Forgiveness

In Mt. 18:15, Jesus began a discourse on forgiveness. He illustrated a procedure for what to do when your “brother” sins against you. In short you address it privately with him and then if needed take 2 or 3 others with you and then if needed inform the whole congregation. If the individual won’t repent or ask for forgiveness then you are to sever all social relations with him.

Peter then asks the question, “how often shall I forgive my brother (who asks for forgiveness)… seven times? Jesus responds… seventy times seven times, which means that every time forgiveness is asked for… you give it.

Jesus then tells a story to illustrate the concept. A great King called a servant in who owed him 10,000 Talents. The servant couldn’t pay so the King ordered for him, his wife and his children and all that he owned be sold to pay the debt. The servant begged that the King have patience and he would pay it all. The King was moved by this and forgave the whole debt… the whole amount.

Nice story but it doesn’t end there. This recently forgiven fellow looked up a fellow-servant who owed a lot less… 100 Shillings and took him by the throat and demanded payment. This servant also begged for patience and he would repay it but no patience was granted and he was thrown into debtor’s prison.

When the King heard of this he took the first servant who was forgiven a great amount and delivered him to the Tormentors. Jesus summarizes the whole thing when he tells Peter… so shall my father do to you if you don’t forgive from your heart.

Get this… forgiveness is not an option for a Christian. A Christian must MUST give forgiveness if he is asked for it. And it can’t be pretend forgiveness it has to be from the heart. Here’s what people do sometimes when they “forgive” people…

- They may say OK I forgive you but this is your last chance

- They may say OK I forgive you but socially it’s changed. The relationship is changed and for all intents and purposes you are forgiven in name only.

- They may say OK I forgive you but then they go around telling everyone what you did.

Folks who forgive that way are in danger of burning in Hell for eternity.

It’s not easy “forgiving from the heart”. Maybe it would be easier though if we considered the great debt that Jesus paid for with his life perhaps a debt worth millions of dollars or however much we value our lives. If we thought like that maybe it would be easier to truly forgive one of a hundred dollar debt.