When Forgiveness Hurts

Mark 14:66-72, ESV

66And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, 67and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” 68But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. 69And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” 71But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” 72And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

It occurred to me recently that Peter’s denial of Jesus didn’t only disappoint Jesus from a teacher/disciple perspective, it likely hurt Jesus as a dearly beloved friend. Therefore, Jesus’ forgiveness of Peter wasn’t only a picture of Him forgiving a sinner, it was a picture of Jesus forgiving a friend for a personal betrayal.

Jesus has compassion for our human emotions because He’s felt them. And He can help us through those emotions when we don't have the strength to help ourselves. We can love because He loved us first (1 John 4:19), and we can forgive because He forgave us first (Ephesians 4:32). Forgiveness is part of love, and we can do it through Jesus—even when it hurts.

𝘖𝘩 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵. 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦.