766 - Our Trespasses
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 (3rd 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.