Matthew 18:23-27 -- On Forgiveness and Compassion

"Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt."
Matthew 18:23-27


Before this parable, Peter asks how many times he should forgive his brother if he sins against him, suggesting seven times. Christ responds that the answer should be more towards seventy times seven, then offers this parable, which I think drives home the point (after this excerpt) by saying "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses" (Matthew 18:35). ... We should be forgiving other people every single time, because of how often and how completely God forgives us, and in return he asks us to do the same for others.

This particular part of the story I like because it shows the whole justice versus mercy thing. The King in this story wasn't extra bloodthirsty in considering selling the servant and his family to pay the debt... that was just the law at the time. Instead of now when you might lose your house and all of your stuff when defaulting on a huge loan, then you would all be put to work trying to pay it off rather than pursuing other interests. But his servant begs him, and he is willing to lose that money (which was a large amount), in order to spare his servant, retain his employment, and give him time and space to improve.

This is what Christ does for us. Each of us owes justice far more than we can pay, even if we are perfectly sincere about wanting to. It just isn't within our power. And what Christ did for us was to come in and pay it for us. It doesn't mean that we'll never have to face justice... eventually at the judgement day we will, but Christ makes mercy possible, and gives us the space and the time to change. If we truly repent and stick with God, we will have the time we need to change into the type of people who we want to be and that God knows we can be... then we can look forward to that final judgement with confidence, knowing that we took the extra time that Christ gave us and did all we could to improve, and to be able to return to God's presence. If we take advantage of Christ's offer and take his advice and change, we'll never have to pay the full price for our former sins... only the price/effort of changing ourselves into better people, little by little.

Today, let's work on repenting and preparing for the far future judgement day when we'll be judged for our works... and be greatly thankful for the time and the space that Christ offers us. Let's also offer the same compassion to the people around us, forgiving them as Christ forgives us.