Forgive Us Our Debts, As We Forgive Our Debtors
“I say not unto thee, Until seven times…” —Matthew 18:22
Read Matthew 18:21-35
In God’s kingdom, other rules exist than those we may be used to in an earthly kingdom. The Lord Jesus told the parable in our Bible passage in connection with a question Peter had asked Him concerning forgiveness: How often do people have to forgive others? In Matthew 18:22 the Lord Jesus answered in the following way: “Until seventy time seven.” This is infinitely more than just occasionally.
Then the Lord Jesus explains the rules of His Kingdom by telling a parable. There was a servant who was terribly in debt, owing millions of dollars to a creditor. And so he asked to be shown mercy by his master. This means that he asked postponement of the punishment which he deserved. Very remarkably, he received much more than he asked for. His debt was completely forgiven him!
But then this servant who was forgiven so much debt met another servant who owed him a much smaller amount of money. He grabbed his debtor by the throat, demanding that he pay up. When his debtor could not pay, he had him thrown in jail. According to the law, the forgiven servant, as creditor, had every right to do this. But this circumvents the rules of God’s Kingdom. In the Kingdom of heaven, the law of the strongest does not rule, but the law of God’s right to forgive!
Why is forgiving so difficult?
This devotional was taken from “The Time of Your Life” a daily devotional published by the Youth & Educational Committee of the FRC. To order a printed copy of this book, contact: bookorders@frcna.org.