Mark 13:1-2 Throne Down, or Thrown Down?

Mark 13:1-2

Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him,

"Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!"

And Jesus answered and said to him,

"Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

Comments:

Deadly landslide from a major 2001 earthquake 
in El Salvador.

Jesus was quick to teach that the things that we think are impressive, solid, immovable, and permanent will be torn down if we honor them more than we honor God. Have you ever experienced an earthquake? We occasionally have earthquakes here in Oregon (I can think of two pretty big ones) but I am originally from Los Angeles and have experienced many there. Once as a child, I was thrown out of bed during an especially strong quake. My daughter is from El Salvador and experienced many terrible quakes including the one in Santa Tecla (2001) that killed 944 people and damaged 150,000 buildings. There really is something unnerving when that which you think to be solid starts moving and shaking, or rolling like the waves on the ocean!

Jesus’ disciples thought the temple was the most beautiful and stable thing in their world. Yet it had come to be a mockery to its original purpose. When Jesus entered Jerusalem he found that it was not a “house of prayer for all nations” and had to drive out the moneychangers and sacrifice vendors. It was not a place concerned with relieving the burden of the very poor, as we saw in the previous post on the account of the widow's offering and Jesus’ condemnation of the predatory practices of the scribes. The leaders in what was supposed to be “my Father’s house” were like wicked tenants in Jesus' parable who were plotting to kill “the heir” and would soon complete the act. Jesus was telling his followers that their hope was not found in a building—or in any impressive works of man—but the work that Jesus himself was about to do in dying for their sins. He had already told them about this many times but they really didn’t understand. They just wanted to talk about a timeline for when the temple would be destroyed. The end-times fascination started early I guess.

Model of Robinson's Arch into Temple

There used to be a pedestrian walkway to enter the Temple Compound at ground level and it was supported by what we now call Robinson’s Arch. In 70 a.d. the Romans tore it all down and toppled the stones into the street below where they left a significant crater. See the photo of those stones below.

The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism sponsored a consultation of “Gospel and Culture” which was published as The Willowbank Report. These diverse ministry leaders commented on the shockwaves of our conversion to Christ.

"True conversion to Christ is bound, therefore, to strike at the heart of our cultural inheritance. Jesus Christ insists on dislodging from the center of our world whatever idol previously reigned there, and occupying the throne himself. This is the radical change of allegiance which constitutes conversion, or at least it's beginning."[1]

What is the anchor for our soul, the light of our life, the solid rock that we run to "when all around us is sinking sand?" It had better be Jesus or we are in for a rude awakening! 

Regardless of timetables, charts & graphs, and debates over symbolism...

That which can be shaken will be shaken.

God will judge every idol exalted against him. Kingdoms and buildings alike will fall.

The question is, will we stand in God's grace or will we fall in our own strength.

[1] Ralph D. Winter, and Steven C. Hawthorne, eds. Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2006), 495.

Mark 12:38-44 — Takers and Givers

Mark 12:38-44 

Notice how the last two paragraphs of this chapter stand, in marked contrast to each other.

"Woe to You" by James Tissot - Online Collection of Brooklyn Museum;
Photo: Brooklyn Museum, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org

v. 38-40 And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

v. 41-44 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Comments:

Jesus warned the people to beware of the scribes for two reasons. First, the hypocrisy of their example might be a hindrance to the faith of those they lead; and, second, they might be in actual danger from the scribes' greed and vanity. These religious leaders were always taking; taking attention and recognition, taking the best seats, taking honor, taking the best food, taking money from those who couldn’t fight back, and then taking a long time for their pretend prayers. When the wine of God’s righteous wrath is poured out they will take the greater part of that as well... down to the dregs.

Widow's Mite. Bronze coins from the time of Jesus.
Photo: Creative Commons

The second paragraph is the well-known story of the widow’s mite. In the midst of rich people giving lots of money to the temple (with mixed motives out of their abundance) and yet Jesus called attention to the person who probably gave the smallest offering of the day, two of the smallest coins in circulation. However, she was noteworthy because she gave all that she had…most likely the price of her last meal. Did the temple authorities appreciate it or even notice? Probably not, but Jesus did, and her story has been told ever since.

