Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him.” Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him. But Jesus said to him, “Friend, why have you come?”
Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him. And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.
Matthew 26:48-51
One of the twelve disciples betrayed Jesus by handing Him over to be killed; another disowned Him, and most of them ran away from Him for the fear of their lives.
When the mob came to arrest Jesus, Peter immediately acted out of emotion and flung his sword at the servant of the high priest. However, he went undercover afterwards and denied Jesus three times. In contrast, the immediate reaction of Jesus was to touch and heal the wounded servant of the high priest.
It will be good for us this morning to stop for a moment and ask ourselves the question, ‘whose nature do I have? ‘Do we react out of emotion but do not sustain it when it counts, or are we quick to forgive?
Jesus was able to endure the mocking, beating and the painful agony on the cross and still say “Father forgive them because they know not what they do.”
Jesus healed the servant of the high priest even though he was part of the group coming to arrest Him. He forgave in that very moment of time and was also able to forgive everyone else. He does not keep any record of wrongs in His forgiveness. If He kept a record of all our wrongs, where would our place be in the Kingdom of God?
Let us therefore ask Jesus to give us His nature to be like Him, so that we will be able to forgive others and keep no record of wrongs.
Dear Lord,
I thank You so much for what You did for me on the cross. Help me to forgive others as You have forgiven me so that I will be able to walk in freedom. Amen.