencies obvious to every eye, which these men showed upon our Saviour’s examination and trial: it was now the first day of the feast of unleavened broad, the day following the passover night; or, as some think, the preparation both for the weekly sabbath and for the passover, though the most judicious interpreters be of the first opinion: one of them it was, be it which it would. If atheism and irreligion had not been at the height amongst this people, had it been possible that the high priest, and the chief of the priests, and the rulers of the Jews, should have spent this day, the whole time, from break of the day till noon, in accusing or condemning Christ; and then have spent the afternoon in mocking and deriding him on the cross as he was dying, breaking all laws of humanity and decency, as well as religion? Admitting Annas and Caiaphas were not there, yet some of the chief of the priests, the scribes, and the elders were certainly there; and betraying themselves there more rudely and indecently than the common people.

The people were there beholding him. These were there mocking and deriding a dying person. But as we say in philosophy, corruptio optimi est pessima; so we shall find it true, that men who are employed in sacred things, if the true fear of God be not in them, to make them the best, they are certainly the vilest and worst of men. We read of no rudenesses offered to our Saviour dying, but from the scribes, chief priests, rulers, and soldiers. These verses also afford us great proof of the immortality of the soul; otherwise the penitent thief could not that day have been with Christ in paradise, as Christ promised, Luk 23:43. Nor would Christ have committed his soul into his Father’s hand, if it had been to have expired with the body, and have vanished into air. For other things which concern this part of the history of our Saviour’s passion, See Poole on "Mat 27:35", and following verses to Mat 27:50.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. These words are missing in some of the oldest authorities. They are found, however, in the majority of the most ancient manuscripts and in the most trustworthy of the old versions, and are undoubtedly genuine. These first of the seven words from the cross seem, from their position in the record, to have been spoken very early in the awful scene, probably while the nails were being driven into the hands and feet. Different from other holy dying men, he had no need to say, "Forgive me.

Then, as always, thinking of others, he utters this prayer, uttering it, too, as Stier well observes, with the same consciousness which had been formerly expressed, "Father, I know that thou hearest me always." "His intercession has this for its ground, though in meekness it is not expressed: "Father, I will that thou forgive them." In the same sublime consciousness who he was, he speaks shortly after to the penitent thief hanging by his side. These words of the crucified Jesus were heard by the poor sufferer close to him; they with other things he had noticed in the One crucified in the midst moved him to that piteous prayer which was answered at once soquickly and so royally. St. Bernard comments thus on this first word from the cross: "Judaei clamant, "Crucifige! "Christus clamat," Ignosce!" Magna illorum iniquitas. seal major tun, O Domine, pietas!" And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. The rough soldiers were treating the Master as already dead, and were disposing of his raiment, of which they had stripped him before fastening him to the cross. He was hanging there naked, exposed to sun and wind. Part of this raiment was torn asunder, part they drew lots for to see who was to wear it. The garments of the crucified became the property of the soldiers who carried out the sentence. Every cross was guarded by a guard of four soldiers. The coat, for which they cast lots, was, St. John tells us, without seam. "Chrysostom," who may have written from personal knowledge, thinks that the detail is added to show "the poorness of the Lord"s garments, and that in dress, as in all other things, he followed a simple fashion.

Magnanimity an attainment.

"Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." When at what particular point did he say that? It is commonly believed that he uttered this most gracious prayer just at the time of the actual crucifixion. Just when the nails were driven into those hands, the hands that had constantly been employed in some ministry of mercy; into those feet that had been continually carrying him on some errand of kindness; or just when the heavy cross, with its suffering Victim fastened upon it, had been driven into the ground with unpitying violence; just then, at the moment of most excruciating pain and of intolerable shame, he opened his lips to pray for mercy on his executioners. We have here

I A RARE INSTANCE OF HUMAN MAGNANIMITY.

1. Conscious, not only of perfect innocence, but of the purest and even the loftiest aims, Jesus Christ found himself not only unrewarded and unappreciated, but misunderstood, ill treated, condemned on a totally false charge, sentenced to the most cruel and shameful death a man could die. What wonder if, under those conditions, all the kindliness of his nature had turned to sourness of spirit!

2. At this very moment he was the object of the most heartless cruelty man could inflict, and must have been suffering pain of body and of mind that was literally agonizing.

3. At such a time, and under such treatment, he forgets himself to remember the guilt of those who were so shamefully wronging him.

