In this article, we study Jesus’ discussions of the peacemakers, the merciful, and forgiveness. His comments on these topics dictate how we should deal with one another. His teaching is clear: if we forgive, then we will be forgiven; but if we do not forgive, then we will not be forgiven.
Blessed are the Peacemakers
Jesus expands the seventh beatitude, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God” (Mt. 5:9 RV), with exhortations to control our anger before it leads to murder, to be reconciled with our brethren before we come to worship, and to agree with our adversary before he throws us into debtors prison (Mt. 5:21-26).
Anger is murder
Jesus says, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry (Gk. orge) with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and (it was said) whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council (Gk. sunedrion, i.e. the Sanhedrin), but (I say unto you,) whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire” (Mt. 5:21-22).
Vine writes in his Expository Dictionary ofNew Testament Words,”Thumos indicates a more agitated condition of the feelings, an outburst of wrath from inward indignation, while orge suggests a settled or abiding condition of mind, frequently with a view to taking revenge. Orge is less sudden in its rise than thumos, but more lasting in its nature. Thumos expresses more the inward feeling, orge the more active emotion.”
So, Jesus is warning us not to harbor a grudge and not to plan for revenge.
Jesus says that one who is angry with his brother without a cause will be treated just like a murderer. In similar language, John connects hating one’s brother with murder, giving Cain’s slaying of Abel as an example. He writes, “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one (i.e. Cain was a seed of the serpent), and slew his brother…He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer” (I John 3:11-12,14-15).
Not only is anger subject to judgment, but Jesus also warns against making derogatory comments to a brother. Warnings to put away anger and to hold our tongue often come together. For example, Paul writes, “But now ye also put off all these; anger (orge), wrath (thumos), malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth” (Col. 3:8). And James writes, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God” (James 1:19,20; cp. Prov. 16:32; Psa. 37:8).
Two passages in the letters of Paul appear, at first glance, to contradict the teaching of Jesus. “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine;! will repay saith the Lord” (Rom. 12:19). Is Paul telling us that we should vent our anger? No. As his quote of Dt. 32:35 and the RV margin indicate, we should give place unto “the wrath of God,” instead of avenging ourselves.
“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath (provocation, RVm): neither give place to the devil” (Eph. 4:26-27; cp. Psa. 4:4 LXX). It appears as if Paul is recommending that we express our anger in order not to sin. However, just a few verses later he writes, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice” (Eph. 4:31). Vine suggests that Eph. 4:26 might mean, “Be ye angry with yourselves.” An alternative is to read Eph. 4:26-27 something like, “Is there any way to be angry and not sin? It’s not likely. Instead, forget whatever provoked you to anger before your evening prayers, or else, you will almost surely sin, because that is your nature.”
First be reconciled to thy brother
Jesus continues, “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift” (Mt. 5:23-24). Jesus is plainly telling us that before we can be reconciled to God, we must first be reconciled to one another.
Jesus later says, “When ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses” (Mk. 11:25-26). The parallels are: “if thou bring thy gift to the altar” becomes “when ye stand praying;” “there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee” becomes “if ye have ought against any;” and “first be reconciled to thy brother” becomes “forgive.”
Similarly, Paul writes that we should forbear one another, and forgive one another, “if any man have a quarrel (complaint, AVm and RV) against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” (Col. 3:13).
Agree with your adversary
“Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing” (Mt. 5:25,26).
Later in his ministry, Jesus teaches the parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Mt. 18:23-35). A king decides to take account of his servants. One of his servants owed him the wages of several lifetimes. But the servant pleads with his lord, and the king, having compassion, forgives him his debt. Then, this servant goes to a fellow servant to demand payment of a comparatively minor debt owed to him. This fellow servant pleads with the servant just as the servant had pleaded with the king. But, instead of forgiving him as he had been forgiven, the servant would have none of it, but goes and “casts (his fellow servant) into prison till he should pay the debt” (Mt. 18:30). The king hears what has happened and is very angry. He reminds the servant that he had been forgiven his debt, so the servant should have had pity on his fellow servant. The king then “delivers (the servant) to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due” (Mt. 18:34).
Jesus draws the lesson for us, “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses” (Mt. 18:35). So, the king is our Heavenly Father. By refusing to show compassion on his fellow servant, the servant is disagreeing with his “Adversary” the king. Consequently, his adversary “delivers him to the judge, and the judge delivers him to the officer, and he is cast into prison…He shalt by no means come out thence, till he hast paid the uttermost farthing” (Mt. 5:25-26).
Blessed Are The Merciful
Jesus bases the idea of the fifth beatitude, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (ML 5:7), on Psalm 18, “With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful” (Psa. 18:25). Jesus expands this beatitude with exhortations to avenge not evil, to love our enemies, and to give alms (Mt. 5:38-6:4)
The parallel in Luke
Luke 6:27-38 records another sermon of our Lord, in which these teachings are emphasized, “But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despite fully use you” (cp. Mt. 5:44).
“And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again” (cp. Mt. 5:39-40,42).
“And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (cp. Mt. 7:12).
“For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same” (cp. Mt. 5:46-47).
“And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again” (cp. Mt. 6:2).
“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” (cp. Mt. 5:44-45).
“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (cp. Mt. 5:48).
“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged” (cp. Mt. 7:1).
“Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven” (cp. Mt. 6:12,14-15).
“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom” (cp. Mt. 5:42).
“For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (cp. Mt. 7:2).
Forgive Us As We Forgive
Jesus continues this theme of forgiving one another in the Lord’s prayer, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Mt. 6:12). The “debts” in this petition are a figure for “sins.” Luke’s version of the Lord’s prayer has, “Forgive us our sins; for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us” (Lk. 11:4). The parable of the Unforgiving Servant has the same figure (Mt. 18:23-35).
Forgive that you may be forgiven
To emphasize the importance of our role in this petition, Jesus comments, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Mt. 6:14-15). We have already seen the same lesson in Mk. 11:25-26 and Mt. 18:35.
Forgive because you are forgiven
At the last supper, Jesus emphasized that we were to imitate his example. “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you…A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:15, 34-35). As we are forgiven our sins in him, to follow the divine example we must forgive because we have been forgiven.
Paul makes this point to the Ephesians, “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour” (Eph. 4:32-5:2). And to the Colossians, “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” (Col. 3:13).
How many times?
Jesus exhorts, “Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him” (Lk. 17:3-4). We must not question the sincerity of our brother’s repentance. We must be eager to forgive, even as we pray that our heavenly Father is eager to forgive us when we repent of a sin.
Peter asks, “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?” You can hear him thinking, “Surely seven times would be above and beyond the call of duty.” But Jesus responds, “I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven” (Mt. 18:21-22). Where did he get that number? Perhaps it is a reversal of Lamech’s rule of revenge, “Lamech said unto his wives…Because vengeance has been exacted seven times on Cain’s behalf, on Lamech’s it shall be seventy times seven” (Gen. 4:23,24 LXX). Or is it related to Daniel’s prophecy of the atoning work of Christ, “Seventy weeks (Heb. seventy sevens) are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy” (Dan. 9:24). In either case, it is clear that we are to forgive our brother without limit. If he says that he repents, we must forgive him.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One