Sermon Tone Analysis

21 Τότε προσελθὼν αὐτῷ ὁ Πέτρος εἶπεν· Κύριε, ποσάκις ἁμαρτήσει εἰς ἐμὲ ὁ ἀδελφός μου καὶ ἀφήσω αὐτῷ; ἕως ἑπτάκις;

Then Peter was coming to him he said: Lord, how many times can my brother sin againe me and I must forgive him?

Until seven times?

21 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?

Up to seven times?”

- The follow up question to seeking the lost sheep.

We looked at 18:12-14 that focused on the illustration of the shepherd/owner going after the lost sheep.

The sheep is one of Jesus’ disciples and picture of going astray is to be in sin.

The reality is that we represent Jesus as we interact with other believers, so His will (the Father’s will) is to seek after the lost sheep.

We looked at 18:15-20 that about how seeking the lost sheep is often applied individually.

It starts with sin by a fellow believer that affects you.

(whether a sin directly against you or the consequences of that sin that involve you) The procedure in how to bring back the believer to the flock by seeking repentance is described.

What wasn’t talked about in this discussion but is assumed by Jesus is the place of forgiveness.

- Peter wants to be pragmatic about the limitations of this seeking out a brother.

Specifically, Peter comes up after this discussion wondering about how often you should forgive the same brother.

He wants to know how often this same brother should continue to sin before it becomes ridiculous.

He puts out the number seven thinking he is being generous than the expected norm.

In the Babylonian Talmud (Yomah tract) it reads “We have learned in a Boraitha: Rabbi Jose ben Jehudah said: When a man sins the first time he is pardoned; the second time, he is pardoned; the third time, he is pardoned; the fourth time, he is not pardoned, as it is written []: "Thus hath said the Lord, For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, will I not turn away their punishment."

22 λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Οὐ λέγω σοι ἕως ἑπτάκις ἀλλὰ ἕως ἑβδομηκοντάκις ἑπτά.

Jesus said to him, I do not say to you until seven but until seventy times seven.

22 Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

23 Διὰ τοῦτο ὡμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ βασιλεῖ ὃς ἠθέλησεν συνᾶραι λόγον μετὰ τῶν δούλων αὐτοῦ·

- Jesus responds by using an incredible number

There are differences in how this number is translated: either seventy seven times or seventy times seven.

There is some argument that the phrase was meant seventy times seven on the basis of a numerical system that would use word it differently.

Others take it to be a reference to the number of seventy times seven on the basis of the Old Testament translation called the Septuagint.

One this is for certain, when Jesus uses the number it is intended to not have a limit.

Something that would be understood by Peter because there was no further discussion about the number.

- The number that Jesus uses is something that would be akin to what was found in Genesis.

If we assume that Jesus didn’t just pull out a number for its own sake, then we would feel pretty strongly that is the mention.

The Greek phrase here and in of the Septuagint is ἑβδομηκοντάκις ἑπτά

In the context of the use in , God put out the word to protect Cain and in a sense punish him by promising to punish seven fold anyone that would kill Cain.

Cain’s relative (6 generations removed) Lamech, whom was ungodly, stated this: “Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, Listen to my voice, You wives of Lamech, Give heed to my speech, For I have killed a man for wounding me;

And a boy for striking me; If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

Lamech is claiming to have avenged himself more by killing a man than God had promised to do.

“Adah and Zillah,

Listen to my voice,

You wives of Lamech,

Give heed to my speech,

For I have killed a man for wounding me;

And a boy for striking me;If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

In a unique twist the limitless anger and vengeance applied by Lamech is changed to a limitless mercy and forgiveness of a brother/sister in Christ.

- How important is forgiveness in the process of seeking the lost sheep?

(23) The parable

On account of this the kingdom of heaven is like to the man whom the king desired to settle word with his slaves.

23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.

- This is the typical parable format that is found in the Gospels.

A big hint when you have a parable is this: “the kingdom of heaven is like” followed by something that characterizes God’s kingdom.

As you would expect the teaching on the parable follows from the discussion on forgiveness, connecting forgiveness to the kingdom of heaven.

- The parable is about a king who is settling accounts.

