Recapitulation
In our last study, Jesus talked about overcoming obstacles
to greatness in the kingdom of heaven.
The overarching need, we saw, was for humility like a child—like Jesus
Himself had in coming from heaven to earth.
The final application of this principle of humility was in understanding
that when a fellow believer sins against us, it is an opportunity to serve him
or her by rescuing them from that snare of sin.
The goal is not judgment or vengeance but to restore the broken
fellowship in which Jesus is already right there in the midst.
What if Someone Sins Against Me?
Now continuing in Matthew
18:21-35, there is the obvious issue of personal forgiveness. What if that sin in my brother I ought to
rescue is against me? When someone sins
against us, they not only need God’s forgiveness, they also need our
forgiveness. Forgiveness does not remove
every physical consequence of the sin but it does restore the broken
fellowship. It is in this context that
Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I
forgive him? As many as seven
times?” The Pharisees taught that you
must forgive up to two times and if you are really magnanimous three
times. So, Peter thought he was going
over the top in magnanimity by suggesting seven times. (If my brother keeps repeating the same
offense against me seven times, I should forgive him—but number eight I am free
to throw him under the bus.)
But Jesus replied, “I do not say to you seven times but
seventy-seven times.” (It is also
possible to translate this ‘seventy times seven.’) However you slice it, this is a lot of
forgiveness! To explain why we need to
keep on forgiving, Jesus told a fictional story in vv. 23-34. (While it is not called a parable, it
functions like one.)
I Owed a Debt I Could Not Pay . . .
As you can see, this story is intended to illustrate a truth
about the kingdom of heaven. Notice that
some but not every feature of this story has a parallel feature in the kingdom
of heaven. For example, God has given us
certain resources for which He will ask for an accounting, but for the most
part we haven’t been given a huge fortune.
The story is illustrating the greatness of the debt of sin we have that
He alone can forgive. In the story, the
debt was 10,000 talents which in today’s money would be roughly $10 billion! The
point is not the exact amount but the fact that it is so astronomical. There is no way we can pay this debt. In the story, the debtor and his family are
to be sold into slavery and their possessions all sold at auction. (It is a story – not an endorsement for
slavery!) But even that would not even begin to pay back what is owed. Jesus is saying that it is impossible to pay
this debt. It is at this terrifying
revelation that the man pleads for time to repay what he owes! (How will time help?!) But the King takes pity
on the man because he cannot possibly repay it—not even with more
time. He forgives the debt.
Now in the story, the forgiven man goes on his way and spies
a fellow servant who owes him a paltry sum of 100 denarii which is about three
months’ pay. Not many of us have that
kind of free cash lying about so when he confronted the fellow servant about
his debt, he asked for time to scrape the funds together. It would not be easy but given enough time he
knew he could do it. But the man who had
just been forgiven $10 billion would not take pity on his fellow servant and
had him thrown into debtor’s prison.
The point is well taken.
This scenario doesn’t make sense.
He just screamed into Dave Ramsey’s microphone “I’m debt free!” He had a load lifted off his shoulders and
that of his family as well. But, he
can’t share that good fortune with a poor guy who owes him barely enough to buy
a used car. Jesus takes it one step
further; the poor guy has some friends who tell the King. And now the King is fuming mad. “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you
pleaded with me. And should not you have
had mercy on that fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” Then he reinstated the debt and threw him
into prison until all should be repaid—which realistically is never.
Then Jesus slams home this final chilling statement: “So
also my Heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your
brother from your heart.” So, is this
saying that if we fail to forgive someone, God will cancel our forgiveness and
throw us into hell? No! It is saying if
you refuse to forgive others then you may not even have accepted the fact of
the enormous sin debt you have piled up and so you haven’t really believed
God’s offer of radical forgiveness yourself. “If the Son has set you free, you
shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). Those
who are really free, don’t keep others enslaved.
Some Personal Lessons
1)
Jesus makes this story about us—those of us who
claim to have experienced God’s forgiveness.
2)
Did we have a debt that God forgave? Big or little? On what basis were we forgiven? (Romans 5:8—While
we were still sinners.)
3)
Who owes us debts in this context? Has someone asked you for forgiveness but you
have refused to grant it.
4)
Compare what we owed to God and the largest debt
someone owes you.
5)
In the story, it is obvious that if the servant
had been truly forgiven would he really have behaved that way?
[He who is forgiven much loves much. Lk 7:47]
If you find it impossible to forgive someone who has asked
for forgiveness—then perhaps you have yet to comprehend the enormity of God’s
forgiveness for yourself.
© 2018 Eric Thimell
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