Matthew 18:21-35
21
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 seven
times?" 22 Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell
you, seventy-seven times. 23 "For this reason the kingdom of
heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with
his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten
thousand talents was brought to him; 25 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. 26 So the slave fell on
his knees before him, saying, "Have patience with me, and I will
pay you everything.' 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that
slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 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.' 29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with
him, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' 30 But he
refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay
the debt. 31 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. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, "You
wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with
me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had
mercy on you?' 34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be
tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35 So my heavenly Father
will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother
or sister from your heart."
“So
my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not
forgive your brother or sister from your heart."
- I don't know about you, but this Gospel reading frightens me at times. There is a very real and very strong call to forgiveness and the parable of the unforgiving servant has a very stark and messy ending. The entire exchange between Jesus and Peter speaks of forgiveness and both the depth and frequency of forgiveness.
- The parable that follows, which is often called the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant for obvious reasons, holds in it great exaggeration. The sum owed to the first servant by the second is a little more than 3 months wages for a worker of the time. It is a serious amount, but not entirely unimaginable. What the first servant owes, however, is beyond imagining. It is comparable to a worker's wages for 125 years! Jesus is making a point here; he is telling a story full of such exaggeration in order to make his point. And that point has to do with forgiveness from the heart.
- His words may appear harsh to us: So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you... This idea of punishment is not easy for us to hear, but with it, Jesus makes his point.
- Forgiveness is hard. It is hard to forgive others, especially if what they've done might be called “unforgivable.” We all retain memories of hurts, slights, and sins against us. We remember; even if we don't harbour and nourish resentment consciously, we still remember. It's a natural human thing.
- Which is why forgiveness is a divine thing, a graced thing. To forgive might demand that we leave a bit of ourselves behind. It might demand that we leave resentment or righteous indignation or justifiable hurt behind. It might demand that we lay aside any thirst for vengeance and revenge that may lie within us. To offer real forgiveness also makes us admit - to ourselves, at least – that we have really been injured in some way. To be truly forgiving makes us vulnerable. To forgive might just be a sign that we are becoming new and being “born again.”
- The other side of forgiveness is just as hard. To ask forgiveness carries with it the acceptance of our own sin and our own guilt. Asking forgiveness means we are “one down” and we are placing ourselves in a vulnerable position. It is a risky thing because we might not be sure that we will be forgiven.
- In a number of ways, asking forgiveness requires us to take stock of ourselves and realize that we are not perfect and that we are not God, which comes as a shocking realization to some, since honest self-knowledge is a fearful and humbling thing.
- Yes, forgiveness – from either side – is hard and it is what we are called to. This calling of ours is not without example or model. Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to how the king treats his indebted servant. Since he is forgiven his debt, should he not do the same and forgive the debt owed to him? This is our example, one that makes us look at ourselves, at those who may have offended us, and on how God has treated us in terms of forgiveness.
- Should we forgive seven times? "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” It's hard enough to count to 77, so maybe Jesus is saying don't keep count so we can come to the limit and then lower the boom. If the servant was forgiven a debt of 10,000 talents ($6 billion), how should he have treated the man who owed him 100 denarii ($5000)? Possibly Jesus is using these astronomical examples to show how much we have been forgiven by God.
- Were we to need another example or demonstration of this grace of forgiveness we might look to Shakespeare' The Merchant of Venice, where the disguised Portia speaks eloquently of the nature of mercy or forgiveness:
- The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes...
...Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.
- Forgiving as we've been forgiven is the crux of the parable. Not forgiving in the same way or to the same extent, but forgiving because we've been forgiven. The forgiveness of our sins is an act of grace. The forgiveness we give each other is also an act of grace since the grace of forgiveness is modelled and given by God.
- John's Gospel tells us ‘This is my command-ment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. There is no greater example of love and forgiveness than the life and the life-giving cross of our Savior. And that is nothing to be frightened about.
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