“Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’” (Matthew 18:32-33 NLT)
Sin seems never so evil as when it’s committed against me! On some levels it’s like no dessert tastes better than the one I shouldn’t have.
In the story in Matthew 18 referenced above, a man was indebted to a king an amount that was impossible for him to repay. His only recourse was to go to the king, confess his inability to pay and beg for mercy. Miraculously, the king forgave all his debt. But rather than rejoicing in that wonderful gift, he left the king and went straight to a fellow servant who owed him a miniscule amount in comparison. But when his friend begged for more time to pay, the forgiven servant had him incarcerated until the debt could be paid. When the king heard what had happened, he scolded the man and had him incarcerated as well.
What’s the picture the Lord is painting here? Our sin debt that we could never in all eternity have paid ourselves was paid on our behalf by Jesus on the Cross. And because of the miracle of grace offered us by Jesus, He requires us to forgive whatever sin anyone ever commits against us. What’s the implication? There’s nothing anyone could ever do to us that would compare with what Jesus suffered in our place on the Cross.
Some might think to forgive someone is cutting them a lot more slack than they deserve. Duh! You think? All we need to do to know that’s true is to look in the mirror. Do you for a millisecond believe Jesus deserved to hang on a cross for your sin? That’s the point! They don’t “deserve” forgiveness, we offer it as a gift of grace in the same way Jesus offers us forgiveness.
My wife and I watch a crime drama series and it always breaks my heart to see a child suffer injury or death due to the carelessness or deliberate commitment of a crime by their parent. In my mind that’s inexcusable, yet it doesn’t compare with what our sin cost God as He allowed His only Son to be sacrificed on our behalf.
C. S. Lewis wrote: “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” There’s nothing anyone could ever do to me, or you that could approximate the pain, suffering, agony, and heartbreak of our heavenly Father as He watched His Son die on the Cross in our place.
Another consideration that gives me peace in forgiving someone who sins against me is this: there’s nothing I or anyone else could do to someone that would compare with the penalty they’ll pay for their sin, not just against me, but against a holy God. The writer of the Hebrew letter quotes Deuteronomy 32:36 when he wrote: “I will take revenge. I will pay them back.”
Even in the Lord’s prayer the Lord reminds us to ask the Father to “forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.” What’s the clear implication? We will be forgiven in the measure we’re willing to forgive. Unwillingness to forgive blocks God’s ability to forgive us.
An unwillingness to forgive is like drinking a glass of poison and expecting someone else to die. It’s self-destructive.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 