by Bruce Mackay | Download PDF | Purchase Hardcopy

'Please forgive me' are sometimes the hardest words to come out of our mouth. Yet, to the hearer, they are powerfully impacting and very hard to ignore or refuse response. We have all found ourselves on both sides of the fence; on one hand knowing we need to ask someone's forgiveness and on the other hand, hurting and longing for the one who has offended us to just say, 'Sorry', and ask for forgiveness.

Much emotional trauma stems from unforgiveness. Unforgiveness leads to resentment, bitterness, anger and hatred. Many family and social behavioural problems come from anger and hatred. In fact, in the most serious yet not uncommon circumstances, what started as unforgiveness has led to murder.

The subject of forgiveness is foremost in Jesus' teaching. In fact, Jesus made it absolutely clear that unforgiveness is the most serious sin to harbour in our heart. He said that if we do not forgive the one who has sinned against us, we will not receive forgiveness from God our Father. Unforgiveness will take us to an eternal hell.

'For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.' Matt 6:14-15.

We all want and need our heavenly Father's forgiveness. In fact, we seem to almost think that it is God's duty to forgive us. We don't always consider the degree of offence we have brought to God. He is God; He should just forgive. Yet, when we have been offended and sinned against by another, we almost feel it is our right to not forgive them. After all, they wronged us – why should we let them off by forgiving them?

To make it clear about the need to forgive, Jesus told a story.

Peter came up to the Lord and asked, 'How many times should I forgive someone who does something wrong to me? Is seven times enough?' Jesus answered, 'Not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!'

This story will show you what the kingdom of heaven is like. One day a king decided to call in his officials and ask them to give an account of what they owed him. As he was doing this, one official was brought in who owed him fifty million silver coins. But he didn't have any money to pay what he owed. The king ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all he owned, in order to pay the debt. The official got down on his knees and began begging, 'Have pity on me, and I will pay you every cent I owe!' The king felt sorry for him and let him go free. He even told the official that he did not have to pay back the money.

As the official was leaving, he happened to meet another official, who owed him a hundred silver coins. So he grabbed the man by the throat. He started choking him and said, 'Pay me what you owe!' The man got down on his knees and began begging, 'Have pity on me, and I will pay you back.' But the first official refused to have pity. Instead, he went and had the other official put in jail until he could pay what he owed. When some other officials found out what had happened, they felt sorry for the man who had been put in jail. Then they told the king what had happened. The king called the first official back in and said, 'You're an evil man! When you begged for mercy, I said you did not have to pay back a cent. Don't you think you should show pity to someone else, as I did to you?' The king was so angry that he ordered the official to be tortured until he could pay back everything he owed. 'That is how My Father in heaven will treat you, if you don't forgive each of My followers with all your heart.' Matt 18:21-35.

In this parable, the first official called before the king to give account for his debts, is like you and me giving account of our life to God. If you were to calculate the amount this man owed into our currency it would be around $600 million dollars. It is no surprise that that is a huge debt and is not the sort of money that you could easily lay your hands on. We are not told how this man accumulated such a debt. Perhaps he was a business man who received government assistance to do a large project and the whole thing failed. We don't know, but we do know he was in debt and it was time to pay up. It would cost him everything, even his family. Note his response to the king. He fell in front of the king, begging for pity and mercy saying that if he was given more time that he would be able to repay the debt. The king knew that even if he gave him the rest of his life, he would never be able to repay $600 million dollars!

In asking for mercy and patience, he was asking the impossible and promising the impossible saying, 'I will pay you all'. This is the true picture of us. Our sin against God is so great. All the lies, the deceit, jealousy, anger, lust, greed, and the list could go on and on. Think of day after day after day where we have not even given our Father in heaven a thought, let alone put Him first in every decision we have made. No, our sin against God is likened to a $600 million dollar debt that we have no capacity to repay. In fact, an eternity in hell could not repay our sin against God.

Yet, like this man, we can call on the name of Jesus and plead for His mercy and forgiveness. Because of God's love for us and Jesus dying for our sins, we can be forgiven of our sin. In this story, Jesus told of how the king had compassion on this man's debt and not only spared his life and his family but he freely forgave him of his debt and told him that he now owed nothing. He was forgiven and he was free.

What relief, what joy, what freedom – he had, in fact, received $600 million dollars and owed nothing. The Bible says that when one sinner repents, there is joy in heaven. When we turn to Christ and accept that we are the sinner and that He died for our sin, we can know the joy of an eternal debt forgiven.

You would assume that this forgiven officer would throw a party in thanks for the king's generous forgiveness. But no, his thankfulness was short-lived. He met someone who owed him money, around $10,000 in our currency. A reasonable sum of money, but in comparison to the $600 million dollar debt that he had previously had, it didn't even register. The forgiven man demanded the $10,000. The man owing him the money also fell down and made the exact same plea for mercy and patience. Not unreasonable, as $10,000 is a viable amount to raise and pay back. Despite the compassion shown to the forgiven man, he did not do likewise. No forgiveness or compassion was offered, only demand. 'You owe me, you pay me; I won't forgive.'

I wonder how we all stand on that one? To be honest, most of us have no argument if someone shows compassion to us and freely forgives us. When it comes to forgiving another, we have good memories and hard hearts. We know every detail of where we were wronged and want to extract every last inch of our right to justice from the offender.

Please be assured that this is not written to make light of what may have been done to you. Many have suffered at the hands of others in the most horrible ways. We all need to know God understands, He cares and He has compassion. Many don't realise that Jesus actually stepped in and carried your pain and suffering in His body on the cross. Jesus sympathises with us because He has suffered it all. While Jesus hung on the cross, bearing all our sin and all our suffering, He said, 'Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing'. He showed the way in forgiving. He was innocent and without sin and suffered more than any other human has suffered and yet, He forgave.

It is vital to remember that, as Jesus carried your undeserved and unprovoked suffering, you are not innocent of other things. He also suffered for our wrong doing. He suffered and took the penalty of the sin of your abuser. The death of Christ opens the way for forgiveness on every side.

It is interesting to note that those who have suffered as victims at the hands of others never find release and peace until they forgive. It is not a case of whether they deserve forgiveness or that forgiveness will let them off the hook. Trust the Lord in these matters. Don't allow your life to be consumed by the deeds of others. Don't spend your life looking for justice, fairness or revenge. Accept Christ's forgiveness and forgive others from the heart.

As we come back to the story that Jesus was telling, the king heard that the man he had shown compassion towards and forgave of his debt would not forgive another man of his debt. The original debtor was called back to the king and he said:

'"You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?" And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. "So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses".' Matt 18:32-35.

So here is the truth of Jesus' teaching regarding forgiveness. He freely forgives all who come to Him with a broken, sorrowful and repentant heart. He asks that we do the same to others. If we do not forgive, God will not forgive us. Ultimately, unforgiveness on our part becomes the unforgiveable sin.

Whatever has happened to you, don't hold unforgiveness in your heart. Don't be your own judge and jury. Trust in Jesus who shares in your pain that He will judge right. You don't have to defend or prove yourself. Why grow bitter and resentful because of what others have done to you. Freely receive the forgiveness that is yours through Christ and freely give your forgiveness toward those who have sinned against you.

Author: Bruce Mackay | Citywide Christian Fellowship - Cairns | CCFC
Published by Vision One at Toowoomba Christian Fellowship | TCF
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