Father Forgive Them
It is essential to understand that when Yeshua the Messiah was on earth, He had the power and authority to forgive sins (Matthew 9:6; Mark 2:10). He demonstrated this authority throughout His ministry, such as when He forgave the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11), when He forgave the paralyzed man because of the faith of those who brought him to Him (Matthew 9:2; Mark 2:5; Luke 5:20), and when He forgave the sinful woman in Nain for her great love (Luke 7:37, 47).
However, despite His power to forgive sins, the question arises: why did He pray to the Father for the forgiveness of those who tormented Him? When persecutors brought Yeshua to the place called Calvary and crucified Him, He prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
On the day of His crucifixion, after being handed over by the chief priests and elders, Yeshua stood before Pilate. Pilate knew Yeshua was innocent but was pressured to serve the religious leaders’ interests. Pilate gave the crowd the choice to release either Yeshua Barabbas or Yeshua the Nazarene, but they chose to have Yeshua the Barabbas and crucify Yeshua the Nazarene. Pilate, seeing no way to stop the chaos, symbolically washed his hands before the crowd, declaring, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.” The crowd then responded and declared, “His blood be on us, and on our children” (Matthew 27:24-25).
The chief priests, elders, and crowd took responsibility for His death by saying, “His blood be on us, and on our children.” Since they were Jewish, it might seem that they were being held accountable for their sin. However, Luke’s account challenges this idea. While Yeshua was on the cross, He prayed for their forgiveness. This act extended to everyone who desired His death and participated in it—whether the Jews who called for His death, the Romans who crucified Him, or the chief priests, elders, and crowd who were complicit. By asking for their forgiveness, Yeshua was not holding them guilty for His death.
In truth, He didn’t die because of their will; He died because He chose to. As Yeshua said in John 10:17-18, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”
Though those responsible for His death may have thought they were the cause, Yeshua’s death was ultimately His choice. And in asking for their forgiveness, He removed their guilt, as He was the one responsible for laying down His life.
A similar instance occurred when Stephen was stoned and dying, prayed, “Lord Yeshua, receive my spirit” and “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge” (Acts 7:59-60). Stephen echoed Yeshua’s words, possibly because he had heard Yeshua say them or had heard other followers mention them. By praying for their forgiveness, Stephen followed the example set by Yeshua.
The Apostle Paul also faced many hardships and persecutions during his ministry. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-27, he lists numerous trials. It says,
“Are they ministers of Messiah? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.”
As this passage shows there were obviously many people, he needed to forgive for the difficulties they had placed on him and for the hurt and pain they had caused him. He had been persecuted in many of the cities he had visited but he later wrote to the churches in those places to encourage the believers. He was concerned for the spiritual state of the people who had rejected him in his missionary journeys. He wasn’t going to hold on to bitterness against them but had let it go as he forgave them. Some of the examples can be referred in 1 Corinthians 15:32 and Ephesians 4:31 (people of Ephesus), Acts 21:26-33 (people of Jerusalem), Galatians 1:6-7; Galatians 3:3; Galatians 4:13-19 (people of Galatia), Act 16:22-23; 1 Thessalonians 2:2; Philippians 1:3-8; Philippians 4:1-13 (people of Philippi), and 2 Timothy 4:10-18 (people of Thessalonica).
Now, returning to the original question: Why did Yeshua pray to the Father for forgiveness for His tormentors, even though He had the power to forgive sins?
At the cross, Yeshua was bearing the sins of the entire world, including yours and mine. Scripture teaches that sin cannot exist in God’s presence (Psalm 5:4, Isaiah 59:2, Romans 8:3, Romans 8:32, 1 John 1:15), and sin creates a separation between humanity and God (Isaiah 59:2). This is why, in His moment of anguish, Yeshua cried out, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34). He was also echoing Psalm 22:1, expressing a sense of abandonment and the weight of bearing the sins of humanity. He took on the punishment that each of us deserved, paying the price for our sins by dying in our place. By taking upon Himself the sin of the world, He was separated from the Father and could not, in that moment authorized to forgive the sins He was bearing. This is why He prayed to the Father for the forgiveness of those who tormented Him.
Furthermore, those who wanted Yeshua dead mistakenly believed they were removing a nuisance, a threat to their earthly authority. They thought He sought to establish a worldly kingdom and set up a false trial against Him. Despite false witnesses (Matthew 26:60), they could not find any legitimate charges because He was innocent. In the end, they convicted Him because He revealed the truth about who He was (Matthew 26:64-66). They failed to grasp the true purpose of His life and death. Yeshua did not die because of them, but for them. He did not come to overthrow the teachers of the law but to redeem them. Sadly, the chief priests and the crowd that day did not understand the purpose of His death. Because their sin was based on ignorance, not knowledge, Yeshua could not only say, “Father, forgive them,” but “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”
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