25"And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."
When I first read this, I thought it was easy to see the lesson here and was soon ready to move on to the next verse. Many of us have been taught the golden rule as little children: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." If we would like God to forgive our sins, we really ought to forgive others of their sins. We pray for this every time we say the Lord's prayer "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
But if you really look at what this is saying and the time Jesus made this statement, the awesomeness of forgiveness is shown. First note, it says "if you have anything against anyone", not just "if someone sins against you". This opens up a much wider range of things to forgive. No matter what it is about someone that made you upset, whether it is something they may have done to you, or something they have done to someone else, or something that just bugs you about them, you should forgive them.
The thing that strikes me the most awesome about this instruction from Jesus is the time in which He is saying this. I was wondering why Jesus was making this point now, rather than much earlier in His ministry. It sounds like it would simply be a good lesson in how to live a Godly life. But keep in mind, this is the day after he cleansed the temple. Remember how upset that made Jesus, how upset it would make you? I think He is saying this now to show that He is already forgiving those He sent out of the temple for what they did. He just told his disciples a couple days ago that He would soon be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. He knows this is what He will be walking in to, but He is already prepared to forgive them. Soon he will be hung on the cross with the sin of the world weighing on His shoulders. And yet He will say "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." He is forgiving so our Father in Heaven will forgive our sins.
A final thing I note about this passage is that it looks like it is supposed to be a continuation of what Jesus was saying about receiving miracles through prayer and faith. Is there a connection between forgiveness of sins and receiving miracles? I just realized that Jesus had talked about forgiveness of sins and miracles another time. In Mark 2:1-12, Jesus asks which is easier to say "Your sins are forgiven you," or to say, "Arise, take up your bed and walk"? He forgives the paralytic of his sins and the miracle of healing occurs! Yes there is a connection between forgiveness of sins and miracles. I think if we want miracles, we must also forgive others.