kayte
Aug 4th 2004, 05:16 PM
Chapter Six
Matthew 6:12(a) “And forgive us our debts.”
Forgiveness. This is what our eternity hinges on. Forgive our debts.
As an unbeliever when I looked to God and saw my life, there was no escaping what was true. My debt… what I owed… struck terror in my heart. I had not only sinned; I was a sinner to the very core.
When I realized who I was, what I was, my heart was inexpressibly grieved. My lostness, my inability to set anything right overwhelmed me and I had but one hope… that God would forgive me. It seemed a narrow hope.
#
The city was hot. The dust thick as the people crowded the streets. The week of Passover brought them from far and wide. Jerusalem was overrun. Business was good.
As I pressed my way through the throngs, I could scarcely contain the knot of fear that twisted in my stomach.
Jesus had been arrested.
Jesus, the peaceful and compassionate one that spoke with such assurance. An assurance that raised up hope and stirred my heart. Surely God was at work in this man… surely.
It was rumored that he was in the custody of Pilate. It was a small hope. Pilate was thought to be a reasonable man, and he didn't have the same hatred that burned in the hearts of the Pharisees and Saducees.
I climbed unnoticed onto a low wall outside the Praetorium just as the doors opened and Pilate came out. Following him were guards supporting a man so severely beaten he was unrecognizable. He wore a king’s purple robe and on His head was a ghastly crown twisted of thorned briars. His hair was matted with blood.
The crowd quieted as Pilate sat down in the judgment seat. Sheep bleating in the distance from the temple grounds could be heard in the stillness. The hunger for blood hung in the air.
My own terror grew when I looked at Pilate's face. His mouth was set in a hard line, though his eyes looked fearful.
His hands clutched the arms of the seat till his knuckles shone white.
Just as Pilate loudly declared, "Behold your King!" my eyes met the eyes of the bloodied man. Jesus! His eyes held mine with the same assurance and compassion I’d seen over the last few years and suddenly I knew Who He was. Emmanuel. God with us.
I knew why of all days, this day He stood before the judgment seat of man. The Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. The Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world.
A tremor of hope and agony ran through me. All my choices, all my selfishness, all my sin… this was the cost. The Son of God must die… for me.
The angry shouts of the crowd brought me back to the horror of the moment. "Crucify Him!" they demanded. Over and over again. The violence poured from their hearts as their voices rose in the thundering cry, "Crucify Him!".
As I looked at Jesus, His face lifted to heaven, my own mouth opened and I whispered my plea to God, "Crucify Him." The tears streamed down my face as my guilt and shame shattered my heart. "Crucify Him."
"Oh God, crucify Him… for me."
And He turned His face and looked straight at me as though He'd heard my desperate whisper. The compassion, the love in His eyes overwhelmed me.
He gave a single nod of His wounded head before they led Him away… and crucified Him.
#
Forgive us our debts.
Ephesians 1:7-9 “In Him we have redemption through His blood the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound (lavished) toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself.”
#
We who know Christ identify with the fact that He died for our sins. Yet sometimes we hold this at arm’s length. Someone else actually killed Him… we just vicariously reap from the edges of that violent, wonderful, horrific, awesome act.
Yet there is also the need to identify with the crowd outside the Praetorium.
Those that reject the Son of God want nothing more than to do away with Him. They don't want to have to consider Him. He is a disturbance and annoyance to their way of life.
God stood before the judgment seat of man and hearts screamed with violence, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" (John 19)
Those of us who know our need, those that know our insurmountable debt, we must also cry out "Crucify Him"… from grief and anguish, from need and hope.
It wasn't just our sins that sent Him to the cross, but our prayers for mercy... our whispered pleas, "Crucify Him."
Forgive us our debts.
Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the
gift of God.”
It should not be a burden in our lives to ask forgiveness. It should not be an inconvenience. It should never be something we approach with dread… wondering if we'll find the needed forgiveness and restoration, or if we'll be treated roughly as our petition is 'taken into consideration.'
Forgiveness is a place of freedom. A place of joy. "Behold your King." It is His will, His pleasure to forgive you.
Ask Him. Cling to Him. Trust in Him. Believe in Him.
#
Father in heaven, thank You for extending forgiveness to us… that You took it upon Yourself to pay our debts. Lord, we know that there is no other way. We need You. Forgive us our debts.
Teach us Your ways and help us to walk in them. We love You and want to obey You.
Lord, help us to never forget Calvary… help us never to abandon Your grace… help us not to become proud, seeking our own way to You. Keep us on Your path, relying on Your mercy and grace alone. And let all we do be done out of our love for You.
Because of Jesus we are Yours.
Amen
#
Study questions
1) Jesus Christ is the mediator, the bridge between God and man. As what kind of bridge do you see Him?
Examples: Solid concrete, a suspension bridge, a bridge made of twisted, woven grass (claims to be strong but you aren't so sure), one of those rickety bridges that you can see rotted, broken boards and it swings and bounces if you barely touch it, etc.
2) When you stand in the crowd at the Praetorium, what is in your own heart?
3) There is a teaching that you must be 'prayed up'… meaning that you don't know what moment you will die, and if you die with ANY sin unconfessed you will lose your salvation. Why is this teaching false?
4) When you sin, what is your attitude toward asking for forgiveness?
Examples: Pride gets in the way, fear that you won't receive forgiveness, it wasn't that big of a deal… why bother God or others with it… etc.
5) When you first came to God and asked forgiveness did you know that it was given as an entirely free gift? Having walked with Him for a time… has that changed? (Do you now think the rules have changed… that because you know Him, it's not so simple?) What does the Bible say about His forgiveness?
copyright 2002 tkc
Matthew 6:12(a) “And forgive us our debts.”
