September 21 | Week 3: Character and Growth
Forgiving Seventy-Seven Times
Matthew 18:21-35
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
In Anger His Master Handed Him Over
31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’
34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
God Forgave Me For 10 Billion!
1. How many times does Jesus say to forgive?
Jesus Christ says I am to forgive my brother or sister “seventy-seven times”. Honestly, Jesus is saying to I must forgive as needed.
2. How big was the debt the servant was forgiven? How small was the debt he refused to forgive?
The servant had a debt of “ten thousand bags of gold”. Back then, a talent referred to a large amount of money (gold). People considered one talent of Gold in Jesus’ era the equivalent to 15-20 years of a laborer’s wages. Additonally, one talent weighed between 75-100 lbs.. Therefore, a “talent” has an estimated purchasing power of ~600,000 – ~1,000,000 USD today. Additionally, we can multiply $10,000 by roughly 600,000 to 1 million and conclude that the master forgave the servant’s $6–10 billion debt. Obviously, this debt was mathematically impossible for anyone to ever pay off.
Forgiving 10,000 – 15,000 Should Not So Be Hard
A second servant owed the first one hundred silver coins or <b><i>”denarii”</i></b> which is the quivalent of 100 days of labor, or 14,000 – 16,000 dollars. Honestly, if someone owed me 15,000 I would definitely feel it! Therefore, I should be able to overcome any hard feelings about debt considering that God has forgiven me so much!
3. What is the point Jesus is making about us? I have been forgiven an eternity’s worth of my sin. Therefore, I should be very forgiving!
Forgive As The Lord Forgave You
Colossians 3:13
13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
1. How are we told to forgive? What is the standard?
I should forgive people in the same manner as Jesus Christ forgave me. Additionally, Jesus is the standard for forgiving!
Forgiving Means Letting It Go!
APPLICATION: Holding on to hurt only hurts you. Is there someone you have not forgiven? Decide today to let it go, the same way God let your debt go.
