Matthew 18:21-35
Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21 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.
23 “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 bags 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.
26 “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.
28 “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. 31 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.”
Luke 11:1-4
The LORD's Prayer
1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say
“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
Jesus wants us to be forgiving and merciful...We might be concerned that since we ourselves have a sinful nature, asking God over and over for forgiveness is too much...We might think that He might become weary of us asking for Him to forgive us many, many times...But He is not like that...He does not get tired of us asking Him for forgiving us...When Jesus told Peter that we are to forgive those who ask for forgiveness seventy times, He is teaching us that forgiveness is unlimited...God will forgive us over and over when we ask Him to forgive us...He will not turn away from us in our forgiveness prayers and petitions...
In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, we learn more about unlimited forgiveness...A servant who owed a master very much money needed to repay his debt... As the master began the settlement, a servant who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him...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...“At this the servant fell on his knees before him...‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’...The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go...Right after this the same servant had one owe him a much smaller amount... The servant went out and would not forgive this other fellow servants of their relatively small debts...Forgiveness is not necessary measured in size and quantities...Forgiveness is forgiveness...“Then the master called the servant back...‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to...Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’...In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed...“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”...
We owe God a great debt...He is always forgiving us, when we ask Him...We are saved by His Grace, and we should appreciate the scope and the size of our sin debt...We are to forgive others of their debts against us, no matter what the size...And as we ask for forgiveness to God of our sins and our debts, we also are to forgive everyone who sins against us -as we are taught in the LORD's Prayer...