INTRODUCTION: We live and breathe words; words can light fires in the minds of men, words can wring tears from the hardest hearts, words can provoke us to action, and paralyze us with fear… they provide a voice to our deepest feelings. There is an almost unquantifiable power in words, they have started and stopped wars, built and lost fortunes, won and lost empires and taken and saved lives. Big words, small words, all have impact, even ones that we often view as insignificant. Scripture is a vast library of words, not our words, but God’s, words that will outlive all of us, ones that speak life, speak God into our lives, and shape our very being.
BACKGROUND: What is the most “beautiful” word in the Bible? Well I guess the answer would depend on who you ask, for there are several words that would fit that description quite well, faith, hope, love, peace, grace, salvation… and the list goes on and on. But by far the greatest word in all of scripture is “forgiveness,” for in it all of these above are played out in real life. Like all the colors of the rainbow, the word “forgiveness” includes all the attributes of God, His wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth! – consider the words of the Psalmist (130:4)
Forgiveness is the most beautiful because it cancels out the effect of the saddest word in the Bible; sin. It shines as a light in the darkness. It is also the most beautiful word because it is the costliest word, for forgiveness requires a price to be paid, and that price is a death. (Hebrews 9:22) Before God could pronounce it, Christ had to die! It is the most beautiful word, not simply because human reasoning says so, but because the Bible, God’s story so clearly illustrates it, forgiveness is the crimson thread running thought it!
A BETRAYED BROTHER
• Never in the pages of the Old Testament was there ever a more heartless and cruel crime than the one perpetrated against Joseph by his brothers (Genesis 37)
• Torn from family and friends, cast into the chains of slavery, accused of a crime he didn’t commit, and his reward for maintaining integrity was to be cast into prison… quite a life huh?
• Then God stepped in in a mighty way, and Joseph went from the “prison” to the “palace” almost overnight – and then when it didn’t appear things could get any stranger – in walk his brothers
• The years which Joseph spent in slavery and prison could have been the occasion for a “slow burn” that might have ignited into an explosion of anger at the sight of his brothers, could have, but didn’t
• The high point of Joseph’s relationship with his brothers comes in chapter 45, for it is here that there is a reconciliation brought about between them – repentance on their part, forgiveness on his
• Reconciliation was achieved through his sincere and total forgiveness of his brothers for the great evil they had committed against him.
• Joseph’s words and actions are filled with hope and encouragement, (Genesis 45:5) he assures his brothers that their sin against him had not thwarted the purposes of God.
• “You sold me,” Joseph said, “but God sent me”
• Their purpose was to destroy, but God’s was to save… it was his ultimate purpose!
A DYING THEIF
• The saddest hour the earth ever saw was when Jesus hung on the cross between two common criminals, rejected and forsaken by those He created and those He loved
• There sin struck it’s most violent blow, and pronounced it’s most powerful word “death”
• Yet that day, so awash in tragedy, that even creation itself lamented, we see another word spoken, one more powerful than even death… “forgiveness” (Luke 23:39-43)
• The thief was wanting to be saved, not from the cross, but from his sins, he knew his punishment was just, the texts says as much
• It was eternity that was on his mind, and his plea was incessant “remember me” is an “imperfect verb” it was a repeated statement, remember me…remember me…remember me…
• Jesus’ answer to this penitent man is direct and to the point “Truly I say” this is a commitment from Jesus, as if He’s saying “I will not fail you, I have determined to go through with it!”
• To this man Jesus says “amen” – “so be it” – this is a solemn binding decree
• There is no doubt about it… forgiveness is the most beautiful of word – we see it not only for this man, but as a prayer from Jesus Himself, “father forgive them” (Luke 23:34)
• Now this statement is somewhat puzzling to many readers, simply because Jesus, being God could have forgiven them, He did it before… why didn’t he just do it now?
• The answer is this… unlike the thief, they hadn’t asked for forgiveness, and God won’t give that which isn’t asked for
• So what did Jesus mean by His prayer? In light of God’s way of saving men, Jesus is saying “spare these men’s lives so that they will have the chance to hear the Gospel preached on Pentecost”
• Our final consideration about the beauty of “forgiveness” comes from the one who would preach that greatest of all sermons… but we meet him about a month and a half before
A FRIGHTENED FIRSHMAN
• We find Peter here at the saddest point in his entire life (Luke 22:54-62) he’s doing the very thing that he swore emphatically that he would never do! Are we any different? I think not!
• Why did he deny Jesus, there could be many reasons given, but at the core of it all is “fear” He sees what’s happening to Jesus and he doesn’t want to find himself in a similar situation…
• When the “cock crows” his reaction is immediate, and the realization of his denial is not lost on the reader – for his next action is swift and intense “he went out and wept bitterly”
• Judas could have done the same, yet he didn’t… he went out and “put a rope around his neck”
• What’s the difference between Peter’s sin and Judas’s sin… nothing, save one was forgiven the other was not! The tragedy of Judas’s was that he could have been St. Judas, had he repented…
• But this wasn’t the end of Peter’s story, not by a long shot… even with his betrayal, there was forgiveness to be had, the rock had “faltered” but had not been “broken” – Jesus still had a use for him (John 21:15-17)
• Three times Peter “denied” three times Jesus “asks” – coincidence, I think not! Though he fell, and fell hard, He was still “loved” by Jesus and still “essential” to the cause… Pentecost was just down the road!
CONCLUSION: Have you heard this greatest, most beautiful of all words, spoke to you from Christ Himself? The woman who was a sinner heard it, the publican who poured out his heart to God heard it, the thief on the cross heard it, and Peter the “betrayer,” who became Peter the “preacher,” heard it… have you? The good news is… you can, and you can hear it today!
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NOTE: The inspiration for this series, and some content was gleaned from the book "The Greatest Words in the Bible and in Human Speech" by Clarence Macartney.
