Gospel MT 18:21–19:1
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 the fellow servant 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 his brother from his heart.”
When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee
and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.
Reflection:
The days of the “fire and brimstone” preacher that I grew up with in the 1940’s & 1950’s have pretty much vanished from the Sunday morning sermon. That’s a good thing.
I want my grandchildren to hear more about God’s love and forgiveness than about a God of vengeance and punishment.
Nevertheless, there are certain truths spoken by Jesus himself that we ignore at our own peril.
Today’s gospel parable makes it crystal clear that God’s forgiveness of our sins is directly related to and dependent upon our forgiving those who sin against us.
Jesus said, “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 his brother from his heart.”
Jesus reinforced the importance that God places on our willingness to forgive those who offend us when he taught his disciples to pray.
The “Our Father,” the Christian world’s most well know and most recited prayer, includes the words: “Forgive us or trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Matthew 6:12
Forgiveness of those who have deeply hurt us can be challenging. But, it helps me to realize that God wants me to forgive others for my own sake as well as for the sake of the one who hurt me.
My inability to forgive leaves me with a heart that may be filled with a desire for revenge, retribution and bitterness. When my heart is in such a state of darkness, I separate myself from the love of God.
In such a state of self imposed darkness, I cannot reunite with the God of Light.
When I struggle to forgive my offender, I pray, “Jesus help me to remember your words as you suffered on the cross, ‘Forgive them for they know not what they do.'”
“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” – C.S. Lewis