4. Instead of entertaining any feeling of resentment, he desired that they might be forgiven their wrong-doing.

5. He did not haughtily and contemptuously decline to condemn them; he did not hardly and reluctantly forgive them; he found for them a generous extenuation; he sincerely prayed his heavenly Father to forgive them. Human magnanimity could hardly go further than that.

II A BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE OF HIS OWN LOFTY DOCTRINE. When in his great sermon, (Matthew 5-7) he said, "Love your enemies... pray for them which despitefully use and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven," he urged upon us to cherish and to illustrate the loftiest virtue on the highest grounds. This he now beautifully, perfectly exemplified. He was literally and truly praying for those who were using him despitefully, As the greatest generals and captains have proudly and honourably claimed that they "never bade men do that which they were not willing to do themselves," so this our glorious Leader, he who came to be the "Leader and Perfecter of the faith", (Heb_12:2: Alford) never desired of us any virtue or grace which he did not possess and did not himself adorn. He could and did say to his disciples, not only," Go thither in the way of righteousness," but also, "Follow me in every path of purity and love." We may well love our enemies, and pray for those who despitefully use us, that we may be the children of our Father in heaven, and that we may be followers of our patient, magnanimous Master. And it is here, truly, that we have

III A CHALLENGE TO A GREAT ATTAINMENT.

1. To pray sincerely for those who do us wrong is one of the very highest points, if not actually the very loftiest, of human magnanimity. To dismiss all vindictive purpose, all resentful thought; to look at our enemy"s procedure in a kindly light, and to take, as Christ did here, a generous view of it; to cherish a positive wish for his good; to put this wish into action, into prayer; by these stages we reach the summit of nobility.

2. This is an attainment we should sedulously and devoutly pursue. There are those of noble nature, men and women whom God endows with a most "excellent spirit," to whom this may be plain and easy; to them it is not a steep ascent to be laboriously climbed, but a gentle slope along which they can walk without difficulty. But to most men it is an attainment and not an endowment. It is an attainment which ban only be secured by earnest and continued cultivation. But we have for this great end the most effectual means:

(1) the realization of the near presence of God, and the knowledge of his Divine approval;

(2) the sense that when we succeed we win the greatest of all victories;

(3) the efficacy of prayer its subjective influence, and the aid which it brings us from above;

(4) the inspiration of our Lord"s example, and that of his most faithful followers. C. (Act_7:60 2Ti_4:16)

Sin greater than it seems.

"They know not what they do." There is more in our actions, and therefore in our life, than there seems to be to ourselves (see "The largeness of Our life," homily on Luk_10:16). There is more of good; more also of evil. These soldiers imagined that they were doing nothing more than executing a malefactor. They were murdering a Messiah; they were putting to death the Son of Man, the Savior of mankind. They knew not what they did; they did not recognize the extreme seriousness, the actual awfulness, of the crime they were committing. Thus is it constantly. We suppose ourselves to be doing something of very little consequence; but he who knows the realities and the issues of all things sees in our action something far more serious than we see. We know not what we do when we err from the straight line of moral and spiritual rectitude. We do not know

I HOW WE HURT A HUMAN SPIRIT WHEN WE WOUND IT. Whether this be by something said or done, by a glance of the eye, by the withholding of the expected word or action, we often wound more deeply than we think. We suppose we have caused a momentary irritation. If we knew all, we should know that we have produced a soreness of feeling, a keenness of disappointment, or (it may be) a depth of distress, which it will take weeks or months to heal.

II HOW WE WRONG OURSELVES WHEN WE SIN AGAINST OUR CONSCIENCE, It is, we assure ourselves, a very slight deviation from rectitude; it is a negligence for which we can easily make up a little further on. But, in truth, we have begun a slow, steady, spiritual descent, which will take us to the bottom. We know not what we do when we take the first step in moral laxity. We have started our soul on an evil course; we have done ourselves a wrong which we quite fail to measure.

III HOW WE DAMAGE ANOTHER"S CHARACTER WHEN" WE INJURE IT. We have only induced our neighbor to take a step which will open his eyes to that which he ought to know. So we say, and perhaps think. But, in fact, we have done much more than that. We have led him to do that which has injured his conscience, which has weakened his self respect, which has enfeebled his character. He will be less strong, henceforth, in the evil hour of temptation; he will be more open to attack, less likely to resist and to conquer his adversary. When we lead into temptation and sin, we "know not what we do.

