They know not what they do

Luke 23:34 "Then Jesus said 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.' And they divided His garments and cast lots." (NKJV)

Get the picture in your mind.  Jesus knows what is about to take place.  He knows the pain He will endure before His carnal body takes its last breath.  He has already endured brutal beatings and whippings.  His body, exhausted from lack of sleep and food, dehydrated and in shock from the blood loss, now torn beyond recognition.  But it is not the physical pain so much as it is the Spiritual pain that stares Him in the face - He and the Father must be separated, torn apart as He himself bares the sin and shame of the whole world.  The thorns that God had sent to curse the earth's rebellion now twisted around His head.  

As a lamb being led to the laughter Jesus did not resist.  Laying on His back He willingly stretched out His hands to be nailed to the beam.  A soldier raises the mallet in his hand to drive the first spike.  But the soldier's heart must continue beating.  Someone must sustain the soldier's life minute by minute, for no man has this power on his own.  Who supplies breath to his lungs?  Who gives energy to his cells?  Who holds his molecules together?  Only by the Son do 'all things hold together' (Colossians 1:17).  Jesus wills that the soldier lives on.  The soldier swings.

Jesus recalls how He and the Father designed the medial nerve of the human forearm - the sensations it would be capable of.  The design proves flawless - the nerve performs exquisitely as the fire of pain runs through His arms.

He prays for those who take such joy in persecuting Him.  "Father, forgive them."  Not just the Roman soldiers, but that prayer has come down through the ages to us.  They crucified Him in there own ignorance.  Many before Jesus claimed to be the Messiah.  God's people persecuted the prophets before Him.  Peter spoke to the crowd (Acts 2:36-41) telling them to repent - and in this repentance the prayer of Jesus is fulfilled.  In our repentance His prayer continues to be fulfilled to this day.  "Father forgive them."