The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, Classic Version, 2015Sample

The Breathless Wonder of Forgiveness

Bishop Sandy Millar told us of a time when he was walking along the beach and he noticed how the sand had been churned up by the footprints of those who had gone before him. The next morning the footprints were all wiped away by the sea. He sensed Jesus saying to him, ‘That is a picture of forgiveness.’

Forgiveness from Jesus Christ is like a recording of the bad stuff in our lives being wiped completely clean.

Forgiveness is never easy. We all know how hard it is to forgive others. However, we often assume that forgiveness from God is almost automatic. On her deathbed, the Empress Catherine the Great of Russia (1729–1796), said, ‘I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. The good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.’

In the passages for today we see the very high cost and huge blessing of God’s forgiveness. As PT Forsyth pointed out, first, we have to know the ‘despair of guilt’. Then we can appreciate ‘the breathless wonder of forgiveness’. 

Psalm 32:1-11

1. Experience the relief of forgiveness

Do you ever find it difficult to forgive other people or even to forgive yourself for something you have done? The key to forgiving others and yourself is knowing how much God has forgiven you. Forgiven people forgive.

As CS Lewis pointed out, ‘To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.’ As far as forgiving ourselves is concerned, he wrote, ‘If God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise, it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than him.’

Through Jesus, God has made total forgiveness available to us. In this psalm, we see the huge difference that God’s forgiveness makes.

• Release from the hand of judgment
  David describes the spiritual agony of not being forgiven: ‘My bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer’ (Psalm 32:3–4).
• Transparency with God
  The route to forgiveness is simply to come to the Lord with no mask or pretence: ‘Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” – and you forgave the guilt of my sin’ (v.5).
• A fresh start
  David describes the enormous blessing of knowing you are forgiven: ‘Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit’ (vv.1–2).

Imagine that in our diaries were recorded, not just our engagements and meetings, but also all of our sins. The first two verses of this psalm give us three pictures of what God does with our sins. First, ‘the Lord does not count’ our sins against us (v.2). He acts as though they do not exist.

Second, they are ‘covered’ (v.1). It is as if God gets out his heavenly ‘Tipp-Ex’ and covers over the sinful entries in our diaries. ‘Your slate’s wiped clean’ (v.1, MSG). Third, they are ‘forgiven’ (v.1a). Literally that word means ‘removed’ or ‘taken away’. The pages relating to our sins are ripped out and destroyed. ‘You get a fresh start’ (v.1, MSG).

The apostle Paul quotes this psalm as evidence that through the death of Jesus for us, God credits us with righteousness by faith and that forgiveness is not something that we can earn by good works (see Romans 4:6-8). Through the cross, God restores us to a right relationship with him. Therefore we can pray to him (Psalm 32:6a). He becomes our ‘hiding-place’ (v.7a). He protects us from trouble (v.7b). He guides us (v.8) and his ‘unfailing love surrounds’ us (v.10).

This is not earned by good works. It comes to the person who trusts in him by faith (v.10). A proper understanding of the Old Testament shows that the path to forgiveness is repentance and faith.

Forgiveness is not a reason to sin – it is an incentive not to sin. We want to stay on God’s paths. He promises that he will guide us: ‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you’ (v.8).

He does not want you to be difficult to guide like a horse or a mule that must be controlled by bit and bridle (v.9). He wants you to avoid the pain of resisting the Holy Spirit. If you follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit you will avoid unnecessary pain. He wants you to hear his voice daily, listen to his instruction, walk in his ways and trust in his love.

Lord, thank you that you died for me on the cross so that I can know the relief of forgiveness. I am sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life … Please forgive me.

Mark 15:33-47

2. Thank Jesus for paying the price of forgiveness

Take time today to thank Jesus for dying for you. Jesus paid a very high price for our forgiveness. Forgiveness is not easy, but Jesus made it possible.

• Jesus did die on the cross for us 
  Sometimes people suggest that Jesus did not really die on the cross but recovered in the cool of the tomb. However, we see here that Pilate checked that he was indeed ‘already dead’ (v.44a).

The centurion who had overseen the crucifixion confirmed that Jesus was actually dead. Roman soldiers were experts at carrying out crucifixions. The centurion would also have faced severe punishment himself if he let a living prisoner go. It is almost unthinkable that he could have been mistaken in his testimony about Jesus’ death.

Joseph of Arimathea ‘took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock’ (v.46). Joseph would have noticed if Jesus was still alive and breathing. He would not have buried a living Jesus.

• Jesus was ‘God-forsaken’ because of our sins
  ‘... darkness came over the whole land’ (v.33). At that moment Jesus was cut off from God, not because of his own sin, but because of ours. He cried out, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ (v.34a). Mark retains the original Aramaic words of Jesus, which mean, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (v.34b). As we have seen earlier in Bible in One Year, this is a quote from Psalm 22, which ends with a great victory (see 15 February).
• Jesus opened the way for forgiveness and entry into the presence of God
  The curtain of the temple (see also Leviticus 24:3), which was what separated people from the presence of God, was torn in two supernaturally by God from top to bottom. This symbolised the fact that through the death of Jesus we are given access to God, because our sins are forgiven. God credits us with righteousness and allows us the immense privilege of an intimate relationship with him.

Lord Jesus, thank you that ‘you loved me and gave [yourself] for me’ (Galatians 2:20). Thank you that you allowed yourself to be cut off from God for my sin. Thank you that your death opened the way into the presence of God. Thank you that I can now enter the presence of God with boldness and confidence in your name.

Leviticus 23:1-24:23

3. Understand that forgiveness is earned not by us but for us

We see in the Old Testament how seriously sin is taken. It is not a trivial matter. And forgiveness is not to be taken for granted.

We see in the civil law that justice required an equivalence: ‘Life for life’ (24:18); ‘fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth’ (v.20). This was never intended for personal relationships but for the law courts to prevent escalating violence.

It showed the need of the appropriateness of a penalty for sin (incidentally, it was under the law of blasphemy, vv.10–16, that Jesus himself was condemned to death as we saw in Mark 14:64).

Again, in this passage we see Jesus’ death foreshadowed. Forgiveness of sins requires sacrifice, it requires a lamb. The lamb must be perfect, ‘without defect’ (Leviticus 23:12).

As we have seen (Bible in One Year, 12 February and 7 March), St Paul describes Jesus as ‘our Passover lamb [who] has been sacrificed’ (1 Corinthians 5:7).

Forgiveness cannot be earned. On the Day of Atonement, ‘atonement is made for you’ (Leviticus 23:28). It is not made by you but for you. This is the radical and revolutionary teaching of the whole Bible. When you understand how forgiveness is made possible through Jesus it totally transforms your life.

Lord Jesus, thank you for the way that your death changed everything. Thank you that you have set us free from all these Old Testament laws. Thank you that you are ‘the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’ (John 1:29). Thank you that you made atonement for me. Thank you for the breathless wonder of your forgiveness that transforms my life and eternity.

Pippa Adds

Mark 15:40–41

At such a crucial moment in history, when Jesus is defeating the powers of darkness, all his disciples and many followers deserted him. But the women were there at the cross. What bravery and loyalty! In a culture where women seemed to be almost ignored, Jesus empowered them: ‘Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there’ (Mark 15:41). You sense a movement!  

Notes:

C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, (New York: Harper Collins, 2001; Originally published 1949)

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.