In the Old Testament, when a neighbor sinned he made restitution to the victim, and gave a guilt offering to the Lord because sin against neighbor = disobedience to God and indebtedness to Him, too. This offering was a precursor to Jesus giving His own innocent body as a guilt offering to restore the broken relationship we have with God.
We owe the Lord a debt far greater than we could repay. But we do not need to pay. The Son of Man gave His life as a “ransom for many” paying our debt for us. Jesus says we must simply write off the debts that others owe us. This demand is modeled on and empowered by God’s love toward us: we must forgive and restore as He does.
God had the right guy in Isaiah 53—the only guy willing and able to do the job of carrying the crushing weight of our sin. Because of the joy set before Him, Jesus “endured the cross, scorning its shame.”
To learn more about the biblical concepts of Sacrifice and Atonement, I encourage you to watch this excellent video from the Bible Project: http://bit.ly/SacrificeAtonement
Questions
1. What “debt” does someone owe you? Who has hurt or offended you?
2. What steps can you take today to simply write off that debt, empowered by the love of Jesus?
Prayer
Jesus, You covered my debt saving me from the penalty and power of sin. Make me ready to forgive; gracious and merciful like You.
—Jane Bruns
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