The Holy Apostle Codratus of Magnesia.
Leave-taking of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.
Ephesians 4:25-32; Luke 3:19-22.
Read Ephesians 4:25-32
St. Paul reminds us to, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Eph 4:31–32)
The key here is that we are to forgive as God in Christ forgave. In other words, the measure of our forgiveness is to be God’s own forgiveness. Christ tells us as much when asked by St. Peter, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As often as seven times? Jesus said to him, not seven times: but seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18-21:22).
St. John Chrysostom tells us that, “Nothing makes us more like God than being ready to forgive the wicked and wrongdoers, just as He taught when He spoke of making the sun shine on both the evil and the good.” (Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew) It is a matter of our theosis, and perhaps the instance where we see the likeness of God in man most clearly.
There is a story in the sayings of the desert fathers, where Abba Poimen explains of Abba Isidore that: “Whenever he addressed the brethren in church, he said only one thing: ‘Forgive your brother, so that you, too, may be forgiven.’”
This is a simple way to think about making progress on the path of theosis. Simple, because it is clear, not because it is easy, to paraphrase St. John Henry Newman.
If we are honest with ourselves we know forgiveness is often not easy, it can be difficult, and progress is often slow; but forgiveness, like theosis, is a process. This is one of the reasons that the Church has us pray several times a day, and in every service, the Lord’s prayer with its petition to, “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us” (Matthew 6:12)
To go back to Chrysostom, “We discover forgiveness within the nurturing pedagogy of the church. If then the prayer belongs to believers and they pray, entreating that sins may be forgiven them, it is clear that even after baptism the profit of repentance is not taken away. If he had not meant to signify this, why would he have instructed us to pray for forgiveness? He asks us to bring our sins to remembrance and ask for forgiveness, and he teaches us how to obtain remission. He makes the way uncomplicated. By this rule of supplication it is clear that it is possible even after the font of baptism that our offenses may still be washed away. He thereby persuades us to be modest, commands us to forgive others, sets us free from vengeful obsessions, promises pardon, and holds before us good hopes and a high view of the unspeakable mercy of God”