Luke 23:34 … Knowing not what they Do (12/30/16)
“Father, forgive them …
They know not what they do.”
~ Jesus (Luke 23:34)
On the one hand this verse implies that ignorance is an excuse for actions that cause unintended harm to others, and to a degree that is indeed the case – for consequences are not tied to what is done nearly as stringently as to why what is done is done (e.g. it is not as egregious to accidentally kill an animal as it is to intentionally eat one) …
That having been said, Jesus need not have given this pleading to God; for his Father is clearly a God of perfect Love (Matthew 5:48), a God who does not condemn (Luke 6:36), a God who always forgives (Matthew 8:21-22), and a God who never punishes (1 John 4:18) … As such, we are left to wonder why Jesus would utter this statement at all – and one of the more probable reasons is that he wasn’t pleading to God directly, but rather was speaking in the direction of God – by speaking directly to those listening nearby. For it was they who did not have his (or his heavenly Father’s) perfect understanding of Love, and it was thus they who might very well have needed an extra incentive to not lash out in condemnation against those who had placed Jesus on the cross …
And this explanation becomes especially probable when we re-realize that it was Jesus himself who orchestrated his entire crucifixion; that he was the one who pre-planned the entire event. And as such, it makes even more sense that he would not want anyone to unnecessarily suffer merely for helping him carry out his own final, ultimate teaching – his ultimate exposition of The Way of Joy-full self-sacrifice. And hence, his loud crying out of Psalm 22:1 as his cue to drink the intoxicating draught, to voluntarily “give up his Spirit” (the Greek “apheken to pneuma” in Matthew 27:50), to be taken to a freshly cut tomb, to exit that unguarded tomb that evening, and to appear secretly to his disciples thereafter before finally heading east with the rising sun.
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