The wealthy gave out of their abundance in order to take honor and prestige, while out of her poverty the widow gave everything, expecting nothing. Yet Jesus implicitly commended her gift...at the same time that he explicitly condemned those who were taking advantage of her. He would go on to speak about the destruction of the temple, whose treasury was intended for the relief of the poor not to be the very reason such a woman would not be able to eat for days to come.

It seems that in life we can either be takers—we’re naturally wired for it—or we can respond to Jesus' gift to us by being givers. As Pastor Ron Mehl used to say, “When you know who fills your barns you won’t be afraid to empty them.” In the counter-intuitive economics of the Kingdom of God, it is through taking that we lose and by giving that we gain. It is by exalting ourselves that we are diminished and by humbling ourselves that we are exalted. How does this apply to our churches and religious organizations? Will we face the same condemnation as the scribes and the temple they used for their own purposes? 

We may, or may not, see the circle of reward and retribution completed in this life, but it will be. We have Jesus’ word on that.

So what does it mean for us to give all that we have? This is not really about money. Is all that we are available to be used by the Lord? What are we willing to surrender into his care? Are we willing to give away all the attention, honor, prestige, comfort, and control that we crave? Is it not by being filled with trust in and thankfulness to the Lord that we learn to live our lives open-handedly? What we have received is from him and is still his to use as he sees fit. It means that there is nothing we treasure as much as the Lord and because he is a giver we desire to do the same.

Can we say it like this, "Takers will be taken themselves? Givers will receive more than they give"? Let me know what you think.

Mark 12:35-37 — Hearing Him Gladly?

And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, 
“How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 
David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
    until I put your enemies under your feet.”’
David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” 
And the great throng heard him gladly. (v.35-37)

Comments:

By this point, all the different groups have taken their best shot at trapping Jesus and come away with their own intellectual egos bruised instead. Now it was Jesus' turn to rhetorically question their doctrine and theological understanding. 

Jesus doesn't avoid difficult passages but leans into them. Here he used this quote and question to show that their concept of the Messiah was too small—merely a son of David, when he was actually more…even the Son of God. Jesus made the point based on the fact that the son was never considered greater than the father, but David indicated that the Messiah was to be his Lord as well. Jesus was implying that he was the legal son of David, in reality, substantially; he was the Son of God.  

It is interesting that there was no response from the experts in the temple. Not only were they afraid to ask Jesus any more questions, but they were also unable to answer the ones that he asked them!

·       Imagine that…they were intimidated by a Galilean carpenter on their own home court. But the common people heard him gladly.

·       Imagine that…a teaching that was too deep and a logic too strong for the scholars, but simple and stimulating enough to be heard gladly by the common people.

May we still hear him gladly and may our teaching of his gospel be just as captivating today!

 

Mark 12:28-34 — You are right, Teacher... but

Mark 12:28-34
And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 
Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 

And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Comments:

A man had been watching Jesus answer the trick questions of the Pharisees, Herodians, and Sadducees and reached the conclusion in his own mind that Jesus had answered all of their trick questions well. This was no ordinary man but one of the scribes, men whose job it was to be experts in the Scriptures. He saw how Jesus was not intimidated by anyone but answered honestly and rightly. It was to such a One as this that the scribe would ask his heart question—his doctrinal litmus test (one that went beyond the normal understanding).

In response to Jesus’ good answer, the scribe couldn’t contain himself from responding in verses 32-33, “You are right Teacher. You have truly said…” I am impressed with this scribe for not being a party to the first group of Pharisees and Herodians (odds are he was himself a Pharisee) nor a member of the Sadducees. He seems to have been a bit of an island unto himself. Even better, it seems that this skeptical scribe had finally found someone he could call “Teacher”! And Jesus saw the truth in him as well.

v. 34 "Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, `You are not far from the kingdom of God.' But after that, no one dared question Him."

Here are five other observations I would like to make:

1)    There are always people watching our lives, observing how we handle tough situations. What do our responses reveal?

