A HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS

YY. Christ’s Instruction On Forgiveness

(Matthew 18:21-35)

I. Introduction

A. After Jesus had addressed the issue of handling known, contaminating sin in a group of believers, in Matthew 18:21-35, He taught God’s view of forgiveness when a sinner confesses his sin and turns from his evil way.

B. We view this passage for our insight, application and edification (as follows):

II. Christ’s Instruction On Forgiveness, Matthew 18:21-35.

A. Peter was so impressed by Jesus’ Matthew 18:15-20 instruction on group discipline and the effort to get sinful believers to repent and confess their sins that he asked Jesus how many times he should forgive a believer who sinned against him, Matt. 18:21a (J. D. Pentecost, The Words and Works of Jesus Christ, 1991, p. 268-269)

B. Thinking he was being generous, and thus impressing Jesus, Peter asked the Lord if he should forgive a brother seven times, Matthew 18:21b. Compared to the Pharisees, Peter was indeed being very generous, for the “Pharisees taught that righteousness demanded that a person be forgiven twice,” and if “a person wanted to prove himself magnanimous, he forgave three times but such forgiveness was the limit of the righteousness of the Pharisees.” (Ibid., p. 269)

C. In responding to Peter, Jesus told him that he should forgive not just seven times, but seventy times seven, which to “the Jewish mind . . . meant times without number,” Ibid.; Matthew 18:22.

D. To explain that forgiving others is not to be limited since God’s forgiveness is based on His infinite grace, and is thus limitless, Jesus used a parable in Matthew 18:23-35 (as follows):

1. Christ taught that a certain king desired to take an account of his servants, and when he began to do so, a servant was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents, Matthew 18:23-24. “(A) talent was probably a measure of gold, between 58 and 80 pounds” (Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 62). At the current price of gold at $4,347 per ounce, 70 pounds of gold would be worth $4,868,640!

2. However, this servant lacked the financial means to pay his master, so the king initially ruled that he, his wife and children and all that he possessed were to be sold that payment might be made, Matthew 18:25.

3. Distraught over this ruling, the servant fell down before the king, begging for patience until he could repay his great debt, Matthew 18:26.

4. The king felt compassion for this servant, so he forgave him the entire $4.8+ million amount, Matt. 18:27.

5. However, that same servant then went out and found one of his fellow-servants who owed him 100 denarii, representing one hundred days’ worth of a laborer’s pay, Matthew 18:28a; Ibid, p. 63. Estimating a laborer’s income today to be $250 per day, the 100 denarii would equal $25,000, or ½ of one percent of the $4.8+ million that the initial servant had been forgiven by the king!

6. Nevertheless, the initial servant laid hands on his fellow-servant who owed him the 100 denarii, grabbing him by the throat and demanding that he pay him the amount he owed him, Matthew 18:28b.

7. That fellow-servant much like the initial servant fell down at his feet, begging for patience until he could pay off the $25,000 debt, but the initial servant refused his request. He went and cast his fellow-servant into prison until he could pay the debt, Matthew 18:29-30.

8. The other fellow servants who witnessed this incident were “greatly distressed” (elupethesan) by it, so they reported the event to the king, Matthew 18:31; Ibid.

9. The king then summoned the initial servant and told him that he was wicked, for the king had forgiven him the $4.8+ million amount because he had sought the king’s mercy, but that servant had in turn failed to show mercy to his fellow-servant who owed him the $25,000 amount, Matthew 18:32-33.

10. Accordingly, the king was angry over this injustice, and he delivered the initial servant to the tormentors who would afflict him until he paid back all the $4.8+ million amount that he owed the king, Matt. 18:34.

11. Jesus drew a parallel from this parable for Peter and His other disciples, Matthew 18:35: Since a believer is graciously forgiven by God based on God’s infinite grace, that believer in turn is obligated before the Lord to forgive without limitation another believer who has wronged him, cf. Ephesians 4:32; Ibid.

Lesson: Since God has forgiven us believers all of our huge debt of sins against Him by His infinite grace, when fellow believers confess their wrongs against us, we should likewise graciously set no limit on forgiving them.

Application: May we imitate the gracious forgiveness God has toward us by graciously forgiving fellow believers.