“Seventy Times Seven”

In Gary Inrig’s book on parables, he wrote, “The American playwrite Arthur Miller once observed, ‘In every successful drama there is something which makes a person say, ‘Hey! That’s me!’ Many of the stories the Lord Jesus told have precisely that effect. To read them properly is to see ourselves. But they are more than mirrors. They almost always become windows into the heart and mind of God Himself. As a result, they do far more than reveal who we are. They help us know WHO GOD IS!”

Read Matthew 18:21-35. You’ll notice that Peter’s question prompted the Lord Jesus to give us the parable. “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”

We can better understand Peter’s question if we understand the Rabbi’s principles concerning forgiveness. They said that three offenses might be pardoned, if a man asked for forgiveness, but not a fourth. So Peter felt that seven times would surely be a very generous number. Imagine Peter’s surprise when Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but 70 times seven.”

The parable which Jesus told sets forth some easily understood principles which are not so easily applied. Most of us have done things of which we are ashamed. The usual procedure is to try to forget them, or blot them out, or justify ourselves remembering that others have done these things and even worse.

I. Humble repentance. 18:26,27

The king here stands for God. The servant stands for everyone of us. Like the first servant, we have incurred an unspeakable debt which we can never repay. If in humble repentance, we cast ourselves at the Lord’s feet, He is ready in infinite compassion to forgive us the debt of sin. I John 1:9; Isaiah 1:18

Verse 25 “He was not able to pay” expresses the utter bankruptcy of everyone as he/she stands in the presence of a holy God. We can never do enough good deeds to be saved from our debt of sins. No future obedience can balance the scale of our past sins. Proverbs 28:13 “He who conceals his sin does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” NIV

The third stanza of the song “It Is Well with My Soul” captures this truth. “My sin -- O the bliss of this glorious tho’t -- My sin, not in part, but the whole, Is nailed to the Cross, and I bear it no more...” Praise God no sin is too great to be forgiven by God!

II. Comparing Debts. 18:23-24, 28

The king checks on how his servants have managed his affairs. Evidently the first servant was a chief officer or administrator of the royal revenues. He either had stolen funds or neglected to handle them properly. Ten thousand talents would be millions of dollars in our currency.

When the first servant was forgiven, he found a fellow servant who owed him a hundred denarii. A laboring man would receive one denarii for a day’s work. So it would have been possible in time to pay back that loan. But it was just a drop of water compared to the ocean of offences the first servant owed the king.

When John Wesley was on his way to Georgia with General Oglethorpe, the General threatened revenge on an offending servant, saying, “I never forgive.” “Then I hope, sir,” said John Wesley, “You never sin.” The General felt the force of the rebuke and modified his actions towards the servant. He that can’t forgive others, breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself.

III. God has Forgiven Us, so we should forgive others! 18:32-35

Forgiving others is truly a Christian grace. Yet, how easy it is to see other’s failures and faults. Jesus is teaching that a person should always be ready to forgive. If we receive pardon from God, then we ought to extend pardon to those who have hurt us. As Jesus taught us in what we call “The Lord’s Prayer” -- “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” Also, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Finding love, we must exercise love.

What should be our attitude toward those who have wronged us? Not revenge, or wanting to get even, but “forgive your brother from your heart.” v.35  Because God has forgiven us a debt impossible for us to pay, we should forgive others. “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13

On the Cross, you’ll remember Jesus said “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Even before we asked for forgiveness! Jesus is not only our Savior but our example, as well.

How? Maybe you feel that what Jesus wants you to do is too hard to do. God will help you do His will in your relationships in the home and church. “Being confident of this, that HE Who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus...For it is God Who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” Philippians 1:6; 2:13

Alan Redpath said, “Some people come to church, even to prayer meeting, carrying the resentment of years, the bitterness of a lifetime, and when they ask God for blessing they wonder why their prayers are not answered. A condition of restored fellowship with Christ is a forgiving spirit and without that there can be no fellowship in prayer with one another. What separations develop, what resentments arise out of injuries and slights, real or imagined! What an appalling revelation of how we love ourselves and how important we think we are! It is my deep conviction that only through holiness in the lives of Christians can the unsaved be challenged to come to Christ.”

Never forget that there are two parts to the Gospel: believing it and behaving it. D. L. Moody once said that “Christians are the only Bible the unbelieving world reads, and that over 90% of Christians ought to be revised editions.”

May God help us to have the spirit of forgiveness that knows no limit. Where would we be if God limited the number of times we are forgiven?!

A. Theodore Ekholm