Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?

 

 Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?  Up to seven times?"  Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.  Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.  And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.  But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.  The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, 'Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.'  Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.  But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!'  So his fellow servant fell own at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all."  And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.  So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.  Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, 'You wicked servant!  I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.  Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?'  And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.  So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespass."

 

- Matthew 18:21-35 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus taught His disciples: "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.  For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.  What do you think?  If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?  And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.  Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.  Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.  If he hears you, you have gained your brother.  But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.'  And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.  But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and tax collector.  Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." 

 Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?  Up to seven times?"  Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven."  My study Bible explains that seventy times seven is an expression which is symbolic of an unlimited amount. 

"Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.  And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.  But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.  The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, 'Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.'  Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.  But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!'  So his fellow servant fell own at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all."  And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.  So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.  Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, 'You wicked servant!  I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.  Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?'  And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.  So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespass."  This parable is an illustration of the need for unlimited forgiveness, my study Bible explains.  Ten thousand talents is an extraordinarily impossible sum, as it is more than a laborer could earn in several lifetimes.  A "talent" (Greek talanton/τάλαντον) was a weight value which measured precious metal such as gold or silver.  A hundred denarii, according to my study Bible, was worth about three months wages, and so is still large sum.  But it's a pittance when compared to the debt owed the king.  My study Bible comments that God not only stays the punishment we deserve, but forgives us the entire debt as well.  Because God forgives us, it says, we in turn are required to grant the gift of forgiveness to others.  There is also a spiritual interpretation given to the punishment in patristic commentary.  In this understanding, the man represents the soul, the wife represents the body, and the children represent a person's deeds.  So, the body and the deeds are given over to slavery -- that is, to Satan -- so that the soul might possibly be saved (see 1 Corinthians 5:5).  

In today's parable, Jesus seems to describe a system (if you will) that promises to return to us the same type of treatment we give to others, but this return comes in a spiritual sense.  It is, in that sense, a parable that serves to enforce the logic of what is called the Golden Rule, found in Luke 6:31, in which Jesus teaches that "just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise."  (See this teaching in context at Luke 6:27-31.)  In the Sermon on the Mount it is found at Matthew 7:12, in which Jesus teaches, "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets" (see in context, Matthew 7:7-12).  But the parable also gives us an added window onto the understanding of the Golden Rule, and that is the measure of forgiveness that God extends to us.  This becomes the basis and the foundation for the understanding of our places in the world, in relationship to others.  Jesus explicitly lays this down as the foundation for understanding how forgiveness must work in our worldly lives, because we are already forgiven so much by God:  therefore the parable is also an illustration of what Jesus calls the Greatest Commandments.  In chapter 22, Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment in the Law, and He replies, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (see Matthew 22:36-40).  Once again, we see the pattern taught in the parable:  we begin with our relationship to God, and we must extend within that context our relationship to neighbor.  So when we think of forgiveness, we take our minds from a purely worldly focus on vengeance or even restitution, and take it to a spiritual level in expanding it to the economy of God and our place in God's creation.  We consider how much we are forgiven by the One who holds all things, and it is within that context that we extend forgiveness.  Let us with all appropriate hastiness understand that the things which come to us in life also come from God.  It is a sense in which God is the ultimate "Banker" who holds or controls the wealth of all things; our willingness to forgive is a commitment to God and we expect that it is God who will repay or amend or heal the hurts and trespasses and deficits in our lives caused by harm done to us by others.  Let us also keep in mind that Jesus' parable is told in response to Peter's question, which comes after Jesus has set out a pattern for discipline and mutual correction in the Church (see yesterday's reading, above).  In that pattern, a sin is acknowledged, either in private or in the context of community.  But we often grapple with things we feel have harmed us, or what we believe others should owe to us, which go unacknowledged and unrepented.   And yet, within that context also, Jesus' parable is something to keep in mind, for it remains a kind of understanding of the Golden Rule.  It remains also within the context of the Old Testament and God's word in Moses' Song from Deuteronomy:  "Vengeance is Mine, and recompense" (Deuteronomy 32:35; see in context:  Deuteronomy 32).  St. Paul quotes the same in Romans 12:18-20, a teaching against vengeance and urging effort at a peaceful life.  Let us note closely that in St. Paul's teaching, justice is not neglected either.  We are reliant upon the One who is able to recompense and who forgives us in an inestimable degree in the first place.  Therefore we turn to God first in order to seek a way through life's hurts and difficulties.  The cruel harshness of the unforgiving servant of the parable results only in reaping the same results for himself.  Let us note also that Christ's teaching on forgiveness does not leave out justice; He does not neglect a need for acknowledgment of sin and harm.  But God is our ultimate ground for being and for understanding our places in the world and in creation.  We must keep in mind these teachings as we negotiate our lives through what often feels like a battleground or minefield.  In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" (Matthew 6:12) and He adds at the end of the prayer, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matthew 6:14); see in context Matthew 6:8-14.  We are always given teachings about forgiveness in the context of God's forgiveness first, and God's economy of creation.  Jesus teaches us the understanding that our relationships with others fall within the context of our relationship with God; even the "debts" we feel that others have caused us fall within the context of God's purview to recompense and heal for us, so we go to prayer to find good resolution for how to conduct ourselves in response to harm done to us.  Let us consider the things we feel are owed to us, and the significant debt we may incur ourselves without God's guidance for our lives.