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The Foundation of Forgiveness
Please turn with me to:
Please turn with me to:
Please turn with me to:
21 Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?
As many as seven times?”
22 “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven.
23 “For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
24 When he began to settle accounts, one who owed ten thousand talents was brought before him.
25 Since he did not have the money to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.
26 “At this, the servant fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything.’
27 Then the master of that servant had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.
28 “That servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.,o
He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’
29 “At this, his fellow servant fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he wasn’t willing.
Instead, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed.
31 When the other servants saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened.
32 Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
33 Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed.
35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.”
Matthew 18:21-35
21 Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?
As many as seven times?”
The question raised here comes from the teaching Jesus just gave on how to handle Church discipline.
I encourage you to go back and read it on your own time to see how the question fits with the teaching that Jesus had just given.
22 “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven.
What is interesting here is that Peter asked if 7 times was enough times to forgive someone.
At the time of Christ it was normal practice for a Jewish teacher to only forgive offences 3 times.
so Peter asking if 7 was generous enough was met with a startling response from Christ.
Not 7 times 490 times...
How many times do you forgive others when they come to you saying they are sorry?
How many times does Jesus say to forgive someone?
Jesus than moves into a teaching moment to clear up the matter.
He wants Peter and the others to be sure that they don't take his response too literally and only forgive someone a staggering 490 times…
23 “For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
24 When he began to settle accounts, one who owed ten thousand talents (around $7 billion) was brought before him.
Just imagine being called into a court room and being told that you owe a crazy amount of money.
that is stressful!
25 Since he did not have the money to pay it back, (Clearly!)
his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.
at this point this guy knew that he was up the creek… not just him but everything he owns and loves will have to suffer the pain of his own errors.
This must have been so stressful.
26 “At this, the servant fell face down before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything.’
Lets face it, this guy could not have paid this back.
But in the face of the impossible he still tried to reason with the king.
He said that he would pay it back so long as the king had patience with him.
That amount would have taken multiple life times to pay off.
But in his heart he was truly sorry and wanted to make it right.
27 Then the master of that servant had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.
Just think about that for a moment, that would have been such a huge relief to find out that you are no longer up the creek and all that impossible debt has been paid off!!!
28 “That servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.,
He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’
here is a strange turn of events, the servant leaves the kings court and right away spots a guy who owns him about a half a years wages.
29 “At this, his fellow servant fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
Notice how the servant has the same plea.
He is truly sorry for not paying back and is wanting to make it right.
But here is where it gets bad for the servant of the story.
30 But he wasn’t willing.
Instead, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed.
31 When the other servants saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened.
32 Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
33 Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed.
Jesus ends his short teaching with a hard truth.
35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.”
Transition - the point of today's message teaches us that “Forgiveness has no limits when repentance is real.”
Have you ever put limitations on forgiveness?
Forgiveness starts at the Cross.
Unfortunately we humans have placed limitations on forgiveness, ever since the fall of mankind we have this idea that every time someone offends us we have to take actions against the offender.
We have this natural reaction to seek revenge in some form or fashion and most of the time we call it JUSTICE.
, ever since the fall of mankind we have this idea that every time someone offends us we have to take actions against the offender.
We have this natural reaction to seek revenge in some form or fashion and most of the time we call it JUSTICE.
Unfortunately we humans have placed limitations on forgiveness
We have this natural reaction to seek revenge in some form or fashion and most of the time we call it JUSTICE.
that mentality “you hurt me, so I will look for a way to get back at you.”
What is your first reaction when someone offends, insults, or hurts you?
But that is not the true natural way things should be done.
since the fall of man until Jesus was born it has been like that.
But when Jesus came his teaching says we are not to confuse justice with personal revenge such as insults, we are not to take justice in our own hands.
Jesus teaches us that we are to ignore personal insults, give our time, money, and resources even if its unjust, loan to others who want to borrow, love our enemies, pray for anyone who offends you.
BUT! Jesus teaches us that we are to ignore personal insults, give our time, money, and resources even if its unjust, loan to others who want to borrow, love our enemies, pray for anyone who offends you.
all of this is on the foundation of forgiveness that has no limits.
Jesus takes it one step further as well by demonstrating this at the cross.
He was unjustly accused and sentenced to death on a Roman torture device.
He was executed outside of the city next to thieves.
During this time he was insulted by the crowds and even by one of the men on the cross.
While he was hanging the Roman guards even gambled for his robes.
At this point he could have demanded justice for the insults but he goes against human nature and says “Father, FORGIVE THEM.
They do no know what they are doing.”
Why do you think Jesus said “Father Forgive Them”?
As Jesus takes his last breath he goes even further, he fulfills God’s Justice by dying on the Cross.
Three days later Jesus defeats death and comes back to life.
God forgives our offences
God forgives our offences
Main Point: Forgiveness has no limits when repentance is real.
You
I want you for a moment to put yourself in this servants shoes.
you are the servant of this story.
the King is God and the money that is owed is sin that has been commuted against God since a young age.
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