Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”
Peter once again approaches Jesus, just as he has repeatedly in Chapter 18. This time, the chief Apostle wants to know the human limit of forgiveness for his “brother.” Peter should not be surprised by the answer he receives, for he has acknowledged that Jesus is Lord, and Jesus has previously told him that thinking like men do (“get behind me, Satan!”) falls short of what God intends. Putting on the mind of Christ requires not only repentance and confession of Jesus Christ as Lord, and baptism into a new life in the Holy Spirit, but picking up our cross to follow Him.
One version of that cross may seem to be to forgive others who sin against us, and that requires the grace of our Father infused in us. Simon the Cyrene assisted our Lord in carrying His cross to Calvary; now we, sinners like Simon, seek Christ’s help to carry what seems a cross of injury inflicted by another. Yet the closer we are to Jesus, the more clearly we see that forgiving others is not really a cross as much as an opportunity to indeed take on the mind of Christ, to abide in Him so that He will abide in us. “I love Jesus but I don’t forgive you.” Well then, I don’t actually love Jesus. I’m not abiding in Him. He certainly won’t abide in me if I refuse to obey Him. Read John 14 and 15 if you have any doubt.
Jesus despises hypocrisy, and yet His mercy toward us has no limit. What is the better choice? To follow Christ or the world? The unforgiving servant, forgiven so much by his master, chooses the role of hypocrite and will in turn be tortured “until he should pay back the entire debt.” Who said purgatory doesn’t exist?
The first reading of the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time comes from Sirach, which states in part
“Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.
Could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the LORD? Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself, can he seek pardon for his own sins? If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath, who will forgive his sins? Remember your last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin! Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor; remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults.”
This reading, with which every Apostle would have been familiar, should have been a clue to Peter before he even asked Jesus how many times he must forgive his brother, never mind a stranger. Jesus, who of course being the Word of God knows every Scripture, could have cited Sirach, but the example of the master and servant brings it home not only to Peter and the Apostles, but to us as well. It’s not that we don’t know what Jesus is asking of us; it’s whether we are seeking Him to lead our lives as His follower, infused with the Holy Spirit. No saint had it easy in this life, yet they joined Christ in overcoming this world. He reaches out to us today with His love to strengthen us when forgiving others runs up against our sense of justice, or even our pride or ego.
May we pray “Lord, in my humanity I find it hard to forgive this person for the harm they have done to me or to another. Help me in Your Spirit to forgive, just as You forgive me.”
— Jim Robertson
