{"id":87,"date":"2009-11-05T08:24:08","date_gmt":"2009-11-05T14:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/2009\/11\/05\/father-forgive-them-the-angry-jesus\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T21:02:52","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T21:02:52","slug":"father-forgive-them-the-angry-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/2009\/11\/05\/father-forgive-them-the-angry-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"Father, Forgive Them (The Angry Jesus) (with audio)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pf-content\"><p><span class=\"verse\"><\/span><span class=\"checked\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Listen to this article:<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc_fancy_player_container\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-87-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/audio\/Father_Forgive_Them.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/audio\/Father_Forgive_Them.mp3\">https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/audio\/Father_Forgive_Them.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>\n<p><a title=\"Father, Forgive Them (The Angry Jesus) \" href=\"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/audio\/Father_Forgive_Them.mp3\">\u201cFather, Forgive Them (The Angry Jesus)\u201d MP3 File<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 right click and select \u201csave as,\u201d \u201csave link as,\u201d or \u201csave target as\u201d to save it to your computer.<\/p>\n<div class=\"underline\"><\/div>\n<hr>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><strong><span id=\"00Luke2334\">Luke 23:34<\/span><\/strong> <em>Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>What LOVE Jesus had for the people! What a selfless, caring man He was, to have an attitude of forgiveness for the very people crucifying Him! What a HEART FOR THE PEOPLE our Savior had!<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s kinda funny, it makes me a little nauseous just to write that, even though I\u2019m about to rip it to shreds. It\u2019s just so supercilious and over-the-top and, well, the only word I know that really describes it is \u201csickening.\u201d Anyone who believes that first paragraph has a totally messed up concept of who God is, and what Christ was ACTUALLY feeling when He uttered those words!<\/p>\n<p>Most people believe that Christ didn\u2019t really NEED to say those words\u00a0\u2013 He just did so that we could see that He didn\u2019t hold any malice towards those people. To show how great was His unconditional love for mankind. HORSE FEATHERS! HOGWASH! POPPYCOCK!<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s time you <em><strong>USED THE BIBLE to interpret itself!<\/strong><\/em> And it\u2019s time you learned what Christ ACTUALLY was thinking, hanging there on the stake, about to be murdered for no reason! Did you know that the Bible actually has His thoughts leading up to that last \u201cFather forgive them,\u201d in great detail? Brace yourself, because the caring, loving, forgiving little baby-in-a-manger Jesus is about to be seriously redefined!<!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><strong><span id=\"00Psalms6913\">Psalms 69:1-3<\/span><\/strong> <em>Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>But of course, that could describe anyone who has ever been suffering and cried out to God. So who was THIS person?<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><strong><span id=\"00Psalms694Verse4\" data-verse=\"Psalms 69:4\">Verse 4<\/span><\/strong> <em><strong>They that hate me without a cause<\/strong> are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: <strong>then I restored that which I took not away<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Now, that narrows it down somewhat. This scripture was actually a prophecy, referred to in\u2026<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><strong><span id=\"00John1525\">John 15:25<\/span><\/strong> <em>But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, <strong>They hated me without a cause<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>But, perhaps this isn\u2019t the scripture that was referred to by Christ in <strong><span id=\"01John15\" class=\"verse\">John 15<\/span><\/strong>. Of course, Christ WAS the one who restored that which He didn\u2019t take away (life). But still, let\u2019s make absolutely sure this is Christ by reading a bit farther on\u2026<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><strong><span id=\"10John1579Verse79\" data-verse=\"John 15:7-9\">Verse 7-9<\/span><\/strong> <em>Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother\u2019s children. <strong>For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>We all remember the New Testament scripture that ties the \u201czeal of thine house\u201d to Christ. But the last part is the most compelling bit\u00a0\u2013 this was quoted in the New Testament as well, in\u2026<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><strong><span id=\"00Romans153\">Romans 15:3<\/span><\/strong> <em>For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, <strong>The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>So this brings into focus pretty well just WHO we are talking about\u2026 but still, let\u2019s make absolutely certain\u2026<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><strong><span id=\"20Romans1513Verses13\" data-verse=\"Romans 15:13\">Verses 13<\/span><span class=\"unbold\">,<\/span>19-21<\/strong> <em>But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation\u2026 Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and <strong>I looked for some to take pity, but there was none<\/strong>; and for comforters, but I found none. <strong>They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>If there remained any question as to whom this was referring, I think that settles it. No other being was forsaken by his friends and family, given vinegar and gall while suffering and praying to God, and restored the life which He had not taken away from mankind. It had to be Jesus Christ. I belabor this point because the next thing He says sounds totally unlike someone who \u201chad a heart for the people.