Sixth Forgiveness Saying
- The Sixth Forgiveness Saying
- Forgive and you will be forgiven
- HaShem is gracious, generous and merciful to all
- Our acts of charity can help others enter into a state of blessedness
- The business of facilitating an enlarged and elongated life
- The greatest good anyone could ever hope to do for another
- We are to exercise empathy and compassion for the suffering of others
- If we forgive those who trespass against us, we will be forgiven
- Our sins are taken up and carried away
- Who is Like HaShem?
- HaShem’s greatest reward is for us to be restored to His likeness
- The measure of forgiveness that we give to others is the measure that we will receive
The Sixth Forgiveness Saying:
Lukas 6:35-38
אֲבָל אֶהֱבוּ אֶת־אֹיְבֵיכֶם וְהֵיטִיבוּ וְהַלְווּ וְאַל תְּצַפּוּ לְתַשְׁלוּם וִיהִי שְׂכַרְכֶם רַב וִהְיִיתֶם בְּנֵי עֶלְיוֹן כִּי טוֹב הוּא גַּם־לִכְפוּיֵי טוֹבָה וְלָרָעִים׃ לָכֵן הֱיוּ רַחֲמָנִים כַּאֲשֶׁר גַּם־אֲבִיכֶם רַחוּם הוּא׃ וְאַל־תִּשְׁפְּטוּ וְלֹא תִשָּׁפֵטוּ אַל־תְּחַיְּבוּ וְלֹא תְחֻיָּבוּ נַקּוּ וְתִנָּקוּ׃ תְּנוּ וְתִנָּתֵן לָכֶם וּמִדָּה יָפָה דְּחוּקָה וּגְדוּשָׁה וּמֻשְׁפָּעָה יָשִׁיבוּ אֶל־חֵיקְכֶם כִּי בַמִּדָּה אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם מוֹדֲדִים יִמַּד לָכֶם׃
אדרבא, אהבו את אויביכם והיטיבו והלוו מבלי לצפות לגמול, ורב יהיה שכרכם ובני עליון תהיו, כי טוב הוא גם לכפויי טובה וגם לרעים. היו רחמנים כשם שאביכם רחמן הוא. אל תשפטו ולא תשפטו. אל תרשיעו ולא תרשעו. סלחו ויסלח לכם. תנו וינתן לכם; מדה יפה, דחוסה, גדושה ושופעת יתנו בחיקכם, כי במדה שאתם מודדים ימדד לכם. פ
אַדְּרַבָּא, אֶהֱבוּ אֶת אוֹיְבֵיכֶם וְהֵיטִיבוּ וְהַלְווּ מִבְּלִי לְצַפּוֹת לִגְמוּל, וְרַב יִהְיֶה שְׂכַרְכֶם וּבְנֵי עֶלְיוֹן תִּהְיוּ, כִּי טוֹב הוּא גַּם לִכְפוּיֵי טוֹבָה וְגַם לָרָעִים. הֱיוּ רַחֲמָנִים כְּשֵׁם שֶׁאֲבִיכֶם רַחֲמָן הוּא. אַל תִּשְׁפְּטוּ וְלֹא תִּשָּׁפְטוּ. אַל תַּרְשִׁיעוּ וְלֹא תֻּרְשְׁעוּ. סִלְחוּ וְיִסָּלַח לָכֶם. תְּנוּ וְיִנָּתֵן לָכֶם; מִדָּה יָפָה, דְּחוּסָה, גְּדוּשָׁה וְשׁוֹפַעַת יִתְּנוּ בְּחֵיקְכֶם, כִּי בַּמִּדָּה שֶׁאַתֶּם מוֹדְדִים יִמָּדֵד לָכֶם. פ
Forgive and you will be forgiven:
“But love your enemies. Do good and lend, and do not anticipate being paid, hoping for something in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Highest, because He is good also to those who are ungrateful and evil, on whom His goodness is upset. Therefore be compassionate, merciful just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge others and you will not be judged. Do not hold others liable, condemn them, and you will not be held liable and be condemned. Forgive, acquit and you will be forgiven and acquitted. Give, and it will be given to you; *They will return to your lap a beautiful measure, pressed down, shaken together, crammed full, and overflowing. For with the same measure that you use to measure, it will be measured back to you.”
*They. In Hebrew the third-person plural without a precedent is an indirect way of referring to HaShem or to the Proceedings of the Heavenly Court.)
HaShem is gracious, generous and merciful to all:
The Sixth Forgiveness Saying of Messiah teaches us that HaShem (the NAME) is loving and merciful toward all. He is gracious, generous and merciful even to those who are His enemies. In Mattai 5:43-46 Rabbi Yeshua deconstructs the popular saying of his day, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” He replaces this saying with a far more gracious alternative:
“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.”
Our acts of charity can help others enter into a state of blessedness:
The Hebrew word for bless here is “barak”. In the Greek version of the Tanakh the Greek word “eulogemenos” is used convey the meaning of the Hebrew word barak. This means that the word bless indicates that one will both speak and act in the interests of others. For HaShem speaking and acting are both one thing.
