Forgive

Matthew 6:12-15

and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil. (We will talk about these tomorrow)

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

I think forgiveness is one of the biggest markers of our Christian faith. It's a really big deal. It is the road, the path, the street that gets us to God. Without forgiveness we are left hanging out with our sin. We are full of shame, full of regret, full of fear and alone. Think of Adam and Eve: as soon as they ate the apple, their world changed.  Boom. Naked, afraid, shamed, alone. God didn't tell them to feel those things, they felt them all on their own. God killed the first animal as a sacrifice to cover their nakedness and then they were set apart from him. But remember, God promised that day that Jesus was coming. 

Genesis 3:14-15

The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

cursed are you above all livestock

and above all beasts of the field;

on your belly you shall go,

and dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

Jesus came to bruise the head of Satan. He came to fill the gap back in between God and us. After thousands of years, the law being given to show Gods standard and how we don't live up, thousands of sacrifices by the priests to ask forgiveness for Gods people, prophecy after prophecy telling Gods people to return to him, God sent Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins and bring us back to God. 

Remembering all this makes it make more sense as to why God longs so deeply for us to forgive each other. Jesus told this parable to tell this exact story: 

Matthew 18:21-35

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him *ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him *a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

*A little translation of the money amounts here:: a thousand talents: millions of dollars, a hundred denarii: a few dollars. That makes the story pretty exreme, huh? 

Who do y'all think the people in the story represented in your own life? Seriously, come tell me when you are done reading this. 

So thinking on the big picture of the whole Bible, and seeing this parable, now when we read verses like this next one, it begins to make more sense, right??

Mark 11:25

And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

Forgiveness is serious business. God does not want our heart to be full of unforgiveness. When you feel that unfirgiveness creeping in, look to Jesus, remember your sin, remember his forgiveness, see where he is working in their lives, have compassion and patience with them as God is working in them, pray for and encourage them, forgive them, most importantly- love them. This is what sets us apart as Christians.... 

John 13:33

Jesus speaking:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

And Jesus. Always living the example he gave us. From the cross, he says this... (from the cross people, from the cross)

Luke 23:34

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”