Matthew 6:14

Monday, 6 January 2025

 

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Matthew 6:14

 

“For if you may forgive men their transgressions, also your Father, the Heavenly, He will forgive you” (CG).

 

The previous verse completed the words of the Lord’s prayer. With that now finished, He makes a statement that must be based on one of the thoughts in the Lord’s prayer. He begins with, “For if you may forgive men their transgressions.”

 

Because these words begin with “For if,” He is tying what He will say to what He has said, which is certainly the words of verse 12. There, He said, “And You forgive us our debts as also we, we forgive our debtors” (CG).

 

Here, however, instead of debt, He speaks of transgression, using a new word, paraptóma. It comes from two words signifying a side-slip. In other words, a fault, offense, sin, trespass, etc. Such an offense is like a debt. As noted in verse 12, the word translated as debt is opheiléma.

It was found only there and in Romans 4:4, where Paul notes that the wages of those who work are like a debt that is owed. Sinning (a transgression against God) brings about a debt that must be satisfied. Under the law, this satisfaction was through the Levitical sacrificial system, each aspect of which anticipated the coming of the Messiah.

 

So, there are debts, and there are transgressions. As for the forgiving of the transgression in this verse, the verb is subjunctive, “If you may forgive.” This makes the words conditional on what lies ahead.

 

He is saying that there may be instances where someone is called on to forgive another. If he is willing to do so, then there will be a result. In the case of being called on to forgive, and if that forgiveness is granted, then “also your Father, the Heavenly, He will forgive you.”

 

Going back to the thought of a debt from verse 12, when a debt is owed, for it to be forgiven, the obvious implication is that the one owing asked for it to be forgiven, or there was a stipulation under the law that mandated it was to be forgiven. It cannot be that the debtor is forgiven without this. That would defy the point of carrying debts in the first place.

 

One carries a debt when helping out another. However, to simply forgive every debt without a reason means there was never a debt. Rather, it was a gift from the start because calling it a debt would be contrary to what a debt is. In other words, debts would not exist in any real sense.

 

And yet, the law allowed for debts. Jesus speaks of people owing one another in His teachings, including His parables. He has already acknowledged that not paying debts has consequences. For example –

 

“Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.” Matthew 5:25, 26

 

Rather, in verse 12, and concerning debts, Jesus was appealing to the Law of Moses. In it, the holding of debts is perfectly acceptable. Further, the mandatory releasing of debts did not apply to everyone, only to those of Israel and only at a specific point in time –

 

“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts. 2 And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the Lord’s release. 3 Of a foreigner you may require it; but you shall give up your claim to what is owed by your brother, 4 except when there may be no poor among you; for the Lord will greatly bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance— 5 only if you carefully obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today. 6 For the Lord your God will bless you just as He promised you; you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you.” Deuteronomy 15:1-6

 

This release was mandated by the law. To not do this according to the Mosaic Code would be a violation of the law itself. This is what Jesus was referring to. Jesus is now equating transgressions as a type of debt. When a transgression against another exists, there is a process that must be followed when someone asks to be forgiven for what he has done. This is the point of Jesus’ words.

 

Life application: The words of Jesus have to be taken in the context of when they were spoken. He is speaking to His disciples and teaching them concerning matters of the law. It would make no sense to say that He is speaking to the church. There was no church. The disciples had no idea there would be a church.

 

Rather, they were looking to the law and evaluating Jesus’ words based on it. They had no idea Jesus was going to die for the remission of sins. Instead, they had the Levitical sacrificial system set up for that. Taking Jesus’ words out of their intended context destroys the entire thought that is being presented.

 

Be sure to not take things out of their intended context.

 

Glorious God, may we evaluate each part of Your word in its intended context. Amen.