But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50: 19-20
The ability Joseph has to forgive is ingrained in his theology. He understands that it is not about him. It is not about his sufferings and his travails. It is about God for Joseph. This is the level of forgiveness we need to have as well. Where we can out aside ourselves and see things from an eternal perspective.
Thirdly, forgiveness is always the answer; regardless of what you feel has been done to you. In the story leading up to our key verses, we have Peter asking Jesus how many times he must forgive his brother. In an attempt to sound righteous, Peter suggests seven times. Jesus response is a reminder that forgiveness is not based upon any outside considerations. As Christians we are to forgive, period. Jesus' answer of seven times seventy did not literally mean 490 times but rather that there should be no limits on our forgiveness of others. I have heard Christians lament that this is not possible. We cannot possibly forgive someone all the time! The limitations we place on ourselves do not matter to God. What His Word says is exact and true. If Jesus said seven times seventy, then that is what He meant. Our forgiveness cannot be limited by our finite minds:
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19: 26
After Jesus explains to Peter that forgiveness should be seven times seventy, He proceeds to tell them a parable of the unmerciful servant. In this parable a man owes a great sum of money to a king; ten thousand talents. Today's equivalent would be in excess of 10 million dollars! The King was going to have him sell everything he had including his family when he had compassion on him. The Bible says that he actually cancelled the debt! Could you imagine owing 10 million dollars and having the debt cancelled? That is what happened to this man. Yet the Bible says that he then went out and found someone who owed him 100 denari, which amounts to only a few dollars. He choked the man and demanded his money. When the man could not pay and begged for the same leniency and compassion he had just received, the man had him thrown in jail. When the King found out, he called the servant in and rebuked him:
Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' Matthew 18: 33
This leads us up to our key verses. Within these two verses are two very
important truths about forgiveness we need to keep in mind. First of all, we
all owed a debt we could not pay. Our sin-debt was what separated us from God
and threatened to leave us with an eternal separation. We could not pay the
debt so God paid it for us through His Son Jesus Christ. Whenever we are
harboring resentment or unforgiveness we need to remember the debt Jesus paid
for us on
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. Micah 7: 18-19