They Know Not What They Do

Someone has said, “Laughter is like changing a baby’s diaper--it doesn’t permanently solve any problems, but it makes things more acceptable for a while.”

We find ourselves today laughing at many things in life, such as:

- WE LAUGH AT JOKES. We all love a good joke and some people just live it seems to go around telling good jokes to cause people to laugh

-WE LAUGH AT PEOPLE. Have you noticed, when you laugh at something that happens to somebody else, that’s a good sense of humor. If it happens to us, that’s an outrage.

-WE LAUGH AT OURSELVES. Someone said, “One thing is certain. If you can laugh at your trouble, you will always have something to laugh at.”

-WE LAUGH AT OUR MATES. Someone said, “When a woman laughs at her husband’s jokes, either they are good jokes, or she’s a good wife.” We laugh at our mates.

-WE LAUGH AT IGNORANCE. Many enjoy listening to Paul Harvey. He discovered long ago that people enjoy laughing. One incident he reported was of a bank hold up. A Hispanic man robbed a bank. During the hold up he dropped a speeding violation ticket he had received that had his name, phone number, and address on it. Paul Harvey reported that shortly after the hold up the police were at his home to arrest him.

We go through life laughing at situations. Many of these situations which are no more than DUMB MISTAKES.

Illus: I am reminded of the story of the high school teacher who happened to have an unusual number of students who could be classified as “nuts.” After a particularly hard day of dealing with the below average students, he had to attend a teacher’s meeting. The principal knew the teachers had a hard day so he decided to have some light refreshments for them as he discussed various issues with them. He had some drinks, potato chips, cookies, and some nuts. As he was talking to all of the teachers, he stopped in the middle of what he was saying and said, “Mr. Jones, please pass the nuts.” The teacher said to the principal, “Is this an order sir? Most of those nuts deserve to flunk!”

Often gross ignorance produces humorous results.

Illus: The story is told of one young man whose eyes had been opened to Communism who was sitting in a college class when a teacher asked him, “Who were the first humans to live on earth?” Without hesitation, the young man responded, “Adam and Eve!’ The teacher said that is absolutely correct. She then asked the young man, “Were Adam and Eve Russians, or Americans?” Again, without hesitation the young man told the teacher they had to have been Russians. The teacher said, “You are absolutely correct again, but how can you be so sure that Adam and Eve were communists?”

The student told the teacher, “They had to be communists because they...

-Had no roof over their heads.

-Had no clothes on their backs.

-Had one apple between them.

and, they called this ‘Paradise..”

While we may laugh at ignorance, we also understand ignorance has caused much damage. For example,

Illus: When Saddam Hussein decided to invade Kuwait it drove the price of oil up around the world. That one, egotistical, power hungry, ignorant man cost mankind billions of dollars.

Ignorance has cost this country in many ways. Ignorance is as common in our society as the common cold. Also, like the common cold it has done a lot of damage in a lot of ways.

However, if you want an example of the height of ignorance you have to go back in time to what took place on Calvary’s hill.

On Calvary’s hill, man nailed the precious Son of God to a cross.

It boggles our mind to think. How could they have nailed Jesus to a cross! How could they have done such a thing?

We do not have to wonder how. Look at His prayer. He prayed, Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them; for they KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.”

You might say that was a nice way of saying that those people were DUMB! DUMB! DUMB!

God, in all His WISDOM and COMPASSION sent His Son to live among men to show them how to be saved. He healed the sick. He even raised the dead. How did people respond to such wisdom and compassion? THEY CRUCIFIED THE SON OF GOD! THIS IS THE HEIGHT OF IGNORANCE!

Look at this prayer again. Notice the words, “...they know not what they do.”

Jesus was saying that the men who did that terrible thing DID NOT KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOING.

Even today, men who reject Christ as their Savior DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING.

I. THEY DO NOT KNOW THE MISERY IT COST THE FATHER.