Wednesday, May 3: “Pardon through Pardon”

Luke 6: 37: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.”

Jesus is repeating here what He said in the Sermon on the Mount (this is the Sermon on the Level Place, v. 17): “If you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions” Matthew 6: 14, 15). St. Luke closes his version of the Lord’s Prayer with the words, “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” (Luke 11: 4) The clear connection is that lack of forgiveness is temptation–a temptation to sin. We shouldn’t expect pardon from the Lord if we refuse to pardon others.