This essay is based in part on lectures I gave many years ago, in this case, my series called Joseph the Overcomer. Hence, present readers will understand my reference to a prior lecture.
We noted earlier that if we are to become like Christ and learn to forgive like Christ, then we need to see how He and the Father forgave. Let’s look at Luke 23, that famous statement of forgiveness by Jesus on the cross.
Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
Now bear with me as we must get a bit deep in the weeds here to forewarn you of certain misunderstandings (to be kind) that are extant. You will recall that in the last lecture, we closed by sharing with you an article wherein a man was trying to make a case that we ought to hate the Edomites. That is a sad situation because God has written the Script for the bad guys just as he has written the Script for believers.
When believers have hatred within them and give vent to hatred towards the Edomites—as that writer encouraged—that is both sad and foolish, foolish because it is exactly what the enemies of the gospel want.
They are energy vampires. They thrive on and feed on negative emotional energy. So if they can stir up believers to hatred, even hatred of themselves, the Edomites, they love it. Thus hating Edomites plays right into their hands.
I refresh your memory about that because with this verse about Jesus forgiving His enemies, we have a similar situation. I have heard in certain circles, perhaps not by this same writer, but by people who think like he does, people whose heart is darkened by hatred, people who say that this is a mistranslation.
They contend that the correct translation is [spoken with bitterness…] “Father, forgive them not, for they know what they are doing!” Can you really picture Jesus saying that?
For example, here is a self-published book called The Anointed Standard Translation. It is this man’s own translation from the Greek. He totally disdains the King James Version and the Textus Receptus (Latin for the Received Text), upon which the KJV was based. He used various other Greek sources and came up with his own version. And then very modestly and humbly calls it The Anointed Standard Translation.
The author lives not too far from here, over in Tennessee. I was told years ago by a person whose word I trust—a person who knew this man quite well—and he told me that the author of the AST has a sixth-grade education, and he has no formal training in Greek, but he used Strong’s and a couple other Greek dictionaries to make his own translation.
Now I recognize that many decades ago, a man with a sixth grade education might have been more educated than most high school graduates today, and many became self-taught in various fields of endeavor—all to their credit. But there is something to be said for getting some formal training in a classical language like Greek.
Now here in his AST, he omits the part of this verse where Jesus prays for the Father to forgive His murderers. He apparently doesn’t believe it should be in the Bible at all. But this man does have something to say about it in a footnote.
His footnote says that “The Textus Receptus adds here”—and then he quotes the Greek words for that forgiveness section of the verse—after which he says “which would be translated And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ Or, if the comma were placed after ou [the Greek word for not] instead of in front (remembering that the uncials had no punctuation), it could also be translated And Jesus said ‘Father, forgive them not, for they know what they are doing.’ ”[END QUOTE]
Brothers and sisters, this is a prime example of how a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous. Don’t misunderstand me. I am thrilled that there are so many Bible helps books available to our people today so that we can all study the Bible more in depth. But at the same time, we must recognize that being armed with a Strong’s concordance and a couple of Greek dictionaries does not make us Greek scholars.
I had about one semester of Greek in seminary college before I dropped out in 1967 and I don’t count that for didley-squat. But I did study Greek seriously for three years in the early 90s, having been tutored one-on-one by a man who was a college professor of classical languages. He knew Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Syriac and Aramaic. He knew them very well.
I don’t claim to be a Greek scholar at all, and I confess that I am quite rusty now, but I do know that this man’s statement, and others who claim this translation, betray their ignorance of Greek grammar and syntax. The fact is, concerning this verse, you cannot simply move the comma in English and have an equally valid translation of that verse.
Incidentally, I should make a point to say that in another case in the Bible, moving the comma does provide the correct translation and that is where Jesus told the thief on the cross “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
If we move the comma, it reads “Verily I say unto thee today, shalt thou be with me in paradise.” But notice the word “not” is not in this verse. And that is the difference between this case and the one we are dealing with.
In the Greek manuscript, the word order is “Father forgive them not for they know what they do.” And so you can see why he would make that statement. That is what it looks like when we put it in the same word order in English. (Father, forgive them not…) However, in Greek, the rule is that words such as not or never always precede what they are negating.
Let me give you just one example from elsewhere in the New Testament. And it is the same verse we quoted earlier, Matthew 6:15.
While you are turning there, I will just use this minute to comment—and I have discussed this privately with others who understand our Israel heritage. We lament the fact that there are those who by their lack of scholarship are an embarrassment to the whole body of Christian-Israel believers.
Again I mention those British-Israel writers of a century ago. They may have been incorrect in some of their understanding, but most of them were scholars of the first tier. They had classical educations.
They knew Latin, Greek and Hebrew. They knew history. And above all, they knew how to write coherently, cohesively, and logically. And of course, Dr. Howard Rand would fit in that category as well.
