Jesus reminds us here that the letter of the law has always been that murderers will be judged and held accountable. But in the Kingdom of God the law is expanded because God is concerned about more than just outward actions. He is concerned about our motivations and our character. He is concerned about our hearts.
Because God cares deeply about our internal reality, it must be true that hatred and anger and bitterness are in the same category as murder because the same stuff is going on inside. The heart matters.
In fact, the heart matters so much that Jesus says here that if we are in the middle of bringing an offering to the temple altar (or at the church singing songs of praise and worship) and someone comes to mind that has a grudge against us or an accusation against us, we need to drop everything and go immediately to that person and make things right.
Understand that this is not saying that if someone has wronged us we need to forgive them before our gifts and offerings and acts of worship will have any spiritual significance. It is not saying that we need to forgive others, because that is a given. Forgiving those who have hurt us is fundamental -so fundamental that Jesus says if we don't forgive those who hurt us, our Father will not forgive us. That is already understood. This, then, is saying that when others have an accusation against us, we need to seek forgiveness. If we have wronged, or offended or hurt someone else, we need to set aside our pride and our excuses, quit shifting the blame, take ownership in our role in the offense, and go make things right. The law of the Kingdom (the Law of Love) demands that in as much as it is up to us we be in right relationship with EVERYONE. This means that we need to learn how to authentically seek forgiveness.
I say "authentically" seek forgiveness because our pragmatic culture has taught us a way to smooth things over and move forward with no real forgiveness occurring. Think about it. What parent has not forced his child to say "I'm sorry," over some wrong, knowing full well that the child is not sorry at all? We know that the child's heart is not grieved by the wrong; we know there is no remorse. What we are teaching them is a socially acceptable way to smooth things over and move past the hurt and move forward when things go wrong. Smoothing things over, however, is not what Jesus is talking about. Jesus is advocating genuine, heartfelt forgiveness.
So, what can we do as people who need to be forgiven to facilitate true forgiveness instead of simply inviting people to smooth things over and move on? Here is where we must be brutally honest with ourselves. First, we need to take full ownership in our role in the hurt. Even if the problem is 85% the other person's fault, we need to fully own our 15%. No excuses. No blame shifting. I am 100% responsible for whatever part I played in the problem. Next, how about instead of simply saying, "I'm sorry," I instead ask, "Will you forgive me?"
Asking others to forgive us is different from saying we are sorry. When we ask someone to forgive us, we are inviting them to participate in a divine transaction -to cooperate with God in something profound and meaningful and deeply spiritual.
It is possible, of course, that our invitation will be rejected. The person we have offended may choose to not forgive. That is between him and God. When I have taken full ownership in my role in the offense, and have gone to the person and asked to be forgiven, I have done my part. I am free then to worship God with a clean heart and a clean conscience.
True forgiveness is a heart thing, and God cares about our hearts.
Good article on a timely subject. Forgiveness seems to be one of the most ignored and misunderstood practices in Christendom. Like so many of Jesus' teachings, if we will begin to obey and do what He said, there will be huge changes in our lives.
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