Matthew 18: 21-25
Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord , if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as 7 times?” Jesus answered him, “Not 7 times, I tell you , but 77 times.”
For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him 10,000 talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold; together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him by the throat, he said “Pay what you owe.” Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him “You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?” And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.
This is part two from last week: first we had how seriously Jesus takes sin, and now we see how seriously Jesus takes forgiveness. So I haven't quite figured it all out yet, but it's only Wednesday...
You will remember from last week that this section of the gospel is part of Jesus’ sermon on forgiveness. Peter wants to know how often we should forgive others. And he figures that 7 times is about enough, After that, maybe I am justified if I get fed up and decide, “That's is, I'm going to write you off” After all, that sounds pretty reasonable. How much can one person put up with? Jesus answers him, “Not just seven times, Peter, but 77 times.” And I believe that Jesus wouldn’t stop there either. He would keep on forgiving.
Jesus wants to tell us how important it is for us to forgive others:
Look at the story Jesus tells. It is a parable. Like all parables, it is meant to get across a few simple ideas. It is not meant to be analyzed to death trying to find an exact correspondence for everything. It is meant to make us think about something.
The first idea is how much we owe God, and how willing God is to forgive us. In the story the slave owed his lord a whole lot of money – more than he could ever hope to repay. In fact, it’s probably true that the lord loaned him all this money knowing that he would never get repaid. So when it was time for the debt to be paid, what does the lord do? He forgives the debt entirely. The lord gives an example to the slave: I’ve forgiven you everything. Look at how much you owed me and yet I am going to set you free and you don’t have to pay me a thing.
God is first and foremost a great forgiver. That is the example he sets. If you still think that God is looking for a way to get you, then you don’t really know Him very well. He is really looking for a way to forgive you, not to condemn you.
It is said that we learn by example, but this is not often the case when it comes to God. What does the slave do next? Instead of taking his lead from his lord, he goes out and finds some other slave who owes him a little bit. What does he do? Instead of following his lord’s example, he decides that he is going to get payment from his fellow slave. It’s like having someone write off your 100, 000 dollar mortgage and then you decide that you are going to sue your neighbour for the 25 cents he borrowed for the pay phone last year.
This points out the second idea in this parable. Our tendency is to apply one standard to ourselves, and another standard to everyone else. I deserve special treatment, but you sure don’t. I might not say that like the ungrateful slave did, but I sure will act that way. I’m sure glad when they catch speeders going through my neighbourhood where my kids play, but if I’m trying to get through traffic on my way home, I’ll gladly speed through your neighbourhood. Somebody should pick up the slack when it comes to paying the bills for the church, but well, our family budget is really tight this month and we need a few things fixed up. When I yell it’s because I was really tired and stressed and you should understand all that and make me feel better right away, but how dare you have a bad day and expect me to be kind and helpful and considerate to you and patient with you when you lose it. It happens all the time, in big ways and in small ways. One standard for me, and another one for you. I’m allowed to mess up, but you’re not.
This leads us to the third idea
We choose how God will treat us. You see, we sometimes think that God just sits up there. God gives us the choice: how do you want me to treat you? And our choice is made by our actions towards others. How do you want God to treat you? Show Him by example. Show Him by the way you treat others. What attitude do you want God to have toward you? Let Him know by your attitude towards others. The ungrateful slave learned this lesson. It’s a rather frightening thought – Jesus is suggesting here that it is within our power to determine/ contribute to how God is going to treat us.
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