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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Matthew 23:34
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Today is Good Friday and as we come to our sixth devotion in the Passion Week series, I want to touch on an important aspect of the cross, one I believe that gets lost sometimes in all our thinking about Jesus and His suffering as He paid the penalty for our sins.
You see, we need only look to the cross of Calvary and the outstretched arms of Jesus nailed to it to find our yardstick with which to measure the forgiveness we are to extend to others.
With this, a question.
Who do you know in your life that needs your forgiveness?
We all have someone, perhaps a family member or a friend or a co-worker. Maybe it’s even a stranger who has done harm to us or someone we know. Everyone at some time or another in life will have to face the matter of forgiving another and it’s not always easy. For sometimes, we refuse to forgive and continue harboring ill will against the one who has wronged us. And in this midst of refusing to pardon the wrongs someone has done to us or someone we know, we lose sight of one very important truth:
We all have wronged the Lord, and we’ve done it over and over and over again.
If we're really honest with ourselves, we would see that the Lord blesses us so very much and then we too often show our gratitude by disobeying and disregarding Him in the way we live. Our response to His call to righteousness is too often wickedness.
Frankly, it’s amazing that all of us haven’t just been wiped off the face of the earth. It would be something we would fully deserve.
But that’s not what happens, does it? The Lord doesn’t strike us down when we wrong Him. Instead, He grants us His forgiveness and grace and love. I don’t know about you but I would have trouble counting the number of times He has pardoned me and accepted my cries for mercy born from prayers of repentance.
So if the Lord can be so gracious and compassionate and merciful, then what’s our problem? Why aren’t we willing to release a grudge we are holding against another and instead show the same clemency that He has shown us?
After all, didn’t the very words of Jesus command us to do so?
Look at the direction He gave Peter (and us) on the matter of forgiving:
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
Matthew 18:21-35
Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
Matthew 18:21-35
Indeed, we are to forgive as the Master forgives unless we want to invite our God to begin holding our sin debt against us.
Now, this would have been enough on it's own but we need to look to Calvary where we find one more forgiveness standard to seal this message…for the proper administration of forgiveness is found at the cross where Jesus, the Savior of the world, was dying from crucifixion when He spoke these words:
"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Matthew 23:34
In the midst of more suffering than any of us will ever know, Jesus forgave.
In the presence of the mocking and ridicule from the Roman soldiers and the crowds who gathered to watch Him die, Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, chose to not condemn and instead asked for pardon from His Father.
As His life dwindled away in the midst of great suffering, God's only Son, the Savior who did nothing but love and teach and heal during his short life on earth, didn't harbor a grudge against those who wronged Him but instead showed mercy.
The crucified Jesus, knowing He was soon to die while bearing all the sin of mankind, did not pass blame onto those who were killing Him. No, He forgave.
And this man Jesus, who could have commanded a legion of angels to come and kill everyone who had done Him wrong, instead chose to forgive, for anyone who would crucify and kill Him surely could not possibly know what they were doing.
Friends, the Lord is speaking loudly to us on this holy Good Friday. For if Jesus could forgive in the midst of His circumstances, then so can we in any situations we have faced, are facing, and are yet to face.
My prayer today is that you will commit yourself to forgive as Jesus did from the cross and let go of any ill will you have carried against another, an ill will that does nothing but poison you from the inside out, an ill will that pulls you away from living and loving and showing the mercy of Jesus to others, a grudge that you have no right to carry.
In the end translation, God’s word is clear. We are to forgive as Jesus forgave us.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
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