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that they did not realise what they were doing; in other words they were committing a sin of ignorance. If the princes of this age had known what they were doing they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:8). Whether the “they” that Christ spoke of were simply the soldiery that carried out the crucifixion or all those who were involved in getting Christ crucified may be a matter for enquiry, but I think it is inconceivable that Christ’s Father would not have done what Christ asked. One wonders therefore whether in judgement day anyone will actually be charged with the crucifixion of Christ.

Then there is the case of Stephen. He did not say he forgave those who were stoning him but said: “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge” (Acts 7:60). He did not say that they did not know what they were doing, but made a statement which showed that he bore no malice against those who were stoning him. Saul (afterwards called Paul - Acts 13:9) was present at the stoning of Stephen and no doubt Stephen’s demeanour had an effect on him; at least he afterwards refers to the event (Acts 22:20).

In contrast to what we get in connection with Christ and Stephen the Old Testament includes statements such as: “Do not thou forgive them !” (Isaiah 2:9) See also Jeremiah 18:23.

As to readiness to forgive as distinct from actual forgiveness we have the statement in Nehemiah 9:17 “ Thou art a God ready to forgive”. A similar statement is found in Psalm 86:5.

Apart from the forgiveness of sins we also get the idea of forgiving a debt. We get this in Luke 7:41/42 and also Matthew 6:12, 18:32/33 . Forgiving a debt does not involve repentance on the part of the debtor as it does for an actual sin, though sins may be likened to debts.

We should not bear grudges (Leviticus 19:17/18) and it is likely that this is what Christ had in mind when He said: “And when ye stand praying, forgive if ye have anything against any one” (Mark 11:25). There is no idea that the “any one” is present at the time. The forgiving is something done in the heart and would not necessarily involve any communication to the other party. What we have against the other person may not necessarily be a matter of sin as Christ speaks of “anything”.

What the above amounts to is this so far as we are concerned. We should not bear grudges, but