God Forgives Us, We Forgive Others

This passage is often called “The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant” because that servant who had received mercy (forgiveness) by the Master, refused to show mercy (forgiveness) to his fellow servant, and he experienced consequences as a result. This is one of the quintessential teachings of Jesus, along with the Golden Rule and loving your neighbor. The whole message of the parable is to teach His followers that since they have received God’s forgiveness for their sins, they should in turn forgive others.

Is there a familiar pattern here? Think of the love pattern we’ve already seen: God loved us, we respond by loving Him. God loves others and expects us to do the same out of our love for God. The forgiveness pattern mirrors this: God forgave us, and He expects us to forgive others out of our love for Him.

So easy to comprehend, yet so tough to put into practice!

The commandments of Jesus

I heard a great story about a very young associate pastor who went around the church full of enthusiasm and “wisdom.” He seemed to have a knack for reciting the commands of Christ and then finding people who didn’t measure up to them and rebuking them. The senior pastor noticed this and gave his youthful subordinate a research assignment: Go through the gospels and list every command Jesus gave. Not teachings, not parables, but imperative tense commands only, and have your report on my desk by 5 pm Friday. The young man thought this would be a piece of cake and set about making his list. After a day or two, he became discouraged; this wasn’t a piece of cake after all.

Jesus taught many things and gave us many principles to follow, but He gave very few imperative tense commands. The young associate pastor never quite completed the assignment, but he did learn his lesson, to the relief of those around him.

The commands that Jesus actually gave can summed up this way: Love God, love your neighbor as yourself, love your brothers and sisters, forgive your bothers and your sisters, and make disciples. Of course, “make disciples” encompasses all of His commands and teachings in one act of love and mercy.