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Sunday School Lesson (Continued from Pas* 2) ing second thoughts. No "?n should allow such a woman as this to touch him, Simon thought; therefore, he question ed whether or not Jesus dould be a prophet. Notice that what Simon ob jects to here is the touch. As a Pharisee, he would believe that any Jew who allowed himself to be touched by an unclean per son, a sinner, himself became unclean. Distinctions such as this had become the great concern of many Pharisees of the type denounced by Jesus. In the parable that follows, the moneylender represents Jesus and the two debtors are the woman and Simon. The debt is the sense of sinfulness. In verse 44 Jesus began his criticism of Simon. Perhaps Si mon had turned his eyes away when he saw who she was. Jesus now commanded that Simon look at this woman whom he regarded- as his inferior. Jesus told Simon that it was his (Si mon's) duty, rather than that of the womary to show the at tentions and ordinary courtesies that should be given honored guests. Though Simon had not been rude, the treatment he had shown Jesus did not demon strate any love. Jeeus contrasted with his attitude the conduct of tha woman, who loved much. Simon did not ey en give water; she gave tears. We should aot overtook a possible mlsintei ps statist* mt tfkfc parable. It U dear frem vane ? that tha wobm was aal ftw tfvea becaue* she laved mA, This lnterpretatle* le dtieetly opposite what tha parable la tends to teach. Tha paraMi ?hows that neither debtor had anything to pay. In the applica tion to the woman, tha forgive ness was free. It was because she was forgiven that she loved, not the reverse. Verse 00 also clearly shows that it was her faith that had saved her, not her love. Bible T? tog About F?r(lriBMi la the Bible, the word for giveness primarily refer* to an act of God, though it haa a secondary application to mu'i relationship to other men. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word used to expreaa forgiveness conveys the idea of "to wipe away," "to remove," or "to send away." The Greek words In the New Testament are similar In meaning. What, then, doe* forgiveness mean? Briefly, it means to give up (to wipe away or remove) the claim tor compensation or retaliation, to put away resent ment on account of an offense, not to require penalty for same wrong. In the order of events, then, someone is offended. His nat ural response is retaliation, to "get even" with the other per son. If he forgives the other person, he no longer has this desire for retaliation. He may still be hurt that the other per son intended evil against him. ETHEL'S BAKE SHOP but be doe* not any longer de sire to "get even." In biblical terms, man offends God by sin. In this attitude of selfishness, he commits sins, in which he offends God and per haps other persons as well. If he is a Christian, he feels guilty because of his sin and desires to correct his relationship to God. He does not want to live under the condemnation of God that follows unforgiven sin. He wants to remove the wall that separates him from God. For giveness is the means by which man renews his fellowship with God. The notion of the forgiveness of sins goes far back into Is raels history. The prophets taught that the nation had often sinned and gone astray. Yet God was loving and merciful and gracious and was always willing to welcome his people back. I The other element of forgive ness that we have not come to is repentance. To repent means to resolve to change one's life as well as to change one's mind with regard to past conduct be cause of regret or dissatisfaction. We readily see that there is no point in asking to be forgiven unless one is truly sorry for what he has done. We may safely say, then, that without repentance there la no forgive ness. Many Christians have followed the New Testament teaching that it was man's sin that drove Jesus to the cross but that Jesus actually died as a sacrifice for the sins of all men ? past, present, and future. Some have accepted this teaching literally; others have believed that lta greatest value is symbolic. Whatever view we may hold about the relationship of Jesus' death and forgiveness, we have many statements in the New Testament that help us under stand the meaning and implica tions of repentance. We have noted in previous lessons how both John the Bap tist and Jesus called for re pentance. Jesus believed that not only was repentance essen tial but that the holy will of God called for a complete re orientation of personality, ef fective when the Holy Spirit began to operate in the life of the believer. We have also seen many epi sodes in which Jesus regarded the forgiveness of sins to be the first step in healing. When he assumed the power to forgive sins, the more strict Jews called his actions blasphemy. A contemporary writer has said: "Where sin as guilt is stress ed, forgiveness appears in the context of atonement or expia tion. Here it is seen as release from guilt, deliverance from an xiety and a burdened conscience, and recovery of peace with God. . . . The language of sacrifice is present not only in such ex pression as 'Lamb of God,' 'ex piation,' and "blood,' but also less directly in allusions to Christ's death 'for us' and 'for the ungodly.' "Where sin is thought of as rebellion, forgiveness is given the context of reconciliation, and expresses the removal of enmity between man and God. Man's proud and rebelious spirit has turned him away from God, and only through acquiring a new heart and spirit can he find his way back to the source of life. What is impossible for man is possible to God, who of fers his Son and sends his Spirit." Barriers to Forgiveness Our pattern of forgiving others is to be found in imitation of the attitude Jesus had toward those who hurt him. Jesus' min istry had begun with great pop ular support. Multitudes follow ed him. But at his trial, the ' crowds called for the release at Barabbas, and their cry for Jesus was, "Crucify hlml" How ' deeply Jesus must have been hurt! If he had felt vengeful toward the mob, we could cer tainly understand. As he hung on the cross, only a few friendly faces were there to witness his suffering and to share it with him. Yet one of the last words from the cross was a word of forgiveness. (Luke 23:34) What we should notice here is that Jesus did not await the asking for gorgiveness before he granted it. It is the obligation of Christians to forgive every injury for which pardon is ask ed? Must repentance always be demonstrated befose forgive ness can be granted? Must th? Christian continue forgiving those who hurt him again and again? Forgiveness becomes much easier for us to grant others If we think of our own need of forgiveness before God. In the Lord's Prayer we pray that God will forgive us as we have for given others. (See Matthew 6:12, 14-15.) Look again at the illustrations at the beginning of this session. What do you think would be Jesus' counsel in each case? I The difference between Black and White isGreen* ? When you gat right down to H. money Is this great aqualizar And what makes tha diffaranoa in aamlng power Is eduoetlon. At R. J. Reynolds, wa sea edu cation as one of tha solutions to tha problems of Black Ameri cans. Trouble la. most Blnok families can't afford to sand their children to college. And we look on that aa a waste of this country's most valuable resource. That's why we made a grant ?f $390,000 to Winston-Salem State University. Tha R. J. Reynolds grant provides schol arships for Bleak students eecb year, K also suppllas funde la attract highly qualified faculty members to Winston-Salem Stat* University and broaden the school's curriculum. During the past decade. R. J. Reynolds has also supported The United Negro College Fund with grants of more than on* ' quarter of a million dollars. These educational grants are Just an example of what the . H J. Reynolds Tobacco Com pany is doing to aid in the struggle for equal opportuni ties for all Americans. But M think it's an especially impor tant one. Because the next ipwmlon of Blade people, armed with a collage education, will have the "green power" that only education can give. People have helped R. J. Reynolds by buying My-T-F1n? Desserts, Chun King Oriental Foods, Vermont Maid Syrups, College Inn Chicken and To* mate Products, Davis Baking Powder, Winston, Salem, Camel and Doral cigarettes and our many other fine products. We're Just returning the favor. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
The Future Outlook (Greensboro, N.C.)
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Feb. 6, 1970, edition 1
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