Forgive As You've Been Forgiven

It's great to be with you guys.

I was worried it's going to feel really weird with all the men gone,

! But I'm glad some of you are here.

So it's not too weird.

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 18.

Matthew 18 · chapter mention

If you don't have a Bible, please raise your hand.

We'd love to give you a copy that you can have.

And you can take it home with you and use it.

We're in Matthew 18, verse 21 to 35.

Matthew 18:21–35

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word.

Father, again, Lord, we come to a topic

where we hear so many contradicting,

clamors from the world

that make it harder for us

to see with clarity

and to stand with conviction

on what you teach us here

about forgiveness.

So we ask God that your light,

the light of your Word,

would scatter all the fog that we live in.

And that you would

truly impress on us

the heavy weight

of our own sins

that

has been lifted by Jesus Christ,

our Savior.

So that in all our relations with

one another

and even the way we relate to our enemies

would be shaped

by that forgiveness

we've received from you.

Speak to us, God.

We need you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Please stand if you are able.

Let us honor God

by standing as we read from His Word

and are addressed by Him.

Matthew 18, 21 to 35.

Then Peter came up and said to Him,

Lord,

how often will my brother sin against me

and I forgive him?

As many as seven times?

Jesus said to him,

I do not say to you seven times,

but seventy-seven times.

Therefore, the kingdom of heaven

may be compared to a king

who wished to settle accounts

with his servants.

When he began to settle,

one was brought to him

who owed him ten thousand talents.

And since he could not pay,

his master ordered him to be sold

with his wife and children

and all that he had

and payment to be made.

So the servant fell on his knees

imploring him,

have patience with me

and I will pay you everything.

And out of pity for him,

the master of that servant

released him

and forgave him the debt.

But when that same servant

went out,

he found one of his fellow servants

who owed him a hundred denarii

and seizing him,

he began to choke him saying,

pay what you owe.

So his fellow servant

fell down and pleaded with him,

have patience with me

and I will pay you.

He refused and went

and put him in prison

until he should pay the debt.

When his fellow servants

saw what had taken place,

they were greatly distressed

and they went and reported

to their master

all that had taken place.

Then his master summoned him

and said to him,

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?

And in anger,

his master delivered him

to the jailers

until he should pay

all his debt.

So also,

my heavenly father,

will do to every one of you

if you do not forgive

your brother from your heart.

This is God's holy

and authoritative word.

Please be seated.

There's a 5th century tragedy,

5th century BC,

tragedy written by Aeschylus

called Oresteia.

It means the tale of Oresteia.

And it's a foundational

Western text on revenge.

It begins with King Agamemnon

offering his daughter

as a sacrifice to the Greek gods

in hopes that he could secure

the favor and help

of the Greek gods

in the Trojan War

that he is fighting.

And then the programmatic line

that kind of sets the trajectory

for the rest of the trilogy

is this line,

blood once shed

cries out for more blood.

And you see that

over and over again.

And King Agamemnon's wife,

the queen,

the Clytemnestra,

then murders her husband,

Agamemnon,

to avenge her daughter.

And then after that,

his Agamemnon's son

kills his mother,

Clytemnestra,

to avenge the death

of his father.

And then the furies,

the Greek gods of vengeance,

then start pursuing Orestes.

It illustrates,

helpfully,

the endless cycle

of revenge.

But in our sinful world

where we often wrong others

and are often wronged

by others,

what can put an end

to all this anger

and bitterness

and resentment

and hatred

and revenge?

Even in a society like ours

that's governed

by the rule of law,

revenge has happened.

Personal vendetta

has infused

continue in gang violence

and mass shooting

by gunmen with grudges

and ethnic violence

and genocide

throughout the world.

After the breakup

of the Ottoman Empire,

the Turks killed Armenians

and Greeks,

and they in turn

killed Turks

and vice versa.

In the Rwandan genocide,

the Tutsis killed Hutus

and then the Hutus

killed Tutsis

and on and on and on.

And after the breakup

of the Yugoslavia,

the Serbs killed Albanians

saying,

you must understand,

it's just our revenge.

And then the Albanians

killed the Serbs

saying this is their

understandable desire

for revenge.

And this cycle

plays out

in the church as well.

Not in murder per se,

but in hatred.

Everyone who hates

his brother

is a murderer

says 1 John 3.15.