Some people have tried to explain that this couldn’t be slaves but that somehow the word δοῦλος doesn’t mean slave.

I think that is due to the picture of slaves being able to settle an account that doesn’t fit the concept of slavery that occured in America.

Consider this about slavery in the first century: that slaves actually outnumbered free people in the Roman Empire during the 1st century.

On the average one-third to one-half of the population of many cities were slaves.

Most trade and industry was carried out by slaves.

Many slaves — such as doctors, teachers, accountants — were more educated and skilled than their masters.

Given the context, it would appear that these slaves were over operations that collect revenue from taxes in the Palestinian region.

The king has expectations on the type of money that should be on hand and was looking for an accounting of all the monies.

(24-25) One slave is in trouble

24 ἀρξαμένου δὲ αὐτοῦ συναίρειν προσηνέχθη αὐτῷ εἷς ὀφειλέτης μυρίων ταλάντων.

And as he was beginning to settle one debtor of ten thousand talents was brought to him

24 When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.

24 When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.

25 μὴ ἔχοντος δὲ αὐτοῦ ἀποδοῦναι ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὸν ὁ κύριος πραθῆναι καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα καὶ τὰ τέκνα καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἔχει καὶ ἀποδοθῆναι.

He did not having to pay him pack the Lord ordered to sell the wife and the children and all which he had and to repay.

25 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.

- The only slave mentioned is the one who has a considerable debt.

For all intents and purposes, Jesus only mentions the one of many slaves because of the problem of owing 10,000 talents.

10,000 talents is a very large sum of money.

A talent was a measure that seems to be between 58 and 63 pounds which would be either gold or silver (probably silver).

Some commentators speculate that it would pay for 200,000 man years of labor.

If I were to pretend to figure out the amount at a measly wage of 10.50 an hour.

That would be 4.4 billion dollars.

- What kind of job would create this scenario?

Leon Morris suggests a thing referred to as “tax farming” as desribed by J.D Derrett in his book Law in the New Testament.

“It is possible, as Derrett holds, that the practice of tax farming is in mind (Law, pp.

32–47), in which case the man had bid a large sum for taxing rights and had not been able to produce the money.”

One would gain a portion of money from taxes as he collected it.

In order to get the job, it was bid out to those whom felt they could collect more money.

If you didn’t follow through on your amount, it was your obligation.

- The slave doesn’t have the means to pay so the King ordered punishment

- The slave doesn’t have the means to pay so

Worth noting here is that the “king” is now referred to as “Lord” most likely in a manner that makes clear the meaning of this parable.

The call for the man to be sold to someone else for money is indicative of being a slave and recouping losses by selling the man.

While it seems harsh, the property of the man was his wife and children so they would also be part of the “assets” to liquidate to make up for the loss.

This wouldn’t have made a dent in the debt but would be seen as a punishment for his offense for not fully recompensing what was owed.

26 πεσὼν οὖν ὁ δοῦλος προσεκύνει αὐτῷ λέγων· Μακροθύμησον ἐπʼ ἐμοί, καὶ πάντα ἀποδώσω σοι.

Therefore the slave fell down he knelled down to him saying: be patient with me and I will repay everything to you.

26 So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’

27 σπλαγχνισθεὶς δὲ ὁ κύριος τοῦ δούλου ἐκείνου ἀπέλυσεν αὐτόν, καὶ τὸ δάνειον ἀφῆκεν αὐτῷ.

After having compassion, the Lord of the slave set him free, and the loan was forgiven to him.

27 And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.

(26-27) The granting of forgiveness

- The slave pleads for patience

The slave falls to the ground out of devastation.

Actually there are two verbs stated for emphasis, “fell down” and “prostrated” which some translations put together as “fell down on his knees”.

In reality, falling prostrate is the more accurate picture because the slave had no power and he was in a position of pleading.

He asks for the King to have patience for more time to payback the king.

While he is asking for more time to payback the debt, it amounts to postponement of the future punishment.

In reality there is no way that he can ever come up with that amount of money.

- The Lord of the slave responds with forgiveness.

This action comes out of the man’s compassion.

We have encountered this word before in Matthew where we said that it speaks of emotions that affect our inner being.