You Must Forgive

In Luke 15 the Pharisees and teachers of the law were offended when Jesus mingled with the "tax collectors and sinners" who had come to listen to His teaching. I could only assume that these "sinners" were learning a lot more than the "righteous" people. Jesus' words must have been both convicting as well as comforting.  Jesus then told them the parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and lastly the famous parable of the Lost Son. I would assume that these were directed to the Pharisees and teachers of the law. The central theme of these parables is this: "there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent" (Luke 15:7)

But wait a minute, for the next couple of chapters, Jesus specifically addressed His disciples. He wanted them to learn a lesson too. He began with the parable of the Shrewd Manager (Luke 16:1-15), followed by the famous story of The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), and then in today's reading, Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. So watch yourselves. If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them." (Luke 17:1-4)

The Lord has set an example of reaching out to the sinners and forgiving them, I should do likewise! In the prayer Jesus taught us to pray (Luke 11:2-4):

Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

I don't think the forgiveness of our sin is predicated on how perfectly we can forgive everyone who sins against us. But I do think that the full appreciation of God's forgiveness comes when we learn what it takes to forgive others. And once we get there, we learn to do the impossible - to love those who sin against us, yes, even our enemies! Once again God has done it (Romans 5:8):

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

O what prescious lessons to learn. Don't think that the Pharisees and teachers of the law are the only bad guys. We too can be self-righteous. Learn from Jesus!

Jesus, meek and gentle,
son of God most high,
gracious, loving Savior,
hear thy children's cry.

Pardon our offenses,
loose our captive chains,
break down every idol
which our soul detains.

Give us holy freedom,
fill our hearts with love;
draw us, holy Jesus,
to the realms above.

Lead us on our journey,
be thyself the way
through our earthly darkness
to the heavenly day.

Jesus, meek and gentle,
Son of God most high,
gracious, loving Savior,
hear thy children's cry.