The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs. I think it was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran pastor killed by the Nazis in 1945, who said that the reason Jesus sent out the disciples two by two was so that they would have someone to forgive. Whenever you have two people you will have friction — rubbing up against one another in ways that are uncomfortable. The idea of everyone getting along and singing Kum Ba Ya together is superceded by the reality that we are constantly giving and taking wounds. That is why forgiveness, in Bonhoeffer’s estimation, is the heart of a Christian community. When we are forgiven we discover that despite our faults and limitations we are still loveable. When we forgive another we validate them as being worthy of love just as they are. The seventy-two disciples could only preach the message of Jesus after they had experienced the power of forgiveness.
