Debt Forgiveness

Introduction

quantifying forgiveness

I

Imagine a band of thieves.

No one trusts anyone—but everyone pretends to. They travel together, eat together, plan together. But every man is keeping mental accounts. Who owes whom. Who took more than his share. Who can be leveraged later.

In that kind of group, forgiveness is impossible—not because they lack language for it, but because forgiveness would be suicidal. The moment you forgive, you lose power.

So the group survives not by mercy, but by fear. By leverage. By silent resentment. By retaliation that comes when the timing is right.

Imagine a family that lives under the same roof but no longer lives in grace.

Meals are shared. Holidays are observed. Conversations are polite. But beneath it all, everyone is keeping score.

Who said what years ago. Who wasn’t there when it mattered. Who always gets their way. Who never apologizes first.

In that kind of family, forgiveness is impossible—not because no one believes in it, but because forgiveness feels like losing. The moment you forgive, you fear being hurt again.

So the family holds together not by love, but by tension. By unspoken rules. By emotional distance. By punishments that never quite end—cold shoulders, sarcasm, silence.

Imagine a church that looks healthy.

The sanctuary is full. People greet one another warmly. Sunday School classes meet. Prayer requests are shared. Meals are served.

But beneath the surface, something else is happening.

People are keeping mental files.

Who said what in that meeting. Who didn’t show up when it mattered. Who corrected whom publicly. Who offended whom years ago and never really made it right.

No one talks about it openly—but everyone remembers.

Forgiveness in that church isn’t impossible because no one knows the Bible. It’s impossible because forgiveness feels risky. The moment you forgive, you lose leverage. You lose your evidence. You lose your protection.

So the church holds together—not by grace, but by avoidance. By politeness. By silence. By people quietly moving seats, or eventually leaving altogether.

From the outside, it looks peaceful.

From the inside, it’s slowly bleeding out.

N

We like living in peace, and are often okay sacrificing obedience to God to maintain peace. We would rather have civility than community. But this is not what Christ has called us to.

T

Peter asks Jesus a question about forgiveness, he’s asking a community question, “How do we best live together.” But while Peter was looking for an amount—even a generous amount—Jesus gave an unexpected answer.

R

Matt. 18:21-35

O

Counting Forgiveness (21-22), Cancelling the Debt (23-27), Refusing Mercy (28-35)

Counting Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21–22 ESV

21 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?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Revelation

“Then” reflects the context. Remember, this occurs right after the passage on dealing with a brother who sins. The main thrust of that is to be willing to gain a wandering brother back.

It’s important to note that Peter qualifies the question with the term “brother” which is a term for a fellow believer. So, this whole section is framed by transactional forgiveness between Christians.

Transaction forgiveness is one that is actually expressed. Wrongdoing is admitted, confessed, repented of by the offender and forgiveness is expressed by the one sinned against.

Peter asks, “How often.” Its a question of frequency, it’s an attempt to quantify. Commentators speculate based on rabbinic literature of this was already a discussion of Jesus’s day. One commentator writes,

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8: Matthew, Mark, Luke a. Repeated Forgiveness (18:21–22)

In rabbinic discussion the consensus was that a brother might be forgiven a repeated sin three times; on the fourth, there is no forgiveness

If this is truly the case, Peter may have seen himself as rather generous to include up to seven times.

But consider it for a moment. If there is some number, any number, then what’s the point of forgiving? Why forgive? And further more why stop forgiving? In other words, what is the basis for forgiveness and what is the basis for not forgiving?

Is forgiveness based in just restoring relationships? If that is the case then why should one ever stop forgiving?

Does someone stop forgiving because he no longer trusts the repentance? Well, if that’s the case, there is not reason to trust the first time either, really.

Consider this: without God in the picture, an unbeliever really has no reason to forgive, unless of course such forgiveness allows them to maintain their idolatry.

But Jesus gives an answer. He says, “Not seven times, but seventy-times” in v. 22.

What is Jesus doing with this phrase? The older translations will render this seventy times seven. I don’t have a problem with that either. But is the point for us to create a chart and tally up the times we have forgiven and once we get to 77 or 490 we stop? Well, as we will see in the parable, that’s not the point.

