Forgiveness
It might seem a little bit odd being only a couple of weeks after Easter, but the setting for today’s Gospel is at the Last Supper. But in this short Gospel we hear the entire substance of the ministry of Jesus. “Love one another as I have loved you.” As Jesus loved the Father, He revealed the glory of God. As we love one another, we too, glorify God. So let’s take a closer look at the word glory or to glorify. As used in the Old Testament, the meaning of the word glory is “the manifestation of an inner truth.” We have all seen athletes, after years of hard work and training win the gold medal. We could say about the athlete, we saw his glory. What we saw was the inner strength of the man, his self discipline, his wisdom in whatever it was that motivated him to press on. He is not someone who just sits around talking and eating pizza.
Just like we said of the athlete we can also say about Jesus as we reflect on all that He endured for our sake. We saw His glory. Nailed to a cross, mocked, a total failure. And yet what is His glory, what is the motivation behind this total giving of Himself? LOVE EXPRESSED IN PERFECT FORGIVENESS. “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” In seeing the glory of Jesus helplessly hanging upon the cross, we see the glory of God, who loves us so much.
The beautiful truth in this is that our glory is revealed as well. How much are we worth? We are worth the death of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who in His glory Almighty God gave for us.
We are not asked to forgive another with our own forgiveness. Instead, we share with Jesus the depth of the Father’s forgiveness. When we forgive in this way we can never say “I’ll forgive you but I will never forget.” Are there those you find difficult to forgive? Perhaps you need to understand that the person you are not able to forgive reflects the glory of the Father just as you and I do. The fruit of this type of genuine forgiveness is healing.
As we continue our Easter journey, let us reflect on how we glorify God. Is it by talking and eating pizza or is it by seeing Jesus in each and every person we encounter? Is it by total, self giving love?
- Deacon John Murrell