And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
– Luke 23:34
What a remarkable prayer as Jesus is being crucified. That’s the verse right before this. Luke 23:33 says, “They came to the place that is called the Skull, and there they crucified him with criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them.'” He’s talking about the people who are killing him. He’s talking about the people who are taking the most cruel form of torture and death and carrying it out on him. And Jesus looks to the Father and says, “Please forgive them for they know not what they do.” I can’t help but to think about Matthew 9 when Jesus saw the crowds and he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Luke 23:34 reminds us that those who sin against us are in need of God’s mercy.
And there’s so many different things we could say about this verse, ways we could apply this verse, but just think for a moment about people who have sinned against you, who have wronged you. I am certainly not saying this is easy, and I would not say there’s not a process involved in this in many circumstances. But if the Spirit of Jesus is in us, the Spirit of the one who prayed this is living in us, then we have power in us to pray this kind of prayer, to actually stand in the gap before God the Father on behalf of people who sin against us in small ways. Not that sin is ever small before God, but surely there are levels at which people’s sin against us has more significant effects on us or our relationship with them than others.
So to stand in the gap today when someone says something to you unkind and to pray this prayer by the Spirit of Jesus in you, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do,” to look on that person instead of with anger, to look on them with compassion and to intercede for them, and then to examine our hearts today, is there any root of bitterness or in you towards someone else.
Luke 23:34 encourages us to pray for those who sin against us.
And to pray that the Spirit of Jesus in you that we see in Luke 23:34 would help you, would guide you, lead you, transform your heart to be able to stand in the gap and pray this, to see not just that sin for how hurtful it is, but to see that sinner for how needy they are, how much they need God’s grace and God’s mercy, how much they need to see him and his holiness, how much they need the power of Jesus to transform their hearts and their minds and their lives, knowing that sin leads to death.
Jesus is dying on the cross knowing he’s doing it for their sins because if they die in their sin, they will spend eternity in judgment to their sin. Now, we start to see why he has compassion on them. He loves them. Even though they’re doing this to him, he intercedes for them.
So God, we pray for your help to live out the Spirit of Jesus in us that we see in Luke 23:34. God, we pray even right now for anybody who’s coming to our mind that has sinned against us. Father, forgive them. Father, we intercede for them. Right now, we pray for your grace over them, your mercy over them. They need you.
This verse challenges us to follow Jesus’ example.
God, we pray for your help for them. We pray that you would open their eyes to the seriousness of sin, to the beauty of salvation in Jesus, that you would transform their heart, that you would reconcile them to yourself, that you would redeem them and that, God, we pray for restoration with them. We pray for redemption amidst the effects of sin. Oh God, we pray for all these things by the power of your Spirit in us by the love of your Spirit in us. And we pray, oh God… Just as Jesus tells us over and over again… That we would forgive as we have been forgiven and that we would intercede… That we would pray even for our enemies, even for those who would persecute or oppose or want to hurt or harm us. God, we pray for them.
Prayer for Nigeria
And God, as we’re praying like this for people in our lives… And I think about praying for unreached people around the world, we pray particularly today. We intercede for those who are harming your church in different places around the world. I think about militant Muslims in Northeastern Nigeria who have ravaged and are ravaging your church.
Father, forgive them. God, we pray. They need your mercy. Lord, they need your love. They need your grace. They need your transforming power. God, they need your peace. They need your joy. They need you. Jesus, they need the truth about who you are and how much you love them.
God, we pray for them… Even as we pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ in Northeastern Nigeria… To be able to live each day out of the overflow of the Spirit of Jesus in them… And in your Spirit to stand. To stand firm in faith and steadfast in obedience to you just as Jesus did in Luke 23:34. Oh God, our Father, we pray all of this in the name of Jesus… According to the words of Jesus with desperation for the help of the Spirit of Jesus. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
