The life of the Lord Jesus is the best illustration of forbearance. Consider how He spoke to those two disciples on the way to Emmaus. Luke 24:15 says that while these disciples “communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.” The Lord Jesus said to them, “What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?” (v. 17). With a rebuking tone, one of the disciples answered, “Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?” (v. 18). Appearing not to know anything, the Lord asked, “What things?” (v. 19). Then they proceeded to tell Him about Jesus of Nazareth, One they described as a “prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.” They went on to say that the chief priests and the rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death and crucified Him. How forbearing the Lord was to listen to the disciples speak things which He knew much better than they did! After walking quite a distance, “they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further” (v. 28). However, “they constrained him, saying, Abide with us; for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.” (v. 29). The Lord even sat down to dine with them. When He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, “their eyes were opened, and they knew him” (v. 31). In all this we see the Lord’s forbearance.
Besides the Lord Jesus, no human being has ever practiced a life of such forbearance. If you study the biographies of famous people, you will see that not one was truly a person of forbearance. However, if you read the four Gospels, you will see that the human living of the Lord Jesus was full of forbearance. The Lord Jesus exercised forbearance with His disciples. Can you find a case where the Lord Jesus “fired” one of them? The Lord was forbearing even with Judas.
We need forbearance in the church life, especially in our serving together. Suppose a particular sister is serving in a way that is not adequate. The sister serving with her faces at least four options: walk away, join her in serving in her poor way, correct her, or try to improve her. None of these options involves forbearance. If the one sister exercises forbearance, she certainly will not walk away from the other sister. At least for a while, she will join the sister in her serving. Then she will exercise wisdom to see the sister’s situation and to determine whether or not she can speak a word of correction or improvement in love. If the sister is not able to receive such a word, the other one needs to wait before saying anything. Eventually, she may have an opportunity to speak not according to her own intention, but according to the leading of the Spirit. This is to exercise forbearance. If we all exercise forbearance, the church will be built up in a wonderful way.
The virtue of forbearance is all-inclusive. It includes love, kindness, mercy, reasonableness, the ability to fit in, and many other virtues. Perhaps now we can understand why Paul speaks of forbearance toward the end of a profound book on the experience of Christ. When Paul exhorts us to let our forbearance be made known to all men, he is saying something of great significance. No human being is able by the natural life to fulfill such a requirement. Confucius may have been very good, but he was still sinful and fallen. Only the Lord Jesus lived a life full of forbearance, and only Christ can be our perfect forbearance today. The best word to sum up the totality of Christ’s human virtues is forbearance. To make known our forbearance is to live a life which expresses Christ; it is to express the Christ by whom we live. Such a life is Christ Himself as the totality of all human virtues. This is Christ as our forbearance.