Was Jesus' Sacrifice Suicide?

[SPBlitz]

I wouldn’t say it is suicide, since Jesus didn’t kill himself, he simply did t act to prevent it. He was crucified for blasphemy. He didn’t make the Jewish leaders arrest him, or charge him with blasphemy. When questioned by both the Jewish leaders and Pontius he answered truthfully. But to the Jews, the punishment for blasphemy was death. When he was arrested and questioned, at that point the only way to avoid execution would be to lie, which Jesus would not do. Simply seeing that a given course of actions will lead to your death is not the same as to cause ones death.

 

[mary15]

He gave His life to save ours!

 

[mary15]

He was put to death because He broke their law, and they were blind to see who He was

 

[mary15]

What greater love is this, that a man lay down His life for others?

John 15:13

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Jesus could’ve gone into hiding, but he knew by doing so, his followers would’ve been arrested and tortured for information which would’ve led to his capture

Jesus knew there was no escape and he knew what his primary mission was, especially after he asked His Father to “let the cup pass from him.”

Jesus followed the will of the Father and laid down his life for mankind

 

[MNathaniel]

I think the obvious reason your interpretation is wrong (and Jesus obviously didn’t “commit suicide”, which as you point out is a mortal sin, which is another obvious piece of evidence that God Himself did not commit it, since God never sins)…

Is that Jesus didn’t kill himself. Soldiers killed him.

And Jesus didn’t walk towards the circumstances that resulted in his own death because he wanted death for the sake of dying. He walked humbly towards the circumstances that resulted in his own death for the sake of his friends.

Foresight of a consequence doesn’t mean the consequence is the thing you really want.

That is, Jesus accepted being executed by others… but only out of love for God and his friends, and he didn’t seek out his own death for its own sake. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Romans, and Jesus makes it very clear in his prayers in the garden of Gethsemane that He doesn’t want to die, but will humbly submit to it if his death (by means of unjust persecution by the Jewish leaders, and execution by Romans, which comes only as a result of Jesus’ determination to honestly preach the gospel, which these hearers rejected and murdered him for) is part of God’s will for how humankind will be saved.

I get how if you use the loosest possible interpretation of an idea that’s kinda-sorta-almost-close-to ‘suicide’, thinking of it only in terms of “Dying when one could have technically escaped dying if they chose to disobey God and prioritize their own life over the life of another”… then you might end up with the conclusion you have.

But that’s not actually what suicide is.

 

[KMC]

So, you see no difference between murdering yourself and dying in the process of saving another?

 

[JimR-OCDS]

It’s a lot different because you don’t have to walk over to a wild predator

Jesus had no choice about being arrested and tortured to death. He knew they were coming for him and there was no way to run and hide without causing the arrest and torture of his followers

As it was, when he was arrested, they wanted to arrest his Apostles too, but he defended them with his words to let them go, it is I you came for.

 

[KMC]

Catholicism does not rely on Oxford/Webster dictionary definitions for theological concepts.

I think this is the quintessential answer, and to assert otherwise would be assert a strawman argument.

There is no question that Catholicism sees a difference between murdering oneself, and laying down one’s life for a friend. One, when done without mental defect, is an act of selfishness, the other is an act of selflessness.

 

[Zaccheus]

@iam1me
Jesus did not commit suicide.

1. He did not desire His own death. He desired to save us and so sacrificed His life for us.
2. He did not cause His own death. He chose not to stop those who came to kill Him.
3. The gospel record shows that He was sorrowful and afraid before the crucifixion. He did not want to suffer nor to die. He submitted for love of us.

Catholicism does not rely on Oxford/Webster dictionary definitions for theological concepts.

And also this.

 

[halogirl]

Simple one - Suicide is grave matter because only God can take life. Jesus is Part of the trinity so therefore God so He is the one allowing the taking of life ultimately, so it’s not sinful and therefore not suicide

 

[Kindnessmatters]

No. God came to us through his son Jesus to bebirn, raised, grow, work and walk among us in human form and to live and die as such. Jesus was persecuted, tortured and murdered.

 

[fhansen]

Suicide would generally apply to a person who wishes to cease to exist, not to someone who knows with certainty that physical death would only result in resurrection.

 

[iam1me]

He handed himself over to them. As seen in the OP, he could have defended himself if he so wished. He did not because he chose to instead fulfill the scriptures, to fulfill God’s will for him. Handing himself over was the same as handing oneself over to a wild predator - knowing what waits for you and doing it anyways. It was suicide.

 

[iam1me]

Catholicism does not rely on Oxford/Webster dictionary definitions for theological concepts.

If Catholicism uses a qualified definition of suicide then please provide an authoritative reference to it. Else we should use the common definition everyone uses.

Suicide is ultimately an act of despair.

Nothing about that in the definition. If you can provide an official Catholic definition then this maybe a valid assertion under that definition.

 

[iam1me]

@SPBlitz

Simply seeing that a given course of actions will lead to your death is not the same as to cause ones death.

When you know a course of action will lead to your death, especially when the goal is your death, that is acting to cause your own death.

 

[EricF]

I’ve shown that Christ’s sacrifice meets the definition of suicide.

You’ve shown no such thing. No one has greater love than this,to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 15:13

 

[iam1me]

He explicitly acted so as to be put to death. This is no different from walking over to a pack of lions, knowing they are about to rip you limb from limb. It’s suicide.

Nothing about the definition of suicide is negated by the fact that Jesus had a reason for doing so.

 

[SPBlitz]

When you know a course of action will lead to your death, especially when the goal is your death, that is acting to cause your own death.

But surely there is a difference between acting to cause your death and simply not preventing your death. One is an active choice and the other is passive. If someone holds a gun to my head and tells me to kill someone, and I refuse, knowing that my refusal will lead to my death, that doesn’t mean that I committed suicide.

 

[iam1me]

@Zaccheus Desire is irrelvant to the definition of suicide. What matters is intent - and he intended to die. He could have not died if he so chose - instead he explicitly laid down his life (no one taking it from him, according to his own words).