Mere Christianity: on forgiveness

Lewis has really hit something on page 51 (chapter 3 of book 2), where he considers the incredibleness of Christ's ability to forgive sin. I quote Lewis:

We can all understand how a man forgives offences against himself. You tread on my toes and I forgive you, you steal my money and I forgive you. But what should we make of a man, himself unrobbed and untrodden on, who announced that he gorgave you for treading on other men's toes and stealing other men's money? ... Yet this is what Jesus did. He told people that their sins were forgiven, and never waited to consult all the other people whom their sins had undoubtedly injured. He unhesitatingly behaved as if He was the party chiefly concerned, the person chiefly offended in all offences.

emphasis added

What struck me so hard here was that I understood His forgiveness a little more than I ever have before. How could Christ forgive so-and-so when it was me that the person had offended? The answer is that Christ took all sins upon himself. That means that so-and-so's sin injured Christ as much as it injured me. That gives Christ authority to forgive the sin against Himself. But what about me? Can He forgive in spite of what he still did to me? Consider that Christ offers us Rest. We are taught in scripture that we need not "tread the winepress alone", because Christ has done that for us. Christ can take away our pain, hurt and sorrow. Because he felt it for us. He felt it for us because he felt the sin that caused it. Therefore, He can forgive sin because:

1. He felt the effects of the sin in taking upon Himself the sins of the world, and
   
2. He offers to relieve the afflicted of the pain and anguish the sin against them caused.

If these are truly the reasons that He can forgive sin, then they must be very true reasons. If that is the case, then it is a reason I can have significantly stronger faith when I pray for strength or relief -- because it is on His promise of granting that petition that His right to forgive rests.

I believe this, in fact, more than Lewis' own reason in chapter 4 for the need of the Atonement.