Forgiveness. This is what our eternity hinges on. Forgive our debts.
As an unbeliever when I looked to God and saw my life, there was no escaping what was true. My debt… what I owed… struck terror in my heart. I had not only sinned; I was a sinner to the very core.
When I realized who I was, what I was, my heart was inexpressibly grieved. My lostness, my inability to set anything right overwhelmed me and I had but one hope… that God would forgive me. It seemed a narrow hope.
#
The city was hot. The dust thick as the people crowded the streets. The week of Passover brought them from far and wide. Jerusalem was overrun. Business was good.
As I pressed my way through the throngs, I could scarcely contain the knot of fear that twisted in my stomach.
Jesus had been arrested.
Jesus, the peaceful and compassionate one that spoke with such assurance. An assurance that raised up hope and stirred my heart. Surely God was at work in this man… surely.
It was rumored that he was in the custody of Pilate. It was a small hope. Pilate was thought to be a reasonable man, and he didn't have the same hatred that burned in the hearts of the Pharisees and Saducees.
I climbed unnoticed onto a low wall outside the Praetorium just as the doors opened and Pilate came out. Following him were guards supporting a man so severely beaten he was unrecognizable. He wore a king’s purple robe and on His head was a ghastly crown twisted of thorned briars. His hair was matted with blood.
The crowd quieted as Pilate sat down in the judgment seat. Sheep bleating in the distance from the temple grounds could be heard in the stillness. The hunger for blood hung in the air.
My own terror grew when I looked at Pilate's face. His mouth was set in a hard line, though his eyes looked fearful.
His hands clutched the arms of the seat till his knuckles shone white.
Just as Pilate loudly declared, "Behold your King!" my eyes met the eyes of the bloodied man. Jesus! His eyes held mine with the same assurance and compassion I’d seen over the last few years and suddenly I knew Who He was. Emmanuel. God with us.
I knew why of all days, this day He stood before the judgment seat of man. The Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. The Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world.
A tremor of hope and agony ran through me. All my choices, all my selfishness, all my sin… this was the cost. The Son of God must die… for me.
The angry shouts of the crowd brought me back to the horror of the moment. "Crucify Him!" they demanded. Over and over again. The violence poured from their hearts as their voices rose in the thundering cry, "Crucify Him!".
As I looked at Jesus, His face lifted to heaven, my own mouth opened and I whispered my plea to God, "Crucify Him." The tears streamed down my face as my guilt and shame shattered my heart. "Crucify Him."
"Oh God, crucify Him… for me."
And He turned His face and looked straight at me as though He'd heard my desperate whisper. The compassion, the love in His eyes overwhelmed me.
He gave a single nod of His wounded head before they led Him away… and crucified Him.
#
Forgive us our debts.
Ephesians 1:7-9 “In Him we have redemption through His blood the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound (lavished) toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself.”
#
We who know Christ identify with the fact that He died for our sins. Yet sometimes we hold this at arm’s length. Someone else actually killed Him… we just vicariously reap from the edges of that violent, wonderful, horrific, awesome act.
Yet there is also the need to identify with the crowd outside the Praetorium.
Those that reject the Son of God want nothing more than to do away with Him. They don't want to have to consider Him. He is a disturbance and annoyance to their way of life.
God stood before the judgment seat of man and hearts screamed with violence, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" (John 19)
Those of us who know our need, those that know our insurmountable debt, we must also cry out "Crucify Him"… from grief and anguish, from need and hope.
It wasn't just our sins that sent Him to the cross, but our prayers for mercy... our whispered pleas, "Crucify Him."
Forgive us our debts.
Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the
gift of God.”
It should not be a burden in our lives to ask forgiveness. It should not be an inconvenience. It should never be something we approach with dread… wondering if we'll find the needed forgiveness and restoration, or if we'll be treated roughly as our petition is 'taken into consideration.'
Forgiveness is a place of freedom. A place of joy. "Behold your King." It is His will, His pleasure to forgive you.
Ask Him. Cling to Him. Trust in Him. Believe in Him.
#
Father in heaven, thank You for extending forgiveness to us… that You took it upon Yourself to pay our debts. Lord, we know that there is no other way. We need You. Forgive us our debts.
Teach us Your ways and help us to walk in them. We love You and want to obey You.
Lord, help us to never forget Calvary… help us never to abandon Your grace… help us not to become proud, seeking our own way to You. Keep us on Your path, relying on Your mercy and grace alone. And let all we do be done out of our love for You.
Because of Jesus we are Yours.
Amen
#
Study questions
1) Jesus Christ is the mediator, the bridge between God and man. As what kind of bridge do you see Him?
Examples: Solid concrete, a suspension bridge, a bridge made of twisted, woven grass (claims to be strong but you aren't so sure), one of those rickety bridges that you can see rotted, broken boards and it swings and bounces if you barely touch it, etc.
2) When you stand in the crowd at the Praetorium, what is in your own heart?
3) There is a teaching that you must be 'prayed up'… meaning that you don't know what moment you will die, and if you die with ANY sin unconfessed you will lose your salvation. Why is this teaching false?
4) When you sin, what is your attitude toward asking for forgiveness?
Examples: Pride gets in the way, fear that you won't receive forgiveness, it wasn't that big of a deal… why bother God or others with it… etc.
5) When you first came to God and asked forgiveness did you know that it was given as an entirely free gift? Having walked with Him for a time… has that changed? (Do you now think the rules have changed… that because you know Him, it's not so simple?) What does the Bible say about His forgiveness?
copyright 2002 tkc