We are to forgive others as God in Christ has forgiven us. We forgive as an expression of the kingdom and in the power of the kingdom. Freely dispensing the healing properties of forgiveness is one of the ways we seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness. We look to overlook offenses and give grace in the model of God to us. Forgiveness is a discipline of the kingdom of God.
And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
even as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32, NKJV)
From his imprisonment, John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to ask of Jesus: “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Luke 7:19). Jesus didn’t reply to John’s question with a simple “yes.” Rather, He answered John by having him take stock of what he has witnessed. “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Luke 7:22).
Jesus was assuring John that the kingdom of God had indeed come. He was the promised Messiah.
What did Jesus point to in order to convince John? He pointed to healing. The fall of the world under the dominion of sin had wreaked havoc on what God had created. The intrusion of sin had brought misery, alienation, disorder, decay, and death.