Sweet Deal (Matthew 18:21-35)

 To answer Peter simple question: How many times should I forgive someone, Jesus gives him the answer.  Seventy times seven= an astronomical number…

One day long ago, I was in prison…visiting and it made me realize the heaviness of a sentence that some men would never be able to serve and be forgiven.  They would eventually die in prison and one friend of mine did.  Fortunately, that friend had been forgiven for the sins he had committed and is in heaven today.  He became a Christian.

Today, I must talk about forgiveness because it is so sweet when you are at the receiving end of it.  Imagine that you have a great debt owing…some of us do not have to go very far.  You have a great debt owing.

Well, that was a reality for a man in the story of Jesus in Matthew 18:21-35 The man owed to his master a debt of several million dollars.  He certainly could have never paid this large debt that him and his family owed.  He was brought to the master who wanted at first to sell him and his family in order to repay the debt.  The servant did not know what to do.  Being sold as a slave perhaps was not the best option.  So, he became very sorry about his debt and the master gave him mercy in return and forgave that huge debt of his.  The servant was relieved but as soon as he had left the master, he grabbed one of his fellow servants and treated him harshly forcing him to pay his debt in full.  This servant who owed him only a few thousand dollars could not pay him back and was thrown in jail until the debt was paid in full.

“Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me.  Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?  Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.”(Matthew 18:32-35)

You can see that this servant was emotionally involved with that servant who owed him a smaller debt.  As a lot of people are so emotionally wrapped up in their unforgiveness that they cannot release that other person.

If you have been forgiven the greater debt by your Father, why could you not forgive a smaller debt or wrong done to you?  This is why, it is because you have not understood forgiveness.  This is a good time to settle the accounts with your Father in heaven because as he says at the end of this parable.  You will be punished if you cannot forgive a smaller debt.

You can say all you want no matter how bad you think you have been wronged, the debt you will have to forgive will always be smaller than the debt you have been forgiven and so you have no excuse.  Jesus has died on the Cross for you that you might be forgiven therefore it is first a crime against God and against yourself and the rest of the world if you reject his offer.  It shows you how far the effect of forgiveness goes.  It affects the rest of the world what you decide to do with it.  That is how forgiveness is so sweet to the Father and it should be so sweet to you as well.