Carried over from past website.
In Matthew chapter 18 Jesus told the parable of the unmerciful servant. Peter came up and asked “how many times should I forgive my brother when he sins against me, up to seven times?” He was patting himself on the back and he was pretty proud of himself for giving someone seven times. That’s pretty impressive isn’t it? But Jesus looked at Peter and said “no Peter, not seven times, but seventy times seven”. Then Jesus told a parable about a king who wanted to settle his accounts. One servant was brought in before him who owed millions of dollars in debt. The king asked can you pay and the man said no. The king said throw that man into prison, but the man got down on his knees and begged the king, please just give me some time and I will be able to pay. We read that Jesus said the king had pity on him and canceled his debt. That’s what forgiveness is, canceling a debt. The servant got up, walked out of the palace, and came across a fellow servant walking down the street who owed him three months wages, not millions of dollars, just three months wages. The first servant said pay up you owe it to me. The fellow servant said please be patient with me and I’ll pay it all back. The first servant said no I want it now. The second servant said I can’t pay and the servant had his fellow servant thrown into prison. Some other folks who witnessed this went to the king and they said that the servant who owed you millions of dollars, the debt you canceled and you forgave, but he just threw a man into prison for being unable to pay back a few months debt. Outraged, the king called that servant and said let me get it straight, you just threw a man in prison for three months debt when I just canceled millions of dollars debt? With that, the king threw that servant in the prison.
Then Jesus says one of the most scary verses in the Bible. He says, “this is how my father will treat you unless you forgive your brother from your heart” What is forgiveness? Forgiveness is canceling a debt. Forgiveness is dismissing a debt. Forgiveness is giving up your right to hate someone for the thing they’ve done to you. Forgiveness is not letting someone off the hook, but forgiveness is transferring a person from hanging on your hook, to hanging on God’s hook. In other words, forgiveness is not saying they did nothing wrong. It is not saying let’s forget everything and act like everything is just fine. That’s not forgiveness . Forgiveness is saying that was wrong of you, but I forgive you. I cancel your debt. I’m not gonna hang you on my hook, instead, I’m going to trust God to judge you and it’s my business to forgive you and to dismiss the debt, set you free, and then hope we can reconcile. I hope we can restore our broken relationship so that we can live together, enjoy life in peace and harmony. Victor Hugo had a tremendous grasp of forgiveness is outstanding book Les Misérables. Jean Valjean went to prison for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread. Upon release from prison, Jean Valjean had no place to live, but a very kind bishop and his sister took him in for the night. Later that night. Jean Valjean stole the silverware from the bishop and ran away. The soldiers who brought him back to the door of the bishop knocked on the door. They were sure that he was a thief. They were expecting to throw him into prison for the rest of his life and slam the door shut. The bishop looked at the face of Jean Valjean and said “you forgot the candles. He didn’t steal anything I gave him those items as a gift, but he forgot the candles”. He says to Jean Valjean after the soldiers have left, “never forget this, never never forget this. I have bought you back to be an honest man.” The grace and forgiveness that Jean Valjean experienced from that bishop radically melted his granite heart. Jean Valjean was tough. Nobody beat him physically. Jean Valjean was tough psychologically. Nobody could break him down. But confronted by the grace of God and the love of Christ expressed through the bishop his granite heart melted. He repented, and he became an honest man. He became a man who understood that the purpose of my life is to work hard and to help other people to be generous to others, to give to others, and that is what a follower of Christ is. A follower of Christ is a person who understands the creator of the universe is a person who really does love you and me so much that when we were against him, and when we go our own way, instead of washing his hands of us, and discarding us, his son Jesus Christ was sent on a rescue mission to pull us back, to invite us back into eternal relationship with God. When God loves you, you only have to make one decision. You either respond to that love by melting and loving him, or else you just remain hard and reject that love. I plead with you to respond by melting in the face of his love. Ask him for forgiveness put your faith and trust in him and commit your life to him. That is the most wise response to the grace, and love of Jesus Christ.
Story courtesy of Cliffe Knechtle