However, with the advent of word processors and the internet—which I believe is a good thing overall—but yet it gives the ability for any Tom, Dick and Harry to publish or go online and display their ignorance for all the world to see, and thereby bring discredit and embarrassment upon all of us who happen to share some beliefs in common with Tom, Dick or Harry.
And obviously, by having made these statements, I have now set myself up to be criticized and corrected any time I make a mistake. That’s okay. Please do. I don’t like to be in error any more than anybody else does, but if I do make a mistake—and Lord knows I’ve had my share—then I certainly don’t want it to remain uncorrected. I appreciate your letting me know.
Okay, I’ve got that out of my system now, so let’s look at…
Matthew 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
You will notice that there are two negating words in that verse (not and neither). In English, the translators put the not after the verb, but they put the neither before the verb in the second clause. But in the word order in the Greek and I have checked the Greek text to verify this, both negating words come before the verbs they are negating. That’s the rule in Greek.
You can check any other English translation you want, and I will almost bet, you won’t find any of them that translate it “Father, forgive them not…” But you see, it betrays an attitude of the heart, doesn’t it? An attitude of unforgiveness towards enemies. But what does Jesus command in that regard?
Matthew 5: 43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Let’s pause there. Who was Jesus referring to when He said “Ye have heard that it hath been said?” Was that somewhere in the Old Testament law?
No, you won’t find that in God’s law. Rather, it was the tradition of the Pharisees, the traditions of the elders. In other words, it was men’s addition to the word of God. Jesus was about to nullify that addition.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Okay now, when Jesus said “Love your enemies,” I am aware that some of us have also been taught that [Spoken sourly, snarly] “Well….Jesus was not speaking about enemies like the Edomites, the Assyrians, and the Babylonians here. Jesus is referring here to your fellow Christian brother with whom you have a dispute. Those are the ones we are supposed to love and bless and do good to. Not those wicked Edomites.” Have any of you heard that interpretation before?
Once again, I point out to you that such an interpretation betrays the heart attitude of the one who teaches it. It is simply not true, as the context proves, if we continue on…
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
The sun rises on the evil and the good. Who are the evil and the good here? To you, the good?…and to your brother who offended you, the evil? I don’t think it is referring to two categories of believers, do you? I don’t think so.
Who are the just and the unjust? The just are the justified, the righteous. The unjust are the unrighteous, those who have not been justified by faith. In other words, the unjust are the unbelievers. That is sufficient to prove our point, but let us continue.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
So Jesus is clearly making a distinction here between brethren and others. Therefore, again this shows the absurdity of saying that Jesus was not commanding us to love all our enemies. He certainly was.
Returning to Luke 23:34 once again. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Was Jesus serious and sincere in that prayer? Silly question, isn’t it? There was never a false word that crossed His lips. So if Jesus was praying for His enemies to be forgiven, whom did that include?
Would that have included the Roman soldiers who drove the nails? Yes. Would that have included the Israelites of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Levi and any others that may have been in the mob?… who were led to cry out “crucify him, crucify him.” Would Jesus be praying for the Father to forgive them also? Yes.
Would His prayer for forgiveness have included the enemies of His Israel people, the Edomites, some of whom had intermarried among the Judahites generations ago, and some of those Edomites may have been among the chief instigators inciting the mob? Would Jesus have been asking His Father to forgive them also?
A little hesitation now, have we? Well, Jesus said, Father, forgive them…for they know not what they do.” I used to think that the “them” only referred to the Romans soldiers because they were just following orders and they had no idea what they were really doing. But did any of those involved really know what they were doing?
One might be inclined to say yes, thinking that certainly the leaders knew what they were doing because they were jealous. Because if Jesus didn’t die, then the Romans might come and take away their place, right? That is the argument, but listen to this in the gospel of John.
John 11: 47 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.
In other words, the Jewish leaders probably knew that this was indeed the son of God, but they wanted to protect their jobs, their wealth, and their status.
But notice, that when Jesus says they didn’t know what they were doing, it doesn’t necessarily mean they didn’t know who he was. They could have known that He was truly the son of God and still had no idea what they were really doing by killing Him. Do you see that?
I now believe that none of them really knew what they were doing. This became more clear to me when some other verses got factored into the question. For example, if you will turn to 1 Corinthians 2. We covered this years ago in our Sovereignty of God series when we were discussing predestination vs. free will.
Paul is talking about God’s secret Plan which nobody knew, including Paul himself until God revealed it to him. And remember, Paul had been a Pharisee. Beginning in verse 7, Paul is telling how God predestinated the crucifixion and He certainly kept the plan secret from all the participants, including the bad guys.
1 Corinthians 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” None of the rulers really knew what they were doing. And if we go to Acts 4:27, you will see that Luke tells us specifically who the princes of this world were that were merely following the plan that God had predestinated. And remember, Herod was an Idumean, an Edomite.
