Matthew 18:21-35

Matthew 18:21-35

Forgiven

I. We must forgive others as we’ve been forgiven in Christ, so we must understand the incalculable forgiveness we’ve received (Vv. 21-27)

a. As Jesus taught on forgiveness and restoration in the church, Peter, sensing the difficulty, asked how many times we must forgive someone who sins against us, suggesting seven times. Peter’s proposed standard was more generous than the rabbinical teaching of three times, and likely far more generous than any of us have ever been in forgiving one person repeatedly. But Peter was placing a limit on forgiveness, and Jesus declared, not up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven; His point was that we must not even keep a count. Then Jesus illustrates His answer through the story of king and his servants. The king wanted to settle up his accounts with his servants, and came across a servant who owed him ten thousand talents, a staggering and completely insurmountable sum, that represented over one hundred thousand years wages. A completely incalculable and unpayable debt. So the king decides to sell the servant and his family to recoup whatever he can. But the servant throws himself on the mercy of the king, promising to repay him. The king was filled with compassion and completely cancelled his debt! (Vv. 21-27; Lev. 16)

b. Not only was this man in insurmountable debt to this king, but his debt would’ve surely continued to grow hopelessly. In the same way we’re born spiritually bankrupt, and continue to build our sinful inherited debt, increasing our guilt and rebellion before the Holy and Righteous God. We’re often like the servant and think we can work off our debt, but we can’t pay it or escape it. But in His great compassion and love, God forgave our debt by taking it on Himself and paying it for us as only He’s capable. The cost of our forgiveness is incalculable, so the forgiveness we extend must not be tallied, and we must have a heart attitude of forgiveness at all times. (Ps. 32:1-2; Matt. 6:12; Luke 17:3-4; John 13:10; Rom. 2:5; 3:23-26; 5:6-11, 20-21; 6:23; 1 Cor. 13:5; Eph. 1:7; 4:31-32; Col. 3:12-13; 1 John 1:9)

II. We must forgive others as we’ve been forgiven in Christ, so we must understand the consequences of an attitude of unforgiveness (Vv. 28-35)

a. But the man immediately went out, found another servant who owed him about one hundred days wages, and demanded that he paid back. The man who owed him the money responded with an identical plea for mercy, but the forgiven servant “was unwilling” to show him even a tiny portion of the forgiveness which he had just received, and had the man locked up. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were heartbroken and reported it to the king. The king was furious, called the “wicked” servant on his hypocrisy, and handed him over to be tortured until he could repay his debt, which of course was a life sentence of torture. Shockingly, Jesus declared that the same result is certain for all who don’t have heart attitudes of forgiveness. (Vv. 28-35)

b. Judicial forgiveness is the once for all, total, and eternal forgiveness received only on the condition of faith in Christ’s finished work, which is the basis for our forgiveness towards others. The wicked servant’s actions reveal that he never understood the nature of his transgression, or the magnitude of the king’s forgiveness, and so remained separated. For those who have experienced God’s forgiveness through Christ, harboring an unforgiving heart drives a separating wedge into their relationship with Him. Paternal forgiveness is the relational fellowship with God which is maintained through continual repentance and which can be temporarily broken through the presence of unrepentant sin or unforgiving hearts towards others. In this way Jesus makes one condition of our full experience of Paternal forgiveness, the personal forgiveness in our own hearts towards others. Jesus calls us to have heart attitudes of forgiveness, ready to immediately forgive, even when it’s difficult and the transgression against us is great, because that is the immediate and complete grace which His suffering on the cross purchased for us. So often, the reality is that the deeper the transgression against us, the less willing we are to forgive; but this makes a mockery of the cross, a mockery of our witness for Christ to the world, drives a wedge between us and God, and cripples our full experience of God’s amazing forgiveness and freedom in Christ! Our fullest and most abundant life in Christ is found through the exercise of a forgiving heart. (Matt. 6:14-15; 7:21-23; Mark 11:25-26; Luke 17:1-2; 23:34; Jas. 2:13)