The Rule of Christ

If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven (John 20.23)

Why this emphasis on the power of forgiveness – both its presence or absence? For Jesus, forgiveness is the key to developing healthy relationship. John understands that relationships are the DNA in the fabric of life. There is no sustaining of relationships without forgiveness, just as there is no motivating force for genuine forgiveness other than love.

But more fundamentally, in the light of our relationship with God and the intensity of love that God shows to us, John sees the need to be obligated to showing forgiveness and to freeing people by demonstrating forgiveness. This challenge is at the heart of life. Why?

Because of the inevitability of conflict and the need for its resolution, if relationship in community is to be sustained. Love needs to be expressed through forgiveness and reconciliation, leading to restoration of fellowship. This is what the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus declares to the Cosmos, to all who would hear.

'To be human is to have differences; to be human wholesomely is to process those differences, not by building up conflicting power claims but by reconciling dialogue. Conflict is socially useful; it forces us to attend to new data from new perspectives. It is useful in interpersonal process; by processing conflict, one learns skills, awareness, trust, and hope. Conflict is useful in intrapersonal dynamics, protecting our concern about guilt and acceptance from being directed inwardly only to our own feelings. The therapy for guilt is forgiveness; the source of self-esteem is another person who takes seriously my restoration to community' (J H Yoder, Body Politics, Herald Press, 2001, p. 8).

This is what is required of Christ’s disciples, of those who are now participators in the divine nature. Conflict with parents, children, siblings, former lovers: we so often wrongly seek to blind ourselves towards or anathematise them. But in Christ’s name, we need to face them with humility, reappraise our Lord’s call to us for investment in ‘the other’, and own a preparedness to change for the better through the resolution of conflict. This is an essential part of our journey.

Good Friday

A journey involves a path. And that path, for the Christian, takes us to and through God’s Friday – Good Friday. The Cross is an inescapable point of passage for the Christian. Some may rather see the Cross simply in terms of punishment exchanged. Jesus dies: we live. But there is much more to it than this. God's forgiveness, love and involvement in our humanity is expressed in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Something more than these is the reason for the Cross. The Cross is a point in the path of Jesus Christ that we too must pass through with Christ. It presents us with a path of Promise which brings us to a point of Pain, Perfecting and Purging.

Path of Promise

Here is where God’s promises lead Jesus. Betrayal. Misrepresentation. Injustice. Persecution. The way of Jesus is not simply about Health, Wealth and Prosperity fulfilled in this world. Yes, there is healing that breaks through, provision and a sense of fruitfulness that is tasted; prosperity that can touch our lives here and now. But the path of promise reminds us of stark realities in a world where powers and principalities are set against Christ and His followers. There will be times when we face the profound realities of betrayal, misrepresentation, injustice and persecution. When escape will not be an option.

Point of Pain

Indeed, there are in our path points of deep pain and even the experience of forsakenness. This will come to us when we are immersed or engaged with the tragedies and pressures that descend upon people. To share the experience of others, in their struggles as well as their joys, will bring us to share in their experience of pain in a way that it becomes our own.

Involvement with people and challenges can prove very costly. This is the way of the disciple of Jesus Christ.

Point of Perfecting

Let us never forget that Jesus Christ’s struggle against the temptation to turn away from this path was huge. But the New Testament Book of Hebrews speaks of how it was through His obedience and suffering that Jesus Christ became perfect. We need to pass through the point of the Cross to bring us through the fires of refining and maturation.

Point of Purging

The Cross is where God cures, in and through Christ’s humanity, all that defiles, degrades and destroys our humanity. He deals with death, the devil and disease. The Cross of Christ is the poultice that cures humanity's poison. Where the poison of sin is drawn from us into Christ Himself.

Let us never forget that it is at this point, which we find it so hard to pass through, that the power of sin and sickness is drawn from us. This is the redeeming and healing work of Christ on the Cross. It is the maturity of Jesus Christ’s humanity that truly demonstrates Him to be God’s eternal Word enfleshed, the Son of God. Such maturity that expresses utter empathy and compassion, bearing all the pain and punishment in Himself.

And still, this is not the end of the story of God's love ......

Conflict of the will

Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done (Luke 22.42)

We should not imagine, were we always to know God’s outcome for our personal life plan and meaningful ministry, that we would necessarily be excited by or want to pursue it.

We need to distinguish between the purpose of God and the specifics of how these purposes might be outworked in our life. The Biblical prophetic voice majors on the purposes and fine-tunes with the specifics for our personal lives – hence ‘fortune telling’ about the future is neither a healthy concern nor focus for us.

Christian life goals should not simply be about outcomes. What should be of more concern to us are the ‘drivers’ of our life – the ‘who’, the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of life. The outcome is up to God. Sometimes He will reveal it. But often He will not. So let’s get on with it now.