". . . Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." - Luke 23:34
Even on the cross Jesus offered up a prayer of mercy unto the Father for His accusers. God is just even in judgment. On the surface you would think Jesus' reason for asking the Father to forgive His executioners was simply because His purpose in coming was to die in our place that we might be reconciled back to God. But it goes much deeper than that.
Jesus asked for forgiveness on their behalf because they really didn't know what they had done. The Roman soldiers didn't know He was the Christ, God of everything seen and unseen. To them god was one of many statues they gave honor to for atmospheric occurrences they couldn't explain, and victory in battle. The crowd that yelled "crucify Him, crucify Him" were following the instructions of the religious leaders who they believed to be the true guides in matters concerning Jehovah.
The scribes and Pharisees who knew the law of Moses and the writings of the prophets, did not know that the man they sentence to death was their long awaited Messiah. They didn't have Jesus executed because they wanted to kill the promised Messiah! They didn't know His birthplace was Bethlehem Ephrathah, of a virgin. They thought He was born in Nazareth, a product of fornication. They didn't realize that He was the one Moses said would be raised up from among them as a prophet like unto him, who would raise the dead, heal the sick, open blind eyes and give speech to the dumb. How could they, the keepers of the sacred Word of God, have missed all the signs and proof of Jesus' identity? Envy, insecurity and fear.
They were so envious of Jesus' popularity with the multitudes that they feared losing their preeminence over the people---that they would no longer be sought after. They feared the end of their authority as the experts on God among the people, so they conspired and plotted His demise. If they could have overcome their envy and fear, they would have been stirred to use their skills of research and study to discover that He was indeed God's Servant the Prophet Isaiah spoke of. Instead, they became blind guides.
AS LEADERS IN THE MAKING you must come to a level of maturity and say, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." There will be times in your press for attainment in Christ that those who for envy and fear for self-preservation and importance in the eyesight of people will come against the anointing of Christ in your life. Friendships will be severed at the command of insecure religious people. But like Jesus, you must look beyond their attacks and understand the reason for their actions, and become a healing balm of prayer to the Father on their behalf.
(This, and all of the "Meditations for Leaders in the Making" were developed from the personal journal entries of Anna M. Ashby-Caison, 1996-1998, copyright 2003 by Christ Made Known In Me!)
