Matthew 18:21-35 (Pentecost18)
St. John, Galveston 9/13/26
Rev. Alan Taylor
+ In Nomine Jesu +
Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
I’m sure you’re familiar with the Old Testament story of Joseph and his brothers. It’s an interesting story, in that, while it takes up the last 13 chapters of the Book of Genesis, Joseph isn’t critical to the life of Israel, since he isn’t in the line of the Messiah. That alone makes the story somewhat interesting. We have this long account of what happened to him at the hands of his brothers. His brothers sold him into slavery, because they were jealous of him. The source of their jealousy was that Joseph could interpret dreams. He also prophesied that he would one day rule over his brothers.
Joseph went into the fields to find his brothers who were tending their flocks. When he found them, if it were not for the intercession of one of the brothers, Reuben, the others would have killed him right then and there. Instead of killing him, the brothers agreed to throw Joseph into a pit. After they did so, along came a band of slave traders who took him from the pit and sold him into slavery. Having smeared Joseph’s tunic with blood, the brothers took it to their father to convince him that Joseph had been killed and torn to pieces by a wild animal.
Since Joseph could interpret dreams, he wound up in a prominent seat in the King’s court. He wound up in charge of the granaries of Egypt. That meant that when famine struck the land, Joseph’s brothers were forced to go to him for aid, in order that they and their whole family might not starve to death. And so, everything that Joseph prophesied about him and his brothers came true.
The saga between Joseph and his brothers comes to a close as the brothers stand before him, knowing that their fate, their lives, rests in his hands. And the truth is, the brothers didn’t expect Joseph to forgive them. Did you notice that in the Old Testament reading for this morning? Before they left their father, who had just died, they said, “perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.” They didn’t expect Joseph to forgive them. They expected him to pay them back, evil for evil. Perhaps this story of Joseph is prominently set in the Book of Genesis because of the place that forgiveness and reconciliation hold in the lives of the people of God. Joseph is a type, if you will, of the Messiah, who brings forgiveness and reconciliation to the whole world.
“Lord, Peter asked Jesus, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’”
It doesn’t appear that Peter had a particular offense in mind when he asked Jesus the question. Apparently he was asking more for future reference. If I’m to forgive my brother who sins against me, which is clearly the teaching of the Scriptures, I need to know what the parameters are for my forgiveness. What are the limits of forgiveness?
Peter began, not with a random number, but with the number seven, which, in the Bible, symbolizes completeness, spiritual perfection and divine fullness. Creation and the Sabbath Day of rest were completed in seven days. In the Book of Revelation, there are sets of sevens including seven churches, seven golden lamp stands, seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven plagues. And, of course, to conquer the ancient city of Jericho, the children of Israel were commanded to march around it seven times, just as Naaman, the Syrian, was called by the prophet to dip seven times in the Jordan River to be cleansed of leprosy.
So, Peter asked Jesus if seven was the limit for forgiving his brother. Regardless of the number, Peter was simply looking for a maximum number in regard to forgiveness. Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’” If you do the math, that’s 490 times. However, as before, the number is not a maximum, rather, it represents divine fullness and completeness. In other words, Jesus isn’t saying, you are to forgive your brother up to 490 times, and then on the 491st time you have God’s permission to lower the boom, so to speak.
Your forgiveness of your brother who sins against you must be limitless. Why? Well, because that is the nature of God’s forgiveness of you. The limitless nature of God’s forgiveness of you is, in fact, the very foundation of your forgiveness of others.
“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Such is the prayer our Lord taught us to pray. I suppose the question is, what exactly, does this petition mean? Does it mean that, for God to forgive you, you must first forgive the person who has sinned against you? In other words, is God’s forgiveness of you contingent on your forgiveness of others? From a pastoral perspective, I would say the answer to that question depends on why you want to know. If you are adamant that you will never forgive your brother, and yet, you want assurance that God will nonetheless forgive you, the answer is, why would you expect God to forgive you when you refuse to forgive your brother? On the other hand, if you’re struggling to forgive someone and you’re fearful that, in the process, God will withhold His forgiveness from you, that’s another matter altogether.
As a baptized child of God, that is, having taken on Jesus’ death and resurrection in your baptism, you are now a conduit, if you will, of God’s forgiveness. And the striking motivation for your forgiveness of others, is the contrast between the debt you owed God and the debt other’s owe to you.
In the parable in this morning’s Gospel reading, a man owed his King a debt of 10,000 talents, the equivalent of about 200,000 years worth of wages. The King, out of pity for his servant, who had no ability to pay the debt, forgave all of it. His is purely an act of compassion and grace.
Sadly though, that servant went to someone who owed him 100 denarii, about 100 days worth of wages, and he demanded that the debt be paid in full, even though the man pleaded with him for mercy. In the end, the King said to this servant who wouldn’t forgive his debtor, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’…So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
So, Jesus doesn’t say to you, forgive your brother, and then I will forgive you. Rather, the forgiveness He has bestowed on you in your baptism, crediting you with the merits of His sacrificial death and resurrection, is a controlling influence in your life. 10,000 talents, roughly 200,000 years worth of wages. That’s a debt that is hard to even fathom, isn’t it? Roughly 2,500 lifetimes.
“If my sins give me alarm
And my conscience grieve me,
Let Your cross my fear disarm;
Peace of conscience give me.
Help me see forgiveness won
By Your holy passion,
If for me He slays His Son,
God must have compassion!”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
+ Soli Deo Gloria +