Father, forgive them

Luke records the first and last of the sayings of the Lord from the cross. Both are prayers addressed to the Father, vv. 34, 46.

Verse 34 commences with the poignant word, ‘then’. It was at the very moment when man’s cruelty reached its zenith - the moment of crucifixion - that the Lord breathed this fragrant prayer. In the privacy of the upper room He prayed for His own, John 17; here He publicly prays for His enemies.

For whom was the Lord praying at this point? Was it for the Roman soldiers? Certainly they were in ignorance of what they were doing. To the execution soldiers the victim was probably nothing more than another Jewish criminal. Was He praying for the unjust religious and civil judges who had condemned Him to such a death? Paul certainly assures us that had the rulers of this world known the wisdom of God, ‘they would not have crucified the Lord of glory’, 1Cor. 2. 8. Was it for the nation of Israel? Peter says to the Jews, ‘I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers’, Acts 3. 17. In a sense the nation was acting in complete ignorance. The possession of the oracles of God was no guarantee of spiritual wisdom or perception.

The answer is that this prayer probably embraces the whole of guilty humanity. Ignorance, darkness and blindness are characteristics of fallen mankind. John reminds us, ‘He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not’, John 1. 10. Mankind as a whole crucified the Lord Jesus, and we acknowledge with shame our part in this ignorant rejection.

Ignorance does not excuse responsibility. The sin offerings of the Old Testament teach us that sins committed in ignorance still require blood sacrifice, Lev. 4. 2. The One who prayed for forgiveness would also pay for forgiveness.

The Lord’s final prayer is the confident, trusting repose of the Son as He voluntarily steps into death, Luke 23. 46. His foes were ignorant, His friends bewildered, angels and demons uncomprehending; His Father alone understood what He was doing.