Of course,

we are quick

to justify ourselves.

Oh,

I don't hate

my brother.

I don't hate him.

I'm just shutting it

out of my life

completely

and then never

speaking to him

and acting like

he doesn't exist.

But Jesus says

in Matthew 5.21.26

that whoever is angry

with his brother

or insults his brother

has committed

murder of the heart.

There are no laws

against hating

someone in the heart.

So what solution

is there for that?

There's only one thing

that ends this

endless cycle

of anger,

hatred,

offense,

and violence

and Jesus' answer

is forgiveness.

Sitting in church

on a Sunday morning

that might not sound

like a radical idea

to you,

but forgiveness

has been

and remains

to this day

a very countercultural idea.

How many times

have you had thoughts

along these lines?

Oh, but you have

no idea

what she has done

to me.

If you only knew,

you would not expect

me to forgive

this person.

It's a popular

sentiment nowadays.

Why should the injured,

the still bleeding,

bear the onus

of forgiveness?

Thinks the main character

Kaya Clark

in Deliah Owens'

novel

Where the Crawdads Sing.

How many times

have you thought

something like this?

Forgiveness

dispenses with accountability.

It lets the offender

off the hook,

the perpetrator,

the abuser

off the hook,

leaving them

to keep hurting others

with impunity.

If you forgive someone

who hurt your family,

well, that means

you just didn't love

your family member enough.

In a cruder way,

one famous blogger

says,

to hell with forgiveness.

Forgiveness culture.

Calling for forgiveness

is tantamount

to another Abrahamic

culturally ingrained

guilt trip.

In short,

it is victim blaming.

You see,

forgiveness is not popular

in some circles.

In fact,

it has always

had its naysayers.

In his book,

Mere Christianity,

C.S. Lewis suggests

that this terrible duty

of forgiving

even our enemies

might be the most

unpopular

of the Christian virtues.

He continues,

everyone says

forgiveness is a lovely idea

until they have

something to forgive.

And then,

to mention the subject

at all is to be greeted

with howls of anger.

It is not that people

think this too high

and difficult

of virtue,

it is that they think

it hateful

and contemptible.

That sort of talk

makes them sick,

they say.

And half of you

already want to ask me,

I wonder how you'd feel

about forgiving

the Gestapo

if you were a Pole

or a Jew.

Should we always

forgive?

If yes,

how?

Where do we find

the emotional resources

for such

a Herculean task?

How do we forge

a character

strong enough

to dispense

such forgiveness?

In a brilliant,

simple parable,

Jesus answers

these questions

and more

and commands us

to forgive one another

as God in Christ

forgave you.

First,

we're going to talk

about the crushing debt.

Secondly,

about the compassionate

master.

And then thirdly,

we'll talk about

the callous servant.

As is often the case,

Peter is the one

who first poses

the question to Jesus

in verse 21.

Lord,

how often

will my brother

sin against me

and I forgive him?

As many as seven times?

If you remember

last week's passage,

I mentioned to you

that some translations

like the NIV

and the NASB

omit the phrase

against you

in verse 15.

And I sided

with that translation.

There in verses

15 to 20,

the concern was

for the brother

or sister's welfare.

Trying to care for them

by confronting them

and bringing them

to repentance

from sin.

When fellow church members

sin and refuse to repent,

it is our responsibility

to bring loving correction.

And if they don't listen,

you bring one or two others

with you and do the same.

If they still don't listen,

you tell the church.

And if they still don't listen,

then you disfellowship.

You declare them

an unbeliever.

It's church discipline.

In hope that

that severe mercy

would bring

that erring member

to repentance.

That's how we are

to love and pursue

brothers and sisters

in Christ

who sin and stray

from the truth.

But now,

in verses 21 to 26,

Peter raises the question,

what about me?

What if

a brother or sister's sin

is against me

in particular?

What am I supposed

to do

with that personal

grievance and hurt?

This is a different question

from verse 15,

which is why

Jesus' prescription

is different.

The former question

is about how

the church

as a community

keeps one another

accountable.

the present question

is how we

personally keep

our own hearts

toward those

who sin against us.

The former question

is about

corporate accountability.

The latter is about

personal forgiveness.