Benevolent intent acted out on behalf of another seeks and pursues more than the end of doing a kind, merciful, and good act for the person. It is the supreme desire of Rabbi Yeshua that his acts of charity and goodwill (Tzedakah) will culminate in more persons entering into a permanent state of blessing.
The Hebrew word for this desired permanent state of blessedness is ‘esher (אַשְׁרֵי).
This word is only used in the plural. Twenty-five of its forty-four occurrences in the Tanakh appear in the Psalms. As stated before in the Scriptures the number twenty-five is symbolic of a multiplied fullness of grace.
The business of facilitating an enlarged and elongated life:
Psalm 1 describes the Ashrei-Man (אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי־הָאִ֗ישׁ) who illustrates best what the person with the most blessed life looks like. We see in the life of the Ashrei-Man a picture of how the sons of the Most High God (בני אל-עליון-b’nei El-Elyon) are to be about our heavenly Father’s business:
Objective #1. We are to facilitate the spiritual and practical enlargement and elongation of our life and the lives of others.
Objective #2. We are to be a blessing to the lives of those who are our friends; those who do us good.
Objective #3. We are also to act in a virtuous manner toward our enemies; those who do us harm. Therefore, as sons of the Most High God we are to do everything we can to pursue shalom with everyone; the wicked as well as the righteous.
The greatest good anyone could ever hope to do for another:
The greatest proportion of good anyone could ever hope to do for others is to lead them into a blessed relationship with the heavenly Father (cf. Psalm 1 &2). Helping others to become reconciled to the heavenly Father) by becoming followers of the *Ashrei-Man is the most desirable blessing (barak) one could ever hope to bestow upon another.
*Rabbi Yeshua son of David is the Ashrei-Man.
We are to exercise empathy and compassion for the suffering of others:
Living a life like the Ashrei-Man in blessed speech, conduct, and character (‘esher), is exactly what is being addressed in the third Jewish Gospel narrative (Lukas 6:35-38).
Blessed Character #1. The Messiah our Ashrei-Man is teaching us to avoid engaging in hypocritical and condemning behavior that arises out of a self-righteous attitude and not out of true discernment:
“Do not hold others liable, condemn them, and you will not be held liable and be condemned. Forgive, acquit and you will be forgiven and acquitted.”
Blessed Character #2. Those who follow the Ashrei-Man are expected to help others economically; without receiving anything in return:
Give, and it will be given to you!
Blessed Character #3. We are to be merciful and compassionate (Rachum-רַחוּם). This means we are to exercise empathy and compassion for the afflictions and sufferings of others.
If we forgive those who trespass against us, we will be forgiven:
Acquit and you will be acquitted!
This is a legal phrase indicating action similar to what one would expect to find in a court of law. The Hebrew word used for acquit and acquitted, forgive and be forgiven, is nakah (נָקָה). Nakah lliterally means to be clear, pure, and free; to hold innocent and unpunished. This legal term indicates the act of a “pardon” where one dismisses all charges or obligations against someone else.
Our sins are taken up and carried away:
In the Tanakh there are three other Hebrew words which are translated as “pardon”, “pardoned,” and “forgive.” These are kaphar (כָּפַר), “nasa” (נָשָׂא) and “salach” (סָלַח).
Word #1. Kaphar is a Hebrew word you you are likely to already be very familiar with. It is the word that means to cover, purge, make an “atonement,” and make “reconciliation.”
Word #2. Nasa means the taking away, forgiveness or pardon of sin, iniquity and transgression. Sin can be forgiven and forgotten because it is taken up and carried away.
Word #3. Salach is used of HaShem’s offer of pardon and forgiveness to the sinner. Never does this word in any of its forms refer to people forgiving each other.
Who is Like HaShem?
The prophet Micah מִיכָה-meaning, “Who is Like HaShem?” speaks of this when he says (Micah 7:18-19):
“Who is a Mighty One like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”
Micah reveals that no one has a character so willing to pardon wickedness done against one’s self or others, as what HaShem has. HaShem delights in mercy. He enjoys the practice of administering mercy and teaching others to do the same. HaShem is generous in His mercy.
He does not pardon our sins in a begrudging way.
How far is God willing to go in His enthusiasm for doing mercy? He completely removes our sins from us: He figuratively hurls them into the “depths of the sea.”
HaShem’s greatest reward is for us to be restored to His Likeness:
The Messiah promises that generosity in this manner— where one dismisses charges or obligations against someone else—along with generosity in all other matters of human relationship—loving enemies, doing good, lending, without expectation of return, being kind, merciful, non-judging, and non-condemning)—will result in God’s great reward!
The measure of forgiveness that we give to others is the measure that we will receive:
The law of the kingdom of Heaven is one of proportionality; that the measure of God’s blessing upon a person is dependent upon the person’s measure of giving. Therefore, if there is no limit to your generosity to others, then there is no limit to God’s generosity to you.