Pinedale Student Ministries

Today’s passage
Matthew 18:21-35

Experience
Sometimes we think that because the Bible was written thousands of years ago, that it no longer applies to us. But every word in Scripture is useful to us as Christians. And that requires us to pay attention to all of it, even the hard parts. This parable, however difficult to accept, is incredibly necessary in your daily walk with Christ.

Jesus had been teaching the disciples about serving each other and about responding to believers who fall into sin. Peter popped up and asked, “How many times do I have to forgive those who wrong me?” Then he tried to impress Jesus with seven; he thought that was a big number. But Jesus came right back with “Seventy-seven times.” In other words, we’re always supposed to show forgiveness to those who wrong us.

To get His point across, Jesus told a story of an unmerciful servant. He wanted to show His disciples what forgiveness and unforgiveness looked like, and the consequences of both. In the parable, the servant owed the king a huge debt of 10,000 talents—an amount that would take a lifetime to pay back. The king extended forgiveness to the servant and went on his way. After he was granted mercy, the servant was faced with the same situation—someone owed him money. But he was stingy and demanded his debtor be thrown in prison. When the king heard, he also had that unmerciful servant thrown in jail.

So what’s the moral of the story? You’ve also been forgiven a mighty debt—one that you owed God. Your sins have been forgiven by Christ’s death on the cross, and you can never repay that. Realizing you’ve received this great forgiveness, you’re now free to also forgive others of their wrongs against you. The question is not Am I able to forgive or Does God want me to forgive? God gives you no choice but to forgive. Are you willing to commit to forgiving others?