During Jesus’ trial and crucifixion, He had very little to say.  One of His few utterances was on Calvary as the Roman soldiers carried out their orders to nail Him to the cross.  He said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”  (Luke 23:34).

What a remarkable, forgiving thing to say!  It should be pointed out that Jesus’ statement was directed toward the Roman soldiers who were ignorantly and thoughtlessly carrying out their orders.  The plea for forgiveness was not directed toward those wicked rulers who caused Jesus to be there.  They had been eyewitnesses to His teachings and miracles, including the raising of Lazarus from the dead.  Amazingly, their jealous response to that event was a desire to kill both Jesus and Lazarus.  Unlike the Roman soldiers, the Jewish rulers did know what they were doing.

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” is a statement Jesus might use for each of us.  Indeed, I can imagine this being the most oft-repeated statement that Jesus would use in His conversations with the Father.  Jesus is the Great Mediator.  He stands between us and justice.  He has taken upon Himself all of the stupid and ignorant acts that we’ve committed, and has already paid the price for our redemption from these acts on the condition that we’d repent.

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”  How many of us know the seriousness and the stupidity of the sins that we commit?  How little do we realize how we wound our souls and our Savior’s feelings when we yield to the promptings of the evil one rather than to the promptings of the Spirit.