THEY DON’T KNOWReading: Luke 23: 32-43
Why didn’t they know what they were doing? Surely they should have known. Surely they could have seen that this man who now was dying a slow and agonizing death by crucifixion was different, that he was holy, that the words he had spoken were full of wisdom and compassion, that the miracles he performed could only have occurred because God was with him. Were the powers that be really that blind? Did they have no inkling whatsoever that this man whom they had judged and condemned was the Messiah? For centuries they had been waiting for the coming of the Lord’s Anointed, but as the years passed and their hopes were disappointed, their expectations were floating somewhere in a vague future rather than the present moment. Besides, their image of the Messiah was more one of a warrior king who would come to set Israel free from all occupying forces and make them a nation once again. That image bore no resemblance to the itinerant rabbi from Nazareth who had no such political aspirations and proclaimed a totally different kind of freedom, an inner freedom that would come from acknowledging their need of God, entering into the healing power of forgiveness and doing the things that showed they were repentant. The proclamation of this good news was anathema to them, especially those who believed they were the experts in religious observance. Self righteousness is a very deadly thing. If you think you know it all, then you don’t need to listen. And if you don’t listen then you’ll never hear that there just might be another way, a different world view to yours, another way of viewing God and what he requires, a different way of relating to him. Self righteousness can blind people. This is what had happened to at least some of those who were party to Jesus’ death. In fact, some time earlier Jesus, quoting from the prophet Isaiah, says of such people, “They see what I do, but they don’t really see; they hear what I say, but they don’t understand.” And in that sense I suppose it is true that they did not know what they were doing even although they had been given the same opportunities, the same exposure to the life, teaching, miracles and witness of Jesus as the crowds of hungry people who flocked around him. What they did recognize was that this man was dangerous. He could rob them of their power and control over the people. In that sense his teaching was subversive. His gospel was one of inclusion, of liberating people into seeing who they really were – beloved daughters and sons of God. He could also upset the delicate political balance and antagonize their Roman overlords. So they use every means at their disposal in those final days to turn the ordinary people against Jesus also. Crowds can be volatile and fickle and, when life is hard, can be easily swayed. In the course of a few days the same crowd who had hailed his entry into Jerusalem with shouts of Hosanna were the ones who shouted “Crucify him!” They, too, did not know what they were doing. They were being manipulated by those who sought his death.
Perhaps the only one who really knew what he was doing was that lone figure on the cross. For this purpose he had come into the world, and only by pursuing his lonesome valley to the bitter end could he accomplish that purpose which was redemption for humankind, forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life. But in those hours of agony and dereliction as he hung there dying, weighed down not only by his own unbearable pain but carrying also the weight of the sin of all the world, he was in a place darker than we could ever imagine. Isolated, mocked, in spiritual and physical anguish, his only company the two criminals crucified on either side of him, he yet, with a supreme act of will, chose to pray for those who put him there. And the prayer he prayed was one of forgiveness. “Father, forgive these people, because they don’t know what they’re doing.” And the Father heard the cry of his beloved. From his heart and from that figure on the cross a tidal wave of mercy flowed encompassing all those who were there. It had an extraordinary effect! The crowds who such a short time before were taunting him went home in deep sorrow, the captain of the Roman soldiers handling the executions, in sudden recognition, declared Jesus to be the Son of God, a dying thief was welcomed into paradise. And that tidal wave has never stopped flowing down through the centuries to this present day. In that prayer of forgiveness “heaven’s peace and perfect justice kissed a guilty world in love.”
“They see what I do, but they don’t really see; they hear what I say, but they don’t understand.” Of how many good religious people could that be said today? Could it be said of us? Before we look at all the oppression, anguish and suffering imposed by the powerful of this world upon the powerless; before we judge the actions and attitudes of another individual, group or nation, perhaps we need to search ourselves and come again to that central cross and pray, “Forgive us, Lord, we didn’t know what we were doing.” If that is a cry from the heart, then even before the words reach our lips, the answer comes and we are enfolded in that wave of mercy – all because Jesus hung on that cross and prayed that prayer! Because of Jesus’ obedience unto death, we now are the beloved of the Father. He hears and answers the cry and we are forgiven. Alleluia!