Depending on how deep your cynicism runs, you may have been shocked, or not, that President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, after promising repeatedly that he wouldn’t. But politics aside, we as Christians certainly should appreciate the power of pardon. All of us would be lost without it.

Even the most generous president cannot compete with Jehovah in the number of people He has and will pardon by the end of time. It’s not just a numbers game, though. Think of all the heinous crimes and sins God has forgiven. He revealed several of them in the Bible.

• David committed adultery with Bathsheba, tried to cover his sin by arranging a conjugal visit between her and her husband, and then conspired to have Uriah killed in battle. God pardoned David, and he is remembered as a man after God’s own heart.
• King Manasseh led Judah into idolatry, child sacrifice and sorcery that they never recovered from. God pardoned Manasseh and restored him to the throne.
• Ninevah was known for its wickedness. God pardoned the whole city.
• Peter denied Jesus three times when He needed the support of His inner circle the most. God pardoned him, and Jesus told Peter to “feed my sheep” as an evangelist.
• Saul was known far and wide for his persecution of Christians in the first century. God pardoned him on the road to Damascus, and he became Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.

Now think about your sins. I certainly think about mine, and when I do, I cry out to God, “Pardon me! Please, pardon me!”

And I know He will because of the emblems on this table. He gave us the unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine to remind us that just like David and Manasseh, we are pardoned. Like Peter and Paul, we are pardoned. Like the people of Nineveh, we are pardoned.

We are all pardoned — we are all forgiven — because Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross. When presidents and governors grant pardons, the guilty parties walk free and no one else is punished in their place. But God is both merciful and just. To free us, He had to sacrifice His Son.

Jesus didn’t deserve that grueling torture. We don’t deserve the grace and mercy that moved God to make that sacrifice. And we don’t deserve the love that Jesus showed in humbling Himself that way.

But here we are, at this memorial, on another Lord’s Day, free from the soul-crushing burden of our sins. That is the power of the pardon. Remember that.

Remember Jesus and our Father who sent Him to save us as we partake of this feast divine.

For more ideas to share at the Lord’s Supper, see “Christ Before Our Eyes: 52 Readings to Draw Closer to Christ at the Lord’s Supper” (advertisement), by Shane Scott.