Bethany Bullet - March 18, 2015

Continuation of BREATHE series on the Lord’s Prayer

Petition: “…as we forgive…”

Our Lord is clearly not a grudge holder! 

Yet, I wonder if He paused for a moment (while He taught them to pray) as He got to this petition?  He had just instructed them to pray their trespasses be forgiven; then before He continues, did He linger? Did He breathe deeply before saying, “…as we forgive those who sin against us.”?  After all, it won’t be that long and sin against Him they shall.  Whether it is leaving the upper room to betray Him, fleeing from the garden to keep from being arrested with Him, denying knowledge of Him to keep from being ridiculed because of Him, or refusing to head to Golgotha to make sure not to be killed next to Him – the disciples will sin against Him. 

Aside from geography and chronology, our story is the same as the disciples’.  Knowing full well that we would sin against Him, our Lord still went to the cross and in Him we’ve been completely and totally forgiven.  Note: We’re forgiven NOT BECAUSE of what we’ve done (including forgiving others) but FROM WHAT we’ve done, or left undone (including failing to forgive). 

Our forgiveness is not based on our forgiving, rather our forgiving flows from having been forgiven.  Remembering wrongs done comes not because we’ve not been forgiven but because we’ve forgotten just how much we’ve wronged God!  The debt we owe God is impossible for us to pay!  Yet, He has covered the cost and tossed our guilt away.  So we pray that He would move us to forgive, as in Christ, He has forgiven us.

-Pastor Kevin Kritzer