This post is part of a 40-Day Prayer Journey through the season of Lent. Click here to learn more and read other posts in the series.
“I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12).
“I’ll forgive them . . . but I can’t forget what they did.”
Sound familiar? Maybe you’ve heard or even said something similar before. So when you read the verse above, was there any part of you that went, “Really, God?”
In this verse, the writer to the Hebrews is directly quoting what God said to the prophet Jeremiah (31:31-34). Why? He’s drawing attention to Jesus being our perfect High Priest by highlighting what he has done for us.
Priests in the temple offered sacrifices on behalf of God’s people. Blood was shed; animals were slaughtered and burned. Hundreds upon hundreds of sacrifices were made every year. In doing so, God’s people were reminded in a very graphic, visceral way that without the shedding of blood, without sacrifice, there could be no forgiveness of sins.
Our sin separates us from God. As our perfect High Priest, Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice for us. Perfect, holy, and innocent in every way, he was led like a lamb to the slaughter as the prophet Isaiah foretold. And he went willingly, without protest, because without the shedding of his innocent blood, without his perfect sacrifice, there could be no forgiveness of sins for us.
I have a painting that belonged to my wife’s grandma before she went home to heaven. It’s a scene of a young Jesus in Joseph’s workshop, reaching down to pick up a long iron nail. As he does, the shadow cast on the floor is in the shape of a cross.
Similar to paintings of the manger casting the shadow of a cross in the Bethlehem stable, I appreciate how the scene is set, and viewers are reminded that was exactly why Jesus came to this sin-darkened world. God sent his Son to suffer and die for us.All so we can hear these words—this powerful promise—from our God: “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Because of Jesus, God forgives our sins. The book is closed on the matter. They’re absolved; they’re done. When Jesus said, “It is finished!” it was finished. God remembers our sins no more because they’ve been paid for with our Savior’s precious blood. And now, when he looks at us, he sees only the perfect righteousness given to us by his Son.
Really, God? Yes. Absolutely, without a doubt. He forgives and forgets as only he can.
Throughout the season of Lent, we’re following our Savior Jesus to his death, to the sacrifice that he would offer once for the forgiveness of the world’s sins, including yours and mine.
Today as you pray, ask that God would help those who struggle to believe that he has forgiven their sins and remembers them no more. Ask that God would continually point those filled with guilt and shame to their Savior Jesus, who has taken away their sins and freely and lovingly given them his righteousness.
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Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.
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