2)    The greatest command is to love God with all of our being and the second is to love our neighbor as ourselves (See Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18). As a sidebar comment, does it come as a shock to Christians that the second most important commandment comes from Leviticus, a book which we too rarely read?

3)    To understand that to do these things is better than to sacrifice for your failure is to be near to the kingdom that we can enter through the justification by faith.

4)    Jesus was able to shift gears from dealing with enemies to dealing with a faith-filled seeker without missing a beat. Why? Because He was no respecter of persons but spoke the truth in love to all no matter what their attitude towards him was. We would do well to be so discerning.

5)    No one dared to question Jesus after this answer that he gave. This doesn't mean we can't come to him with questions, only that those who thought they could trip him up with difficult questions and scenarios realized that they couldn't do it.

There is probably much more to learn from this passage, but I am reminded that this a devotional post, not a commentary.

I know I am glad, that in my Lord Jesus Christ, both grace, and truth are met together (John 1:14, 17)! As we follow him, that should become more descriptive of our lives as well.

Mark 12:18-27 — The Reason You Are Wrong



Jewish cemetery on Mt. Olivet

 And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.” (Mark 12:18-27)

Comments:

Verses 18-23 present the Sadducees' best situational conundrum in their attempt to debunk Jesus’ talk of the resurrection and eternal life. My focus today is specifically on Jesus’ response to them.

In v. 24, Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?"

Verse 24 outlines the problem of the Sadducees. They lacked knowledge of two very important things—the Scriptures, and the power of God. True knowledge of either goes hand in hand with the other. Oh, how important it is that we know the Scriptures and the power of God! We don't study the Bible just to study it, or so that we can present a more persuasive argument, but to know the Lord and his power! 

If we fail to study the Bible or if we study for the wrong reason, I suppose that any of us could end up like the Sadducees—liberal scholars with a limited view of both the canon of Scripture and of the power of God (denying the supernatural). Here in this pericope Jesus was approached by the Sadducees with a hypothetical question which they intended to use to show the irrelevance of the laws of marriage (and perhaps justify their not obeying it) and to show that the resurrection was unlikely (one of the key points of their doctrine which would justify their living life for what they could get now). The question asked of Jesus was so far-fetched as to be absurd yet it was presented as though it had really happened.

Jesus answered their question directly if briefly. Jesus was not evasive—as some would have us believe—he was pervasive. Jesus did not waste much time on such a foolish question but moved in to deal with their real but unspoken question—“Is there a resurrection?”

They believed that the Pentateuch (Genesis—Deuteronomy) was the only really authoritative Scripture, so it is interesting that Jesus quotes from something that they would accept to show that “resurrection” is a great Old Testament truth.

v. 26-27 "But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken."

Jesus’ use of the great "I AM" passage in Exodus 3:14 is important as he would soon invoke "I AM" in reference to himself. Could his use of that term at his trial have given him new hope and faith in his own coming resurrection? The faithful dead are not dead but live! God is a God of the living! I wonder how many of us today might be at risk for making the same mistake that the Sadducees made. 

Would the Holy Spirit whisper to our hearts that we have those two gaps in our knowledge? Do we need to have everything so figured out and analyzed that if we can't understand, explain, or control it we deny its existence?

 

O Ever-living Lord, keep us from the great mistake of the Sadducees. May we have the faith and the honesty to see beyond our pet theories and man-made doctrines to the great truths of the Scriptures and the power of God which is at work even today! To God be the glory!

 

The Garden Tomb

Mark 12:13-17 —Trick Questions

Mark 12:13-17 

And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?”

But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 
And they brought one. 

And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”

They said to him, “Caesar's.” Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” And they marveled at him.

Comments:

In v.13, there is some often overlooked information. “And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk.” After the chief priests and elders (mainly Sadducees) withdrew to plot Jesus' arrest and death, they then sent the Pharisees and the Herodians to test Him, to catch Him in his words. I remember when I first noticed that it was talking about the "Pharisees and the Herodians" but the brain naturally supplies “Sadducees” instead, doesn’t it? What is interesting about these two groups coming to test Jesus together is that they were natural enemies that were now allied against Jesus of Nazareth.