\u201d And if <em>JESUS<\/em> didn\u2019t have a heart for the people, then, who did?<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><strong><span id=\"30Romans152224Verses2224\" data-verse=\"Romans 15:22-24\">Verses 22-24<\/span><\/strong> <em>Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. <strong>Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not<\/strong>; and make their loins continually to shake. Pour out thine indignation upon them, <strong>and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Wow! Sweet, <em>LOVING,<\/em> Jesus sounds downright bent! Could this be the same man? Would THAT Jesus want these people who were crucifying Him BLINDED, and TRAPPED, and PUNISHED by God in all His Divine FURY?? But wait, He is just getting started!<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><strong><span id=\"40Romans152528Verses2528\" data-verse=\"Romans 15:25-28\">Verses 25-28<\/span><\/strong> <em>Let their habitation be <strong>desolate<\/strong>; and let none dwell in their tents. For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. <strong>Add iniquity unto their iniquity<\/strong>: and let them not come into thy righteousness. <strong>Let them be blotted out of the book of the living<\/strong>, and not be written with the righteous.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Incredible, isn\u2019t it? That this selfless, caring and above all, FORGIVING man, should want these people blinded, killed, maimed and utterly destroyed?? But it\u2019s right there in black and white. What\u2019s that you say? How do I harmonize this attitude with Him asking \u201cFather, forgive them?\u201d Hey, I\u2019m getting there, don\u2019t rush me!<\/p>\n<p>See, as we all know, that\u2019s not the only Psalm that is referring to Christ. A LOT of them are devoted to prophecies about Him. Another good case in point, that is referring to the same time period, is\u2026<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><strong><span id=\"10Psalms10915\">Psalms 109:1-5<\/span><\/strong> <em>Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise; For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They compassed me about also with words of hatred; <strong>and fought against me without a cause<\/strong>. For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer. And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Again describing Christ hanging on the stake. The false witnesses, condemning him without a cause, rewarding evil for good and hatred for his love, can only refer to him. So again, let\u2019s go on and read how He FEELS about these people killing him!<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><strong><span id=\"50Psalms109611Verses611\" data-verse=\"Psalms 109:6-11\">Verses 6-11<\/span><\/strong> <em>Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand. When he shall be judged, <strong>let him be condemned:<\/strong> and let his <strong>prayer become sin<\/strong>. <strong>Let his days be few<\/strong>; and let another take his office. <strong>Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow<\/strong>. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. <strong>Let the extortioner catch all that he hath;<\/strong> and let the strangers spoil his labour.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Again, wow is the only word that says it! This <em><strong>forgiving<\/strong><\/em> man wanted these people to be CONDEMNED when they were judged, He wanted their prayers to be considered a <em><strong>sin<\/strong><\/em> and their lives to be ended while they were still young, orphaning their children and widowing their wives\u00a0\u2013 but He doesn\u2019t stop there! He wants their CHILDREN to have grief, and to be forced to beg for a living! But really, He\u2019s just getting warmed up!<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><strong><span id=\"60Psalms1091216Verses1216\" data-verse=\"Psalms 109:12-16\">Verses 12-16<\/span><\/strong> <em>Let there be <strong>none to extend mercy unto him<\/strong>: neither let there be any to <strong>favour his fatherless children<\/strong>. Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following <strong>let their name be blotted out<\/strong>. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; <strong>and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out<\/strong>. Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He\u2019s really going all out with this cursing thing! He wants these men to NEVER be forgiven! He wants their orphans to not receive kindness! He wants their blood line to end with their children! But even more, He wants their PARENTS to be punished! He wants their MOTHER\u2019S SINS TO NEVER BE FORGIVEN! All because they are persecuting Christ. Now, is that the Jesus that YOU know and love? I doubt it!<\/p>\n<p>Now that we have put all this in perspective, we can examine what Christ said at the very last\u00a0\u2013 after all of this\u00a0\u2013 hanging on the stake, just before He died and restored that which He hadn\u2019t taken away.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><strong><span id=\"01Luke2334\">Luke 23:34<\/span><\/strong> <em>Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>ONLY NOW can you really see WHY Christ said that! Because if, instead of saying that, He had simply said \u201cAmen,\u201d after the things He had prayed earlier that we read in <strong><span id=\"01Psalms69\" class=\"verse\">Psalms 69<\/span><\/strong> and <strong><span id=\"02Psalms109\" class=\"verse\" data-verse=\"Psalms 109\">109<\/span><\/strong> (and there are more in other places), EVERY LIVING THING THAT WAS INVOLVED IN CRUCIFYING HIM WOULD HAVE BEEN KILLED AND <em>NEVER<\/em> FORGIVEN! And not only those involved, but their relatives, their ancestors, and their children!<\/p>\n<p>As it was, there <em>were<\/em> earthquakes, the sun <em>was<\/em> darkened, and it <em>was<\/em> clear that God was very angry. But had Christ NOT asked His Father to forgive them, (instead of asking God <em>NOT<\/em> to forgive them, as He had just done), they would have been dead. And not only dead, but dead PERMANENTLY!<\/p>\n<p>Remember, it would in no way have been wrong for Christ to say \u201cAmen,\u201d and to close his earlier prayer asking for their deaths. After all, hadn\u2019t those same Jews screamed to Pilate \u201cLet His blood be upon our heads, and our children\u2019s heads!?