As ROTJ opens, we see the construction of the second Death Star.
After being greeted with pomp and circumstance, Darth Vader is greeted by Commander Jerjerrod, who insists “that this station will be operational as planned” and adds that his men will “double our efforts.”
Vader answers him by saying, “I hope so, Commander, for your sake. The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am.”
We know that Vader is far from being forgiving. At this point, we did not know much about the Emperor because the Prequels did not exist. But if he was not as forgiving as Vader, that is saying quite a bit.
When wronged, how forgiving are we? On a scale of forgiveness, are we closer to God’s level of forgiveness, Vader’s, or the Emperor’s?
While we might not Force-choke people like Vader or electrocute people like the Emperor, most of us are far from being like God.
We might claim to be more like the Apostle Peter than Vader but read Matthew 18:21-22, “Then Peter came up and said to Him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.’”
In the New Living Translation of 1 Corinthians 13:5, we are told that love “keeps no record of being wronged.”
And in Matthew 5:44, Jesus commands, “But I say to you, Love your enemies,” and in John 13:34, He commands that we are to love one another.
What these four passages of Scripture tell us is that we are to forgive and not keep a record of wrongs.
Hopefully, we will be able to one day say we are as forgiving as God our Father is.
