Question about Jesus saying "Father, Forgive them for they know not what they do" ?
Didn’t Jesus say this at a time when people *really* did not know better, since Christianity wasn’t established yet? We now have had the New Testament for nearly 2,000 years, so there is no excuse for people to reject Christ, and Christians don’t have to be a door mat anymore.
34 Responses
Heart of fire
03 Jun 2010
nekoronin28
03 Jun 2010
No excuse to reject Christ huh?
As an atheist…
I reject Christ.
Plain and simple.
Schmo
03 Jun 2010
The very minute someone fulfills all 24 of the prophecies for the Messiah according to Judaism, I will believe that he is the Messiah.
Until then, no. Nobody has done it yet, including Jesus.
OneLastRevolutio
03 Jun 2010
No excuse to reject the Christ? How about the fact there is no evidence, outside the Bible, that Jesus even existed? As far as being door mats. Christians in the US control all the holidays and have had mor power at the expense of other beliefs.
Blessed Cheese M
03 Jun 2010
Makes you wonder why God would listen to Jesus now, and not then…..
Isn’t the request the same from God now..
Forgive my followers because they sin unwillingly?
What if God decides not to?
felixthecat
03 Jun 2010
Yes, you’re right — in spite of Jesus having walked his ministry and his attempts to spread the word of his Father, the people did not understand the magnitude of what they were doing. We should know better — that’s true too…However, our Lord knows that we will always fall short and never be without sin..still as Christians, we have a duty to try, try, try, to spread the Word of God — by our example, by how we live. And when we are disparaged — we have to ‘turn the other cheek’ as Jesus did. Still we are to remain faithful and to pray for those who don’t believe and can’t seem to come to the Lord. It’s not always easy to be a Christian — but in these times, and in the U.S., we do have it easier than it was for those so long ago who had so little support for their faith. Persist in your Christianity – resist the urge to take revenge against those who will reject you — God sees us and knows our hearts. That needs to be enough for us for now.
Truthteller
03 Jun 2010
Actually people have known how to torture and murder for a very long time before Christ came along. As for a door mat, if you´re referring to the cross, nothing has changed in carrying it.
Follows Jesus
03 Jun 2010
very true
The scriptures of the new testament have been around for 1918 years.
Adonai
03 Jun 2010
Hi Skipper,
First off I must ask, did you tap Ginger?
With that said allow me to clarify truth:
Jesus Christ within the bible was a non-physical event; Orthodox views demand all things be physical yet they worship a non-physical God, go figure…
Jesus represented truth, the Apostles represented the 12 personality’s of mankind and how we, within those personality’s interact with the truth in all things.
:Father, "they know not what they do"…was about how mankind rejects truth.
Mankind made Christ and others into a religion, this was never the intent to creat an organized institution at all. Man did this. Man also interpreted the Chirst wrongly withyin Othodox views as they cast the Christ as a literal event in historical terms missing the sprituality of it all.
Liz L
03 Jun 2010
I believe people have the right to choose their religion. It doesn’t matter if you pray to God, Jesus, or Buddha, (Spelled Right?) Prayers go to the same Deity.
People don’t always believe in Jesus.
Rocky
03 Jun 2010
Skipper, the reference is to the Jewish leaders of the Jewish religion of Judah rejecting Jesus because they firmly believed the Promised one, the Messiah, the redeemer was to establish an earthly kingdom in which the Jewish people would rule. When Jesus rejected any thread of this happening, they began to see the decay of their power over the Jewish people, the continued dominance of a ruthless Roman Government and an overall deterioration of Judaism. This was prophesied four hundred and fifty so years prior to the birth of Jesus in the book of Malachi. God told the people of Jerusalem if they did not turn from their evil ways, he would send his messenger, Jesus, and they would be destroyed and the great gates would be thrown open for the rest of the world.
If you recall, the holy temple where the Arc of the Covenant was kept, only the high priest could enter, and then once a year. During Jesus’s time on the cross this curtain was rent from top to bottom, opening access to God through His Son Jesus. Now the Gospel is opened to all men, we gentiles. Now God is available to even we. Now it is Finished. Still Jesus with his great love for the city, for the people—remember coming into town he looked over Jerusalem and wept for he knew their fate, yet He pleaded with the Father on their behalf, for being misled by the rulers of the religion. Takes a lot of character to hang on a cross and ask that his tormentors be forgiven.
Esther
03 Jun 2010
The Jewish leaders, being teachers of the law and scripture, should have known that Jesus was the Messiah. Their own word foretold it! But they refused to see since Jesus threatened their way of thinking and living.
Jesus said this from the cross because the people who were standing there mocking Him had no idea they were actually murdering the son of God. Even the Pharisees who should have known better were blind to who He was.
