Peter was grappling with the concept of ongoing forgiveness, so he asked Jesus, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Matthew 18:22 Jesus responded, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
This wasn’t just about numbers; it was about an endless commitment to forgiveness. Jesus then shared a parable to drive the point home. A king was ready to settle accounts with his servants. One servant, owing an unimaginable sum, was about to lose everything—his family sold into slavery, himself imprisoned—until he begged for mercy. The king, moved by compassion, forgave the entire debt.
But then, this same servant encountered another who owed him a tiny fraction of what he’d been forgiven. Instead of showing the mercy he’d received, he had the man thrown into prison until he could pay back the debt. When the king heard of this, his anger was fierce.
Matthew 18:32-34 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 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 pay back all he owed.”
The servant, forgiven so much yet showing no mercy, now faced eternal torment because his debt was insurmountable. This parable starkly illustrates God’s expectation: the forgiveness we’ve received should be reflected in how we forgive others.
Forgiveness isn’t just a nice idea; it’s a divine mandate reflecting the heart of God towards us. How are we measuring up in this divine challenge of forgiveness?
Listen to Jesus’ strong admonition about forgiveness:
Matthew 18:35 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
