Joseph’s act of forgiveness toward his brothers is a story that has been used in sermons, bible studies, and illustrations for thousands of years. His own brothers threw him in a pit and then sold him as a slave. They went back and told their father a BIG FAT lie that he had been torn apart by animals. They broke their father’s heart and murdered their brother in every sense of the word. How is it possible to forgive someone who had crushed the spirit and soul of your parents and attempted to throw you to the wolves? Yet, Joseph did just that! Why can’t you?
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Seventy-Seven years ago, in 1944, Eva Mozes-Kor was a terrified 10-year-old newly arrived at Auschwitz via a transport train from Romania. In April 2015, Kor appeared to testify in a trial against Oskar Groening, a Nazi soldier on trial for 300,000 counts of accessory to murder in a concentration camp where he served as a bookkeeper. According to her testimony in court, Kor and her twin sister Miriam were stripped from their family, processed, tagged, tattooed, and brought to the camp and along with other sets of twins. The kids were used as lab rats. Outrageous experiments were performed on all of the children in the concentration camp. Josef Mengele, a Nazi doctor, was in charge of these brutal experiments.
Something happened in the courtroom that nobody saw coming. Kor and Oskar met and shook hands. They were no longer the same people they were seventy-seven years before. Kor moved to a place of forgiveness in her own heart for the atrocities committed against her and the Jewish community. How amazing is that, like Joseph, Kor was strong and knew that God requires forgiveness and that forgiveness is indeed the easier, softer way. “It was a life-changing experience,” Kor wrote in her statement for Groening’s trial. “I realized I had power over my life. I had the power to heal the pain imposed on me in Auschwitz by forgiving the people who imposed that pain.”
(Pic from Eva Mozes-Kor’s Twitter Feed)
As kingdom people, God requires forgiveness. Because we are forgiven people, we have to become forgiving people. Both the story of Joseph and Eva Mozes-Kor reveals there is purpose in the suffering. The Gospel of the Kingdom teaches us that forgiveness is part of God’s plan. It’s never impossible or too late to forgive. It doesn’t mean we will forget, but the Lord instructs us as we pray for the forgiveness of our trespasses that we pray for the willingness to forgive the trespasses of others.
Scripture Readings
Reflection Questions
- What did you take away from today’s reflection and scripture readings?
- What has happened in your life that you feel you are unable to forgive?
- Why have you refused to grant forgiveness?
- What is the difference between walking on water vs. following on dry land?
- Do you accept the fact that God has forgiven you?
- If the Creator of the universe has forgiven you, who are you to withhold forgiveness towards others?
Prayer
Lord, because of Your death and resurrection, I am forgiven. Since I am forgiven for all my wicked ways, please help me reciprocate the same forgiveness towards those who have harmed me. Grant me the strength to do my part, always trusting for You, Lord, to do Your part. In Your Spirit and Name, I pray these things. Amen.
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