Matthew 18:21-35
What a strong word! "Use or lose it" seems to be the point of this parable. Can that really be? Is verse 35 literal or is it just a ploy at our emotions? "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."
I know all of us are aware of the details of this parable, such as the exorbitant debt the master forgave and the piddly debt the servant failed to forgive. My bible notes says a talent was about 20 years worth of wages. So, we're talking about 200,000 years worth of salaries this guy owed the king. His buddy, however, only owed him what amounted to about a hundred day's wages.
You know, when someone sins against us it's a big deal. It consumes our thoughts and emotions for quite sometime. It hurts. It angers. It damages us. When it happens to me, no one else can understand. And I want recompense. I want retaliation. I want payback.
I think the point of this parable is to give us some perspective. As hard as a personal attack is, it is nothing in comparison with the forgiveness the King has lavished on us. All these things will make better sense to the disciples in just a short time when Christ appears to the them after the resurrection. But as you and I read this we know what's going on. The debt Christ paid for our sin; the lavish riches of Christ's grace by His blood is incalculable. Any wrong a "brother" commits against us is shadowed by the wrong we have committed against our King. For us to recieve His forgiveness means that we must reciprocate His forgiveness--or else it was never really recieved in the first place.(?) It's a heart matter, as the last three words point out; either our hearts have been changed by the love of Christ, or they haven't been changed.
I think the whole chapter is tied together with this point--it's not about me (or you), it's about the King. "Who's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (18:1-6). In other words, the greatest is he/she who becomes NOTHING before the King. 18:7-20 is about those who fail to humble themselves, and consequently begin to put themselves in the priority seat and in so doing sin against another (or causes them to sin). Jesus says a few things about them, but for the one sinned against he says (my paraphrase) "just keep humble." "Don't let self raise its ugly head; just be humble and reciprocate my forgiveness. Let me take care of the other person."
And now the hard part. Again, the last verse: So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you , if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. There's no faking it. There's no just saying some words. There's no continuing to harbor bitterness or ill-will. There's no conditions. There was, however, repentance (v. 29). If there is no repentance, we have a responsibility to point out the issue until there is (vv. 15-17). But the motive must always be forgiveness and not revenge--because it's about the Kingdom and not you. God knows the heart!