So why does Jesus give such an amount? Well, I think partly to play on Peter’s answer and extend it even more. I think the other part is that he purposefully references Lamech.

Lamech is everyone’s favorite Old Testament Bible character. Just as a review, Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. Many of you know Tim Dowdy’s dad was a preacher. According to Mr. Dowdy is favorite joke was “How long did Cain hate his brother?” “As long as he was Abel”

As you remember, Cain killed his brother Abel. Cain was wicked. When confronted, Cain was more concerned about his punishment than the fact he committed murder. He complained, “My punishment is too much to bear.” Then he was worried about being killed. In order to protect him, God placed a mark on Cain. He said if anyone killed Cain revenge would be taken on them sevenfold.

Cain was wicked, his descendants were wicked. His genealogy in Genesis includes Lamech who boldly proclaims, “Genesis 4:24 “24 If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.”” That’s the kind of man Lamech was. He boasted to his wives that he killed a young man for striking him. His whole life was marked by revenge, revenge of the severest kind. Revenge that goes far beyond what the wrongdoing is worth.

Jesus wants his disciples to be the exact opposite. Instead of being devoted to revenge, he wants their lives to be marked by forgiveness—forgiveness in the deepest sense. So Jesus’s intent when commanding forgiveness 77 times was not for us to enumerate, but to integrate forgiveness into the core of our being. Forgiveness that goes far beyond what the wrongdoing is worth. Jesus does not want his followers to focus on the quantity of forgiveness, but its quality.

Relevance

Imagine living life marked by unforgiveness. What happens? Every interaction becomes embittered. It reminds me of miserly old Scrooge who's every interaction further divided him from other people. Consider Lamech again who’s every interaction was going to enact revenge to the extreme.

Passive unforgiveness is soul-gripping bitterness that becomes the meditation of our heart. Active unforgiveness is simply enacting revenge—taking the matter into our own hands.

Either way, unforgiveness sows division. And this is exactly what Satan would like. He does not want sins to be addressed, he wants them to be ignored. Jesus commanded us to confront the brother who sinned against us and seek to restore. Satan would rather us say, “It’s really no big deal” and leave the matter not addressed.

The enemy knows that every bit of unforgiveness further separates us from the flock. Unforgiveness is isolating. And a wolf loves an isolated sheep.

This is why we need to have a level of forgiveness that is just as extreme as Lamech’s level of revenge. Because we, the church, desperately need one another.

Cancelling the Debt

Matthew 18:23–27 ESV

23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 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. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.

Revelation

Let’s bring out the shocking details in this parable that were sure to stand out to the original audience. Notice, Christ is comparing his own kingdom to this parable. In verse 24, you notice the amount “ten thousand talents.” A single talent was a coin worth 6,000 denarii. A single denarii was worth about an average day’s wage. 4

Matthew Exegesis

The average Jewish day-laborer would have to work sixty million days or approximately two hundred thousand years (assuming he observed the Sabbath) to make such an enormous amount of money!

Matthew Exegesis

If a person was able to work profitably for fifty years of his lifetime, it would take four thousand lifetimes to make enough to pay the debt (and that assumes that the entirety of his wages went exclusively to repay the debt)

If we were to put it into today’s denomination, assuming the average daily wage is $200, the cost would be 12 bil. That debt could never be paid, And that’s the point. This shows the absolute spiritual bankruptcy a sinner has before God. All of our sin is ultimately a rebellion against him. It cannot be paid off by doing enough good. It cannot be paid off at all. This is why the cross was necessary.

With such an insurmountable debt, its reasonable that the king would want to sell him, his wife, and kids and all he had (25). Even all that would only get him a tiny fraction of the debt owed.

So that servant comes begging. He asks for patience. He says he will pay back. The servant wants to make things right.

Then in verse 27, the master is moved with compassion. Notice that the master goes beyond just having patience. He does away with the debt completely, not any is left.

Consider this, brother and sisters. When you are in Christ, when you trust in him, God does away with your sins completely. Past, present, future sins all make for a insurmountable debt that are all forgiven justly because Christ took the punishment for them. It would take an infinity of lifetimes to pay them off, and that is why the infinite God, our Lord Jesus Christ, had to become the substitute.