Acts 4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
The meaning of the word “Gentiles” is always dependent upon the context, as amply demonstrated by the tract by the late Pastor Curtis Clair Ewing which we have published on our website (under Resources, then under Curated ReadingàThe Meaning of the Word Gentiles). In this verse, since the people of Israel are distinguished from the Gentiles, then the Gentiles are obviously non-Israelites in this verse.
Thus, when Jesus asked his Father to forgive them, it included the Romans, the Israelites, the Edomites, and all other non-Israelites who may have had a part.
Next question: Do you suppose that the Father answered the prayer of His only begotten son? You bet He did, for on Pentecost Sunday and after that, many who had been among those calling for His crucifixion were among those who came to faith in Christ.
If anyone has any doubts about who was in on the action to kill the Messiah, and someone thinks that it was only the Romans and the non-Israelites and the Edomites, then pay close attention here. Peter is addressing a crowd here on Pentecost Sunday and speaking of the Savior, he says:
Acts 2: 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked [anomos: lawless] hands have crucified and slain:…
So who is the ye here? Look one verse above that where Peter begins by addressing “Ye men of Israel.” And then drop down to verse 37 where it says:
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
And you know the rest. As we are studying to learn what kind of forgiveness Jesus and the Father practice, let us look once again at Matthew 6:15, because that certainly looks like the Father is practicing conditional forgiveness. Once again it reads…
Matthew 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
However, we must remember that this is not about forgiveness of sins for the purpose of your eternal salvation. That comes by faith. This has to do with rewards. If I could gin up an illustration, it would be like a dad who says to his son,
“Johnny, my son, I am aware that Bobby, the boy down the street, owes you 50 cents. And he doesn’t seem to want to pay you back. Now your mother baked a chocolate cake this morning and if you would like to have an extra-large piece after dinner, then I would like you to go tell Bobby that you are not going to ask him for the money anymore.
“Tell him you’ve decided he doesn’t have to pay you back. And if you do that, you can have an extra-large piece of cake this evening.”
But the son chooses not to forgive his neighbor, and so dad says to him after dinner, “Sorry son, I cannot reward you with that extra-large piece of cake because you didn’t forgive Bobby, like I really wanted you to do.”
Now granted every analogy has weaknesses, but I hope you see the point. The son is generally a good kid (he represents a saved sinner), but he obviously has not yet grown in character and maturity so that he will forgive Bobby the 50 cents.
Does this mean that his father is angry because his son is a wicked and evil person? No. Does the father tell him he is no longer his son and that he must leave his house (which represents God condemning the wicked to hell)? No, it’s not a salvation issue, it’s a spiritual maturity issue.
The believer who will not forgive his neighbor a debt will simply forfeit a reward he might otherwise have gotten. (He gets a piece of cake, but not the extra-large piece.) So this is not God practicing conditional forgiveness as it applies to salvation. It is not really even about forgiveness per se; it is about forfeiting rewards. Remember, Jesus Himself set forth this principle when he declared in …
Matthew 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
The same idea is reiterated by Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:8 and by John in Revelation 22:12. But let’s go to Romans 5:8. Here then are some examples of God forgiving unconditionally, that is, with jubilee forgiveness.
While you are turning there I will mention another. There is no greater proof of God’s unconditional love and forgiveness than to see that if God has forgiven us before we were ever born and therefore before we could even commit sin, then that’s a pretty good indication of jubilee forgiveness, wouldn’t you say?
Well, Revelation 13:8 tells us that the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. God provided the sacrifice for all our sins before Adam was even formed in the garden. Now if you are in Romans.
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
The better, literal rendering of that middle phrase is “while we are still sinners.” You see, God does not wait for a sinner to repent and quit sinning completely before He offers him forgiveness. That is not a condition of forgiveness. Nor is even your faith a condition that you must fulfill in order to receive forgiveness.
Now hear me out. I say that your faith is not a condition because your faith is not something you do. It is not a work, because your faith also is a free gift.
I hope I have not confused anyone. Let me try to restate it for better clarity. While it is true that we must have faith in order to be saved and to be forgiven for our sins, the fact is that we cannot fulfill any conditions on our own because our faith comes to us as a free gift from the Father as well.
So the only condition is one which the Father placed upon Himself. He is the only one who can make it happen by sending you and me the gift of faith.
Here next is another declaration that our forgiveness is unconditional. It is jubilee forgiveness.
2 Corinthians 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them;
That last phrase could be translated “not counting their sins against them.” Whose sins? Answer: Anybody on this planet!
…and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Finally, turn to Colossians 2. Here again, the idea is set forth that the arrangements for the forgiveness of sins were made long before you decided to come to Christ and receive what He had already provided for you.
Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
You see, you and I were spiritually dead. And when someone is dead, they cannot do anything to bring about their salvation. It is God who quickens us (makes us alive), having already forgiven all our sins.
There is much more I will be sharing about forgiveness in succeeding essays, and as we do, we will revisit the story of Joseph to demonstrate the principles of forgiveness as he applied them.
(To be continued.)
