Today's reading and theme (Matthew 5:43-48) is a continuation of yesterday's. Jesus asks his disciples to love his enemies, and pray for those who persecute them.
Loving and forgiving: they are practically the same. To love others is to forgive others. Forgiveness is the name of love that is practised among imperfect people like us.
Jesus does not merely preach on forgiveness and loving our enemies, but he demonstrates it even when it is most difficult, even while dying. Jesus forgives his murderers on the cross. When it is most difficult. He forgives even the unrepentant thief, not just the so-called "good thief." (Otherwise Jesus won’t be our model.) He forgives the Jews and the Romans, but more importantly he forgives his own disciples, his own friends. After resurrection too, Jesus shows his forgiveness: “Peace be with you.” No stories, no hurts, only peace, only forgiveness. For Jesus too it would have been (comparatively) easier to forgive others - Romans, then Jews. But then to forgive his own disciples, that was not easy; yet he did it.
Forgive everything, everyone, every time. That’s a tall order! Not seven times, but seventy times seven. An incredibly (almost) impossible tall order!
If we want to be perfect like our Heavenly Father, we need to start forgiving people.
No comments:
Post a Comment