Scripture Daily

Context No. 2951 of 4322 · Matthew

Context · Reflection

Matthew 18:21-27: in context

21Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?” 22Jesus said to him, “I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven. 23Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24When he had begun to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25But because he couldn’t pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!’ 27The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt.

Peter asks how many times he must forgive a brother who sins against him, up to seven times? It sounds generous. Jesus explodes it: not seven times, but seventy times seven, forgiveness beyond counting. Then he tells a parable. A king settling accounts finds a servant who owes him ten thousand talents, a debt so vast it could never be repaid. The servant cannot pay and begs for patience. And the king, moved with compassion, releases him and forgives the entire debt.

The numbers are the point. Peter's seven times sounds like the outer limit of decency; Jesus blows past it to a forgiveness that stops counting. And the parable shows why: the servant owed an amount he could never repay, and the king simply cancelled all of it out of compassion. That is the measure of what God has forgiven us, an unpayable debt wiped away by sheer mercy. The rest of the parable will ask whether we, so forgiven, will forgive the small sums others owe us.

When I measure out forgiveness in careful, limited amounts, have I forgotten the unpayable debt God has already cancelled for me?

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