Reubens' Render Unto Caesar

The question that was asked to "catch Jesus in his words" was one that would have been presented as a dispute between the two groups. Pharisees would have resisted the payment of taxes to Caesar while the Herodians collaborators would have been very pro-Roman government. They thought that they had Jesus trapped. No matter which way he ruled, his answer would be an offence to one of the groups and it could be used to still up trouble against him. They spoke kind words to disarm him, but Jesus saw through their hypocrisy. Jesus used this impossible situation to advance his program, not theirs. He was not in the trap, they were (one of their own making). They said, "You're a fair judge, settle this disagreement we have." Jesus was given a choice between the crowd on the right and the crowd on the left and he wisely chose neither. He chose to please the One in Heaven. Still pretty good advice today!

They sought to trap him in his words, but Jesus, always the fisher of men cast his verbal net about them. And they all marveled.

v. 17 "And Jesus answered and said to them, '

                    Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, 

                          and to God the things that are God's.' 

         And they marveled at Him."

Lord Jesus, help me to never be so intimidated that I seek to please men to avoid trouble. May I always look to you and seek to please you and let the traps that are laid for my soul snap shut on nothing but air. Let me be a fisher of men in all circumstances like never before. Help me to see your plan and your sovereignty in all that I face. Thank you for this reminder that we never have to choose the lesser of two evils, but always walk in your righteousness and way of escape. May your Spirit give us words to speak, even when we are on trial!

Mark 12:1-12 The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers

Mark 12:1-12

And he began to speak to them in parables.

A pit for pressing grapes

“A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this Scripture:

Vineyard & Wall in Israel

“‘The stone that the builders rejected

    has become the cornerstone;

this was the Lord's doing,

    and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.

Comments:

Jesus was a "genius" at speaking parables that created a vivid word picture. He communicated a tremendous amount of theology through metaphors. So, to whom is Jesus speaking? We should observe that Jesus told this parable to those same people who had just questioned his authority.

This passage reminds me a bit of Proverbs 26:4-5 where it says in one verse that we should not answer a fool according to his folly and in the next verse that we should answer a fool according to his folly. Jesus had not “answered a fool” in terms of his authority, but now took this opportunity to teach against the scribes and elders who were abusing the people and failing to render unto God the things that were God's—namely the people and their worship.

I can observe at least four different facets of application in this parable:

1. The rights of ownership and personal property...this is the point of contact. It is what the people understood and what made the actions of the wicked tenants even worse.
2. The vine represented Israel and was a reminder that it was not the possession of the people (e.g., the scribes and elders) who lived there but of God, and the fruit of the land was God's as well. This is Isaiah 5:1-7 and the Song of the Vinyard acted out. Not only were the stewards of the vineyard not willing to yield or to show hospitality to the owner's son, but their bitter grapes included killing the heir of the Owner. Jesus was speaking very directly to the religious leaders in a way that revealed that he knew their intentions.
3. That the vineyard may now represent the church. We serve a Master who has done all the work required to plant the vineyard and may soon return to collect the harvest. 
4. Finally, the vineyard may represent the kingdom stewardship of our lives. God has done the work in creating us and equipping us in Christ. One day he will return for his share and what will we say? 

What did the religious leaders understand? They knew right away that he spoke of the prophets whom their fathers had abused and even killed. He also spoke of himself as the Son, the sole heir who was coming to them, one last visitation before judgment. All creation would expect that the Israelites should respect him, but they didn't. Ironically the kingdom started with their ancestors crying out for a king, and then here they were rejecting any such allegiance. Jesus was the Son of the King.

Jesus went to Jerusalem knowing that he would be rejected and killed.

Jesus knew that he would be cast outside the vineyard.

Jesus went to Jerusalem anyway.

The priests and elders also knew that he knew their hearts for they understood the point of his parable. Why didn't they take heed to the clear warning of approaching destruction?

This passage teaches us something about Jesus.

