Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Forgiveness
- Forgiveness: Forgiveness is when our sins are absolved by God. We do not deserve this forgiveness, but God grants it to us anyway. We cannot earn forgiveness, but God gives it to us anyway. As we are forgiven by God, He also asks us to forgive others. In fact, Jesus Himself teaches us to pray for our forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer when He says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
Yesterday I spent all of my space talking about obedience. Today we see the effect of that
obedience. Jesus dies on the cross. That’s obedience.
It’s also forgiveness. He
dies so that we might live. He dies so
that our sins might be forgiven. He dies
so that we can be in a relationship with God that we do not deserve. He dies so that we may reap the benefit.
Look at how many places we can find forgiveness in this
chapter. Jesus forgives the thief on the
cross who humbles himself before Jesus.
Jesus forgives the people gathered around Him as He is hung on the
cross. Again and again Jesus could have
lashed out in divine power and demonstrated His superiority. But instead, He forgives.
The world seems to win.
Jesus is dead. God dies upon that
cross. Rebellion seems to succeed. But God’s hand is at work bringing true
forgiveness into the world.
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