Day 14 | The Forgiveness of God
Matthew 18:21-35
Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.
But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.
When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.
So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
Words: Sam & Maddi Bricknell Read: 0 - 5 mins Published: 14 March 2024
I (Sam) asked Maddie if she had ever written a song around forgiveness, and she pointed me to this one, so take a moment to listen (above), particularly to the chorus. Here are the lyrics for the chorus:
Lay it down
All your shame
Your mistakes
And Failures
And just receive perfect grace
There’s no room for condemnation
I think this is the perfect place to start this reflection on a passage where Jesus implies more than once, forgive as much and as often as I have forgiven you. Peter asks how many times he should forgive others. Jesus’ response isn’t just to throw out a big number but to respond with the symbolism 77. Seven is the number that represents God, and Jesus is hammering in the point that the Lord forgives in abundance more than we could dream.
If you sat and reflected on your life and all that the Lord forgives you of, it would feel endless. It is why perfect grace is found through forgiveness. Why don’t you do that now, reflecting on the song you just heard? Maybe you want to let go of sin that the Lord has forgiven you of, but you haven’t laid it down yet.
However, from this, Jesus makes the point with his parable that we are to forgive in abundance, just like the Lord has forgiven us. Easy to say and harder to do, but this should draw us closer to how it feels for the Lord when he forgave us! Jesus warns us what it means in the parable not to share the very thing we have received from the Lord. But it all stems from whether we first truly receive the forgiveness and grace we have been given and, from there, extend the same level of Grace and forgiveness to others.
Who do you need to extend forgiveness to?
Are there areas in your life where you haven’t received the forgiveness and grace of the Lord?