Jesus Teaches Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35

GOLDEN TEXT: “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive men not their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”—Matthew 6:14,15

THERE is a saying that to err is human but to forgive, divine. Certainly fallen human beings are prone to sin and stand in need of forgiveness. Even those who earnestly try to live righteous lives find themselves continually doing those things which they recognize to be wrong, and leaving undone many good things which they would like to do. Forgiveness, likewise, is one of the traits of the divine character; but God’s forgiveness is not unconditional. Our Golden Text shows clearly that there is an important “if” with which we must comply in order to have the assurance that our trespasses are forgiven by our Heavenly Father.

The same condition is voiced in our Lord’s prayer—“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” To understand this principle and to incorporate it in our prayers should cause it to be engraved very deeply in our hearts. There would seem therefore to be no excuse for not practicing it in our relationship with fellow Christians and with the world in general.

We may wish to modify this condition upon which divine forgiveness will be extended toward us by concluding that it is only those words and actions of others which we misunderstand to be trespasses that we are supposed to forgive. A brother may say or do something which is an offense to us, but upon investigation we find that it was only our misunderstanding of the situation that caused us to view it as an offense. In that case it is an easy matter to forgive.

But this is not what Jesus means. If no actual wrong has been done, then there is really nothing to forgive. On the other hand, the fact that the trespasses which we should forgive are on a par with our own trespasses against God indicates that they are real sins, calling for a genuine spirit of forgiveness.

Turning back to the 15th verse of the chapter from which our lesson is taken, and reading through to the 20th verse, we find that the trespasses referred to by Peter in his question concerning the number of times he should forgive, are those which have been acknowledged, either personally to the one wronged, or in the presence of two or three witnesses, or before the church. If the wrongdoing is not acknowledged, even when it is established by the church, then the wrongdoer is to be classed as an “heathen man and a publican.”

The Master’s seventy-times-seven rule of forgiveness where requests for it has been made might well be considered to mean without limit. Inasmuch as this is the divine rule for us we may assume that it is also the rule by which God is governed in His dealings with His human creatures. Surely there is a wideness in God’s mercy like the wideness of the sea! Should we not allow His mercy to enlarge our own hearts that we may have a more sympathetic attitude toward those who, because of the weaknesses of the flesh, may be opposing God, His truth, and the brethren.

The illustration of the king’s servant who was forgiven so much and then refused to forgive so little is too often true in human experience. The ten thousand talents owed to the king by one of his servants is estimated to be the equivalent of nearly ten or more million dollars, while the one hundred pence, which the fellow servant owed to the servant who had been so heavily in debt to his master, was probably worth from sixteen to nineteen dollars at most. This contrast of values is by no means overdrawn when we compare what the Heavenly Father forgives us with the things of little consequence which we have the privilege of forgiving in others.

When we read the parable, the unappreciative, selfish attitude of the king’s servant stands out glaringly, and we think how wrong he was not to extend forgiveness to his fellow-servant who owed such a small amount. But let us be careful lest we be guilty of the same selfish, unforgiving disposition. The debt of nearly ten million dollars was forgiven, yes, and would have remained forgiven, had the servant manifested a similar attitude of mercy toward others. Because he did not, he finally was made to pay.

In this we have an illustration of the divine rule by which God’s forgiveness operates toward us. It should enhance our appreciation of the great debt of sin which, through Christ, God forgives us. It should help us to realize how little, by comparison, we are ever called upon to forgive others. The fact that the unappreciative servant was in the end made to pay may indicate that a sufficient lack of appreciation of divine mercy on our part could lead to the second death.

QUESTIONS:

Is divine forgiveness of sin unconditional?

Are we expected to forgive trespasses which are not acknowledged and forgiveness asked?

What lessons may we draw from the Master’s illustration of the servant whose large debt was forgiven by his master?

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