Dear Friends,
At Christmas time families meet to celebrate the season. However, there will be many who struggle with those whom they find hard to forgive. I constantly hear from those who are aggrieved at something a brother, uncle of mother has done sometimes years ago.
In the parable that Jesus gave about the unforgiving servant recorded in Matthew 18, the servant, who is hugely indebted to his master the king, asks him to have patience with him and he would pay back all that he owed him. The amount the servant was in debt in today’s money equates to around £300 billion! There was never going to be a full repayment and both the servant and king recognised that. However, the king released (he forgave) him from the debt.
The word the servant used for ‘patience’ in the modern translations is better rendered ‘long-suffering.’ For the king to forgive the debts of the servant he would have to bear the cost of it himself. For example, if a friend was to borrow your car and write it off through reckless driving and hasn’t got the wherewithal to replace it then, if you forgive your friend, you will have to find the money to buy a new car yourself.
Forgiveness is not easy for God. This parable hints at what is to come when God, in the person of Christ, offers forgiveness to you and me and the entire world through His pain, suffering and death on the cross. Your forgiveness was not easily achieved; it cost Jesus His life! Jesus gave His all for you and for me! This is what we must keep in the forefront of our minds, so that when the need arises to forgive another, we can do so fully and readily, even though that forgiveness may cost us dearly.
However, I must remind you of what forgiveness is not. It is not necessarily reconciliation, forgetting the offence or neglecting justice. It may continue to prove painful. The resurrected Jesus demonstrated this when He showed the disciples the nail holes in His hands and the hole in His side from where the spear was thrust into Him.
God bless you, your Pastor, David
