Matthew 18:21–28, 32–33

Bible Studies for Life
Director, Resource Center for Pastoral Excellence, Samford University

STICK WITH FORGIVENESS

Matthew 18:21–28, 32–33

The story of Corrie ten Boom is familiar to many. She and her family were sent to a Nazi concentration camp after being caught offering sanctuary to Jews in Amsterdam. Her book, “The Hiding Place,” recounts some of the horrible experiences they endured. In one of many episodes ten Boom recalled when she, her oldest sister, Betsie, and other captives were forced to stand naked and watch as a concentration camp matron brutally beat one of the prisoners. Betsie died in the camp as a result of the squalid conditions. 

One visit to the Holocaust Museum in Washington will vividly and convincingly confirm the horror of the death camps of Nazi Germany. Yet after the war ten Boom became a popular speaker, telling audiences all over Europe that forgiveness was the only hope for overcoming the atrocities of Hitler and the Nazis. Her book has sold millions of copies since first being released in 1971.

Even in the best of relationships, hurt and disappointment will occur. Often we are the ones causing the hurt and disappointment. An essential component of relationships with others is the practice of forgiveness. Corrie ten Boom experienced more evil and hurt than most of us. Yet she showed the world the best motivation for choosing to be forgiving and merciful is to remember God chose to be forgiving and merciful to us.

Forgive and keep forgiving. (21–22)

Abraham Lincoln is credited as saying, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.” Peter must have thought his question was not foolish. He may even have thought forgiveness on the terms he described was an example to others of his pious behavior. After all, forgiving seven times for the same offense repeated again and again does seem generous. Not so in the thinking of Jesus. Peter showed his foolish lack of understanding when he asked and answered (incorrectly) his own question. In effect Jesus told Peter there can be no limit on the times one forgives. It does not matter if one forgives seven times or seven times seven times, the point Jesus made with Peter is there can be no limit to one’s willingness to forgive.

Remember God forgave you. (23–27)

Ten thousand talents was a huge sum of money to owe … far more than someone in Jesus’ day could earn in a lifetime, let alone repay. To have such a debt canceled in response to one’s pleas was an incredible and unexpected act of extravagant generosity, mercy and grace. In Jesus’ own words, this is what the kingdom of God is like where grace and mercy and forgiveness are present. 

Each of us has experienced this kind of Kingdom extravagance. We know what it is to live as persons who have been forgiven. God’s gift of grace, demonstrated in the extravagance of Calvary’s cross, was and is a life-changing reality for us.

Forgive because God forgave you. (28, 32–33)

With the king’s generosity still fresh in the debtor’s mind, he had an opportunity to pass along a similarly amazing gift of grace by canceling a much smaller debt. One would think this debtor would have been forever changed by the king’s generosity of forgiving an impossible, crippling debt. Not so. 

How sad and ironic the debtor’s attitude about extending the grace of forgiveness. “Shouldn’t you have had mercy?” (v. 32). There is a cautionary word for us in these verses. If we place limits on the forgiveness we extend to others, we risk having limits on the forgiveness God offers us. Forgiveness, grace, generosity, mercy — these are essential if we hope to have meaningful, lasting relationships with others.