Hi ~

I don’t usually send out emails on Sundays. But today is Palm Sunday, and I’m thinking about Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

“Triumphant,” in a way. The crowds were indeed acknowledging Him at the Messiah. 

But within days, many of them turned on Him completely. How do things like this even happen?

I know that among my subscribers there are many who have experienced a head-spinning flip similar to this one, even among those that they thought were lifelong friends. 

But when Jesus was being crucified, He said these words. You can read them in Luke 23:33-35.

And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him. . . . And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 

The usual way I’ve heard this verse taken is that Jesus was asking forgiveness for everyone involved in His crucifixion. That would include the soldiers, the crowds, Pilate, Herod, the Jewish leaders, everyone. 

In His love, He was asking for forgiveness for all of them, we have been told.

Years ago, I began to question this. I wondered, when Jesus made an unqualified request of the Father, wouldn’t the Father answer it? Of course He would.

That meant the only people included in Jesus’ request were the people who didn’t know what they were doing.

Who were those people?

Jesus’ request would have included some of the crowd who had joined in the condemnation clueless of what was actually going on. And it would have certainly included the Roman soldiers who were just doing their dirty job and didn’t understand anything beyond that.

I can easily see many of those being among the 3,000 who put their trust in Jesus Christ when Peter preached in Acts 2.

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Then my thoughts went to who this request did NOT include.

It didn’t include the people who did know what they were doing. 

And who was that?

Remember when Judas came back to the chief priests and elders, the highly honored religious leaders of the time, he said (Matthew 27:4), “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” 

And they answered, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” 

Do you see that incredibly shocking response?

Even though they had pretended to be appalled by Jesus’ blasphemy when they tried him (in their late-night kangaroo court–and here’s an article about that) . . .

They did not care that He was actually innocent.

Those people are the ones Jesus was not praying for when He said, “Father forgive them.” Because they knew exactly what they were doing.

Instead, for them He had the words, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires” (John 8:44) and “This is your hour and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53). 

I’m convinced that Jesus wasn’t praying for them.

If you’ve experienced devilish wickedness at the hands of others (and I know many who have), you can join Jesus in praying for those who didn’t know what they were doing. 

I do too.

For the others, those who made willful choices to accomplish the desires of their father the devil, I soberly join Jesus in saying, “This is your hour and the power of darkness.”

But we who love our Lord know the end of the story.

In killing Him, the evil ones actually helped accomplish our great salvation.

And this we know. And to this we hold on.

Jesus will win in the end.

Amen.

In sober eagerness to see many brought into the Kingdom who ignorantly participated in the evil,

Rebecca

Untwisting Scriptures at heresthejoy.com

See my Untwisting Scriptures series

Trauma-informed Christian book coach at Rebecca Davis WordWorking

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