“Can’t Forgive???” – FBC Morning Light (1/24/2025)

Forgiveness in Matthew 18 and Peter’s Question

Well, good morning to you. I'd like to encourage you for the journey ahead today with a few thoughts from Matthew chapter 18. And in Matthew 18, Jesus tells a parable at the latter half of the chapter that is prompted by a question on the part of Peter.

Peter asks this question, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus says, no, not seven times, but 70 times seven. In other words, Jesus is saying an exponential number of times, an infinite number of times.

You don't put a limit and a measure on forgiveness with a brother that sins against you and he wants to get right, he wants to make that right. You forgive him, you forgive him. And then Jesus then launches into a parable.

The Unforgiving Servant and the Debt We Cannot Pay

And the parable is a pretty well-known parable. Jesus tells a story about a king who comes to one of his servants who owes him a horrendous amount of money, 10 ,000 talents, verse 24 tells us. That is far more than a servant would be able to make in three lifetimes, and he's never going to be able to pay that back, is the point.

Jesus is using this exaggerated, hyperbolic illustration to say that the servant, he owes so much he could never be forgiven, he could never pay it back, I'm sorry. And the king forgives him. This is a picture of you and me, when we come to Christ and ask him to forgive us of our sins, we owe him a debt that we cannot pay.

And yet he comes to us in forgiveness, and as we are in, you know, we come to him in repentant faith, he forgives us all. He forgives us all that debt. But then, this servant finds a fellow servant, we read of in verse 28, who owes him a hundred denarii, which is like a few weeks worth of pay.

Twenty bucks, let's say. And he says to this fellow servant, give me what you owe me, and he can't. He says, I can't. Well, he takes him by the throat and says, pay me what you owe, and his fellow servant says, be patient with me and I'll pay you everything.

But the guy who's been forgiven these 10 ,000 talents of debt, he says, no way, I'm gonna send you off to debtor's prison. And off he goes. And the king hears what has happened, and he takes that servant whom he'd forgiven so much, and he says, you wicked servant, I forgave you all the debt because you begged me, should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I've had pity on you?

The Call to Forgive as We Have Been Forgiven

What's Jesus doing here? He's helping Peter understand that, Peter, the debt that you've been forgiven is far, far greater than any debt that somebody would owe you. They come to you in repentance and asking for forgiveness, you forgive them, even if it's 70 times 7.

Let me ask you, are you holding on to grudges? Are you harboring bitterness in your heart towards somebody who has wronged you? Somebody who has sought to be reconciled to you, but you just have such a deep animosity toward them, you have such a grudge toward them, that you say to yourself, I just can't forgive them.

I can't forgive them. Well, has Jesus forgiven you of all your trespasses and all your debts? Well, if this person has truly repented, and truly is sorry for what they've done to you, and asked you to ask you to forgive them, well, Jesus tells you, you know what?

You need to forgive them. You need to forgive them. That can be challenging sometimes. Now, by the way, I just want to point out that forgiving someone that debt does not necessarily mean that the relationship is going to be completely restored right away, perhaps, but it opens the door for reconciliation.

It opens a door for a restored relationship. As long as you harbor that bitterness, or you hold that grudge, and you refuse to forgive, there's no way. There never will be reconciliation. And, furthermore, you're betraying a lack of understanding of just how much you have been forgiven.

Prayer for a Forgiving Heart

Oh, may God give us gracious, forgiving hearts, not hearts that are bitter and grudge-holding. Father, help us with this, we pray. I pray that you deliver us from being the kind of people who won't forgive, because we think we can't.

Oh, remind us, O Lord, how much we have been forgiven. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. All right, well, listen, have a good rest of your day. I trust the Lord will bless you in it.