(Luke 17:1-5) 1Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! 2It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. 3Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”
Faith and Duty 5And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
After reading the passage of scripture above, with its degree of difficulty (in executing forgiveness), it is possible to miss the point our Lord Jesus Christ is communicating.
Informed Christians, can honestly agree that forgiving a one day seven time offender, who says “I repent“, can be a difficult task. When combining that with how our Lord articulates the same point elsewhere “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22), we feel the degree of difficulty increase to potential impossibility.
When considering that we tend to read the Bible in paragraphs, and snippets, with the addition of artificial chapter headings (which can be seen above “Faith and Duty“), it is easy to understand how we can miss the point.
Consider our Lord Jesus statements in verses 1-4 and from Matthew 18:21-22
Forgiving a person who offends us seven times in day and returns to us, in godly sorrow, declaring “I repent”, may not seem to be an impossibility, until we experience it, repeatedly. When considering the 490 times from Matthew 18:21-22, we may begin to sweat with roiled intestines.
(Remember that 70 times 7, for 490, is not meant express a limit, but a heart that is always prepared to forgive offense, indefinitely.)
Forgiving a person that offends us just one time in a day can be tough, because offenses are not personality conflicts or mistakes, but soul hurtful acts against our person and and ultimately God’s moral Law and His Person. More on that later.
In response to Jesus command we read the disciples request in Luke 17:5 “And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
Years ago when I first read this passage, I thought why would the disciples ask such a question, to such a clear command. I thought, perhaps a question on how to forgive, like an equation of sorts, or perhaps a question concerning the nature of the offense and when an offense to great to forgive.
Jesus example of a child being soul hurt, by an offender, which most would agree the highest degree of sin, is for a specific reason. To let the disciples know, they are not children, so no matter the offense, followers of Christ are to forgive, for few have been offended as greatly as an abused child.
The disciples knew this, therefore their desire is that Jesus increase their faith, because who wants really wants to forgive even a repentant person, when offended, when we understand what forgiveness is from God’s perspective?
FORGIVENESS
What is forgiveness? In the first place,, forgiveness is not forgetting. We romanticize the forgiveness of God as forgetting, in popular Christian culture, by misusing three particular verses.
Micah 7:18-19 He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. 19He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
Jeremiah 31:34 For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
Hebrews 10:17 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
Let us remember that when God is described as not remembering, it does mean He forgets. God is omniscient, all knowing, He does not forget. He chooses not to bring a sin back for justice, once it has been dealt with by His grace in the cross.
For us forgiveness is not forgetting either.
Forgiveness, defined by the word in our passage, means to send forth, as the Old Testament scape goat, was sent forth into the wilderness. In the Old covenant, there was an animal sacrifice, where blood was shed to cover the sins of the people, which pointed to the atonement to come in Christ, where all our sin would be washed away.
Once a year, there was another vicarious action, where the high priest would confess the sin of the people, while placing his hands on the head of a male goat, thus transferring the sin of the people to the scape goat. This goat would then be led out into the wilderness of Sin. There the sins of the people had been sent forth, never to come back.
Forgiveness also means the offended party, with the offender having repented, chooses to let the sin go forth not to bring it back up, even if the offender fails seven times more in that day, and continues to say “I repent“.
What did this mean for the disciples, what does it mean for us?
It means no penalty or sanction against the offender. It means no seeking of personal justice. It means we treat them as if they have not sinned; if they have truly repented. The disciples were beginning to understand the cost walking after God… Leaving justice to Him alone. Now we see the impossibility of it all. Ah, but with Christ, nothing is impossible. This is why our Lord responds with these words…
Luke 17:6 6 So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
It was of no consequence to the Lord Jesus Christ that the disciples were basically telling Him, his command was impossible, for He says it is more than possible even with the smallest amount of faith in Him.
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus described a most IMPOSSIBLE and UNECESSARY miracle, as within their ability, with the smallest amount of faith? Think of it. With faith we can command a mulberry tree to be uprooted, float over to a lake, sea or ocean and be planted in the water, as if it were dirt, and grow mulberries.
Why did Jesus use this example? Because forgiveness is a most NECESSARY and EXPECTED MIRACLE. When we complain forgiveness is hard we are walking out unbelief, which is a faith killing sin.
His answer to the disciples and us is no excuses, because we do not deserve His forgiveness and its wonderful end of being reconciled to Him.
Now as the disciples were prone to doing good deeds and believing they deserved a special reward or place in Jesus Kingdom, so we can think this as well. This is why Jesus gives His next lesson concerning forgiveness.
From reading Luke 17:7-10, we understand that forgiveness is simply what Christian do. It may seem remarkable to the lost world around us, but for us it is as normal as breathing to serve others and to forgive. We ought not to believe there is anything special about us, for forgiving the repentant, even if we have forgiven 490 times in one day, is not more that He has forgiven us. As He deals with us by grace, we ought to do so with others, knowing we are still unprofitable servants, even though we are beloved as His children.
Forgiveness is our duty, and it reveals God’s ultimate end in forgiving…
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
The reason for forgiveness is reconciliation, which simply means through repentance and forgiveness the relationship between God and the man or woman is restored. As the passage declares, this is why the Word of God became flesh, died with our sin upon Him, willingly allowed His blood to be spilled and rose from the dead; THAT WE WHO ARE FORGIVEN CAN BE RECONCILED TO GOD.
Why is Forgiveness so difficult, even when we have GREAT FAITH?
- We forget we are unprofitable servants, because we judge ourselves by our standards of righteousness. This is a dicey place to remain, where grace and holiness are misunderstood (Isaiah 64:6).
- We lie to ourselves, in saying “I can forgive, but I can’t forget”. WE do not need to forget. It is love in the remembrance of sin, which exhibits Christ’s love and life, through us best.
- We forget how offensive we can be to God and others, apart from Christ.
- We are insensitive to the Holy Spirit’s influence, so our carnal emotions take over, when we need to put them to death and take them off (Colossians 3:1-8).
- We lacking scriptural understanding of what a real biblical offense is (Matthew 18:15-20). In this error we hold onto personality differences, as offense and a whole bunch of other junk as well. A biblical offense is one, whereby if not repented of, the offender is kicked out of fellowship.
- We are not really offended but projecting our own flaws on others and being the offender unwittingly.
- We forget that forgiveness is not the end, but a means to the end of reconciliation.
