Luke 23:34 - …
Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do….
He came and accomplished the impossible. His detractors, determined to destroy Him,
accomplished the Will of God through their evil deed of crucifying our
Lord. While, experiencing pain that no
man or woman has ever experienced before or since, Christ had compassion on His
tormentors and asked for their forgiveness.
In saying these words He declared that “they know not what they do” and
since Ye’shuah cannot lie this must have been true. While He died we are told of several supernatural
events that took place:
Matthew 27:51 - …the veil of the temple was rent in twain
and the earth did quake and the rocks rent…
Matthew 27:52-53 –
graves were opened; and many bodies of
the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His
resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared to many.
Luke 23:44 – And it was about the sixth hour, and there was
darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. (about 12:00 – 3:00 PM )
John 19:34 -
…one of the soldiers with a spear pierced
His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
Each of these events would have been compelling of their own
merit, but the near simultaneous occurrences should have convinced even the
most skeptical of critics. Jesus asked
the Father to forgive them in their ignorance when they didn’t know who He was,
so the question then becomes when exactly did “they” know what they were doing
and why?
The scheming nature of the chief priests and Pharisees is
proved out in the Gospel of Matthew:
Matthew 27:62-66 – Now the
next day, that followed the day of preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees
came together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said,
while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulcher be made
sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away,
and say unto the people, he is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be
worse than the first. Pilate said unto
them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulcher sure,
sealing the stone, and setting watch.
Notice that the thought of deception originated with them,
why? It’s what they would have done if
the situation were reversed. To this
point their actions are almost understandable, they didn’t believe Ye’shuah was
the Christ and their actions reflected a desire to avoid deception by
chicanery. They sought to win others
allegiance by proving Ye’shuah was a hoax, and they saw the potential for the
disciples to win followers through a coercive conspiracy of a falsified
resurrection. They took special
precaution against this possible tactic.
Unfortunately for them their actions ended up providing substantial
evidence for Christ’s resurrection.
Pilate granted them Roman guards to guard the tomb, guards
that knew falling asleep on post was punishable by death. What Roman guard would fall asleep on duty
knowing if he were to be caught it meant the death penalty, let alone the fact
that there were at least two and probably more guarding the tomb?
Matthew 28:11-15 –
Now when they were going, behold, some of
the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things
that were done. And when they were
assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto
the soldiers, Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night and stole him away while
we slept. And if this come to the
governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were
taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
Those who stood watch came and told the chief priests what
happened. Amazingly the thought of
repentance never seems to cross their mind; they immediately employ bribery and
deceit to cover the truth. They tell the
guards that they will ensure their safety from Pilate if they are to be punished. The very priests, who claimed to be
representative of God, concealed the actions and the message of God with hush
money. If I were one of these guard I
would have had second thoughts about trusting these known liars to represent me
before Pilate, wouldn’t allowing the guards to be executed for dereliction of
duty be much more convincing to the masses?
The priests paid money to others to have them bear false witness against
God. The audacity is unbelievable!
Luke 17:1-2 - …It is impossible but that offences will
come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a
millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he
should offend one of these little ones.
The Pharisees knew they had taken extra precautions to
prevent what they now say happened. They
knew they were concealing the very Word of God with their wicked deeds. The very conspiracy that they associated with
the disciples is what they now tried to use to conceal a genuine act of
God. Imagine the arrogance to deny God,
Himself after He proved Himself authentic, what man could do such a thing?
James 2:19 – Thou believest that there is one God; thou
doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
How is it possible that these men had such audacity? They were blinded by their lust for power, to
enslave others in chains of lies. No man
in his right mind would pay this price, the
deceiver is also the deceived. The
same lies told then are told today and the blind masses follow their captors
into bondage, like sheep gone astray. The
true enemy is clearly laid out in Ephesians 6.
Ephesians 6:12 – … we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Men are easily manipulated by the lure of power and the
prospect of losing power creates fear, another powerful tool in the hands of
the enemy. This is why God constantly
tells us to “fear not” throughout His Word.
These enemies knew what they did shortly after Christ’s death and were
so invested in their lies that they felt the need to perpetuate them even after
they realized who it was that they crucified.
Those who could have served as
the most credible as witnesses by repenting from their sin and turning
to the one whom they pierced, solidified themselves as the enemies of truth and
have ruined the eternal lives of countless “little ones.” This was the greatest sin, woe to these men,
there is no measure of pity suitable for them.
