John 19:18

Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

Where they crucified him. Four soldiers were employed in this operation, which was done by fastening the body-after being stripped of all clothing except a broad belt round the loins-by nails or bolts driven through the hands to the transverse part of the cross. The feet, though not always nailed, but simply bound, to the upright beam, were almost certainly so in this case (Psalms 22:16). The body was supported by a piece of wood passing between the legs. The excruciating agony of this kind of death is universally attested, and may easily be supposed. But the shame of it was equal to the torture.

And two others with him. In Luke these are called by the general name of "malefactors," or 'evil-doers' [ kakourgous (G2557)]; in Matthew and Mark "thieves," or rather 'robbers' [ leestas (G3027)].

On either side one, and Jesus in the midst - a hellish expedient to hold him up as the worst of the three. But in this, as in many other of their doings, "the Scripture was fulfilled-which saith (Isaiah 53:12), And He was numbered with the transgressors," as it is in Mark 15:28 - though the prophecy reaches deeper than that outside fulfillment. [This entire verse, however (Mark 15:28), is of extremely doubtful genuineness. Lachmann inserts it, no doubt on the strength of the ancient versions; but the manuscript evidence against it is very strong, and while Tregelles brackets it, Tischendorf excludes it altogether. It seems to have come in from Luke 22:37, where we have the same words from our Lord's own mouth.]

JESUS NOW UTTERS THE FIRST OF HIS SEVEN SAYINGS ON THE CROSS

Of these Seven Sayings-embalmed forever in the hearts of believers-one is recorded by Matthew, three by Luke, and three by John. This first one is recorded in the third Gospel only.

Luke 23:34: "Then said Jesus."

First Saying:

"FATHER, FORGIVE THEM; FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO." [Lachmann unhappily brackets this most precious verse as of doubtful authority. But the evidence for it, external as well as internal, is most decisive; and both Tischendorf and Tregelles print it as it stands in the received text.]

The Evangelist seems to intimate that this was said as the executioners were doing, or just as they finished, their dread task. But we must not limit the prayer to them. Beyond doubt, it embraced all who had any hand, directly or indirectly, in the death of Him who offered that prayer-of all of whom, even the most enlightened, the apostle could with truth say, that, "had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Corinthians 2:8: see also Acts 3:17; Acts 13:27; and compare 1 Timothy 1:13). In a wider and deeper sense still, that prayer fulfilled the great Messianic prediction, "And He made intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12) - extending to all whose sins He bore in His own body on the tree. In the Sermon on the Mount our Lord says, "Pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you" (Matthew 5:44); and here, as in so many other cases, we find Him the first to fulfill His own precept-thus furnishing the right interpretation and the perfect model of the duty enjoined. And how quickly was it seen in "His martyr Stephen," that though He had left the earth in Person, His spirit remained behind, and Himself could, in some of His brightest lineaments, be reproduced in His disciples! (See the note at Acts 7:60.) And what does the world in every age owe to these few words, spoken where and as they were spoken!