"Father, forgive them", why?

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Hello.

In several passages in the NT, Christ forgives people of their sins. But why did he ask the Father to forgive them while being on the Cross, instead of forgiving them himself as he usually did?

Thanks.
 
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Matthew 26:39

Why this too, if he planned of salvation from the beginning?
🤷
 
Kaben123 said:
Hello.

In several passages in the NT, Christ forgives people of their sins. But why did he ask the Father to forgive them while being on the Cross, instead of forgiving them himself as he usually did?

Thanks.
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We are asked to pray for those who persecute us, so who could Jesus pray to?

Blessings

Eric
 
User124 said:
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Matthew 26:39

Why this too, if he planned of salvation from the beginning?
🤷
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Because he was afraid in his human nature, I think.
Eric_Hyom said:
We are asked to pray for those who persecute us, so who could Jesus pray to?
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I don’t understand what you mean. Jesus (the Son) forgave people for their sins, so why pray to the Father for something he could do Himself?
 
User124 said:
Was his character as human in separation with his character as God?
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I’m not an expert on the Trinity, so someone else will have to answer that for you. Not sure if my first answer was correct either.
 
Kaben123 said:
In several passages in the NT, Christ forgives people of their sins. But why did he ask the Father to forgive them while being on the Cross, instead of forgiving them himself as he usually did?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Yes. Many parts of the NT shows Jesus responding to faith and forgiving sin. We can see this on the Cross as Jesus forgives the good thief and reveals, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk 23:43).

Jesus said a prayer of intercession; he asks for forgiveness for his executioners. His enemies/executioners where busy stealing his garments.

Because Jesus meant what he said. And it is something we need to contemplate.
But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
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Luke 6:35
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"Father, forgive them", why?

He’s reinforcing Gods ‘be merciful’ message. And shortly thereafter the first Christian martyr St Stephen did the same thing as he was being stoned.
 
User124 said:
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Matthew 26:39

Why this too, if he planned of salvation from the beginning?
🤷
Click to expand...
Well, what if you knew that you will die horribly the next day? Will you be all smiles and giggles? 😉
 
These things were done for our sake not for His sake.

They show us that he was truly human. That we should seek what God wants, not what we want. They show us to sacrifice for others. They show us to forgive the greatest of transgressions against us.

Peace,
John
 
Kaben123 said:
Hello.

In several passages in the NT, Christ forgives people of their sins. But why did he ask the Father to forgive them while being on the Cross, instead of forgiving them himself as he usually did?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Please pardon my spiritual point of view here,

I am sure that the angels in heaven were alert and ready and poised for battle at the slightest indication of the Father.

Jesus’ conversation was with the Father- …forgive them… and the Father loves the Son and everything that the Son asks, the Father approves.

It is yet another example of the Unicity and Triunicity of the Three Persons. It is not an exercise in redundancy…it is for you and for me to understand that God is One and God is Three and the Son is not the Father and the Father is not the Son and the Holy Spirit is neither the Son nor the Father…but!!..they are one in being and essence.
 
Kaben123 said:
Hello.

In several passages in the NT, Christ forgives people of their sins. But why did he ask the Father to forgive them while being on the Cross, instead of forgiving them himself as he usually did?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
I have said this myself, but had not considered the question you ask, which is a very interesting question!

When we sin, we do something against God. Christ is God, so He can forgive sins.

But those who killed Christ were doing it directly against Him. Christ responded as we should respond when a sin is committed against us. He referred the sin-to-be-forgiven to His Father, Who, one might say, needed to forgive the sin as the sin was committed against Christ, Who could thus forgive only on His own account. (i think this might be just a very loose analogy; I’m not trying to say that Christ would not have been able to forgive them… )

This is also interesting because in the OT, there are lists of sins and their solutions. When they mention it, they say, When a man realizes he has sinned, he must , as if he would not have committed that act had he realized the sinfulness of it.
 
Kaben123 said:
Hello.

In several passages in the NT, Christ forgives people of their sins. But why did he ask the Father to forgive them while being on the Cross, instead of forgiving them himself as he usually did?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Consider this explanation from sacred scriptures:

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. (Deut.18:18)

So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me./ (John 8:28)

For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. (John 12:49)

Our Lord Jesus Christ was obedient to his heavenly Father in everything he did, and spoke while he served his heavenly Father here on earth. Prayer between the Son of God and God the Father was a different matter altogether.

God’s peace

Micah
 
Jesus’ unity with the Father consisted of divinity condescending to unite His nature with a human nature, for our sake, to show us the way back to Himself. For our part we follow suit by rising, with His help and due to His love and mercy, to unite our human nature with His, by partaking in His.
 
Kaben123 said:
Hello.

In several passages in the NT, Christ forgives people of their sins. But why did he ask the Father to forgive them while being on the Cross, instead of forgiving them himself as he usually did?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Because he was a priest.

Remember that Christ is the perfect sacrifice. Also remember that Christ is also the Great High Priest. Christ is both priest and victim.

When he hung on the cross, he was acting as a priest, making an offering of himself to the Father as the sacrifice for all of mankind’s sins - past, present and future. In his cry to the Father asking for forgiveness we hear him asking God to accept the sacrifice of himself.

The book of Hebrews explains the Priesthood of Christ in the context of Old Testament worship which included animal sacrifice for the atonement of sin.

First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in.” These are offered according to the law. Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second. By this “will,” we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:8-10)

Hebrews teaches us about the Priesthood of Christ.

The priests of the Old Testament used to lay their hands on the animal and transfer the sins of the people to the animal, and then slaughter the animal while they implored God to forgive the people. Christ is doing this very same thing. He is not however, offering a bull or a goat, but is offering himself, the perfect lamb.

Jesus’ cry to the Father “eloi eloi lama sabachthani!” is the cry of a priest asking God to forgive sinners.

-Tim-
 
=Kaben123;9574919]Hello.
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In several passages in the NT, Christ forgives people of their sins. But why did he ask the Father to forgive them while being on the Cross, instead of forgiving them himself as he usually did?
Click to expand...
Thanks.
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CHRIST IN-PERSON forgiveness was THROUGH His ever-present Devine Nature as GOD

On the Cross was Christ dying in his “human nature” as “man”👍

God Bless,
pat /PJM
 
patrick457 said:
But the point still stands. I doubt anyone would jump in glee if they knew they’d be murdered next morning.
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I got your point, you may be right, even suicide bombers who want to do the will of god based on some religious convictions, or saints who sacrifice their lives for goodness, gods or people knowing that they’ll go to Heaven, have their times of weakness and fear.
But if Jesus was human and god at the same time, were his characters in seperation? How do we know when he acted as human and when as god?
If you say that he was both of them at the same time, then his pain and fear as BOTH a god and a man would be very much less than our pain and fear as ONLY humans.
Don’t you think so?
 
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