Matthew 18:21-35 “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!
Because of this, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlements, a debtor was brought to him owing ten thousand talents. (A talent was worth about twenty years’ wages for a laborer.) Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.
Then the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Have patience with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’
His master had compassion on him, forgave his debt, and released him.
But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. (A denarius was customarily a day’s wage for a laborer.) He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me.’
So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused. Instead, he went and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay his debt.
When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and recounted all of this to their master.
Then the master summoned him and declared, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave all your debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should repay all that he owed.
That is how My Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
Here’s Peter, posing a theoretical question and thinking that he is really doing well. After all, Peter is suggesting that he forgive his brother seven times; isn’t that quite a lot? Certainly, Peter has a real situation in mind and is seeking to justify himself. Peter is probably standing there, preening and thinking how magnanimous he really is when Jesus tells this story, knocking the props out from under Peter’s self-satisfaction and complacency.
The story is quite simple. One man owes a very wealthy ruler an incalculable amount of money. Why and how has this guy run up such a ginormous debt in the first place? Doing the math, this man owes the equivalent of 200,000 years’ worth of salary for a working man. Why the ruler has allowed this man to borrow this much money is a mystery; however, the ruler forgives that entire debt. Poof! Debt gone, just like that. Then this same man refuses to forgive a fellow servant a debt representing 100 days’ wages, little more than three months’ debt. By now Jesus’ listeners are becoming incensed. How can this wicked man get away with this? Doesn’t he have any sense of decency?
Having grabbed the attention of the crowd, Jesus now delivers the stinger in the story: “In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should repay all that he owed. That is how My Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
OUCH! Jesus! What are you doing to us? What are you demanding?
Notice that Jesus doesn’t criticize either man for going into debt. Evidently, borrowing money is a common practice and everybody in the audience knows it. Jesus deliberately constructs this story by describing the first debtor as owing so much money that he can never possibly repay it. The second debtor owes a significant sum; however, this amount might be doable. But what is the point of this story?
Each of us is a sinner and we owe a sin-debt to God that we can never possibly repay. As sinners, we offend a holy and righteous God many times a day. Compared with our debts to God, anything our fellow human beings do to us is miniscule. In the story, the ruler originally is going to sell the first man and his family along with his belongings to recover a small part of the debt. When this man refuses to forgive his fellow servant, the ruler hands over the ungrateful servant to the jailers to be tortured, not merely kept in prison. The lessons are clear: God has forgiven us debts that we can never repay so we too should forgive all those around us, no matter how many times we have to do so. If we refuse to forgive, we are choosing to imprison ourselves spiritually and opening ourselves up to satanic torment.
Many of us have heard bitter statements such as “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” The idea there is that we can plot revenge for years and then take it, confident that we will gain satisfaction. But in God’s eyes, revenge is a dish best discarded. Our unforgiveness doesn’t generally do anything to those against whom we have grudges; however, the longer we refuse to forgive, the more we are poisoning ourselves. In effect, we are turning ourselves over to the torturers.
Years ago, there was a missionary who was extremely effective. Since the house in which she had been living was falling apart, this lady raised money for a new building while she was on leave. But when this lady returned to the field, her field director flatly refused to allow her to proceed with that building and confiscated the supplies she had purchased. This woman became so bitter that she left the mission field permanently, refusing to forgive those who had mishandled her. Later, when citizens of the area traveled to the U.S. to beg this woman to return, she had to inform them that she had nothing left to give. When we spoke with this woman, she warned us against allowing bitterness to creep in because bitterness and unforgiveness could destroy our ministry just as it had destroyed hers.
Face it, nothing anyone does to you is as bad as the things you do to offend God daily. Forgive those around you, realizing that they may be struggling to forgive you as well. Most of us have no idea how many times we wound others.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we confess that we are sinners and that we offend You repeatedly each day. Please forgive us our sins and help us to forgive others freely. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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