Forgiveness: The Greatest Act of Trust (Week 12)

Readings

  • Genesis 45:1–15

  • Daniel 7:9–14

  • Matthew 9:1–8

Silent Reflection

Remarks

We are now twelve weeks into considering what it means to “trust the story.” Our lessons have followed the journey of God’s people, and especially those ancient patriarchs who were learning what God was like, and deciding how they would respond to Him. Would they live out of fear or trust? We have seen how, throughout the generations, they aged and matured in trust. At key moments, their trust paved the way for powerful acts of forgiveness and selflessness.

Consider again Joseph, sold off to strangers by his own brothers, who spent his life struggling to survive and work his way up to a position of influence in Egypt. Many years later, having long lived with the secret pain of being abused and abandoned by his own family, he is shocked to see these same brothers at his feet, asking for mercy, not recognizing who is in front of them. And consider Judah, who makes a decision to recognize and confess his own pride and sin so that he might make things right.

What is it that enables Judah to stand in humility and confess publicly? It is a trust that he is accepted enough to endure the humiliation. His identity in God is stronger than his mistakes, and he refuses to let those moments define him.

What is it that enables Joseph to look past so much of his life that was “wasted” because of his brothers’ jealousy and hatred to offer them unconditional forgiveness? A trust that what God had done before that moment, what God was doing in that moment, and what God was going to do after that moment was greater than the offense done to him.

In weeks past we have talked about the power of forgiveness and “dropping the jawbone,” but it bears repeating today: forgiveness is the greatest act of trust.

What are we really doing when we choose to forgive? We are forgoing the opportunity to repay the offender for the way they harmed us; we are choosing to absorb the debt created when they wounded us [cf. Week 5].

What enables us to do that? A belief — a trust — that God is able to deal with the greater realities and injustices that need to be dealt with, and a recognition that there is only so much we are capable of stewarding. We are not the cosmic judges of the universe; only God can be that. So we let Him be who He is and do His job — we trust Him to do the judging.

What God asks of us is to bring order to the little chunk of dirt with which He has entrusted us, but some of us are too busy insisting on exacting justice for every wrong done to us that we get nowhere with this task. When we insist on being the judge, we only heap disorder upon disorder. Forgiveness is the only way forward when you’re trying to steward shalom and get about the business of putting things back in order.

Daniel is a book about perseverance in the face of oppression. There is a single, glorious idea at the center of the story. In a vision, Daniel sees the Ancient of Days with the Book of Life and the power to make things right, and he describes him as “one like a son of man coming in the clouds.” One of the many Jewish interpretations of this passage is that “son of man” in the Hebrew is literally “son of Adam.” Those who read it this way say the vision was speaking of the literal son of Adam, murdered Abel, the first person to die unjustly because of his righteousness. They saw it as a call to persevere until that future day when everything would be made right and righteous Abel would finally pass judgment on Cain and all like him.

It is a beautiful teaching. But one day, Jesus came and put a unique twist on it. As a paralyzed man was lowered through a roof, Jesus announced that his sins were forgiven. The religious leaders present became angry and objected, saying only God could forgive sins.

I wonder if Jesus wasn’t playing with this interpretation of Daniel’s “son of man coming in the clouds” when, in response to his critics, he uttered these words: “But so that you would know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” Could he have been insisting that, yes, the son of man was coming, but not for retribution, rather for forgiveness?

Some have noted that this is one of the only times any Jewish teacher has ever suggested Abel would show up on Judgment Day and actually forgive the sins of his murderous brother. Others see only a reference to Jesus’s own power as the Son of Man. Still others say Jesus is inviting all of us, mere ‘sons of men’ that we are, to engage in the work of forgiveness. Whatever the case, forgiveness is the essential root in the blossoming of restoration and redemption, and only those who trust in God’s good story can fully turn over their pain to Him in that way, being freed instead to focus on bringing goodness and repairing all these broken things.

Silent Reflection

Response

  1. What do you think Jesus was saying through the healing of the paralyzed man?

  2. Does the picture of Abel showing up at Judgment Day and pardoning his brother bother any of you?

  3. Does it make sense that forgiveness is the only way to put the world back together? Are there any other possible ways to put the world back together?