The Double Blessing of Forgiveness - Matthew 6:14-15

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”   - Matt 6:14-15.

    We often fail to remember that the spirit of forgiveness is not simply a motion on our part to overlook the slights another has made against us. Forgiveness is so much more than that. Forgiveness is evidence of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling of us. Without the fruit of the Holy Spirit actively effecting our spiritual lives we would be incapable of forgiveness!
    Think about it - all nine fruits of the Spirit are required for true forgiveness of others: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.  - Galatians 5:22-23. Each one of these fruits are essential to us if we are to be truly forgiving. How could one not have the spirit of forgiveness given all the fruit of the Holy Spirit? But that isn’t all forgiveness means to us as Christians.
    Which of us can boast of never having needed the forgiveness of others? Were it not for their forgiveness what miserable wretches we would be. Forgiveness is the balm that heals our hurts and our relationships damaged by careless words and actions. That is what happens when we forgive what others have done to us. By forgiving them we find ourselves at peace, while those who refuse to forgive continue to experience the pain and wince from the hurt of one trespass as though it were a legion of many.
    When we forgive, God grants us compensation for the pain others have caused us. It becomes a blessing to us when we forgive those who have hurt us. By forgiving those around us we enjoy God’s heavenly blessing. And it is part of our repentance. In fact, forgiveness is so deeply entwined with true repentance that they are barely separable in the parable of the debtor in Matthew 18:23-35.
    When we read the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew we see forgiveness at the core of the prayer. We see it as the prayer’s main “talking-point” in Matthew 6:12 -  And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors. It is further intensified by Matthew 6:14-15, thus making it a pivotal requirement for our forgiveness by God.
    Our ability and desire to forgive others through the Holy Spirit and God’s forgiveness to us, a result of His unconditional grace and love is a double-blessing by any standard.
    May we always live in the spirit of forgiveness, both ours for others and that shed upon us by our merciful and loving God.   

Whom Are You Seeking? - John 20:13 -16

 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” 14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” - John 20:13-16.

    Mary Magdalene worshiped her Lord while he was alive and present with her. She held fast to her faith in Him even before He was crucified. Scripture tells us that she was a fixture among the disciples during Christ’s last days (Luke 8:2, John 19:25).
    Mary had been exorcized of seven demons by Christ. To all of us whom have been saved in Christ - how many demons has He exorcized from our lives? It is little wonder that Mary worshiped Jesus; the miracle had left an indelible faith in her heart. She gladly would have followed Jesus to the ends of the earth. But His time was at hand. Prophecy had to be fulfilled. There had to be a way for reconciliation to take place between man and God - Christ was to be both the fulfillment of prophecy and that reconciliation.
    What transpired upon the cross was not only the temporary death of Christ’s humanity, but the divine defeat of death itself!  The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. - 1Corinthians 15:26.   
    Christ had told His disciples of His impending “death” and resurrection.  From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. - Matthew 16:21. The apostles were fully aware of Jesus’ words, yet they still, somehow, didn’t understand. For them, to die was final; to die was the end of life, not the beginning.
    Twice, Mary was asked, “Why are you weeping?” Her answer reflected her heart-felt angst and that of the rest of His disciples - “They have taken away my Lord.” The sorrow and confusion of that moment were fed by the fact that Mary anticipated seeing her Lord and Savior in the state of death, not alive and standing before her. Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. - Mark 16:1. It was common in those days for the departed to be embalmed, as it were, with expensive herbs and spices. This passage and its parallel in Luke 24 is evidence that Mary believed Christ to be dead.
    After Christ asked Mary why she was weeping He added one more question - “Whom are you seeking?” Still under the haze of disillusionment Mary mistook her Lord for the gardener until Jesus called he by name. It was though a pall was lifted from her eyes as she saw the risen Lord, Jesus Christ, standing before her - in the flesh!
    Jesus knew whom Mary was seeking all along. Her deep-felt longing for Him was evident in her very demeanor. And in those moments when we find ourselves disillusioned with our faith because of life’s circumstances we must never fall into such despondency or hopelessness. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. - Jeremiah 29:13.
    Like Mary Magdalene, let us constantly be seeking the Lord with all our heart. Let us ‘go out quickly from the tomb with fear and joy and bring His Word,’ to all the world! Happy Resurrection Day! Happy Easter.

Palm Sunday

   “The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” - John 12:12-13.

    Yes, “they” took branches of palms and went out to meet our Lord and Savior, Jesus. When saw Him they shouted an old Judaic expression of praise and adoration - “Hosanna!” And less than a week later this same adoring crowd would be calling for His death by crucifixion. So intent were they upon killing Christ that they even freed a known criminal, Barabbas, rather than free our Lord.
    The last week of Jesus’ life began with the crowd adoring the Messiah sent by God and ended with them calling for the death of one they considered no more than a blaspheming man.
So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” - John 19:5. On Palm Sunday, the crowd celebrated the arrival of “he would comes in the name of the Lord.” By Thursday of the same week He was reviled by the same crowd.
    We all need to think of Christ in our daily walk, not just on Sunday. Are we ready and willing to follow His example and walk in “the Way?” And when we fail to do so - aren’t we, who praised him on Sunday, reviling Him the rest of the week?
    So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. - James 4:17.
May we always walk in the way, even on those other days of the week.