Regardless of

the corporate response

of the church

to an erring member,

to an unrepentant sinner,

if the sin

that was directed

against us,

it is our personal

responsibility

to forgive.

forgive.

The same distinction

applies in the

civil court.

Personal forgiveness

does not obviate

institutional justice.

If someone murders

your family member,

yes,

it is your responsibility

to forgive

that murderer

personally

for the wrong

that he or she

has done,

but it is still

right and just

for that person

to be punished

to the full extent

of the law

in the civil court.

Personal forgiveness

and institutional justice

are not mutually

exclusive,

nor is our

personal forgiveness

inconsistent

with divine justice.

Romans 12, 9 says,

Beloved,

never avenge yourselves,

but leave it

to the wrath of God,

for it is written,

vengeance is mine,

I will repay,

says the Lord.

It is God

who will ultimately

avenge us

for all the evil

done to us

so that we don't

have to take

vengeance ourselves,

because God,

the sovereign judge,

will finally

execute justice.

We don't need

to become vigilantes

who take matters

into our own hands.

Romans 13, 1-4

echoes the same principle,

applying it

to the delegated authority

of civil authorities.

Let every person

be subject

to the governing authorities,

for there is no authority

except from God,

and those that exist

have been instituted

by God,

for rulers are not

a terror to good conduct

but to bad.

If you do wrong,

be afraid,

for he does not

bear the sword in vain,

for he is the servant

of God,

an avenger who carries

out God's wrath

on the wrongdoer.

So divine justice

and civil justice

are biblical realities,

and the call

to personal forgiveness

that we see

in this passage

does not nullify

either of those things.

So Peter's question

deals with personal forgiveness,

and Jesus' answer

does not speak

to what courts

should do

or what God

will ultimately do

in his final judgment.

He's asking,

Peter is asking

about the relationships

within the community

of God's people.

He asks,

Lord,

how often

will my brother

sin against me

and I forgive him

as many as seven times?

Peter's understanding

of forgiving one's brother

comes from

the Old Testament,

Leviticus 19,

17 to 18.

You shall not hate

your brother

in your heart,

but you shall reason

frankly with your neighbor,

lest you incur sin

because of him.

You shall not take vengeance

or bear a grudge

against the sons

of your own people,

but you shall love

your neighbor as yourself.

I am the Lord.

Not taking vengeance

or bearing a grudge

against our neighbor

or a brother

in our community

is an expression

of our love for neighbor.

It's an entailment

of the second greatest

commandment

to love your neighbor

as yourself.

But remember,

earlier in chapter 5,

Jesus elevated

this command

to love your neighbor.

He said,

you have heard

that it was said,

you shall love

your neighbor

and hate your enemy.

But I say to you,

love your enemies

and pray for those

who persecute you.

For if you love

those who love you,

what reward will you get?

Do not even the tax collectors

do the same?

If you greet only

your brothers,

what reward will you get?

Do not even the Gentiles

do the same?

Love for brothers

and sisters in Christ,

Jesus says,

is not enough.

We must love

even our enemies.

And since love

entails not taking vengeance

and not holding a grudge,

it includes forgiveness.

So we are to forgive

our enemies as well,

even though what's

primarily in view

in this context

is forgiving

our brothers and sisters

in the context

of the church.

church.

This is helpful

to remember

when a fellow Christian

sins against us

repeatedly.

When your brother

or sister sins

against you

seven times

or 77 times

and they don't feel

sorry about it,

I could assure you

that person

no longer feels

like a brother

or a sister

or a friend

or even a neighbor.

That person starts

to feel like

an enemy.

But we are called

to love

and forgive

even our enemies.

Let's look at

Peter's question again.

Lord,

how often

will my brother

sin against me

and I forgive him?

As many as seven times?

The Jewish

rabbinical teaching

regarded three times

as a sufficient number

of times

to forgive someone,

which seems

pretty reasonable,

right?

So if Peter

was aware of that,

he is upping

the ante,

right?

Not three,

not four,

not five,

not six,

seven.

The number

of perfection.

If I say this

to Jesus,

surely I'm going

to get a pat

on the back.

Simon Bar-Jonah,

flesh and blood

has not revealed

this to you.

My father

who is in heaven.

But Jesus says

in verse 22,

I do not say

to you seven times,

but 77 times.

If the number seven

symbolizes perfection

and completeness,

then 77 is a hyperbolic

escalation of the number seven.

