Sent to Forgive

READ

What was Jesus sent to earth to do? Why did the perfect Son of God take on flesh, enter into our mess, and allow Himself to be mercilessly executed without retaliation?  

'The answer is both simple and staggering: Christ came to forgive. He came to reconcile us to God the Father—and to one another. 

As followers of Christ, we are called to carry forward His ministry of reconciliation. Forgiveness is not peripheral to the Christian life. Rather, it stands at the very center of our calling.

Let’s take a moment to read John 20:21-23: 

Again, Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

REFLECT

Today’s Scripture reading is unsettling—so much so that it is often overlooked, explained away, or swept under the rug. 

The first thing Christ commanded His disciples to do upon receiving the Holy Spirit was not to prophesy, heal physical illnesses, or rally against unjust political authorities. Immediately after giving them His Spirit, He commissioned them to forgive. This ministry of mercy is not one task among many—it is the foundation beneath them all. 

Let this Truth unsettle you for a moment: Christ was sent to earth to forgive—and so were we. 

Extending forgiveness is our primary mission as Christ-followers. Without forgiveness, every other aspect of our discipleship is distorted.

Forgiveness requires humility—the honest recognition that we are just as guilty and in need of mercy as those who’ve offended us. Without first seeing ourselves in others—even those who’ve harmed us without remorse—we cannot go on to love, serve, and defend them. 

But what is most disturbing about this passage is the power Jesus places in our hands. Christ has not only invited us to forgive others—He has granted us the authority to extend or withhold forgiveness from them. 

At first blush, this seems to contradict the mechanics of the Gospel of grace. After all, how could we—as powerless and small as we are—keep others from receiving God’s forgiveness? Scripture is clear that nothing can stand between God’s children and His love for them (Romans 8:38-39)!

Yet, Jesus teaches that our willingness to forgive is mysteriously bound up with our experience of God’s forgiveness (see Matthew 6:12, 14-15). This is not because we control God’s mercy—but because receiving it reshapes us. Those who truly grasp the depth of grace extended to them cannot continue withholding it from others. Our acceptance of God’s mercy inevitably inspires a readiness to forgive those who’ve sinned against us. 

Christ’s economy of forgiveness is such that our fate is entangled with that of our neighbors. Our lives are bound together. In a very real way, our unwillingness to participate in Christ’s ministry of unconditional mercy harms us as much as it does those we refuse to forgive.

We are all both victims and perpetrators. We are all simultaneously complicit and wounded. We all need forgiveness—and we need to extend it to others. 

Christ has put power in our hands. So, the question remains: will we hold onto bitterness and unforgiveness? Or, will we carry forward the reconciling work of Christ? 

RESPOND

Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read. 

• What do you understand to be your primary “mission” as a follower of Christ? How might your life look different if you viewed forgiveness as central to that calling?

• How would remembering your own need for mercy shape the way you extend it to others? 

REST

Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying: 

Father of forgiveness! Thank You for entrusting me with Your ministry of mercy. Help me to take this mission seriously. Empower me to extend forgiveness to others without excuse or hesitation, remembering how You grant me grace. God, teach me to understand that my fate is bound up with that of my neighbors. Empower me to extend mercy to those who’ve harmed me, recalling that I am equally capable of inflicting pain onto others. Grant me the discipline, courage, and desire to carry forward Your work of reconciliation. Free me of all bitterness and unforgiveness, things that have no place in Your Kingdom. Amen. 

Port City writer Kate Redenbaugh wrote today’s devotional.