Relevance

This is what forgiveness is. It is motivated by compassion. It wipes away the debt completely. It forgives those who are unable to pay back.

It’s God’s forgiveness of us that becomes the basis of our forgiveness.

Forgiveness comes in two major ways. One was is attitudinal: we already have an attitude of forgiveness. This attitude of forgiveness is primarily vertical between me and God. It’s vertical because I know God has this whole thing in his hands. If it is a brother that has sinned against me, I can have an attitude of forgiveness because I know God has forgiven their debt.

Have you ever been in a place where you’re just waiting for someone to mess up. Your just waiting for someone to fall so you can rub the dirt in their face? That is the attitude of revenge. Jesus wants us to have the opposite. Instead of revenge being spring loaded into our hearts, he wants forgiveness to be there ready to pour forth.

Refusing Mercy

Matthew 18:28–35 ESV

28 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.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 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. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Revelation

The slave is owed by his fellow slave only 100 denarii. This is still a significant some, but would only take working a third of a year to pay off. This is nothing compared to how much he owed the king.

Matthew Exegesis

This relatively measly debt owed to this man shows that the sins of others against us are always small in comparison to our sins against God.

And of course, it’s this illogical action that the slave takes that is the heart of this parable. How could one who has been so radically forgiven, turn and demand payment from his fellow slave?

His fellow slave gives the same line that he gave, “Have patience with me and I will pay it back.” But the slave has anything but patience and throws him in prison.

The other servants are deeply distressed by this whole thing. First the slave’s ingratitude, then is cruelty. They then go to the king to report this terrible injustice.

The king calls him in then calls him a “wicked servant” — wicked is a title that describes the moral character of satan. And certainly this is how satan would act- demanding, cruel, vengeful.

The fate was the same for the slave as it was for his fellow servant. Because he refused to show mercy, he recieved no mercy.

Relevance

Let me ask you. You know your sin more deeply than anyone else. You know your own thought life. You know the the brokenness in your heart. And yet you know how all of it, every single bit, every wayward thought, every moment of revenge, every bit of greed, every thought of lust, every moment of slander, past, present, future is all forgiven. Now a brother has gone and said something behind your back and your going to hold that against him? One sin against you that you cannot let go, when God let go billions and billions of sins you committed against him?

Isn’t it true that no matter how heinous a sin is against us, that is it insignificant when we compare it to how much we have sinned against God?

So not only ought we have an attitude of forgiveness, we should seek out transacted forgiveness. An attitude of forgiveness is vertical, in how we relate to God. Transacted forgiveness is horizontal, between one another. This is just the type of forgiveness that the slave refused. Yet we are commanded to seek it out.

This is a picture of the people of God, how we are to join in community together. Not vengeful, seeking for greatness, trying to get ahead, stepping on anyone in our way. No. Instead, forgiving, seeking others well being before our own, helping others depend on God more.

Application

Peter was looking for a number, a generous number. But Jesus tells us forgiveness is not a calculation, its a radical transformation of who we are.

A community that cannot forgive will eventually reorganize itself around power not love.

Is this going to be a community held together by caution and calculation—or by forgiveness that runs deeper than common sense?

This week, I’m not asking you to feel more forgiving. I’m asking you to cancel a ledger. You know, the running file you have on a person here in this church because of how you feel you have been wronged in the past.

Every one of us has someone in the church whose name immediately brings a list to mind. Not necessarily a big sin—just a file.

This week, before God, name that person and name the debt you’ve been holding.

1. Cancel it vertically (before God).

“Lord, you have forgiven me a debt I could never repay. I release this person from what I think they owe me.”

2. Change one behavior horizontally.

Stop replaying the offense in your mind

Stop mentioning it to others

Stop avoiding the person

Or speak one gracious word where silence has ruled

Forgiveness becomes real when it changes how we act, not just how we think.

3. If appropriate, pursue peace—not payment.

Not to collect an apology. Not to rehearse the wrong. But to gain your brother.

Goshen Baptist Church, the vision before us is to be a community built on the foundation of love, genuine love. Not just civility. Not just decorum. But real and genuine love. The only way that can happen is when we not just yearn for peace, but pursue it, and pursue it through forgiveness.