Sermon Tone Analysis

This morning we will conclude chapter 18 of Matthew’s gospel.

Now this morning as we look at these final verses from Chapter 18, Matthew continues to record Jesus’ words about forgiveness.

>>>>Creed<<<<

Read: Matthew 18:21-35

In the verses before this, Jesus had just told his disciples how the future church should handle unrepentant members.

He gave them steps.

We talked about those step last week:

One-One-One Correction

Small Group Correction

Bring that person before the church

Ask them to leave the church (consider them a Gentile or Tax Collector)

But the goal wasn’t to push them out and tell them not to return, the goal for for that person to see their sin, repent of their sin, and come back into fellowship not with just God, but with their church family.

Jesus state the goal before with the first step:

Matthew 18:15 (ESV)

15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.

If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

So as Jesus is finishing this teaching about forgiveness he reminds them that when the church follows what he has said concerning unrepentant Christians within the church, that he will stand by the decision, he has given them the authority.

And, he shows that when the church does this, as they gather to pray and agree on the guidelines that Jesus has provided for them, he will be with them.

In verse 21, there is a voice, a question from one of his disciples.

And it is a familiar voice, the one that we have heard from many times over the last two chapters....it is Peter.

And Peter asks a question.

Now I titled my message: Three?

Four?

Seven?

You know where I came up with seven in the title?

Yes?

Because Peter asked should I forgive my brother seven times?

In other words, seven is enough, I don’t have to forgive eight times?

But where did I come up with with Three and Four?

It was a tradition in the Old Testament by the rabbi’s or the teachers of the Jesus Law that taught to only forgive three times and there.

Not even to forgive four.

Stopping at three times.

Let me show you an example of this:

The Lord, speaking through the prophet Amos told them three was the most, and he would not forgive them the forth time for taking his people.

So back to this question from Peter.

He never says anything about three or four, only seven times.

Maybe Peter was trying to show himself better by offering more forgiveness than the Lord had said.

He probably thought this would make his look good in the eyes of Jesus.

Can you imagine what Peter thought when Jesus said...

If you are reading from a KJV:

King James Version (Chapter 18)

22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

So the translator of the ESV translated it 77 times, but the translators of the KJV translated it 70 X7 which is 490 times.

Whether it is 77 or 490, it doesn’t matter…the point that Jesus is making here is that there is always room for forgiveness.

We should always be ready to forgive someone because they had done something against us.

Why?

Because as a child of God, he is our model.

David wrote these words in Psalms:

Psalm 51:1–2 (ESV)

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

One of the characteristics of God is his abundant mercy.

He is long suffering, not wanting anyone to perish but to come to salvation.

That’s why we know that when we come before him, we can ask for forgiveness, and he is there to forgive.

And he takes those sins

Psalm 103:12 (ESV)

12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Because of that we always look to forgive those who have done us wrong.

Now before we go onto to the parable here about the unforgiving servant, I want us to see something about forgiveness.

Today, after church, if me and Mom and Amber were walking up the road to my house and as we enter my gate, there was a man coming out of my house with a TV.

I chased him down, and put him on the ground.

We tied him up and took him to the police.

It would be very hard.

It would talk time, but eventually I would forgive that person.

But even if I forgive him, there are still consequences to his actions as he lives in this society.

He will have to pay.

Jesus then shares a parable to help them understand the importance of forgiveness.

Read Matthew 18:23-35

Jesus begins this parable by saying “the kingdom of heaven .”

Matthew uses this phrase 32 times in his writing.

In fact, he is the only gospel writer that uses those words....”the Kingdom of Heaven.”

The other Gospel writers, Mark,Luke and John used “the Kingdom of God.”

But as he uses this phrase, the kingdom of heaven, he points to a people and a place.

The people are those who believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and the place is their eternal place where they will dwell with the spirit of God.

The king extends a great amount of grace.

This servant could never pay back what he owed.

In todays economy, this would be billions and billions of naira.

This servant would never be able to pay back that much.

So the sing, had compassion, and forgave his debt.

The servant stood up a free man.

He walked away free, with his own life and the life of his family.... free.

no debt.

Forgiven.

That servant is you and me.

We stand before Jesus with a huge debt of sin.

Sin sin has built up over our lives.

It has weighed us down.

Even our family bears the weight of that sin.

The time comes when we have to pay for our sin, but we can’t.

But, there is a master that can say… you are forgiven.

Get up.

You are forgiven.,

We go away, and come to someone who owes us small, yet we don’t have compassion and forgiveness for them.

The great, excessive passion that our master showed to us is forgotten.

It is pushed to the side, and we hold to unforgivness for another.

In the parable, the Master hears of this, calls for the man and in verse 34 it says:

Matthew 18:34 (ESV)

34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.

He wasn’t just thrown into jail.

The greek word for jailers here is tormentors.