Forgiveness: The Mandate of Jesus

It would be very rare to hear this from the pulpit: “If you do not truly forgive others, God will send you to hell.” Most people would say that is not a “loving” statement. Others would say it is unbiblical. Yet others would say that this is Bible thumping, and those who preach such things are not exemplifying Jesus Christ to their hearers. What a radical and seemingly horrific thing to say; it sounds like the preacher is passing judgment.

While I doubt that I will ever be Christ-like enough to preach this from the pulpit, this is exactly what Jesus said. In Matthew 18:21-22, Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive a brother who sins against him. The Rabbi’s would forgive a repentant man at least three times, Peter, possibly feeling generous, asks if he should forgive someone seven times (after all, seven is the perfect number). Jesus responds to Peter, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” Jesus is not saying to forgive someone 490 times, but rather to forgive them until they stop sinning against you. If they never cease, then the follower of Christ is to never stop forgiving such a person.

Jesus then proceeds to relate a parable to his hearers.

For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves [in other words, because forgiveness is an essential quality to the kingdom of heaven]. When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.

First we see that the kingdom of heaven is similar to this (but not exactly like it, since when God shows someone grace and mercy, it is eternal and causes them to act in the same fashion.) The first slave owed the lord 10000 talents. Jesus was using an exorbitant amount here for effect. One talent is worth more than fifteen years wages for a common laborer. That would have taken the slave one hundred and fifty thousand years to pay off (150000)! To pay this off, the king was going to sell the man and his family, obviously to separate places, which still would not have even come close to paying back the debt. Yet the slave, knowing that he could never pay such a debt back, pleads with his master that he might just work off the debt and pay it back in time. The lord, being merciful, also obviously realizing that the debt could never be repaid, did not merely show patience with him, but forgave him the debt.

The slave went out from the presence of the lord and ends up finding another slave who owed him 100 denarii; which is equivalent to one hundred day’s wages. A considerably smaller debt (compare 100 days labor to 54,750,000 days labor!) This slave seizes his fellow slave (we’ll get to this in just a minute) and starts choking him. The other slave begs for him, in the exact same repentant manner as the first slave had done before the lord, to just give him time and he would repay the debt (which was clearly possible, even though it was a pretty large sum of money.) Yet the first slave was not willing to even be patient with him, and had the second slave thrown into prison until the debt was repaid.

Now, the two slaves are on the same social field; they are both slaves. They are equals and so for the first slave to forgive the second would not be a very big deal. The debt that was owed was owed to an equal: an eye for an eye. However, a lord is clearly in a far higher social field than a slave. For the lord to forgive such a debt of a slave, who already owes the lord his life anyway (it would be no injustice for the lord to have tortured or killed the slave and his whole family), is a great demonstration of mercy. The lord has shown himself to be a man of very high and noble character.

His fellow slaves report this to their lord, since they were grieved (I’d imagine by the behavior of the first slave, since it was not even his right to throw the lord’s slave into prison, only the lord had the right to do this, and the lord’s generosity had probably spread throughout his kingdom.) And so the lord summoned the first slave into his presence and responds to him in this manner: [assume a condescending voice] “You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you plead with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?” This slave had not only done what was not right, but he had also taken very lightly the mercy of the lord. He had seen the example of his master and had trampled it under-foot. And when he was given an opportunity to act in the same manner as his master and to make known how merciful the master was and just how thankful he was, the slave acted in a disgraceful manner. He had not only disgraced himself, but he had disgraced his master (since a slave should be like his master –Matthew 10:24).

So the master, moved with anger (a very righteous anger I hope is quite clear) had the slave sent to be tortured until the debt was repaid (which would have taken the slave 54,750,000 days; in other words, forever!) This is a just penalty for the slave, whom the lord had every right over to do with whatever he pleased.

Now, how much more is it just for God to send a sinner to hell who owes such a debt against Him (since the sinner is God’s creation, God is not just the Lord of the person, but the person in every way belongs to Him). And the truth is, there is not a person in the world has does not owe God far more than ten thousand talents. Our debt against God is infinite; ten thousand talents is chump-change compared to what we owe God. We have committed cosmic treason against the one who created us, sustains us, and who is infinitely worthy of praise. We are horrible wicked servants, worse than the first servant!

So how much more is it a sin when we do not forgive others of their trespasses against us? We have taken God’s mercy extremely lightly. And Jesus says that the Father will do the same to you, if you do not forgive, truly forgive, those who have debts against you. God will send that person to be tortured until the debt is repaid, which will be never, since the debt is infinite.

So (not expositing the passage but making sure that our theology is not skewed by this passage –since we are seeking a truly Bible-encompassing theology) does a person lose his/her salvation when he/she does not forgive others? No, rather, they show themselves to never have had salvation to begin with. I am not saying that if a person struggles with forgiving others that God will not forgive them. But if a person continues in an unforgiving state of others, seeking in no way to forgive that person in their heart, then they are not and never were the recipients of God’s grace; for all that grace asks, it provides.

Jesus made the moral of His parable plain: If you do not forgive others, you will not be forgiven. It is as we pray, “Forgive our debts, as [in the same way] we forgive those who are our debters.” Those who do not forgive others are in danger of the fires of hell, as Jesus made clear. Those who have been shown grace must and will show the same mercy that has been showed them (just on a smaller and imperfect scale). So forgive others. And if you have anything against a brother or sister, forgive them now (or plead with God to grant you a soft-merciful heart that you might forgive them). And if you know someone has something against you, seek to be reconciled. In doing so, you may be saving a brother/sister from the eternal fires of hell. And in forgiving others, the greater benefit is yours. Not only are the angry feelings gone, not only is your heart at peace, not only have you now gained a friend, but you may have well saved your soul from the wrath of God¹.

¹Obviously we cannot actually save ourselves, but this will give you confidence that God has truly shown you grace through Jesus Christ; since it is Christ’s death alone that saves.