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"No one can ever reach higher but to forgive." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe -

Dear Friends,

in August this famous German writer would celebrate his 362nd birthday. I have no idea what Goethe knew about Jesus, but according to his quote Jesus would have been the greatest man to him. Whenever we sin we come to God, ask for forgiveness and get released. God has promised us to get forgiveness through Jesus. His innocent blood, the blood of the God who became human, flowed in expiation of any debt in all the world.

For us as Christians within the 21st century, these thoughts are so much familiar that we sometimes do not easily understand the Old Testament. For there sins could not be forgiven like we have experienced it. Forgiveness required atonement. Once in a year - and still today - the Jews celebrate 'Jom Kippur': An animal is slaughtered for all the accumulated sins throughout the year, and another one is released into the desert - as a symbol that the sin was removed. Sin had to be atoned by blood. Otherwise it would be a door for Satan to enter God's people, for without Jesus there was no power to cast out the evil. Thus, the people was protected in many cases only through the death of the sinner. There was no other way, and the law of Mose knew the death penalty. We can hardly believe how God sometimes uncovered sin in the Old Testament: Within Jericho after it had been conquered, one of the soldiers had taken something from the loot, which was forbidden. The next battle was lost. One upon the other had to march before Joshua till God showed him that certain man who had sinned. And when, several hundred years later, the ship with the prophet Jona on board got into distress at sea, they identified him by lot as one escaping from God. When a woman was suspected because of adultery, she was given water cursed by a priest. If she would get sick afterwards, this uncovered her sin. (4. Mose 5). We can hardly believe that this would have worked, but we live in New Testament times. Have physical laws changed through Jesus? There are many other examples which let me think in our times we are not at all able to understand Old Testament thinking.

Your and my sins, many of them remain undisclosed before people. The intrigues of our hearts, the ungratefulness in our thoughts, the anger upon anybody who does not know, the speed exceeding in traffic (!) and other minor or major things. We could list a lot more. But in most cases God still protects us from being unmasked. However, does that mean all this is automatically forgiven? We do not need to slaughter anymals and we do not send our pets into the desert. But one thing is needed: To reflect our days and take forgiveness. This we should do daily. Sometimes it is helpful to confess our sins before others. For the greatest aim is not to approach perfection but to be conscious about our sinful nature. Then we understand each other better and learn to love one another in spite of people's weaknesses. And we really learn to appreciate the big sacrifice Jesus has paid for ourselves and all individuals around us.

Jan Pahl

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