Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturersuntil he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you,unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart."
Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
"Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive?
As many as seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.'
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
'Pay back what you owe.'
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
But he refused.
Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master
and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?'
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart."
"Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive?
As many as seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.'
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
'Pay back what you owe.'
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
But he refused.
Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master
and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?'
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart."
Not without the Spirit
Jesus demands that his disciples be willing to forgive without limit those who offend them. They must forgive too from their heart. It seems an impossible demand and so he tells us a parable. He wants us to concentrate on how much God has forgiven us. The king forgave ‘ten thousand talents’. This was a huge sum. One denarius was a day’s wage. There are ten thousand denarii in a talent. The king forgave him ten thousand denarii or a hundred and sixty thousand years wages! This is what God has done for us. Those who had never sinned against God were doomed by their very nature to a life in Hades – some place for human spirits. Those who had sinned grievously would be consigned to hell forever. This is the nature of sin, which cuts us off completely from God. But God in his mercy has forgiven us and made us his children and heirs to everything divine so that we will become like God and live with God forever in divine bliss. We can never repay God for what he has done for us.
The servant who owes the money owes a considerable amount. It is a hundred denarii or a hundred days wages – three months salary. But compared to what the king has forgiven, it is not worth counting. Likewise what people do to us may be large in itself but compared to what God has done for us it is very small.
Let us pray to the Holy Spirit so that we can have the mind of God who takes delight in showing mercy, so that we can forgive with magnanimity. Let us always meditate on what God has done for us so that we can imitate our Father who is in heaven. Let us realize that unless we have lost our soul then we haven’t really lost anything. One day we will lose everything anyway. It is just a matter of time. But under any circumstances we cannot ‘lose our soul’.
At the end of the parable Jesus has a very strong word: and “so your heavenly Father will deal with you unless you forgive your brother from your heart”. Forgiveness then is so important for our eternal salvation but it is also important for our life here. While we nurture anger we allow it to eat us. By forgiveness we free ourselves and we can grow again. But forgiveness does not come easy. It is the fruit of our personal friendship with Jesus. By coming to know Jesus personally by prayer we can receive the grace to forgive the injuries that others have inflicted on us. We become the children of our heavenly Father.
Father, grant us a share of your Spirit so that we too can forgive like You.
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