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Gospel: Matthew 18: 21-35
Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
‘Pay back what you owe.’
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused.
Instead, he had him put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master
and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Today’s parable on forgiveness, unique to Saint Matthew, creates a fascinating blend between the fear of punishment and the experience of gratitude.
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Imagine Saint Peter cautiously approaching Jesus. The good news / bad news is that Peter has another question. He’s held onto it as long as he can. Afraid of how Jesus might answer – and rightly so – Peter swallows the lump in his throat and asks:
“Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Peter didn’t just pick a number; seven was considered the outward limit of generosity.
“I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times,” Jesus says. Meaning, without limit.
I’d imagine Peter looked down at the ground, shuffled his feet, slid his hands back into his pockets, and exhaled exasperated, thinking to himself, “Well, that’s simply impossible.”
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Peter has yet to learn the inner dynamics of forgiveness. So, Jesus tells him a parable about a king whose servants were subject to his authority. One of the king’s servants owed him an incredible amount of money – a debt so large the man could’ve never repaid it.
Because of his compassion, the king released the man from his debt. But when the man got home, he then choked someone else who owed him a much smaller debt – pennies on the dollar. When word got back to the king, he was enraged, and punished the man severely.
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Clearly in the parable, God is the king and we are his subjects. Because the Lord forgives us of our every trespass, he expects us to extend the same kindness towards others. But this begs the question, “Why is it so difficult for us to forgive others?”
While there may be a variety of reasons, perhaps one is this – we have not genuinely felt forgiven by God. Whether we fail to understand the weight of our sin, or feel encumbered by guilt or shame, God’s forgiveness can feel elusive. Too good to be true.
Only those who’ve experienced the inner freedom, this fruit of grace, can extend it to others. Do I often feel forgiven by God? Or does that feeling remain elusive to me?
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May we forgive from our heart, lest we forfeit God’s own forgiveness towards us.
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Image credits: (1) Anglican Life (2) Perishable Items, WordPress (3) Lisa’s Daily Inspirations