Spurgeon remarked that our forgiveness of each other is “a very small matter” when compared to the fact that God forgives “not his fellows, but his rebel subjects, guilty of treason against his majesty.” Indeed, he mused “Could there be a sweeter word in any language than that word ‘forgiveness,’ when it sounds in a guilty sinner’s ear, like the silver notes of jubilee to the captive Israelite?”
It is no overstatement to say Jesus’s ministry was primarily one of forgiveness. Whether he caused the blind to see, the deaf to hear, or the paralytic to walk, he typically closed with some variation of “Your sins are forgiven, go and sin no more.” On the night he was betrayed, he told his disciples they would be marked out of the world by the love they had for one another; a love that was patterned after his own. When the Roman guard’s hammer lodged the nails into his flesh he cried, “Father, forgive them.” Truly, Jesus “sets no bound to his own forgiveness.”
The Prince of Preachers consistently marveled at the forgiveness of Jesus and commended his congregation to do likewise. He urged them saying, “Remember, also, to increase your wonderment at his forgiveness…” calling Christ’s forgiveness “a constellation of wonders.” By comparison, Spurgeon remarked that our forgiveness of each other is “a very small matter” when compared to the fact that God forgives “not his fellows, but his rebel subjects, guilty of treason against his majesty.” Indeed, he mused “Could there be a sweeter word in any language than that word ‘forgiveness,’ when it sounds in a guilty sinner’s ear, like the silver notes of jubilee to the captive Israelite?”
However, God’s grace in Christ also had radical consequences for our human relationships. When Paul instructed the believers at Colossae to forgive one another, he added the qualifying statement, “…as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Col 3:13). The logic being, if we are to conform to the image of Jesus Christ (Rom 8:29), then we must forgive others since Christ forgave us. We are to be loving as Christ is loving. We are to be merciful, as he is merciful. Spurgeon notes, “The mercy of God lies at the very foundation of our faith; and surely it wonderfully helps us to forgive.”
