Lenten Devotion - Monday, April 14

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:21-22

Luther concludes his thoughts on this petition in the Large Catechism with the following:

There is here attached a necessary, yet comforting addition: “As we forgive.” He has promised that we shall be sure that everything is forgiven and pardoned, in the way that we also forgive our neighbor. Just as we daily sin much against God, and yet He forgives everything through grace, so we, too, must ever forgive our neighbor who does us injury, violence, and wrong, shows malice toward us, and so on. If, therefore, you do not forgive, then do not think that God forgives you [Matthew 18:23–25]. But if you forgive, you have this comfort and assurance, that you are forgiven in heaven. This is not because of your forgiving. For God forgives freely and without condition, out of pure grace, because He has so promised, as the Gospel teaches. But God says this in order that He may establish forgiveness as our confirmation and assurance, as a sign alongside of the promise, which agrees with this prayer in Luke 6:37, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Therefore, Christ also repeats it soon after the Lord’s Prayer, and says in Matthew 6:14, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,” and so on.

This sign is therefore attached to this petition. When we pray, we remember the promise and think, “Dear Father, for this reason I come and pray for You to forgive me, not so that I can make satisfaction or can merit anything by my works. I pray because You have promised and attached the seal to this prayer that I should be as sure about it as though I had Absolution pronounced by You Yourself.” For Baptism and the Lord’s Supper—appointed as outward signs—work as seals [Ephesians 1:13]. In the same way also, this sign can serve to confirm our consciences and cause them to rejoice. It is especially given for this purpose, so that we may use and practice forgiveness every hour, as a thing that we have with us at all times.

Prayer: Our Father, Who art in heaven, grant me a forgiving heart. Amen.

God’s richest blessings in Christ,
Pastor Philip Quardokus

Download a pdf of all the Lenten devotions here.