FORGIVEN!!

To forgive or not to forgive “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?”(Matthew 18: 21). This question posed to Jesus by Simon Peter opened a conversation of forgiveness which Jesus answered by way of a parable. It may be surprising that forgiveness is one act that no matter how much of a Christian one can be, is still one of the hardest things to do and one of the toughest topics to deal with.

I must confess that even though I may personally say that I am a Christian and would claim to forgive others from time to time, I come to realize that those I perceive as non-Christians in my opinion rarely meet the standards of forgiveness. This is a subconscious view and opinion that I believe not only I but many other Christians have always struggled with when we pass judgment on others based on what we perceive they may have done or failed to do. It’s not strange that even the disciples had a problem with this subject of forgiveness.

One important thing is that forgiveness is a subject that was and is at the very heart of the message of Christ and the reason for His coming. I would therefore say that there is no salvation or Christianity without forgiveness. I would therefore say that I’m not a complete Christian without having forgiveness in my heart. How is this so? Let us look at some Biblical examples that can give us some light to this subject.

Seventy Times Seven When Peter asked Jesus whether one should forgive seven times, he was referring to the plea of Cain to God after killing his brother Abel (Genesis 4: 13-15). In his case God told Cain that if anyone tried to kill him on the account of his brother Abel, then he would be avenged seven times. We see this taken a notch higher by Lamech, a descendant of Cain who after killing a man invokes the plea of Cain saying that if Cain was avenged seven times, surely he should be avenged seventy seven times (Genesis 4:24).

However, when we go back to the question of Peter, we see Jesus telling Peter that not only should we forgive others seven times but seventy times seven times (Matthew 18: 22). What did Jesus imply? Surely not to forgive others seventy times seven times but to forgive people always however much they wrong us. Is this too much to ask? Well, that is what it means to be a Christian. To help us more, let us see how Jesus handled forgiveness and what it means to be forgiven.

Jesus and Forgiveness Jesus was perceived by his audiences as one who showed compassion to all the ‘wrong people’ of the society and for very weird reasons. At times even his disciples failed to understand his acts of mercy. The first incident that I can mention is that of a sinful woman who anointed Jesus feet with oil at a Pharisee’s house named Simon. All who were present felt that she should not have even come close to Christ. But the way Christ responded to her showed much love and mercy which all the others could not understand (Luke 7:36-50). Another similar incident is that of a woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-11).

In these two incidences Jesus shows compassion to these women who have already been judged and condemned by the society. The reason I choose to focus on these two women is because of the different cases of prejudices depicted in their situations. Of course the women may have been known for recurrent evil deeds, but the most remarkable thing is the admiration on how Jesus dealt with their situations, with much love and mercy.

In the first case we see a woman who has already been judged by the community to be a sinner (maybe she was) and was not expected anywhere near Christ, who was not only a Rabbi but also a righteous and holy man. In many cases we find a number of Christians in the position this community was in. As Christians we judge many people around us because of their evil deeds and forget that Christ expects us to show them love and mercy instead of hate and condemnation.

The hate towards sin for many Christians has always been turned to hate towards the sinner. As a result, we as Christians would rather have nothing to do with such people within the society in order to preserve our own reputation. This is why in many occasions we see people of questionable character being driven away from Christian gatherings.

In the second case we see a woman who has been caught red handed committing adultery. The most amazing thing is that the man she was caught in the act with was nowhere to be seen. Jesus’ response to the situation amazed the Pharisees and even his audience. Just as the Pharisees were always fond of making partial judgments on the sins committed by other people, many Christians today tend to hold the same position.

By making partial judgment on other people we tend to put ourselves on the spot for God’s judgment because of forgetting that we too are sinners. When Jesus told the Pharisees that whoever had not sinned to cast the first stone, He reminded them of their own sins. In the same way, Christ expects us to forgive others for their sins just as God has forgiven us.

Therefore, our duty as Christians towards others is not supposed to be that of judges but of people who show mercy, compassion and by extension the love of Christ to them through forgiveness and acceptance (Luke 6:37). Christ demonstrated this love by forgiving those who crucified Him and He expects the same from us as Christians. This is what it really means to be a Christian.

I am Forgiven!! Consider this, it doesn’t matter how grave ones faults are or how much he has sinned against God and others. There’s no one who is beyond forgiving or saving no matter how evil they might be. There is no one on earth, even the most righteous priest or pastor who can determine those worthy of forgiveness. This is because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. However, the good news is that regardless of your race, religion, faith, social status, beliefs or ideologies; Jesus paid it all on the cross once and for all (Acts 5:30-31). All you have to do is accept his offer of forgiveness and walk freely without the guilt of condemnation (Romans 8:1). Then you can confidently say; “I am forgiven. I am free!!”