In Our Place

One of the greatest commandments from God is for us to forgive others as He forgives us. As I have said before, the word forgive (συγχωρώ) literally means ‘two things sharing the same space’. In other words, when we forgive, we are expected to place ourselves in the same place as the other.

This makes perfect sense in combination with the commandment to forgive as God forgives us, and that we will not be forgiven if we do not forgive. In every way, except for sin, God has placed Himself in the same place as us. He became one of us to share our space and co-exist with us as a human. We could say that God forgave us long before we even born, by become one of us and sharing our human nature, but long before He became a human, God has been doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Then the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know.” So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom; but Abraham still stood before the LORD. Then Abraham drew near, and said, “Wilt thou indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from thee! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” And the LORD said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Abraham answered, “Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Wilt thou destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” Again he spoke to him, and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” He said, “Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” And the LORD went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place. – Genesis 18.20-33

In testing Abraham’s faith, God revealed to us that He has always been willing to do just as He expects us to do, even to the point of sacrificing His Son. While Abraham didn’t sin in this story, God still ‘forgave’ him as shared the same space as Abraham’s son Isaac, albeit thousands of years later. One of the blessings of reading from the Holy Scriptures every day is that we constantly reminded of God’s perpetual commitment to being in communion with us.

How does this affect us today? As we approach the end of the fifth week of the Great Fast, and we may be weary in our fasting, be comforted that God has always been willing to do everything He asks us to do, from fasting to forgiveness.

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