IV HOW WE GRIEVE OUR SAVIOUR WHEN WE DISOBEY OR DISHONOUR HIM, We do not know how much he expects of his disciples, especially of those who have such opportunities as we have of knowing and doing his will how much attachment, how strong an affection, how quick an obedience, how full and patient a submission, he has a right to look for, and does wait to receive. And we do not know the fullness and intensity of his feeling of disappointment and sorrow when we fail him. The disciples did not know what they did, how grievously they failed, when they slept in that hour through which they should have watched. What depth of touching, tenderest pathos we hear in these words of gentle remonstrance: "Could ye not watch with me one hour?

V HOW WE HINDER THE CAUSE OF CHRIST when we discredit it. We think, perhaps, that the evil impression we have conveyed by our inconsistency will soon be forgotten, lost entirely in the current of human affairs. But more harm is done than we know or think. Some souls are shocked, scandalized, injured; their faith is lessened, perhaps pierced; they will not count for Christ what they would have counted. Springs of anti-Christian influence are started: who shall say whither they will flow?

VI HOW WE SIN AGAINST GOD WHEN WE WITHHOLD FROM HIM OURSELVES AND OUR SERVICE. We may imagine that we are only delaying till a more suitable or convenient time the duty we intend to discharge. But we are really disobeying a Divine command; we are refusing a Divine invitation; we are continuing in open rebellion, in unfilial estrangement. We are seriously sinning against our heavenly Father, our merciful Savior, our rightful and righteous Sovereign.

1. Our ignorance of "what we do" is. in part a necessity of our finite nature; for we cannot possibly look down into the depth of things; nor can we look on to the final issues. This is beyond the compass of our powers.

2. But it is in part also the fault of our character. We do not think, we do "not consider", (Isa_1:3) we do not inquire. We do not use as we might our spiritual faculties. More patient, prayerful consideration of "what we do" would save us from many errors, many wrongs, and also from many painful memories and much self-reproach. C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then said Jesus - Our Lord passed most of the time on the cross in silence: yet seven sentences which he spoke thereon are recorded by the four evangelists, though no one evangelist has recorded them all. Hence it appears that the four Gospels are, as it were, four parts, which, joined together, make one symphony. Sometimes one of these only, sometimes two or three, sometimes all sound together. Father - So he speaks both in the beginning and at the end of his sufferings on the cross: Forgive them - How striking is this passage! While they are actually nailing him to the cross, he seems to feel the injury they did to their own souls more than the wounds they gave him; and as it were to forget his own anguish out of a concern for their own salvation. And how eminently was his prayer heard! It procured forgiveness for all that were penitent, and a suspension of vengeance even for the impenitent.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Christ had often preached the doctrine of forgiving enemies, and praying for them; he practises it here himself in a most exemplary manner.

Where note,

1. The mercy desired and prayed for; and that is, forgiveness.

2. The person desiring that mercy, Christ, the dying Jesus.

3. The persons for whom it is desired, his bloody murderers; Father, forgive them.

4. The argument used, or motive urged, to procure this mercy: Forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Learn hence,

1. That ignorance is the usual cause of enmity against Christ.

2. That there is forgiveness with God, for such as oppose, yea, persecute Christ out of ignorance.

That to forgive enemies, and to beg forgiveness for them, is an evidence of a Christ-like frame of Spirit; Father, forgive them: not that the gospel requires of us an insensibility of wrongs and injuries; that allows us a sense of offered evils though it forbids us to revenge them; yet the more tender our resentments are, the more excellent our forgiveness is: so that a forgiving spirit does not exclude a sense of injuries; but the sense of injuries graces the forgiveness of them: neither does the gospel require us, under the notion of forgiving injuries, to deliver up our rights and properties to the lusts of everyone that will invade them, but meekly to receive evil, and readily to return good.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [CXXXIII. B. Jesus Crucified and Reviled].