And it's an allusion

to Genesis 4, 24.

If you remember

when Cain,

after murdering

his brother Abel,

is exiled

further east of Eden,

he is afraid

that anyone who finds him

will kill him.

And so God offers him

protection.

He says,

if anyone kills Cain,

vengeance shall be

taken on him sevenfold.

And then later,

Cain's descendant,

to Lamech,

kills a man.

And then he boasts,

saying this,

if Cain's revenge

is sevenfold,

then Lamech's

is 77-fold.

That's the vengeful heart

of a sinful man.

Don't you tread on me,

because you'll have it

coming to you.

Not seven times,

77 times.

And then Jesus,

alluding to that,

flips it on his head.

He says,

I do not say to you,

forgive seven times,

but 77 times.

It's easy to gloss over

this familiar teaching,

but don't let it,

don't gloss over it.

Please let it sink in.

Jesus is not saying,

literally,

forgive 77 times,

and then 78th time,

oh,

that's it.

Game over.

He's saying,

forgive without limit.

If you are keeping count,

if you are keeping score,

you know,

this is the second time

you did this to me.

You always do this.

Then we are missing the mark.

1 Corinthians 13, 5 says

that love is not resentful.

Literally,

literally,

in the Greek,

that means love

does not count up wrongdoing.

The NIV renders it as

love keeps no record

of wrongs.

And if you understand

this command rightly,

in our cultural climate,

this is an outrageous command.

Sure,

if that person wrongs me

once or twice,

okay,

maybe on a good day

if I'm feeling

especially gracious,

maybe I'll forgive

even three times.

But what do you mean

77 times?

What do you mean

forgive without limit?

This person

is an incorrigible

repeat offender.

Are you guilt tripping me

as the victim?

You would have me

let the offender

off the hook?

Do you know how damaging

that kind of teaching is?

If you can't see

the scandal

of this command,

then you have yet

to wrestle with it

enough.

Jesus knows

that this radical command

requires an explanation

and so

he tells this parable

of the unforgiving servant.

He says in verses 23-24,

therefore the kingdom

of heaven

may be compared

to a king

who wished to settle

accounts with his servants.

When he began

to settle,

one was brought

to him

who owed him

10,000 talents.

Since this is a metaphor,

it's a parable

for the kingdom

of heaven,

the king here

represents God.

And a servant

of this king

owes him

10,000 talents.

One talent

was about

6,000 denarii

and one denarius

was a common laborer's

day's wage,

a full day's wage.

And so this servant

owes the king

60 million denarii.

So even if he works

seven days a week

for 365 days a year

without ever

taking a day off,

he would need to work

for 164,383 years

to repay this

as a common laborer.

Now let me adjust that

for inflation for you.

A living wage

in Boston,

Cambridge,

Newton area

is estimated

at $32.46 an hour.

That's the minimum

hourly pay

that a full-time

worker needs

in order to care

for his need

and his family's need.

If we count

for an eight-hour

workday,

that's $260

per day.

That's a day's wage

for a common laborer

in our area.

So $260

is the modern

equivalent of

one denarius

and since one talent

is 6,000 denarii,

let's multiply

260 by 6,000

and you get

$1,560,000.

That's the equivalent

of one talent.

And this servant

owes the king

10,000 talents.

So multiply

1.56 million

to 10,000

and you get

$15.6 billion.

It's an unimaginably

large sum of money.

And even trying

to quantify

and calculate it

like this

actually misses

the point

because a talent

was the largest

monetary unit

used in that day

and age.

It's the largest

sum of money,

amount of money

you could use.

And 10,000

is the largest

number

that the Greek

language

had a name for,

had a specific

name for.

It's the largest

monetary unit,

largest number,

10,000.

It's basically

infinity.

A money

you could never

hope to pay back

what we would

call gazillions

of dollars.

A crushing

debt.

Even

$200,000

of school loans

is crippling

for most people.

It's the kind

of debt

that stresses

people out

and alters

their life choices.

But this is not

even a fraction

of that,

what the servant

owes the king.

Imagine being

weighed down

with something

like that.

And that's

the debt

of sin

that we all

owe to God.

Remember the

prayer that Jesus

taught us in

Matthew 6,

12.

Forgive us

our debts

as we also

have forgiven

our debtors.

