Here we have Jesus at his most radical: “And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We may not realise this but this is totally new territory for the disciples of Jesus.
To quote theologian David Spriggs: “The Lord’s prayer is so radical that we may easily forget how radical it is.” However, much is quarried from the teaching of the Old Testament – longing for God’s name to be honoured, praying for the coming of his Kingdom, asking for our daily bread as our manna in the wilderness. We pray for his guidance and protection from the reality of evil.
All of this we can find in the Psalms – although Jesus may give a change in emphasis.
A good example of this is how Jesus addresses God as “our father.” This understanding is certainly present in the Hebrew scriptures – but it is not centre stage. In fact, as my Hebraist daughter indicates, God is more often referred to as our rock as our father in the Old Testament.
And so in the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, even though he prays for the coming of God’s kingdom, rather than address God as King he uses the familiar Abba, inviting us into a relationship with him: Our father.
However, when it comes to asking God’s forgiveness, Jesus introduces a totally new dimension.
Of course, we need God’s forgiveness. Whole areas of the Old Testament are devoted to seeking God’s forgiveness, his cleansing. Take Psalm 51: “Blot out my offences, purge me with hyssop, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.”
Whole chapters are devoted to seeking God’s forgiveness, almost to excess. Only this week I read an entire chapter in Nehemiah – chapter 9 – as the people of Israel confess their sins at some length. You feel like saying: “Stop grovelling – just get on with it!”
So asking God to forgive is very much part of Hebrew spirituality. It’s what comes next which is radical. “As we forgive those who trespass against us.”
This commitment appears nowhere in the Old Testament.
Going back to David Spriggs. “I can find only two instances in the Old Testament* where this is noted or requested…It is of note than on both occasions it is an appeal to the wronged person not to retaliate or harm those who have offended them; It is not a divine command or a generation condition for being forgiven.”
What Jesus is teaching here is that in some way our willingness to forgive is in some way implied in how we would receive God’s free forgiveness. Hence, for example, the parable of the unforgiving servant. As Jesus concludes: “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” (Matthew 18:35). Again this is new territory for those who would follow Jesus – it’s what sets us, or should set us apart.
As it happens we have the Lord’s prayer in two versions, in Matthew and Luke. And here they differ. Matthew gives us: “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (6:12) and Luke, in contrast “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.” (11:4).
Two different words: debts and sins, one commercial and the other religious, different ways of describing how we have disobeyed God, failing to honour him. And each other.
Incidentally, we have William Tyndale to blame for merging both versions. It was his seismic translation of 1535 which introduced the notion of trespassing, in both passages. His wording was adopted for the Book of Common Prayer, and thus became familiar to many generations of English-speaking Christians.
However, what is fascinating is the tense each Gospel writers uses to describe our response to God’s forgiveness. Matthew uses the aorist tense referring to a single action in the past: “as we also have forgiven our debtors.” In contrast Luke uses the present tense: “for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.”
However, in God’s providence we need to take both versions together. Matthew – writing to mainly Jewish Christians – emphasises that we cannot ask God to forgive us if we are intent on not forgiving those who have wronged us. So Jesus amplifies his teaching: “But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:15).
So if we come to God with a determined refusal to forgive those who have hurt us, quite possibly very grievously, then forget asking him to forgive us.
Luke – writing to Gentile Christians who do not have the spiritual background of their Jewish brothers and sisters – gives both in tandem. Here we continue to forgive as God forgives us. “Father, forgive us while we, at the same time, are regularly forgiving others.”
Here we have the heart of the Christian faith flowing from the cross of Christ. So the apostle Paul urges: “Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you.” (Colossians 3:13).
And again: “Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
As the 17th century poet George Herbert observed: “He that cannot forgive others, breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass if he would ever reach heaven; for everyone has need to be forgiven.”
*Genesis 50:17 and 1 Samuel 25:28
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