(Read Matthew 18:21-35)
This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing.” Yesterday we looked at a passage in Luke where Jesus talked of two men who received forgiveness of their debts by grace. The point of that lesson was to highlight the fact that the one who had the bigger debt would and should be more thankful. In Matthew 18:21-35 Jesus told another story of a person’s debt being forgiven. This time the story was not meant to compare the size of the debt with another indebted person, but rather to teach on the act of forgiveness itself.
What led to the story was something Peter asked. Since Peter was so meticulous he sought a mathematical formula for grace. Peter asked, “How many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me?” he asked Jesus. “Up to seven times?” Peter continued, erring on the side of generosity, because the rabbis of his day had suggested three as the maximum number of times one might be expected to forgive. I am sure some of us would like that rule today… “three strikes and your out” would be our reply to a bothersome friend. However, Jesus did not approve of three or the seven, Jesus said, “Not seven times, but seventy times seven”. Jesus was not teaching us to keep a tally of wrongs done to us, only to expend our grace at 490 times. No, forgiveness, as Jesus implied, is not the kind of thing you keep track of and it cannot be earned. Forgiveness is given by grace and grace alone.
Peter’s question prompted Jesus to tell a story and instead of giving you what Jesus said straight from the Bible, I will give you Phillip Yancey’s version from, “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” “There was a servant who somehow piled up a debt of several million dollars. The fact that realistically no servant could accumulate a debt so huge underscores Jesus’ point: confiscating the man’s family, children, and all his property would not make a dent in repaying the debt. It is unforgivable. Nevertheless the king, touched with pity, abruptly cancels the debt and lets the servant off scot-free. Suddenly, the plot twists. The servant who has just been forgiven seizes a colleague who owes him a few dollars and begins to choke him. “Pay back what you owe me!” he demands, and throws the man into jail. In a word, the greedy servant is an ingrate. Why Jesus draws the parable with such exaggerated strokes comes clear when he reveals that the king represents God. This above all should determine our attitude toward others: a humble awareness that God has already forgiven us a debt so mountainous that beside it any person’s wrongs against us shrink to the size of ant hills. How can we not forgive each other in light of all God has forgiven us? As C. S. Lewis put it, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”
So what does this mean to you today? A few quick things:
1. Recipients of grace are expected to become extenders of grace.
2. Forgiven people are to forgive people. The more you realize how much God has forgiven you; the more you should be inclined to forgive others.
3. The more you grow in Christ the less you think of yourself and the more grateful you become of the God in you. Judgmental Christians are showing how immature they are in Christ, because the more you mature in Christ the more you realize the fact that you are only saved by grace.
Closing Confession: Father, like the man in the story today I realize that I had a debt I could not pay. Jesus willingly paid the price I could not pay for a debt He did not owe. However, unlike the man in the story I will not practice un-grace. Since I have been forgiven of much I will forgive much. Since I have received grace, I will become a conduit of grace. Since You have forgiven the inexcusable in me, I will, through Your love, forgive the inexcusable in others. And the more I walk with You the more I realize how much I need Your grace. I will never look down on someone else – for his or her flaws or failures – because I now realize how much I have failed and how much I need Your grace. Thank You Father for extending Your grace to me and since Your grace has come TO me, I now ask You to flow Your grace THROUGH me! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