And then

two verses

later,

Jesus explains,

and this is

the only line

in that prayer

that Jesus

explains further.

For if you

forgive others

their trespasses,

your heavenly

Father will

also forgive you.

But if you

do not

forgive others

their trespasses,

neither will

your Father

forgive your

trespasses.

Our debts

are a metaphor

for our

trespasses

and sins

against God.

Do you

know that

our sins

are so grave

that we owe

an infinite

debt to God?

So many

people in the

world fail

to recognize

this because

they suffer

from PGPS,

pretty good

person syndrome.

It's endemic.

Oh, I don't

think I'm super

or anything,

but you know,

I'm just as good

as the next guy

or the next gal.

I'm a pretty

good person.

Of course,

I've done some

bad things,

but you know,

that guy's so

much worse.

that's what most

people in their

prideful delusion

think,

but that's not

the case

according to

Jesus.

Our debt of

sin is

10,000 talents,

an infinite

debt.

Law-breaking

offenses in our

society get

classified into

three broad

categories,

right?

An infraction

is the least

serious,

smallest offense,

five days in

prison and or

up to $5,000

fine.

Next is a

misdemeanor,

which is punishable

by up to one

year in prison

and or $100,000

fine.

The worst,

most serious

crime is a

felony,

which is punishable

by up to

lifetime in

prison or

death and

or by a

$250,000

fine.

I hope that's

accurate.

The lawyers in

the room can

correct me if

it's not.

Sometimes we

can think that

our sins are

like these

minor infractions.

Ah,

not that bad.

But think about

it this way.

God is our

creator and

ruler, but

all of us at

some point in

our lives have

denied him, we

have rebelled

against his

rule, and we

have sought to

be masters of

our own fate.

And in living

like we are

the captains of

our own ships,

we have sought

to usurp God's

throne and be

God.

Romans 5.10

describes

unrepentant

humanity as

God's enemies.

According to

Ephesians 2.2,

we were all

once following

the prince of

the power of

the air, the

spirit that is

now at work in

the sons of

disobedience.

In other words,

all sinners have

levied war against

God as his

enemies, and we

have adhered to

and followed

Satan, the prince

of the power of

the air, his

enemy.

In our world,

we call that

treason.

treason against

the U.S.

government is

not an

infraction or

a misdemeanor,

it's a felony

punishable by the

severest sentence.

In our court,

there are

mitigating factors

to consider,

things that can

lessen the

severity of a

sentence for a

crime committed.

for example,

if it was a

person's first

time offense,

if they have a

clean prior record,

that's a mitigating

factor.

Another one is if

the victim of

the crime is

also culpable,

worthy of blame

in some way.

But what

mitigating factor

do we have

in our treason

against God?

God has been

nothing but good

and generous

and gracious

to all of us.

Everything that

we know to be

good, it comes

from him.

He has no,

he deserves

no blame.

Not only that,

this is not our,

we are not people

with a clean

record.

We have a

lengthy record

of sin.

We're not

first time

offenders.

I can say

still more about

the gravity

of our own

sin.

If you swat

a fly,

no one cares.

If you slap

a person

and that person

files a police

report,

then you can

go to jail

for physical

assault or

battery.

The difference

in punishment

is not because

the two acts,

swatting and

slapping,

are all that

different.

They're basically

the same thing.

The difference

in punishment

lies in the

dignity,

the difference

in the value

and the dignity

between a fly

and a person.

the gravity

of the offense

and the severity

of the punishment

depends not only

on the nature

of the act

itself,

but on the

worth of the

object of that

offense.

So how much

more then does

this principle

apply to God?

God is infinitely

worthy of our

faith and obedience

and worship.

And for that reason,

to sin against him

merits infinite

punishment.

As we sometimes

read in one of

our confessions

of sins,

let us never

forget that we

have an eternal

duty to love,

honor,

and obey you,

that you are

infinitely worthy

of such,

that if we fail

to glorify you,

we are guilty

of infinite evil

that merits

infinite punishment

for sin is the

violation of an

infinite obligation.

Our sin

deserves

eternal

punishment,

not merely

because of what

we have done,

but especially

because of whom

we have sinned

against.

Even in our

society,

there are criminals

who get sentenced

to punishment

that goes well

beyond their

lifetime.

