Forgiveness – How Much?
Matthew 18:21-22 “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times”
Translators have interpreted this passage:
- 77 times
- 70 X 7 times
- I don’t think the number is important
Matthew 18:23-25 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.”
How much money?
- 10,000 is the largest Roman numeral (X)
- A talent is the largest unit of weight 75lbs.
- $558 Million
Youtube video: https://youtu.be/68eue5cpbsE
Matthew 18:26-27 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.”
Matthew 18:28-30 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.”
The moral of the story – Forgiveness is not an option when we have been forgiven so much
Colossians 3:13 “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
Three points in dealing with forgiveness.
- Forgiveness can be difficult.
Our emotions want to make it all about us.
- Forgiveness gets progressively harder
It can be easy to forgive a few times, but what about a few hundred?
Some pointers on how to respond when you are hurt and offended:
- Communicate your feelings
- Manage your reaction moment
- Stepping back from a relationship
Matthew 18:31-35 “When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
There are two sections to this teaching:
- Our vertical forgiveness from God
- Our horizontal forgiveness to one another
- As Christians we need to 100% walk in both
- Forgiveness is doable
Because you don’t have to do this alone
Mark 9:22-24 “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
