Forgiving Others

“‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing’” (Luke 23:34).

As Jesus forgave others (including us), we should extend forgiveness to those who wrong us.

Jesus had a forgiving heart right up to the end, even after He had experienced a lifetime of mankind’s worst treatment. He came down to a world He had created, but that world rebuffed Him. Its inhabitants’ eyes were blinded by sin, and they could not see any beauty in Jesus. Almost immediately after His humble birth in a stable, King Herod sought to have Him killed (Matt. 2:13, 16-18). And the Jewish leaders on various occasions contested Christ’s teachings and looked for opportunities to seize Him and kill Him. The cross was just the culmination of a lifetime of persecution against Jesus.

Jesus’ death by crucifixion was one of the most humiliating, painful forms of execution the world has ever known. From a human perspective, we would have expected Him to plead with God the Father for mercy or to be enraged at God and denounce Him for allowing Him to be crucified. If we had written the original script for Jesus’ crucifixion scene, we probably would have had Him screaming threats of retaliation at His killers. But our Savior did none of those things. Instead, He asked His Father to forgive His enemies.

The Lord Jesus prayed for the most important need His executioners would ever have. They would never be able to enter the presence of a holy God if their sins were not forgiven. Christ was concerned that His opponents, who were ignorantly putting Him to death, have an opportunity to be forgiven rather than endure God’s vengeance.

Such an attitude of love and mercy should also be ours. We, unlike Jesus, are sinners ourselves who need constant forgiveness. Therefore, when we are wronged, our primary concern ought to be that God would forgive the one who has sinned against us. An excellent model of this attitude is Stephen, who prayed as he was being stoned to death, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” (Acts 7:60). He followed Christ’s own example of love and forgiveness, and so should we.

Pray that you may have a more consistently forgiving attitude toward others who wrong or offend you.

What is implied in Jesus’ figurative expression “seventy times seven” (v. 22) regarding forgiving others? Ultimately, how much does it matter that we maintain a forgiving attitude (vv. 32-35)?

Forgiveness is an interesting subject. Christ taught how we’re to forgive in Luke:

Luk 17:3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
Luk 17:4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

So the formula is that if our brother trespasses against us, our brother must repent, then we forgive him.

Makes sense. God doesn’t forgive our sins and save our souls unless we first repent. God doesn’t stop chastising us if we’re backsliding unless we first repent. If a brother is brought before the church for trespasses, and he refuses to repent, we’re not to forgive him but instead treat him like a heathen and throw him out (Matt. 18:15-17).

There’s also this, obviously directed at people who were not their brothers:

Rev 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Rev 6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

These are souls under the very altar of heaven, and there’s zero forgiveness there for those who had killed them. Instead, they’re pleading with God to take vengeance on those who killed them. And, instead of rebuking them for this attitude, they are rewarded with white robes.

So blanket forgiveness, no questions asked, is problematic, and passages that imply no-questions-asked-forgiveness need to be tempered with this apparent need for repentance before forgiveness is granted. I doubt seriously that Judas’ sins were forgiven, for example. Christ as much as damned him in John 17:12, calling him the son of perdition/damnation.

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