“Forgiveness”
Such a powerful word. The Greek word is translated abandon or leave behind.
An easy word to understand, a painful word to live out.
I offer three realities to you.
- You will be hurt!
The hurt may be minor or major, but everyone has hurt in this life.
- You will respond.
Will you ignore it? Get angry? Fight back? Live a life of bitterness? Some response will be made to the pain of this life.
- How you respond to hurt will affect the rest of your life.
Your Choices
- Repayment. You may seek to pay them back. That looks desirable, but it is quite impossible. In truth if you repay an evil done to you does it make the pain less? Does it erase the wrong? It does not.
- Revenge. Seeking revenge only lowers us to the level of those who wronged us.
- Resentment. We may choose to lock the wrong away somewhere deep inside of us. This serves only to take hostage the soul of the offended. You continue to be the victim of the wrong.
- Another Option: Forgiveness. The first three possible responses to being wronged leave us unfulfilled.
It has been said that the two biggest problems facing believers today are that we fail to understand, receive, and live out unconditional grace and forgiveness. We do not accept the grace freely given to us.
The second problem is the focus of today’s blog. We fail to give out that unconditional grace and forgiveness.
Forgiveness: A Powerful Illustration (Luke 7:36-50)
Setting (Verse 36)
36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.
The Action (Verses 37-38)
37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
Reaction (Verses 39)
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
Can you hear the sneer in their voices? “What kind of woman she is-…a sinner. They cannot
Resist taking a shot at this woman and by extension, Jesus for allowing her actions.
Jesus’ Illustrates Forgiveness (Verses 40-43)
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said. 41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
Application to the Woman (Verses 44-47)
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
Jesus Extends Forgiveness (Verses 48-50)
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Amazing, isn’t it? Jesus modeled forgiveness for a woman who lived a life of sin. She
The Questions Answered (Matthew 18:21-35)
Peter’s question (Verse 21)
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
The question was an honest one. How many times do we forgive our brother when he has sinned against us? This was a common rabbinical question. Jesus’ actions and teachings outlined a radical higher standard.
Peter doubtless thinks he is being magnanimous. Teachers would assert that three or perhaps four wrongs could be forgiven. Peter offered to forgive seven times.
Jesus is doubtless teaching that we must not keep score. Counting the wrongs committed by someone else is contrary to God’s kingdom.
Jesus’ answer (Verse 22)
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Translators disagree as to the interpretation. Some say the verse should say seventy-seven times. Others say seventy times seven. The Greek leaves an uncertain interpretation. To get caught in that discussion is to miss the point of Jesus’ words. Whether the number is 49 or 490 we are not to keep score.
The real question is “When does grace become gullibility? The answer is clear. We extend forgiveness.
An example of forgiveness (Verses 23-27)
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 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. 26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt, and let him go.
This brief parable spoke of a situation easily understood by Jesus’ audience. Debt was a common problem in Palestine. The poor lived on the edge of starvation and ruin. People could easily get in massive debt.
The servant in this part of the story is deeply, deeply in debt. Considering that a denarius was one day’s wage, it would have taken this servant 17 years to earn enough money to pay back this debt.
Additionally, the servant, his wife, and his children were about to be thrown into debtor’s prison. From that prison he would do menial tasks for pay much less than the average pay.
In short, his situation was hopeless. His debt was unpayable.
The servant did the only thing he could do. He fell to his knees and begged for relief. His request was, amazingly, granted by the master. He did not merely refrain from having him thrown into debtor’s prison. He forgave the debt.
This parable is a picture of the enormous debt believers have had forgiven by God. It would simply be impossible for us to do anything to pay our sin debt to God. He forgave us freely.
An example of unforgiveness (Verses 28-30)
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
The parable takes a wicked twist as Jesus continued. The first servant immediately went out and found someone that owed him a small amount of money. He grabbed and choked the second servant. He had the man thrown into the same debtor’s prison he avoided only because of the grace of the master.
The application of this part of the parable is equally obvious. How can one who has been graciously forgiven not forgive a relatively minor offense?
Results (Verses 31-33)
31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
The other servants were rightly outraged at the unforgiveness of the servant. Their lack of grace grieved them so much they reported his conduct to the master.
The result was the master reversed his previous action of forgiving the servant and demanded payment of his debt.
This conclusion to the parable should not be interpreted as a statement about our security or an indication that we could somehow lose the grace we have been given. Jesus is merely illustrating that those who are forgiven must forgive.
TEN BLESSINGS OF FORGIVENESS
Understanding Jesus’ command to offer forgiveness I offer ten blessings that come when we extend forgiveness to others.
- Forgiveness releases the power of God in your life. Nothing is more vital than forgiveness.
- Forgiveness releases you from needless pain. Forgiveness breaks the endless cycle of hurt and unforgiveness. The issue is that you will deal with the consequences of the hurt done to you whether you offer forgiveness or not. Unforgiveness is a deadly toxin that will poison your heart.
- Forgiveness Follows the example of Jesus. Paul says that we are to, “Forgive just as Christ has forgiven you.”
- Forgiveness Liberates you. You are set free from trying to settle the score with someone else. Without forgiveness you are holding on to an uncollectible account receivable.
- Forgiveness Demonstrates a life surrendered to God. We make a deliberate, rational decision. Forgiveness is, for us, an imperative command. It has nothing at all to do with the other person.
- Forgiveness Reveals God’s Work in us at its best. Forgiveness is the highest virtue in man.
- Forgiveness Builds Strength in the Church. It eliminates unresolved conflicts among believers.
- Forgiveness Delivers us from discipline.
- Forgiveness Enables us to have joy and peace. Forgiveness restores the joy of our salvation. Unforgiveness robs us of our joy.
- Forgiveness Thwarts Satan. We forgive, “so that no advantage be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.” (2 Corinthians 2:11. We do not give bitterness a place to find a root in us.
