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Here, too, the question is how to reconcile these words of Christ,
namely, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they
do,"[1817] with the following text: "Fill ye up then the
measure of your fathers."[1818]
There are three conclusions. (1) "The rulers of the Jews knew
that He was the Christ, and if there was any ignorance in them, it
was affected ignorance, which could not excuse them. Therefore their
sin was most grievous, on account of the kind of sin, as well as from
the malice of their will. (2) The Jews also of the common class
sinned most grievously as to the kind of their sin; yet in one respect
their crime was lessened by reason of their ignorance. (3) But the
sin of the Gentiles, by whose hands He was crucified, was much more
excusable, since they had no knowledge of the Law."
Reply to first objection. "The excuse made by our Lord: ‘they
know not what they do,'[1819] is not to be referred to the
rulers among the Jews, but to the common people."
Concerning the reply to the second objection, Cajetan says: "It is
a matter of dispute here whether Judas sinned more grievously or the
rulers of the Jews, ... and we must say that Judas sinned more
grievously. For he was raised above them, inasmuch as he was an
apostle. And he not only had seen Christ's miracles, but had also
worked miracles in Christ's name, having received this power from
Christ, just as the other apostles had.[1820] And he confessed
Jesus to be the Christ,[1821] approving of Peter's answer
who, in the name of all the disciples, said: "Thou art
Christ';[1822] and, in short, above the malice that he shared
in common with the rulers, his ingratitude was the greatest, and he
added to this kind of sin the baseness of betrayal."[1823]
Thus we have sufficiently examined the causes of Christ's passion.
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