Forgiveness and Sins of Ignorance
Luke 23:34 | “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Jeb Graydon
Holy Week Devotional—The Seven Last Sayings of Christ from the Cross
This year, as we journey from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Sunday, we wanted to provide these devotionals for you to prepare your hearts and give you time to reflect on the most important week of human history. Each day we will be looking at one of the seven last recorded sayings of Jesus while He was on the cross (Luke 23:34, 43; John 19:26-27; Matthew 27:46; John 19:28, 30; Luke 23:46). We pray that these devotionals would be a blessing to you and will help you to slow down and consider Christ this Holy Week. To God be the glory!
Part 1: Forgiveness
It is easy to think about forgiveness in generic terms (for example, “people should be more forgiving”). However, when it comes to a specific instance where we were personally offended or hurt, it suddenly becomes much more difficult (for example, “I need to forgive _____ for the hurt he or she caused me last week”). The more personal the offense, and the deeper the hurt it caused, the harder it is to forgive. That is part of what makes today’s passage so remarkable. In the very midst of His suffering, Christ prayed “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). At the pinnacle of His pain and suffering, when most of us would be feeling extreme resentment and hatred towards our tormenters, Christ asked for forgiveness for the very people who were putting Him through torture and crucifixion. This aligns with what Jesus taught on the Sermon on the Mount when He told the crowd “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).
But before we smugly look down on these enemies who tortured Christ, we must understand something very important. We all once were His enemies. While those who falsely accused Christ and sent Him to the cross did indeed commit a very personal offense against Christ, we must also realize that we are guilty of the same thing every time we sin. Any sin is a violation against a holy God. In Psalm 51:4 King David wrote “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” Similarly, 1 Corinthians 8:12 teaches that to sin against brothers in Christ is to sin against Christ Himself. So, as we approach Good Friday and reflect on Christ’s crucifixion, we must be careful not to say that Christ’s murderers were particularly or extraordinarily evil. Yes, they sinned against Christ in a very direct manner, but so do you and I. We should not look back through more than 2,000 years of history and think that we are any better than those who condemned Christ and sent Him to His death. Nonetheless, just as Christ prayed for the Father to forgive them, He also forgives us if we repent and put our faith in Him. Praise God for His amazing grace!
Part 2: Sins of Ignorance
The second half of today’s text, “for they know not what they do” indicates that the people were acting in ignorance when they crucified our Lord. Does that excuse their actions? Does that remove their guilt? After all, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:8 that “if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” Without the crucifixion there is no salvation, and we would all be doomed. So, does that make it OK? Not exactly. The first two chapters of Romans make it clear that no one can claim ignorance, and therefore we are all “without excuse.” John MacArthur comments on this verse by saying “their spiritual blindness itself was a manifestation of their guilt” (see also John 3:19). However, their actions were not irredeemable. Indeed, the fact that Christ prayed for their forgiveness indicates that they could be saved. Referring to his actions before his conversion, the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1:13: “I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief.”
The famous 19th century British pastor Charles Spurgeon wrote:
If pardon were offered you upon the condition that you should mention every sin you have committed, not one of you would ever be saved… we cannot remember all our shortcomings, and all our transgressions; but the mercy is, though we do not know them, HE does, and he can blot them out. Though we cannot weep over them with a distinct knowledge of them, because they are not known to us, yet Jesus bled for them with a distinct knowledge of them all.
Therefore, be encouraged that if you are trusting by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, then no sin of ignorance - nor any other sin for that matter - can hold you back from redemption. Take a moment to thank God for His forgiveness for the wrongs we have committed in ignorance.
Reflection:
- Are you harboring anger towards someone who has harmed you in the past? Reflect on Christ’s command to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44).
- Reflect on Psalm 51:4 – “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”
- Have you used ignorance as an excuse to avoid guilt? Reflect on Romans 1:18-19.