by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
Quite related to the previous pericope about a brother who sins we looked at last week, Matthew 18:21-35 immediately follows with a parable from the Lord Jesus about forgiveness. Note that this narrative is unique to Matthew and has no parallel with the other Gospels.
In this pericope, a situation is addressed regarding the treatment one gets after being forgiven of his transgression and then his relationship with others who have committed iniquities to this person himself. The narrative starts with a question from Simon Peter about how many times one should forgive one who sins against you. He volunteers the number seven (7); the Jewish number of completeness. Peter was being generous because during their time, the rabbis taught that they should forgive; but only up to 3 times (from both my NASB and ESV Study Bibles notes on Matthew 18:21). But in the next verse the Lord countered that he should forgive seventy times seven (or 77 times, in other mss). Whether it is the larger number (70 x 7 = 490) or the smaller one (77), the point is the same: one should not even count the number of times he forgives someone. The Lord then launches into a parable, teaching about how the community of believers ought to treat each other in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 18:23-34).
Once again hyperbole as a literary tool is used in Matthew 18:24-27). One bond-slave (Greek δοῦλος, “doulos”) was to settle his accounts with the king and it was narrated that he owed 10,000 talents (Greek τάλαντον, “talanton”)! In their context, 1 talent, as a measure of weight (equivalent to 6,000 denarii), was worth more than the wages of a laborer for 15 (NASB) or 20 (ESV) years! This was of course, an absurd amount, which is why we call this obvious exaggeration a hyperbole. The bond-servant would need from 150,000 to 200,000 years of wages to repay his debt! In their time period, the non-payment of one’s debt carried with it very serious consequences. The debtor could be thrown in jail, his possessions sold and his family sold into slavery to help pay off the debt (see verse 25). If it could not be paid, the debtor remains in prison for life. This bond-servant had no means of paying back his debt to the king and he promptly begged for the king’s patience. The king was moved with compassion for his bond-servant and decided to forgive his debt. The narrative could have ended here (verse 27) already with an object lesson on forgiveness. But the Lord goes on.
The narrative turns ugly in Matthew 18:28-30 as the forgiven bond-servant finds out one of his fellow bond-servants owed him 100 denarii (Greek δηνάριον, “denarion;” 1 denarius is a Roman coin paid for a day’s labor). He demands repayment and actually starts to choke his fellow bond-servant. His fellow bond-servant did and said exactly what the first one had done and had said to their master. But the forgiven bond-servant threw his fellow bond-servant in prison until this one could repay him. At this point (verse 31) their fellow bond-servants having seen what had transpired, were exceedingly grieved (ἐλυπήθησαν σφόδρα), went to their master and reported what had happened.
Their master then summoned the forgiven (yet unforgiving) debtor and confronted him with his utter lack of pity/mercy (Greek ἐλεέω, “eleeó”) to his fellow bond-servant (Matthew 18:32-33). Having been shown mercy by his master, the forgiven debtor was expected to do likewise to his fellow bond-servant (who owed him a much smaller amount); but he did not. The huge disparity in the size of the debt adds to the hyperbole. The pericope continues as the master turned the unforgiving/unmerciful bond-servant to the jailers/torturers (Greek βασανιστής, “basanistés;” apparently, it was part of the jailers duty to torture persons to extract a confession or information; see https://biblehub.com/greek/930.htm) until he should be able to repay his debt. But we found out earlier that it was impossible for him to repay. Then the Lord Jesus ends with an admonition that this is how his Heavenly Father will treat those who are unforgiving and unmerciful. It is a consignment to hell in the context of the parable. As such, the Lord’s teaching to his disciples about forgiveness and mercy was much amplified.
This parable strikes a resonating chord with some Old Testament (OT) as well as New Testament (NT) narratives. After all, forgiveness and mercy are key themes in the Bible.
For starters, the Beatitudes contained in the 1st great discourse in the Gospel of Matthew had the Lord Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray. As I wrote before in “The Teaching of the Lord Jesus about Prayer – Part 5” Matthew 6:12 says:
12And may you forgive our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
while verses 14 and 15 reinforce this verse and make it undoubtedly clear that forgiveness to others is of paramount importance to God. With these restatements the Lord Jesus emphasized the absolute necessity of forgiveness to our fellowmen:
14For if you(pl) may forgive men their transgressions/trespasses, your(pl) heavenly Father will also forgive you(pl);
15But if you(pl) might not forgive men, neither will your(pl) heavenly Father forgive your(pl) transgressions/trespasses.
In the OT, Genesis 50:15-21 narrates that Jacob was buried by his sons and Joseph’s brothers feared that Joseph might seek revenge for all the evil they had done to him. The brothers asked for forgiveness as per instruction of their father. Joseph not only had forgiven them but assured his brothers that he did not intend to punish them at all and would care for them and their families. My NASB Study Bible note says that “Joseph’s forgiveness was complete.” Joseph even adds that he did not want to be the judge in God’s place. It was God’s prerogative to deal with or forgive sins and exact vengeance. Joseph forgave the deeds done to him. What was meant for evil, the LORD God turned to good.
Leviticus 19:18 commands us that “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself,” (NASB/ESV). The 2nd part of the verse is what the Gospel writers term as the second greatest commandment. But humankind being fallen, how can one truly love his neighbor if there is no mercy and forgiveness?
Nehemiah is his prayer called the LORD God (Nehemiah 9:17):
…God of forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;…(NASB).
The Lord Jesus identified himself with the LORD God who forgives as narrated in Matthew 9:2-8 with parallels in Mark 2:3-12 and Luke 5:18-26, in the account of the healing of the paralytic (let down through the roof in Mark’s and Luke’s accounts).
The Apostle Paul teaches about forgiveness to others when he wrote in 2 Corinthians 2:7 about a brother who has caused sorrow that “…on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow” (NASB). He then asks the church to reaffirm their love for him. Indeed, forgiveness is a step toward reconciliation and the unity of the Body of the Messiah.
In Ephesians 4:32 Paul ends the chapter by teaching that as believers, we need to be “kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (NASB).
Indeed, can we ever fully grasp the depth of the Lord’s love, mercy and forgiveness? Thanks be to God for his amazing grace!
We will continue next week on another topic from Matthew’s Gospel.
God bless us all.