\u201d They DESERVED, by their own statement, everything Christ asked for them to get!<\/p>\n<p>Still, God didn\u2019t create man to kill him, and those men didn\u2019t realize what they were doing. But wait a moment! DID God (or Christ) forgive them <em><strong>THEN?<\/strong><\/em> We might assume so, but WERE they forgiven there, on the spot?<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s stop and consider this for a moment. Christ asked that God forgive them. We know that God hears Christ, and so we know that He will. But forgive them\u2026 Why? When? Did Christ\u2019s statement mean that God had to forgive everyone present of all their sins and put them in the first resurrection on the spot?<\/p>\n<p>That clearly didn\u2019t happen, so if He wasn\u2019t asking God to forgive their sins and put them in the kingdom, and He WASN\u2019T just showing \u201can attitude of forgiveness,\u201d WHAT WAS HE ASKING FOR??<\/p>\n<p>As I said, we can be sure that the Father answered Christ\u2019s prayer. Therefore, all we have to do is follow the lives of these men who were killing Christ to see if, how, and WHEN He did!<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><strong><span id=\"00Acts236\">Acts 2:36<\/span><\/strong> <em>Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom <strong>YE HAVE CRUCIFIED<\/strong>\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>This sets the context for who we are talking about. The setting was still Jerusalem, about 53 days after the crucifiction. Many of the same people were here, since the holy day seasons were commanded assemblies and all Israelite males HAD to appear before God in Jerusalem <strong><span class=\"make_blue\">(<\/span><span id=\"00Deuteronomy1616\" class=\"verse\">Deuteronomy 16:16<\/span><span class=\"make_blue\">)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>So to these men who had just a few weeks past screamed to Pilate \u201cLet His blood be upon our heads and our children\u2019s heads!,\u201d and proceeded to string their savior up to a stake and murder him, Peter says that God made that same Jesus, whom YOU have crucified!<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><strong><span id=\"10Acts237\">Acts 2:37<\/span><\/strong> <em>Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>But wait a minute! Christ asked for them to be forgiven for THAT SIN on the stake ALREADY! If they had ALREADY BEEN FORGIVEN, THEY DIDN\u2019T NEED TO DO ANYTHING!<\/p>\n<p>BUT THEY HADN\u2019T BEEN!!<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><strong><span id=\"20Acts238\">Acts 2:38<\/span><\/strong> <em>Then Peter said unto them, REPENT\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Again\u2026 IF they\u2019d been forgiven, they didn\u2019t need to repent of Killing their Creator!<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><em>\u2026and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ <strong>for the REMISSION of sins<\/strong>, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>They needed to REPENT of their sins, and be Baptised BEFORE their sins, including that of killing their God, COULD BE FORGIVEN! So you see\u00a0\u2013 Christ asked God to forgive them! And God DID! AFTER THEY REPENTED, about 53 days later.<\/p>\n<p>But if Christ HADN\u2019T ASKED GOD TO FORGIVE THEM, they would have been like Esau, and NEVER able to receive forgiveness! Because remember, Christ specifically asked God NOT to forgive them, EVER!<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"verse-highlight\"><strong><span id=\"00Hebrews1217\">Hebrews 12:17<\/span><\/strong>  <em>For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: <strong>for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>And so after killing their Creator, and after Christ Himself pronouncing a CURSE upon them, these men would have died, and could NEVER have found a place of repentance, even if they sought it by begging God, with tears, they could NEVER have been forgiven, because THAT WAS THE CURSE!<\/p>\n<p>But instead, Christ got ahold of Himself, and RULED His spirit, looked at the situation objectively, and asked God to forgive them. He didn\u2019t have to add WHEN THEY REPENT, because God, Christ, and any true Christian <strong>already knew<\/strong> that GOD NEVER FORGIVES WITHOUT REPENTANCE!<\/p>\n<p>So to summarize those last few minutes of Christ, He was hung on a stake, with a crown of thorns and nails through His extremities, and he was angry. He was downright enraged. He didn\u2019t DESERVE THIS! And He didn\u2019t feel loving, or forgiving, and He certainly didn\u2019t seem to have a HEART FOR THE PEOPLE KILLING HIM!<\/p>\n<p>And so He prayed some things to His Father, which, if performed, would kill a great many people\u00a0\u2013 people who had earned that penalty, granted, but people who, He finally realized, really had no idea what they were doing. Like being angry at a bee for stinging you, he is just doing his job, what he was made to do. He doesn\u2019t mean it personally. So you wouldn\u2019t kill every bee on earth if one stung you.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise Christ realized that these men were deceived, and had no idea what they were really doing. They really DIDN\u2019T deserve to never be forgiven. And so Christ took a deep breath, and got a grip on his anger, and (with implied meaning included) prayed to God\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFather, forgive them, WHEN THEY REPENT, for they know not what they do!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do\u2026 What LOVE Jesus had for the people! What a selfless, caring man He was, to have an attitude of forgiveness for the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,11],"tags":[22,26,18,41],"class_list":["post-87","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-symbolisms","category-with-audio","tag-carnal-heart","tag-jesus","tag-righteousness","tag-spirit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4281,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions\/4281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesimpleanswers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}