Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them
When he was crucified between the two thieves, and as he hung
upon the cross, and while insulted and abused by all sorts of
men, and put to the greatest pain and torture, he addressed
himself to God his Father: the Arabic version reads, "my Father",
who was so to him, not as he was man; for as such he had no
father; but as he was God, being as a divine person, his beloved,
and only begotten Son: and this he uses, whilst, as man, he is
praying to him; partly to express his faith of relation to him;
his confidence of being heard; and partly to set believers an
example of praying, as he has directed, saying, "our Father" and
the petition put up by him is for forgiveness; which is with God,
and with him only; and that for his enemies, his crucifiers: not
for those who sinned the sin unto death, the sin against the Holy
Ghost, who knowing him to be the Messiah, maliciously crucified
him, for whom prayer is not to be made; but for those who were
ignorantly concerned in it, as the next clause shows, even for
his own elect, whom the Father had given him out of the world,
which were among his crucifiers; for those, and not the world, he
prays: and the fruit of this his prayer quickly appeared, in the
conversion of three thousand of them under Peter's sermon on the
day of Pentecost, next following, in six weeks time. Though such
might be his affection, as man, in general, as to wish for, and
desire, as such, was it consistent with the divine will,
forgiveness for all of them; adding,
for they know not what they do,
or "are doing", meaning, in crucifying him, which was the case of
many of them, and of their rulers; they did not know that Jesus
was the Messiah, nor the prophecies concerning him, nor the evil
they were committing in putting him to death: not that their
ignorance excused their sin; nor was it without sin; nor does
Christ use it as a plea for pardon, or found his intercession
upon it, which is always done upon his own propitiatory
sacrifice; but this is mentioned as descriptive of the persons
Christ prays for, and points out a branch of his priestly office
he exercises, in having compassion on the ignorant, and them that
are out of the way;
and they parted his raiment, and cast lots:
that is, upon his vesture, or seamless coat, and so fulfilled the
prophecy in ( Psalms 22:18
) . (See Gill on Matthew
27:35). (See Gill on John
19:23). (See Gill on John
19:24).