How Often Shall I Forgive?

How Often Shall I Forgive?

Matthew 18:21 – Then came Peter and said to him, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times? 22 – Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven.

What we owe to Jesus is a lot more than what anybody would ever owe to us. In the Lord’s prayer Jesus instructed us to pray “…forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” – Matthew 6:12.

In the parable Jesus told Peter following his statement of forgiving seventy times seven – the king who wanted to make a reckoning with his servants found one that owed him ten thousand talents which would be equivalent to ten million dollars. The servant begged him for patience and promised to pay the debt. The king was moved with compassion and forgave the debt.

The servant then found a fellow-servant who owed him 100 shillings equivalent to seventeen cents. The fellow-servant begged him for patience and promised to pay the debt. The servant was not moved with compassion to forgive the debt but cast him into prison until he should pay what was due.

Ten million dollars versus seventeen cents. It seems this poor servant could not tell the difference between what he owed and what was owed to him. The king was notified what his servant had done then called for him. The parable concludes like this – Matthew 18:32 – Then his lord called him unto him, and saith to him, Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou besoughtest me: 33 – shouldest not thou also have had mercy on thy fellow-servant, even as I had mercy on thee?

Verse 34 – And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due. 35 – So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.

The difference between Peter and Jesus was enormous – seven compared to seventy times seven. We are to forgive as often as we expect God to forgive us – because if we deny anyone forgiveness from our heart, the heavenly Father will also deny us forgiveness.

Remember this detail from the parable – both servants asked for patience and promised to pay their respective debts. Neither of them asked for forgiveness. The king had compassion and freely forgave one but when that one servant refused to have compassion on his fellow-servant, the king’s compassion was removed and the servant was made to pay his debt under torment just as he had originally promised.

May we recognize the compassion of Jesus in our lives and have compassion on those who have sinned against us and forgive them as often as seventy times seven for how can we endure having to pay our sin-debt and not have the compassion and forgiveness of Jesus?