For example,

Dylan Roof,

the racist

neo-Nazi

gunman who

shot and killed

nine African

Americans while

they were doing

Bible study in

a church in

Charleston,

South Carolina

in 2015.

He received a

death penalty

in federal court,

but that wasn't

it.

That wasn't

all.

He also

received nine

consecutive life

sentences,

life without

parole.

How does one

man pay nine

life sentences?

Obviously,

he can't pay for

it.

The point is

that his guilt,

his punishment,

what he deserves

is greater than

what he can

himself pay

with his one

life.

That's what

all our sins

are like.

I imagine

like,

I don't think

I've seen this

movie,

but I think

I've seen a

trailer.

I think there's

a movie called

Edge of

Tomorrow or

something where

a guy gets

stuck in a

time loop,

and then he

somehow gets

stuck in a

time loop,

and then he

dies, he

gets killed,

and then he

goes back and

starts over,

and he dies

again, and

he dies again.

And that's

what we

deserve.

We can't

pay for it

with our

lifetime.

We must

pay infinitely.

That's why

hell is

described earlier

in verse

eight as an

eternal fire

where torment

goes up forever

and ever.

I know this

is a harsh

reality, but

it is the

reality that we

must reckon

with because

if the weight

of the crushing

debt,

does not

sink in,

we cannot

rightly

appreciate the

forgiveness of

God in

Christ.

And therefore,

we also cannot

forgive others

as Christ

commends us if

we don't get

this truth

first.

Given this

crushing debt,

the servant

could not

possibly pay it

back.

So what

happens in

verses 25 to

26 is

expected.

And since

he could not

pay, his

master ordered

him to be

sold with

his wife and

children and

all that he

had and

payment to

be made.

So the

servant fell

on his

knees imploring

him, have

patience with

me and I

will pay you

everything.

This was a

common way to

deal with

unpaid debt

in the ancient

world to the

debtor together

with his

family and all

his belongings

would be sold

to slavery to

their master.

But even that

would not go

far enough to

pay this

astronomical debt.

debt.

And given

this reality,

the servant's

assurance to

the master is

laughable.

Have patience

with me and I

will pay you

everything.

Imagine the

master's

person, oh

yeah, really?

You're going to

pay everything?

How do you

exactly intend

to do that?

Can you live

for 164,383

years?

This betrays

the servant's

delusion.

And that

brings us to

the master's

response, the

second point,

the compassionate

master.

He says in

verse 27,

and out of

pity for him,

the master

of that servant

released him

and forgave him

the debt.

The master

knows better

than the servant.

He knows that

the servant

could never

pay it back.

And knowing

this, instead

of despising

the servant,

the master

has pity for

him.

The translation

out of pity

is a rendering

of a Greek

word that

literally means

the viscera

or the bowels,

the inward

parts of the

person that

went out

toward that

servant.

We might say

in English

that his

heart leapt

out for

the servant.

This is what

we observe

about Jesus

time and time

again throughout

the Gospel

of Matthew.

In Matthew

9,36, when

he saw the

crowds, he

says he had

compassion, it's

the same word

for them.

Why?

Because they

were harassed

and helpless

like sheep

without a

shepherd.

This is the

remarkable thing

about our

God and about

our Savior

Jesus, that

when he sees

people who

are morally

repulsive, the

kind of people

that society

holds in

contempt, the

inexcusable

debtors with

crushing debts,

instead of

seeing them and

having contempt

for them, our

God has

pity.

He has

compassion.

God has

compassion.

And out of

that pity, the

master and

servant released

him and forgave

him the debt.

Consider the

staggering

generosity of

this master.

He doesn't

opt for

helping him

out with the

budget or

creating a

debt management

plan or

offering debt

consolidation.

No, he

simply forgives

the debt, all

of it, all

10,000 talents.

And that's

not an easy

feat.

When you

forgive someone

of their debt,

where does all

the debt go?

It doesn't

just vanish

into thin air

and then you

get the money

back from the

federal government,

no.

Someone has

to absorb

the debt.

And if you

forgive someone

the debt that

they owe you,

you are

absorbing

that debt,

that loss.

when someone

wrecks your

car, the

offender could

apologize to

you and say,

I'm really

sorry.

And maybe you

will tell that

person, oh, it

happens to the

best of us,

don't sweat it.