CXXXIII. THE CRUCIFIXION. Subdivision B. JESUS CRUCIFIED AND REVILED. HIS THREE \line SAYINGS DURING FIRST THREE HOURS. (Friday morning from 9 o'clock till noon.) aMATT. XXVII. 35-44; bMARK XV. 24-32; cLUKE XXIII. 33-43; dJOHN XIX. 18-27.

b25 And it was the third hour, and cthere d18 where cthey crucified him. b27 And a38 Then are there crucified bthey crucify awith him dtwo others, cthe malefactors, arobbers, one on the right hand, and one cthe other on the bhis left. don either side one, and Jesus in the midst. [These were doubtless robbers of the class of Barabbas. They were those who, led on by fanatical patriotism, had become insurrectionists and then outlaws. Large numbers of them were crucified during the Jewish wars (Jos. Wars, xiii. 2. 3). These two may have been crucified at this time for convenience' sake, but the fact that Jesus was placed between them suggests that they were crucified with him to heighten his shame and indignity. For, though Pilate had no personal ill will toward Jesus, he wished to show contempt for Judah's King.] c34 And Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. [Our Lord's prayer here reminds us of the word at Isa_53:12. It accords with his own teachings ( Mat_5:44), and it was echoed by Stephen ( Act_7:59, Act_7:60). Peter and Paul both speak of the Jewish ignorance ( Act_3:17, 1Co_2:8). Ignorance mitigates, but does not excuse, crime.] b24 And they crucify him, d23 The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part [A quaternion or band of four soldiers did the work of the actual crucifixion. The Roman law awarded them the garments of the condemned as their perquisites]; band part aparted cparting bhis garments among them, casting cthey cast lots. [725] bupon them, what each should take. [The sandals, girdle, outer robe, head-dress, etc., of Jesus were divided into four parts and lots were cast of the parts.] dand also the coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. [This was the tunic or undergarment. It reached from the shoulders to the knees. Ordinarily it was in two pieces, which were fastened at the shoulders by clasps; but Josephus tells us that the tunic of the high priest was an exception to this rule, being woven without seam (Ant. iii. 7. 4). Thus in dividing the Lord's garments, they found a suggestion of his high priesthood.] 24 They said therefore one to another, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my garments among them, And upon my vesture did they cast lots. [See Psa_22:18.] 25 These things therefore the soldiers did. [Even their small part was the subject of minute prophecy.] a36 and they sat and watched him there. [They were on guard to prevent any attempt at rescue.] d19 And Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. cover him, a37 And they set up over his head bthe ca superscription bof his accusation written, aAnd there was written, cTHIS IS aJESUS dOF NAZARETH, bTHE KING OF THE JEWS. [It was a well-established Roman custom to thus place a writing above the heads of the crucified to indicate the cause for which they died. Pilate writes the accusation so as to clear his own skirts before Cæsar and so as to show his contempt for the Jewish people. They had forced him to crucify an innocent man, and he retaliates by giving to that man the title which his enemies accused him of professing.] d20 This title therefore read many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city; and it was written in Hebrew, and in Latin, and in Greek. [These three languages were respectively those of religion, law and philosophy; but Pilate made use of them because all three were spoken by people then in Jerusalem.] 21 The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to [726] Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. 22 Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. [The rulers smarted under this title which Pilate had tauntingly written. They had insisted that Jesus' kingship was dangerous enough to justify his crucifixion; but now (if politically and temporally interpreted) they admit that his kingship was an idle claim, a mere matter of words.] c35 And the people stood beholding. [The scene had an awful fascination which they could not resist.] a39 And they that passed by [Jesus was evidently crucified near the highway] railed on him, wagging their heads, 40 and saying, bHa! Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, 30 save thyself, aif thou art the Son of God, band come down from the cross. 31 In like manner also the chief priests cAnd the rulers also scoffed at him, bmocking him among themselves with the scribes aand elders, said, csaying, He saved others; bhimself he cannot save. clet him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his chosen. aHe is the King of Israel; let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe on him. b32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, that we may see and believe. a43 He trusteth on God; let him deliver him now, if he desireth him: for he said, I am the Son of God. c36 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, offering him vinegar, 37 and saying, If thou art the King of the Jews, save thyself. [Thus one and all unite in mocking Jesus, using both word and gesture. They bring forth echoes from the trial of Jesus and take other incidents from his life, little dreaming the deep significance of what they utter. They reminded Jesus of his words about destroying the temple, when they were committing that very act. They speak of his building it again when Jesus was about to die that he might rise. They taunt him with saving others, yet being unable to save himself, which is the great truth of the atonement which the Lord [727] was then making. They promised to believe if he will come down from the cross, yet his being lifted upon the cross was the very act which would convince them-- Joh_8:28.] a44 And the robbers also that were crucified with him breproached him. acast upon him the same reproach. c39 And one of the malefactors that were hanged railed on him, saying, Art not thou the Christ? save thyself and us. 40 But the other answered, and rebuking him said, Dost thou not even fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said, Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom. 43 And he said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise. [It seems that at first both robbers reviled Christ, but one repenting spoke in his favor and prayed to him. It is not likely that this robber had any conception of the spiritual kingdom of Jesus, but he somehow arrived at the conclusion that Jesus was the Messiah, and would come into his kingdom despite his crucifixion. Jesus answered his prayer by a solemn promise that they would, that day, be together in that portion of the invisible world where those who are accepted of God await the resurrection. Many thoughtlessly make this dying robber the model of death-bed repentance, arguing that others may also be saved in this irregular manner. But Christ had not yet died, and the new testament or covenant was not sealed. Jesus then could change its terms to suit the occasion. It is therefore no evidence whatever that after his death and in his present glorified state our Lord will in any way change the covenant so as to do away with a single one of the terms required for obtaining remission of sins ( Heb_9:15-18). Moreover, the example of the penitent robber is a difficult one to follow; he professed faith in Christ and his kingdom when there was no other voice in the whole wide world willing to do such a thing. Any one having such a faith in Christ will not put off his confession until the hour of [728] death.] dBut there were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. [For comment on these four women, see note on Joh_2:4). Thus he cut her off from all parental authority over him. In this last hour our Lord bestows upon his helpless mother the disciple whom he loved, who was then in the flower of his manhood. All of Christ's disciples are thus appointed by him protectors of the helpless, but few recognize the behest as John did.]

