St. Leo the Great, in an ancient sermon, sums it up: “If he wishes to receive forgiveness for himself, let him rejoice that he has someone whom he himself may forgive” (Sermon 48.4). That really is the ethical point of this Sunday’s gospel from Matthew: the simple point that since God forgives you, you must forgive others. Full stop, end of discussion, no ifs, ands, or buts.

Often, we go about forgiveness the wrong way. We think we need to do a lot of prep work before we can forgive someone. We think if only this person will say this or do that, then we’ll be able to forgive. We set a reserve bid on our forgiveness. But Jesus doesn’t tell us to do that; he commands the opposite in fact. Jesus tells us to forgive first and ask questions later.

Now, this seems irrational, almost irresponsible. But, if you think about it, that’s how God forgives us. While we were still sinners, Paul said, Christ died for the ungodly (Rom. 5:8). That’s why it’s called grace, because it’s mercy we didn’t deserve and didn’t earn. And it’s precisely the sort of mercy God wants us to practice—even for the person you don’t want to show mercy. Yes, that one.

Because that’s how the chain of hatred and sin is broken. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Somebody must have religion enough and morality enough to cut hate off.” That’s why Christ calls us to forgive radically. That’s why he calls us to transcend our hurts and hatreds. Because that’s how God breaks into the world—through our mercy.