May 1, 2018 - - Luke 1:76-78a The person forgiveness reveals.

And you, child,

will be called the prophet of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

to give knowledge of salvation to his people

in the forgiveness of their sins

because of the tender mercies of our God...

Luke 1:76-78a

Sometimes you can read a passage over and over again and not see something significant in it; and on another reading of it, something will strike you in a new and fresh way. That happened with me today. I have read this passage from Luke so many times. It is the song of praise of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. John the Baptist was the last Old Testament prophet before Jesus would make Himself known.

What would be the clear revelation of Jesus? What would prepare people to receive the Messiah, known as Jesus the Saviour? It would be in the fact that John preaches forgiveness.

It says in Proverbs 18:19

"A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city,

and quarreling is like the bars of a castle."

We have all seen it: the folding of the arms, the tightening of the lines around the mouth, the eyebrows gathering in wrinkling wrath and a heart that becomes hard like a stone. This is what an offense does.

The Most High God has opened the only way to forgiveness. On the person of Jesus all our sins have been punished. There is no outstanding debt among believers, but the on-going debt to love. It is in forgiveness, offered and received, that the world sees Jesus Christ most clearly and beautifully.

God of Tender Mercies, I confess I have often crossed my arms and hardened my heart against offenses real and imagined. Forgive me, O God. Blessed be Your Name, Jesus, as it is in Your Name forgiveness is received and applied. Spirit of God, melt my hard-heart and open my arms in the embrace of forgiveness so that the world will see the glory of Jesus Christ to the honour and praise of our Father in Heaven! Amen.