[FFG 725-729]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

34.] Spoken apparently during the act of the crucifixion, or immediately that the crosses were set up. Now first, in the fullest sense, from the wounds in His Hands and Feet, is His Blood shed, εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν (Mat 26:28), and He inaugurates His intercessional office by a prayer for His murderers,—ἄφες αὐτοῖς. This also is a fulfilment of Scripture, Isa 53:12;—where the contents of our verses 33, 34 are remarkably pointed out.

His teaching ended at ver. 31. His High-Priesthood is now begun. His first three sayings on the Cross are for others: see ver. 43: Joh 19:26, Joh 19:27.

πάτερ] He is the Son of God, and He speaks in the fulness of this covenant relation. ἐγὼ ᾔδειν ὅτι πάντοτέ μου ἀκούεις:—it is not merely a prayer—but the prayer of the Great Intercessor, which is always heard. Notice that though on the Cross, there is no alienation, no wrath of condemnation, between the Father and the Son.

ἄφες αὐτοῖς—who are here intended? Doubtless, first and directly, the four soldiers, whose work it had been to crucify Him. The ποιοῦσιν points directly at this: and it is surely a mistake to suppose that they wanted no forgiveness, because they were merely doing their duty. Stier remarks, “This is only a misleading fallacy, for they were sinners even as others, and their obedient and unsuspecting performance of their duty was not without a sinful pleasure in doing it, or at all events formed part of their entire standing as sinners, included in that sin of the world, to which the Lord here ascribes His Crucifixion” (vi. 403, edn. 2). But not only to them, but to them as the representatives of that sin of the world, does this prayer apply. The nominative to ποιοῦσιν is οἱ ἄνθρωποι—mankind,—the Jewish nation, as the next moving agent in His death,—but all of us, inasmuch as for our sins He was bruised.

οὐ γὰρ οἴδασιν τί ποιοῦσιν, primarily, as before, spoken of the soldiers,—then of the council, who delivered Him up, see Joh 11:49, ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε οὐδέν,—then of all, whose sin is from lack of knowledge of the truth, of what sin is, and what it has done—even the crucifixion of the Lord. But certainly from this intercession is excluded that one sin—strikingly brought out by the passage thus cited as committed by him who said it, viz. Caiaphas, and hinted at again by our Lord, Joh 19:11—and perhaps also by the awful answer Mat 26:64, σὺ εἶπας—‘thou saidst it’—viz. in prophecy, Joh 11:49: see also Mat 26:25,—and on the sin alluded to, Mat 12:31: 1Jn 5:16.

Observe that between the two members of this prayer lies the work of the Spirit leading to repentance—the prayer that they may have their eyes opened, and know what they have done: which is the necessary subjective condition of forgiveness of sins, see 2Ti 2:25, 2Ti 2:26.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.