Christ is the Forgiver of Sins

OBJECTIVE

The focus is on Christ, not the person who committed the sin. This lesson is to show that Christ did not come to condemn us but to save us. (John 3:17). Christ is loving and wants to free us from our sins.

INTRODUCTION - 2 Minutes

Once again the question is, as Christians, what is our goal? Our goal is to have a relationship with Christ. If we know Christ- everything else follows. We will love Him, we will follow His commandments, we will want to pray to Him. So our goal these next few weeks in class is to understand what Christ is like. Because when we see what He is truly like, it will warm our hearts.

Before Christ came, how would someone who was caught in adultery be forgiven? They were not. There was no sacrifice for someone who committed adultery. Do you know what happened to people who committed adultery? They were stoned to death.

HOLY SCRIPTURE

"Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour." (Matthew 8:13)

• John 8
• John 21

CONTENT (KEY POINTS)

It was very shocking for people who lived in Jesus' time to listen to Him forgive sins. They complained. But He proved that He did and the proof was in their physical healing. Sin leads to sickness: physical, emotional, depression, anxiety, lack of sleep, high blood pressure, strokes, bowel problems, strokes. Fear is a sin, lack of service to God is a sin (prayer).

The Woman Caught in Adultery - John 8:1-12

Imagine this woman coming to Christ in complete shame. She was caught in her sin and was standing before Christ waiting for His response to put her to shame, to pronounce her worthy of death. Christ is known to be a great teacher. She probably thinks He will be disgusted by her, thinking she is worthy of death.

But what do you see in this story? What does it say of Who He is? He says to her, "I do not condemn you." There are 2 ways one could see this: Either 1- He is not going to throw a stone but He is going to keep a grudge in His heart or think she is disgusting and sinful OR 2- That He is genuinely going to forgive her. Saying "I do not condemn you. I don't think you are shameful. I free you from this bondage of sin"

Everyone was there to kill her but He was the one who stood up for her and protected her life.

The Restoration of St. Peter - John 21

Christ when He forgives, He restores to us whatever honor and whatever role or place that we had in the church. St. Peter was an Apostle and a shepherd and our Lord in a very gentle way had appointed back to him shepherding Christ's own sheep ("Feed my lambs, tend my sheep"). Christ's Own flock that He came to and that is the lost sheep of Israel.

DISCUSSION

Just as we see in the healing of the paralytic (the one carried by the 4 friends), Christ forgives first and then He heals.

Christ cares the most about us, He sees our sicknesses in and out. The sickness of the soul to Him is much more important than the sickness of the body. The sickness of the soul would make us sick and die forever. While the sickness of the body is fixed by our resurrection.

Whenever Jesus Christ actually says something, it is an action. When He says "Your sins are forgiven," something is actually happening. He is not saying "I have no hard feelings about you," but when He says "I forgive," there is an actual healing that is occurring. That is why the church calls the sacrament of confession a sacrament of healing. The mystery of confession is not spiritual guidance; it is something the Holy Spirit is doing. If a priest adds spiritual guidance or advice, that is something different. The most important words in the mystery of confession are those of the confessor.

If someone is feeling depressed (feeling down, useless, miserable, think there is nothing that is interesting or exciting, no motivation to do your usual day-to-day studying or talking etc, excluding yourself from social encounters) (highest suicide rate is amongst teenagers- they don't know where to go and they don't confess) or feeling anxious and think there is no healing, it is critical to get on a schedule of confession regularly and they will be healed. The priests say that they have seen it so many times. Jesus uses the father of confession as the means to extend His forgiveness when He said to His disciples in John 21:21

Where is Christ's power to forgive coming from? It is coming from the fact that He is the One who is going to pay the price of forgiveness.

When the priest gives absolution it is from Christ's blood that is offered on the altar. It does not come from the priest's own pockets, it is coming from the altar- where Christ's Body and Blood is offered.

Until we have Christ we are all naked as the sinful woman was. Christ covers us. When we go to confession we are naked. The priest is used as a voice and body in the mystery of confession, you are not confessing to the priest but are confessing to Christ in the presence of the priest. The priest is an instrument, witness and steward to Christ.

APPLICATION

We should have the students stop and think about what is in Christ's Heart as He is saying these things. The genuineness of His heart. Let them think about Christ as the Shepherd. How would the Shepherd feel if a sheep of His was lost? No matter how stupid the sheep is, or how far the sheep strayed, the Good Shepherd will go after the sheep. The Shepherd loves the sheep, there is a bond, there is a sacrifice that the Good Shepherd must make to keep the sheep. "The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."

No matter how shameful we are and no matter what we've done Christ restores us. Christ is dying and thirsting for us to return to Him. The same thirst we have for water is the thirst He has for us to return to Him.

Side note for youth: When we lie to our parents we actually are on our way to destruction because the minute we tell a lie to our parents or hide things from them is in the same minute that we judge ourselves to be bad. Because which good son or good daughter would lie to their parents? Lying is viewed as weakness; it is against character. This is how they get on the track to continue doing what they are doing. They think it is something small but it is actually the thing that continues the destruction. They can ask Abouna to help them in a situation like this. Abouna can be present and be the Christ-like person in this situation. We need to trust God. Christ is the Ultimate, Perfect Parent. Advise the kids to not lie to their parents. It is a commandment to honor our fathers and mothers.

CONCLUSION

If you have ever thought that you have committed the ultimate sin or done the ultimate unthinkable mistake and you think that no one will ever have compassion or pity and excuse you then you are the closest to Christ's heart. The healthy do not need a physician, but the sick. In my utmost desperate, sinful state I claim Christ's most precious skill---the forgiveness of sins. Christ has come to forgive us. He is this Person who takes our sins willingly and in love for us.