Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Matthew 5:24
Our text has a very simple lesson on the surface, although its depths are far beyond our power to plumb. The message is that our expectation for God to willingly receive our worship should be tempered by our willingness to be reconciled to our brother. We are presented with the need to have a clear conscience in our relationship with our brethren in order to have a clear conscience in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Let us keep this in mind as we prepare for the offering of our sacrifices of praise and worship on the Lord’s Day. But did you know that, just as the Lord Jesus taught us this great lesson, He was also its greatest example?
Consider the Lord Jesus as he was led up Golgotha’s slope to be crucified. He had been whipped and buffeted, He had been insulted, spit upon, and mocked unmercifully. Those around Him were heaping scorn and abuse, drenching Him with shame. The soldiers were rough and cruel, the Jewish leaders were spiteful and nasty, and the crowds were fickle and heedless. If you or I had been on the receiving end of such vile mistreatment, would there be any feelings of kindness or forgiveness for the tormentors? It is hard to imagine anyone having anything but hatred and bitterness, but the heart of the Lord Jesus was the same as His Father’s, full of love and compassion. So as He was hanging in anguish that we cannot comprehend, He was still able to lift up His voice to petition the Father for forgiveness for those around Him. As He was about to make His soul an offering for our Sin, He was making sure there was no obstacle in His heart to making such an offering.
Jesus could never harbour a grudge or a thought of malice against us. His very purpose in coming into the world was with the knowledge that He would be mistreated almost beyond man’s ability to mistreat. There were no surprises in Gethsemane, at Gabbatha, or on Golgotha. Everything proceeded according to God’s great plan of salvation. Despite man’s display of total depravity, we see the Father’s display of infinite love, and the Son’s total commitment to our redemption. As He pleaded for our forgiveness, the Lord Jesus leaves us the proof of His qualification to make His one great sacrifice for sins forever.
With our Lord as our example, how can we even consider approaching God in worship without forgiving those who might wrong us in any way? -Jim MacIntosh