Spirituality Column #766

July 20, 2021

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Our Trespasses

By Bob Walters

“And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” – from The Lord’s Prayer

Whether it is forgiveness of debts, sins, or trespasses, this line from The Lord’s Prayer sets our Christian dynamic and begs forgiveness of our great human fallenness.

Considering this is the prayer instruction template presented directly by Jesus to the disciples about forgiveness in Matthew 6:12 (“debts”) and Luke 11:4 (“sins”), we should probably take it seriously … and I mean, the whole thing.

I say “whole thing” because aren’t we especially keen on the “forgive us” part, which we typically take to mean, “forgive me”?  But instead of “forgive us,” look at that second phrase: “as we forgive those,” as in “them” and “others,” is today’s focus.

First, let’s break down a couple of scriptural and cultural mechanics.  Per the original Greek, Matthew 6:12 reads, “forgive us our debts (opheilemata),” taken to mean “debts” of the money and material kind which were especially relevant to Israel.  This was due to the Jewish “shmitah” laws which cleared all debts every seven years.  That meant poor Jews couldn’t secure loans because complete debt relief was a disincentive to lenders.  The rabbis set rules to help the poor, but actual financial “debts” and “debtors” were an important cultural, civic, economic, and religious matter.

Just following in Matthew 6:14, Jesus has a “don’t-miss-this” commentary on what he said in verse 12.  The Greek word in verse 14 isn’t “debts,” it is paraptoma, which is variously translated as trespasses, sins, offenses, wrongs, and transgressions in different Bible versions.  Scholars believe Jesus said paraptoma to widen forgiveness beyond material indebtedness into non-material, moral, and spiritual conflict as well.

Luke 11:4 makes this clear as Jesus teaches the same prayer, “forgive us our sins.” Here “sins” is the Greek word hamartia which means specifically and always, “sins.”  So, debts or Sins?  Tertullian (3^rd century AD) broadened the “Our Father” / Pater Noster / Lord’s Prayer by inserting “trespasses.” 

Centuries later – 1500s Luther / Calvin era – German and then Presbyterian churches reverted to “forgive us our debts” in part because of economic disparities on the European continent.  The Anglican church in that era – late 1500s and beyond – because actual trespassing in England by commoners on royal lands was an issue, retained “trespasses.”

That said, we modern Jesus types are big on having our sins forgiven because we believe that forgiveness of our own sins punches our ticket to heaven and eternal life. We’ll be “gone to glory” with rewards and wings. Thank-you-Jesus!  But, not so fast.

I think the “My Sin” focus self-centeredly and egregiously misses the point Jesus was making.  Consider that Jesus on the Cross had never sinned.  At no time in His life did Jesus ask forgiveness for himself.  Jesus wasn’t a sacrifice for his own sin; His example on the Cross was far beyond sin, death, and the popular but non-biblical idea of punishment and payment; Jesus was presenting to humanity a free gift from God.

The example of Jesus on the Cross teaches us nothing if we limit it to be about “my” forgiveness, guilt, trespasses, or rewards.  Jesus on the Cross is God’s promise, truth, and deliverance of life, love, and forgiveness of others. That’s our mission, too.  

In Christ our souls are restored to glorify the Father; we are restored not so we can continually beg forgiveness, but so in Christ-likeness we rejoice in forgiving others.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) loves Jesus as a savior, not a payment plan.