Some questions answered about Jesus and His crucifixion. Why wasn’t Jesus stoned to death as Torah demanded? Why did Jesus pray for their forgiveness?
My translation and notes on Luke 23:33-34
33 When they had come to the place which is called Calvary, they crucified him and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.
[Why wasn’t Jesus stoned to death? The Jewish death penalty was to be stoned. The Sanhedrin had condemned Jesus for “blasphemy.” But they turned to the Romans in every which way to have him crucified. Jews could stone people to death without permission from the Romans. Stephen, in Acts 7, was stoned to death. Jesus could also have been stoned to death. The Jewish rabbis in the Sanhedrin knew this passage in Torah: Deuteronomy 21:23 WEB His body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he who is hanged is accursed of God; that you don’t defile your land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance (Emphasis is added). Since God cursed those hanged on a tree, these Jews wanted to show their hate towards Jesus].
34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Then they parted his clothes and cast lots.
[Why did Jesus say that they don’t know what they are doing? They knew Jesus was Messiah. Jesus was authenticated by a sinless life, miracles as healing lepers and casting out a demon, healing all, raising the dead, stopping storms, etc. The Scriptures gave many details about Messiah and all about Him for this earthly ministry had been fulfilled. The Jesus hating Jews thought that in killing Jesus, His followers would disperse, His teachings, life, and deeds which he did would be forgotten. Yet, Jesus knew that in crucifying Him would be the start, not the finish. Jesus didn’t ask God to forgive their sin. Jesus prayed for His enemies just as He has taught His disciples. See Luke 6:29, Luke 6:35, and 1 Peter 2:19–23. Jesus lived and practiced what He taught others. The parting of Jesus’s clothing and casting lots was another fulfillment of Scripture (Isaiah 53:12 and Psalm 22:18). Wilbur Pickering adds: The eclectic text currently in vogue (following less than 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality) places within double brackets the first half of verse 34: “Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing’”. In this way they deny that Luke wrote it, surely a perverse proceeding].