1 Jesus said to his disciples, “Stumbling blocks are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him to have a millstone tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. 4 Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

REFLECTIONS

Written by Judy Lai

In this passage, Jesus addresses two aspects of the Christian walk.

The first is the ripple effect of our sin (v1-2). The reality is that we are all sinners – none of us make godly decisions in everything that we do, and I find it comforting that the Bible is realistic about that. But Jesus gives us a warning here, because my struggle with sin can affect other brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus’ strongest words are for those who don’t care about their sin, and who revel in their sinful desires in a way that leads others to deny God. “Woe to that person”, says Jesus – causing others to stumble is a grave mistake in God’s eyes.

What a powerful reminder to care about not just my own life and faith, but God’s community. Our actions can have a far greater effect on others than I often realise. When we hide our sin and revel in it in secret, we can end up leading others to do the same and turn away from God. But joy in Christ’s community comes from sharing our struggles, confessing our sin, and constantly helping one another to repent and live God’s way.

The second area of Christian living is sin and forgiveness (v3-4). We all know how much it can hurt when others sin against us. So I love how direct and straight to the point Jesus is in verse 3: When someone sins against you, first rebuke, and second, if there is repentance, forgive. That seems like the ideal scenario – where one party takes the initiative to have the hard conversation (rebuke) and the other has the heart to listen (repent).

But often relationships and conflict are much messier. What if someone says they repent, but they keep doing the same thing over and over? What if you doubt they are genuine? Jesus doesn’t waver, in verse 4: Keep forgiving. Every time.

As a cynic, I find it extremely hard to look past someone else’s unrepentant heart or their hypocrisy. My natural tendency is to hold a grudge. Verse 4 is a strong and clear call to faith in Jesus – because the only way you can keep forgiving over and over is to trust what he says, that forgiveness is best. We need to learn to leave our grievances in God’s hands, and to remember that he continues to forgive us over and over. When we remember that, we can let go and forgive too.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Judy is a member of our Fairfield Evening congregation.