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Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
Matthew 18:21-35
Jesus had just been talking about dealing with disputes among believers and Peter asked something like: ‘How many times should I forgive my brother? The rabbis teach three times, but what about seven, that’s more than twice what the rabbis suggest—is that generous enough, Jesus?’
Jesus replied, and again I’m paraphrasing, ‘This is going to blow your mind, Peter. You need to forgive 77 times’
Now, there are two reactions to that, either 'wow, that's enormous number, what’s the point trying to keep a count' or 'I think I’ll need an app to track how much I need to forgive each person. I’ll get it to import all the contacts from my phone address book to make it easier.’
As he often did, Jesus told a story.
A king had a servant who owed him an enormous sum—impossible to repay in a lifetime. So the king ordered this servant, his wife, and his children to be sold. The servant pleaded for patience, promising to repay the king. Of course, paying it back was just impossible; it would take thousands of years and there was no national lottery.
But the thing is, what the servant actually needed was forgiveness, not time, not patience, and that’s exactly what he received from the king. Can you imagine the relief! Such a large burden lifted. Actually, maybe you can imagine. Can you remember how you felt when you became a Christian and God forgave your sins, sins you could never hope to clear on our own.
Next came Servant Two, who owed Servant One three to four months' wages. When confronted by Servant One, he also pleaded for patience—perhaps a more realistic request this time. However, Servant One was having none of it and had him thrown into prison until he could repay the debt—now from prison that was all but impossible.
Witnesses appalled by it, reported this hypocrisy to the king, who also saw the hypocrisy and was furious. The king demanded that Servant One pay his debt after all —thousands of years’ salary - an unpayable sum— which of course he couldn’t pay. And he went to prison for the rest of his life we have to assume, tortured some say.
So, a nice story about Christians learning to forgive each other. I wonder if Peter got the point? But we haven’t quite got to the end of this passage. What about verse 35.
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart!
Earlier in Matthew, in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus instructs the disciples to pray, ‘Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.’ So does this mean that if we don’t forgive other Christians who sin against us, God returns these sins upon us? Our sins are no longer as far from us as the East is from the West that we read in Psalm 103, instead heaped up on our backs again.
Is unforgiveness another unforgiveable sin like blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?
Well let’s go back to the parable. Although the king offered forgiveness without it being asked for—only patience was sought by Servant One. And it seems that his heart remained completely unchanged in the face of unparalleled grace. Instead of rejoicing in his own forgiveness, the very first thing servant one did was to seek out Servant Two, throttle him and throw him in jail because of what appeared to be a trivial amount of money compared to the debt written off against him.
So it would appear that a persistent unwillingness to forgive demonstrates, to any who might call themself Christian, is a sign, a diagnostic symptom that they have not really understood God’s grace in their own lives.
One might say…
• That God's grace produces a new heart.
• And a new heart produces forgiveness.
• Therefore, if forgiveness is entirely absent, there is reason to question whether God's grace has truly been received.
And "from your heart" in v35 is vital here. Jesus is not demanding merely outward civility or reluctant tolerance, but genuine forgiveness flowing from an inner change in our own lives.
That’s not to say that forgiveness equates with instant emotional healing, or reconciliation without repentance, or that forgiveness ignores justice that needs to be enacted.
Forgiveness can be costly and sometimes gradual, but a Christian's settled disposition should be one of releasing personal vengeance and seeking mercy because of the mercy they have received from God.
Getting back to Peter’s impressive offer to forgive his brother seven times. Jesus is saying something like ‘Forget the app Peter. You are completely missing the point. I am about to do something for you that will blow your mind and change your heart forever.’
So if someone calls themselves a follower of Jesus, and yet is unwilling to forgive their brother or sister, gently take them back to the beginning and explain the gospel to them again. Remind them how much they have been forgiven and pray for their heart to be transformed by the gospel of grace.
John McLernon
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