The bible says that Pilate knew the Jews delivered Jesus into his hands "out of envy". Can you imagine God coming to earth and people being jealous of Him, that He healed and restored and others loved Him for it?
Those who reject Christ today have the same blindness as those who rejected Christ 2,000 years ago. And we need to forgive, as He forgave, and reach out to them over and over, and over again.
F C
03 Jun 2010
No, people today are duped more than ever with the mass media. It’s a form of hypnosis over the human mind. They are not themselves. It’s like the invasion of the body snatchers.
Let’s Play
03 Jun 2010
You are correct, there is no reason for people today to not know. It a choice, accept or reject.
neil s
03 Jun 2010
If he really needed to die for all people’s sins (except the sin of disbelief, for some strange reason) then what did they need to be forgiven for?
KENNETH D
03 Jun 2010
Very true but remember the cornerstone of our religion is a stumbling block to others.
…
03 Jun 2010
so what do you want people to do? Even if they do accept Jesus, what happens next? They go to church, for what? Aren’t they already saved? Maybe they go to the polls to vote like a christian, how does that have anything to do with Jesus?
Bibigirl
03 Jun 2010
Not everyone wanted to hear the truth but not everyone was blind to the truth either.
LimeNinja get th
03 Jun 2010
We also have Green Eggs & Ham, so there’s no need for people to be afraid to try new things.
hoser
03 Jun 2010
Joe C. Jesus was a "liberal."
If Jesus couldn’t convince most of the people he came into contact with, why would you expect people today to believe? Just because a book is old, doesn’t mean it’s accurate.
IMO
03 Jun 2010
He meant that they didn’t know that He was the Savior, the Son of God. Today, despite the New Testament and other advances, people still don’t "know" Him.
Guido
03 Jun 2010
No. The concept of executing an innocent man is universal and goes beyond and before Jesus, Moses and Abraham. Every human group knows this.
Madmax
03 Jun 2010
Thats what I ask for the Hamas fools
Barney Rubble
03 Jun 2010
When He first said this, they truly didn’t know any better. But now there is no excuse for rejecting Christ or harassing Christians. That’s why we shouldn’t have to be a door mat.
bigA
03 Jun 2010
This was more of a metaphysical statement about what we are, or rather what we believe ourselves to be.
The statement is just as relevant today as it was back then.
NorCal Fluke
03 Jun 2010
I don’t need an excuse to reject Christ.
I just need reason.
senorchipotle re
03 Jun 2010
dude… hinduism has been around for about 4,500 years, yet you continue to reject it. why?
Crystal3k
03 Jun 2010
it’s funny how we’ve had the new testament for 2,000 years yet there is still so many people in the world that still do not know what they’re doing. so yea you’d think Christians wouldn’t have to be a door mat anymore but that’s just not the case now is it?
mugfullo2
03 Jun 2010
I don’t agree with the second part of your statement….IF Christ is objective truth, then I’m sure those that reject him don’t necessarily believe that…
I think Jesus was saying the same thing then as He would say today. Jesus is always trying to assuage judgement from us
Truth
03 Jun 2010
People like fundamentalist arab terrorists think they are doing God’s will so they REALLY don’t know better.
The point is when you see people like God sees them you know that they are hurting and lashing out. So you want to sooth their pain rather than lash back which will only make it worse.
primary_chem
03 Jun 2010
God is imaginary. And I don’t like the new color that he’s dyed his antlers… it’s just nasty.
Jon in Canada
03 Jun 2010
"……so there is no excuse for people to reject Christ.."
Excuse me, but if people want to reject Christ, that’s their right. What presumption you have. As for being door mats, please spare me. 2000 years of Christian Hegemony is quite enough thank you.
Dashin’ IN
03 Jun 2010
Jesus asked god to forgive the Jews because he really was their messiah and they did not know it.
It has nothing to do with Christians not being doormats.
No, we’ll have to suffer the non-believers a while longer I think.
But nice try anyway!
Baby, it’s
03 Jun 2010
Yes I agree. He had not died and risen yet so they did not believe he was the son of God. They didn’t know what they were doing, they didn’t believe it because it was too unreal to them. Now that prophesies have been fulfilled, people know Christ and the history of Him so they have no reason or excuse now, for they DO know what they do. And most of them are glad about it. Very sad… I’m sick of being a door mat but I know Jesus will prevail. All we do is for Him!
No, they know just as well has we do now. What Jesus was talking about was that even now people do what they should not do. We did not evolve to be better people. If you think about it our standards have drop even more so since then.
When he was on the cross he said this. We should be the same way if someone hurts us. To ask God to forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.