• He knew before...
• He went anyway…
• He forgave despite…

Forgiveness is never deserved, but it is offered by grace to those who would believe. One day, the Lord will return and it will be a terrible day for the wicked vinedressers.

Lord, help us to freely offer up to you that which you deserve. Thank you for not giving us what we deserve, but instead sharing your spreading goodness with us!

v. 10-11 "Have you not even read this Scripture: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD'S doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes'?"

Mark 11:27-33 — Who Gives You the Right?

Mark 11:27-33 
And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, and they said to him, 

“By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?”

Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.”

And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet.

So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.”

And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Comments:

In this passage rife with irony, Jesus' authority was questioned by the temple “authorities”. They wanted to know by what authority he did "these things" and who gave him such authority. So to what did their “these things” refer? The immediate context would refer to (1) Jesus’ cleansing of the temple by driving out the sacrifice vendors and moneychangers,  and his continued prevention of commerce from occurring there, (2) His preventing things from being carried through the temple (it was becoming a shortcut for many); (3) Jesus' daily teaching of his disciples and the crowds in the temple; (4) It may also refer to his triumphal entry and his receiving of the people’s praise. It is less likely that it is referring to the cursing of the tree which they were not as likely to know about. 

This encounter was the religious leaders of that day basically asking Jesus, “Who [or what] gives you the right to do this?” 

They had a lot of personal power and profit tied up in this temple franchise and Jesus was interfering with it all! When the implications of the gospel touch on the status quo power and profit structures somebody is going to have to suffer.

This passage also says a lot about sincere communication. Jesus will answer them if they come clean with him about one thing—the authority behind the ministry of John the Baptist. Trust me, they had an opinion on this, but they were not willing to be honest about it. Because they were not willing to answer honestly, Jesus was not willing to talk any further with them.  Ironically, the temple was to have been a place of prayer for all nations, and prayer is where we get honest with God. I am thankful for the reminders I get in the Bible that God values and seeks our honest communication with him.

It seems to me that the Lord will not have anything to do with those who know what they believe but are too afraid to tell the truth... whether for good or bad. Jesus was a master of discernment. I wish that I was as wise and filled with the Spirit in my own communications. This is yet another situation where Jesus cast neither what was holy before dogs nor his pearls before swine.

Mark 11:20-26 — Faith & Forgiveness

Herodium, a man-made mountain, 
looking up from its base.

v. 23-24 "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."

Comments:

This passage is often wrongly used to justify the "word of faith" movement. But Jesus' emphasis is on Peter's observation of the cursed fig tree. Peter is saying look at this tree! He was seeing the miracle and making it a focus but Jesus seems to be discounting it and refocusing their hearts upon God. Jesus didn't say, "Yeah, it was a pretty impressive miracle" or "You better shape up or this is what will happen to you." He said, "Have faith in God."

When is it that we can believe that what we ask will come to pass—without a doubt—and that we have that which we say?

• When we place our faith in God,
• When we are depending upon him alone,
• When we are completely surrendered to his will and are asking in obedience to his call.

v. 25-26 "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."

Comments:

For our prayers for personal forgiveness to be heard, we need to first forgive those whom we have something against. One of the first signs of spiritual deception is requiring law for others while demanding grace for ourselves. We must forgive or our prayers go for naught. As Gypsy Smith preached, "It is no good to cover God's altar with tears while your heart is in rebellion."

This passage is as close as Christianity gets to being a gospel of works. It shows that our forgiveness is dependent upon our extending the same grace we have received to others.  

We are not commanded to forgive others because they deserve it, because they are sorry, or because they promise never to do it again, but, because Jesus died to pay the price for their sins too—although they may not be embracing it. The price was paid for them when it was paid for us. To deny them forgiveness is to say that the price paid was not enough. However, if the price was not enough for them, then it won't be enough for us.

It was enlightening for me to see that this word on forgiveness was spoken in the context of faith in God being able to move mountains (even those of hurt, bitterness, and hate) and cast them into the sea of God's fathomless love, grace, and mercy. Praise the Lord!