The Blessing of Forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-35)
Forgiveness is the climax of the love of the cross and it is God’s sole promulgation to sinners for their salvation. Hence, the religion of Christianity starts with the forgiveness of sins. It is Christianity and the cross-centered doctrine that bears the inevitable responsibility to forgive others. Thus, if there is a foremost virtue and emotion one can possess, the first would be gratitude, and the second one would be forgiving the mistakes of others. It is stated in today’s scripture text, God will not forgive us either if we do not forgive others’ mistakes. Therefore, forgiveness toward our enemies is the most important characteristic in Christianity and also the vivid evidence of Christianity.
I. The blessing of “overlooking” our sins.
God’s blessing of forgiveness towards us is a blessing of “overlooking.”
“Overlooking” is defined as:
1) not to consider too deeply and perceive as routine
2) leave aside
3) skim through, miss and skip.
As you can see, God forgave us by overlooking, skipping and skimming through our sins. When God overlooks our sins and enables us to feel the excitement of forgiveness, then the grace of forgiveness of sins will be upon us. Because we have sins that must be forgiven by God, we must understand the will of God to forgive the mistakes of our brethren in order for us to receive forgiveness. When such great joy, excitement and thanksgiving overpower us and overflow within us, we can then forgive others seventy-seven times.
II. The blessing of “remission”.
Remission refers to “writing off” one’s debt. We received the blessing of remission of sins from God. Today’s scripture is spoken in a parable in order to alert us with the punishment that we are faced with when we can not forgive the mistakes of our brethren. If we look at Mt 18:27 and on, we see a servant who had received the remission from the king, yet did not forgive his friend and actually punished him with evil vengeance. Why was this servant so stingy about remission? It is because this servant did not understand the love and thankfulness of remission that he received from the king. Furthermore, there was no gratitude and joy that he escaped the near death status. Apostle Paul said in Col 3:13 “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” What it means is that we must forgive others just like Jesus forgave us. Jesus said, “If you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mk 11:25). What this means is that your prayers will be answered when you forgive others. However, we have no power to forgive others with our strength alone. It is only possible with strong work of love of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, we can forgive others when we are in Jesus Christ. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Eph 4:32). What this means is that only those who are in Christ will possess the loving heart of Christ and be able to forgive their brethren. Such people are the ones who obey the commandments of Christ (1Jn 3:23-24).
III. The blessing of compassion.
“Compassion” is defined as a “heart of feeling pity or empathy.” Without this heart of compassion, we cannot forgive others. “May your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need” (Ps 79:8). Like the confession of this Psalmist, this compassionate heart became a driving force for many signs and miracles, as well as forgiveness of sins. Jesus felt pity on the “great multitude” and healed the sick (Mt 14:14), and the resuscitation of Lazarus originated from the mercy of Jesus (Jn 11:33-35). The forgiveness for the Samaritan woman and the forgiveness of the sins of a woman who was caught committing adultery all started with the mercy of Jesus (Jn 8:1-11). As you can see, Jesus’ compassionate heart became the basic element for healing in life. It is destined to lead you to success in everything you do. We will receive the blessing where all of the chains of sins, conflicts, contradictions and the irrationality will be resolved. Then reconciliation, forgiveness and eternal love will be poured upon individual, household, and the church. We must not forget that the living water that flows deep from the heart of Jesus will soak the entire world and the waves of the river of love will always roll before us and refresh us. The servant whose debt has been written off symbolizes the believers. We cannot be the pitiful people who easily forget the grace of the master because of the greed for the resources and be punished. When we receive the grace of the Lord’s mercy, that mercy becomes the power to overcome judgment (Jas 2:13). Furthermore, when we taste the grace of mercy, we will receive the blessing of unlimited forgiveness, and all problems will be resolved as we receive the blessing of abundance in life. This is the blessing that is not accompanied by painful toils (Prov 10:22).
Conclusion:
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart” (Mt 18:35). Like this scripture passage, we must forgive our brethren “from our hearts.” Now, the faith of the believers who received the blessing of God’s forgiveness must become “hotter.” When we have a burning faith such as the centurion and the king’s official, we can forgive others truly from the heart and practice the Word in our daily lives. I sincerely hope that all of you will receive and enjoy such blessing of forgiveness.
Original Text (Korean): http://www.pyungkang.com/logos_01/169089
Translation by Kim Yeon Hee (Orlando Green Hill Church, USA