But then what

happens to the

wrecked car?

That car is

still wrecked and

somebody has to

pay for it, it's

either going to

be you or

them.

Our debt of

sin doesn't

just vanish

into thin air,

it has to be

paid by

somebody.

And in this

case, it's

the master,

God himself,

who absorbs

our debt of

sin, and

that's what we

see on the

cross.

Sometimes I

think we're

so familiar

with the

idea of

divine forgiveness

that we

almost think

that God's

forgiveness is

easy or

cheap.

But do you

know how

frequently God

says in

God's word

that he will

not let the

guilty go

unpunished?

When God

reveals his

name and his

character in

Exodus 34

Exodus 34:7

verse 7, he

says that he

will by no

means clear the

guilty.

Concerning the

angel of the

Lord who

represents him,

God says in

Exodus 23, 21,

pay careful

attention to him

and obey his

voice.

Do not rebel

against him,

for he will

not pardon your

transgression.

Why?

Because my

name is in

him.

When the

Israelites claim

that they will

serve the Lord,

Joshua tells them

off in Joshua 24,

19, you are

not able to

serve the

Lord, for he

is a holy

God.

He is a

jealous God

and he will

not forgive your

transgressions or

your sins.

God is not an

appeaser.

He is not a

people pleaser.

He understands

the gravity of

sin.

He doesn't make

light of sin and

say, oh, that's

okay, no big

deal.

He is holy like

nobody else and

he understands

gravity of sin like

nobody else and

he, by his very

nature and his

character, does not

clear the guilty

because he is

just.

If anything, it

should be harder

and more unnatural

for God to forgive

sins than for us to

forgive sins.

the sins committed

against him are

greater than the

sins that are ever

committed against us

and he is more

holy than the best

of humanity could

ever hope to be.

Don't you

personally find it

easier to

forgive people or

to relate to people

who struggle with

sins that you

struggle with?

And then,

likewise, don't you

find it harder to

have compassion on

people who struggle

with sin, things that

you don't struggle

with at all?

Well then,

shouldn't it be

easier as fellow

sinners for us to

have compassion on

other sinners?

And yet, this

parable teaches us

that it is God who

does not sin.

He is the one who

has compassion on

us.

And in Psalm 130,

Psalms 130:3–4

verse 3 to 4,

if you, O Lord,

should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could

stand?

But with you there

is forgiveness

that you may be

feared.

God chooses not to

keep a record of

our sins.

He chooses not to

count it against us

when we come to

Christ for forgiveness.

And it's that

forgiveness that

makes us fear him,

to want to obey him,

want to please him.

in the master's forgiveness

in this parable, we

learn what it means to

forgive, and we can

break it down into

four main steps.

The first step of

forgiveness is an

accounting.

He says in verse 24

that when the master

began to settle

accounts with his

servants, one was

brought to him who

owed him 10,000

talents.

In order to forgive,

we must first grapple

with the gravity of the

offense.

If we skip this step,

then we end up offering

cheap grace to people.

Oh, your sin is not a

big deal.

If we flippantly tell

people who have been

gravely wronged to

forgive their offender

without a true

accounting for the

damage done, then we

become like Job's

friends who are

miserable comforters.

Yes, it is true that

their unforgiveness is

crippling their own

spiritual life, but

that doesn't mean that

the victim should just

forgive for her for

their own sake without

a serious accounting of

sin, without confronting

the offender.

It's like telling a girl

who has been raped to

forgive her rapist without

giving any attention to

whether the rapist is

brought to justice or

not.

The perpetrator must be

confronted.

justice must be pursued

through legal means

where appropriate, and

the deep pain caused by

that offense to the

victim must be

acknowledged and

accounted for.

Before forgiveness can

be offered, the truth

must be told and all

excuses exposed.

The second step is to

have pity on the

debtor.

That's what we see in

verse 27.

And out of pity for

him, the master of that

servant released him

and forgave him the

debt.

We must labor to have

pity or compassion for

the offender.

Instead of one-dimensionalizing

them and caricaturing them

and defining them solely by

their offense or by their

worst attributes, we give

them the best possible

construction, we give them

the benefit of the doubt,

and we labor to see

ourselves in their shoes.

We try to remember that we

too are sinners, that we

also have wronged others,

and more importantly, we

have wronged God.

In this way, we humanize