JESUS’S SEVEN LAST WORDS FROM THE CROSS:
1. A WORD OF MERCY
“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
(Luke 23:34)
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the first recorded statement which Jesus said on the cross was a prayer to His Father in Heaven. But what is remarkable about this statement is who and what He was praying for. He was not praying for Himself. He was not asking God to rescue Him or alleviate His suffering. Jesus was praying on behalf of His enemies. And He was asking His Father to “forgive them.”
The “them” refers to Jesus’s tormentors. Specifically, this includes the Roman soldiers who were in the very act of causing His affliction and death. But “them” also seems to include any and everyone who had a part in Jesus’s suffering and execution, including: Pilate, Caiaphas, Annas, the chief priests, scribes, elders, and the Jewish people who were indifferent to or approved of His death. “Them” may have included His disciple Judas, who betrayed Him.
It is interesting to consider how Jesus also could be including every sinner (including you) whose disobedience provoked His love to come to earth to suffer, die, and atone.
What did Jesus mean by saying “they do not know what they are doing”?
Though some were more aware than others about what they were doing, all of Jesus’s executioners were ignorant to a significant degree (through their unbelief and hardened hearts) of who Jesus really was. That is, they did not believe or know that Jesus was the Messiah and God Himself. They did not know who they were doing these things to. Therefore, they did not understand what they were doing when they insulted Him, abused Him, condemned Him, tormented Him, and executed Him.
Peter, early in the book of Acts, consoles the Jews for murdering the Messiah by telling them “brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also” (Acts 3:17). Peter’s comment specifically affirms that even the rulers such as Caiaphas, Annas, and Pilate did not understand what they were doing when they crucified Jesus.
Paul described something similar in his first letter to the Corinthian believers:
“The wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
(1 Corinthians 2:8)
Moreover, the Psalms and the Servant Songs of Isaiah foretold that the Messiah would not be recognized by His accusers and executioners (Psalm 22:6, 118:22; Isaiah 53:3-4, 8). In their twisted minds they rationalized that they were doing God a favor when they executed Him and persecute His followers (John 16:2). John’s Gospel even explains the twisted rationale of Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin (John 11:47-53).
Throughout His life and execution, Jesus’s identity was never widely accepted or known. As John wrote:
“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.”
(John 10:10-11)
To the extent that these people did not know who Jesus was, they did not know what they were doing.
What they were doing was reviling Him and executing Him and inflicting as much humiliation, suffering, and pain upon Him as possible before He died on the cross.
Crucifixion is an inhumane form of execution. It is a cruel and degrading evil that despises the inherent value and dignity of fellow humans made in God’s image. And thus, it is an evil that warps the hearts of the executioners. Those who crucified their fellow image bearers need forgiveness for the depraved cruelty of the sin of crucifixion.
But Jesus’s executioners were in need of forgiveness for crucifying not only a fellow man who was innocent, a man who was illegally and gleefully condemned, but also a man who was the Messiah whom God sent to redeem Israel and who was God Himself. Crucifying God seems to be a more serious crime.
And yet the first thing Jesus said as He was being crucified was to ask for the forgiveness of His accusers, condemners, and tormentors.
This in and of itself is stunning and remarkable. Such a statement was no doubt vastly different from the typical responses of criminals who were being crucified. Normal responses from crucifixion victims would be to curse those who were torturing them to death; or to scream in wretched agony begging them to stop. Venomous insults of bitter defiance and pitiful sobbing and wails were the normal reactions from the cross. But these stood in astonishing contrast to Jesus’s unforgettable response of love and forgiveness.
Rather than justly complain or call for righteous vengeance, Jesus was praying for His Father to give mercy to His enemies—to the ones who were crucifying Him.
The Greek syntax in Luke’s Gospel account suggests that Jesus repeatedly offered this prayer. Luke’s Gospel also indicates that Jesus prayed this as the Roman soldiers were driving nails through His wrists and feet and were raising His cross. It is soul-stirring to consider that Jesus chose to pray for His enemies instead of drinking the pain-numbing gall that the Romans offered Him the moment when the pain was likely the most sharp and severe. Perhaps one of the reasons He did not drink this pain-relieving concoction was that He did not want it to dull His mind or distract Him from loving His enemies on the cross.
Jesus’s prayer at this most painful moment reveals the genuineness of His heart and the authenticity of His teachings, such as to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44); and to mercifully forgive those who harm you (Matthew 5:39, 6:14, 18:22).
Jesus was living out the Mercy Principle even though He had nothing for which He had to be forgiven. The Mercy Principle is that God will treat us the same way we treat others—particularly when it comes to how we treat those who have wronged us. Jesus explained the Mercy Principle just after the Lord’s Prayer:
“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”
(Matthew 6:14-15)
Despite having no sin, Jesus still chose to show mercy while He was crucified. The cross itself is an act of mercy for all humanity. We ought to emulate Jesus’s example and be merciful to our enemies even unto death as we take up our cross and follow Him.
Jesus’s crucifixion prayer asking His Father to forgive His enemies also reveals the following convictions about His perspective on the cross:
- Jesus never wavered in His conviction that His Father was in charge. He knew that God was in control, even as He was being crucified.
- Jesus trusted His Father’s goodness in the worst moment of His life. He allowed Himself to be crucified because He trusted that God would use and redeem His suffering and death for good (Isaiah 49:4, 50:6-7, 53:10-12; Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 12:2).
- God’s attitude toward sinners and His enemies is love (Matthew 20:28, 23:37; John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8; Ephesians 2:1-6; Colossians 1:13, 21-22, 2:13-14; 2 Peter 3:9).
The first two of these convictions are also on full display in Jesus’s final remark on the cross:
“Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”
(Luke 23:46)
The perspective and convictions that Jesus had on the cross should also be our perspective and convictions whenever we encounter suffering and pain caused by others. This means forgiving people of any undeserved wrong they do to us instead of harboring bitterness or seeking vengeance. And it means doing so as soon as possible, without waiting for them to acknowledge their part in the pain they have caused us. Jesus did not hesitate to forgive His tormentors. He did not wait until they recognized the wrongness of murdering Him. He did not wait until they repented or asked for forgiveness. He preemptively and presently forgave them as they were nailing Him to the cross.
Stephen, the first Christian martyr to be killed for His faith after Jesus, followed the Lord’s example as he was being stoned to death,
“Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them!’”
(Acts 7:60)
We should follow Christ’s (and Stephen’s) example of mercy whenever we are mistreated, by fully forgiving others as soon as possible, without waiting or requiring their acknowledgment or repentance for the wrongs they have done us.
“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
(Luke 23:34)
Read about Jesus’s second final word from the cross here: “2: A Word of Assurance.”
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