CHRISTIAN FORGIVENESS
Matt. 18:21-35
Morning Meditation 10/10/16
Verses 21- 35 say, “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshiped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.”
Peter came to Jesus on the subject of forgiveness and asked, “. . . Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?”
Why did Peter use the number seven? The Jewish scholars of that day taught that you should forgive three times. John Gill quotes the ancient writings: “A man that commits a sin, the "first" time they pardon him; the "second" time they pardon him; the "third" time they pardon him: the "fourth" time they do not pardon, according to Amos 2:6 and Job 33:29.
When Peter asked, “till seven times,” from what I can tell, he was going beyond the accepted norm of his day. He is getting little glimpses of what Jesus is teaching on forgiveness. So he comes up with a figure that he thinks will satisfy the Lord. Well, the Lord shocked him with His answer. Jesus said, “. . .Until seventy times seven.” Now whether that is referring to seventy time seven a day or a lifetime that is a lot of forgiveness. That number is out of the reach of any conceivable situation that you will run into. The grace of forgiveness is like that.
There is probably more self discipline in the matter of forgiveness than almost any other subject. It is a matter of the heart. It deals more with self righteousness than any subject I know. When our righteousness is challenged, it hurts deeply. It is, “I have been wronged by this person and I was not wrong. This man had no right to do this to me. He hurt me and there was no call for it.” Have you ever been there?
Jesus answers Peter then illustrates with a parable. Jesus talks about a king who would take account of his servants. When the king began to do this he found one of his servants deeply in debt to him. Well, it is only right that one who owes another, pay the debt. If you owe an equal, you might by force of power refuse to pay and get away with it. But in this case it is a king who is owed. He has all the power of the kingdom behind him. He has the power to sell his servant and his family into slavery for the payment of the debt. When the process is begun, the servant falls down and worships the king and begs his forgiveness. I would say this is a proper attitude for one who owes so much, wouldn’t you? Well, it worked. The king forgave him the debt.
Then after the servant of the king had received the grace of forgiveness (I call it grace because grace is a gift that does not require repayment), he went out to one who owed him a very small amount and demanded payment. When his “fellowservant” (both were subjects of the king) could not pay, he cast him into prison until he payed the debt. This is a dumb move and tells us a little about the man’s thinking. How can the servant pay him if he doesn’t have wherewith to pay and now he is cast into prison where he can’t make the money to repay? You see, an offended man thinks in terms of revenge. “If you can’t pay me, I will take it out of your hide.”
There is always someone watching. His fellowservants knew the whole story. They knew this very man had been forgiven a great debt when he did not deserve it. It was because of the merciful attitude of the king that he was free. There is no dept that can occur from man to man that will come close to the forgiveness that we receive when we are saved. Then the servant who had been forgiven turns around and refuses to forgive one who owes him a very small amount. The king is informed of this man’s attitude of unmercifulness toward his “fellowservant.” When the king hears of this, he calls the man on the carpet and re instituted the debt and delivered him to the tormentors until he should pay all the debt.
Then to apply the parable Jesus said, “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” I think Peter, about this time, said, oops, “I wish I hadn’t brought this subject up!”
What Jesus is teaching His disciples is the grace of forgiveness. It is not hard for us to acknowledge God’s great grace toward us in forgiving us of all our sins. There is no one who is saved who has not repented of sin. In the process of repentance, we come face to face with a debt against God so great that it is impossible to pay. If we had to pay the debt, we would have to go to hell forever. If you are saved, you know this. And you have known it ever since the experience of salvation. Jesus tells us when we are asked to forgive another that we should never forget the debt that we have been forgiven.
When we demand recompense, we are requiring payment. We MUST learn the grace of forgiveness toward others. Now some have suggested that we forgive whether forgiveness has been asked. I must admit, I have a problem with that. We are talking about the grace of forgiveness. Jesus died for all men. I ask you, does God forgive those who do not ask? The servant of the king asked for forgiveness. He also expected his servant to learn a lesson from his own forgiveness. He didn’t. His personal forgiveness taught him nothing when dealing with others. The king said in substance, “In my kingdom, there is law and there is grace. You are attempting to operate under my grace and at the same time deal on the basis of law concerning those under you. I will not tolerate it.”
Fellow Christians should be forgiven on the spot when they desire it. It should require no payment, like, crawling on broken glass for a mile to satisfy our self righteousness so that we can be for sure that they mean it. Any hint of repentance should bring should bring immediate forgiveness.
What if they don’t want forgiveness and have not asked in any manner? Then we should stand ready to forgive and harbor no grudge or bitterness whatsoever. Christians are not to seek revenge. The desire for justice will make you bitter. You say, “Preacher, do you mean to tell me that I am to let the man off scott free?” I am telling you that your walk with God will be affected the rest of your Christian life if you are unwilling to maintain an attitude of forgiveness whether the other repents or not. If we have been forgiven an unpayable debt by the grace of God, we should exercise that same attitude toward others.
May the Lord bless these words to OUR hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
