Rose Guide to Discipleship 18

Intro:

We spent a no. of weeks on self-control, today we look at the topic of forgiveness.

What is forgiveness?

@@ Forgiveness can be described as Being a Conduit of God’s Mercy and Grace to Others

Why is forgiveness necessary? We live in a fallen world and we are fallen ourselves. As a result, conflicts and injuries are inevitable. If there is no forgiveness, the human race will exterminate itself.

This is evidence by the numerous wars in the history of mankind. Someone has to be the first to forgive or there’ll be no end to conflict and injury.

Forgiveness is expected of a Christian and commanded by God’s Word:

Colossians 3:13 KJV 1900

13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

@@ Two things are true about a committed Christian:

‘1) He or she understands what it means to be forgiven.

‘2) He or she understands what it means to be forgiving.

To learn about the concept of forgiveness, we could go to multiple places in the Bible. But perhaps one of the best passages is a story Jesus told. Take a moment to read the parable of the unmerciful servant from :

Matthew 18:21–35 KJV 1900

21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. 23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 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. 26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Matthew 18:21–27 KJV 1900

21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. 23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 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. 26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

Jesus told this story when Peter asked a question about forgiveness in v21. Jesus answered “not until 7 times but 490 times,” meaning you don’t keep track of how many times you forgive someone. Who keeps track of 490 times?

But why should forgive your brother so many times since it is apparent that he refuses to repent after many times of forgiveness? That is, what does Jesus mean by 490 times? The story will explain that.

The story describes a king calling his servants to an accounting. One of them owed the king 10,000 talents.

A talent is the heaviest Biblical measure of weight amounting to about 34 kg. Each talent of gold amounts to US$1.25 million. Although we don’t know if the talents are referring to gold, silver or bronze, it most likely refers to gold because this makes the servant look so serious that the king called him out.

If that is the case, 10,000 talents = US$12.5 billion. About 30 years ago, when you’re a millionaire, you’re one of the richest person in Singapore.

Today we talk about billionaires. So imagine during Jesus’ time, how much money is US$12.5 billion.

Hence commentators say that 10,000 talents represents such a huge amount of money that a person can’t pay back for the rest of his life. Spiritually, this is the price that Christ paid for the redemption of our souls. No Christian can pay back God for the price Christ paid for our souls.

When the servant begged for mercy in v26, the very fact that he said that he is going to pay back the king implies that he doesn’t understand the grace of God at all. The grace of God can’t be purchased by money or all of human effort.

But the king didn’t argue about the illogical promise of the servant (v27). The king out of his mercy forgave that servant because he humbled himself and asked for mercy.

This “illogicality” of the king’s forgiveness is the same as what Christ said to forgive someone 490 times. In other words, when you forgive someone, you don’t question whether the person deserves forgiveness or whether it is even logical to forgive a very undeserving criminal.

So 490 times is just a hyperbole and the meaning is that even it is very illogical, we’re asked to forgive the culprit who causes us great harm. But the one condition implied in the story is that the culprit asked for mercy or he humbles himself. But how do we know if he is sincere? The remaining of the story tells us how we can know.

Matthew 18:28–35 KJV 1900

28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

The forgiven servant found another servant that owe him an hundred pence or 100 days of wages. And he demanded the 2nd servant to return his money immediately.

When the 2nd servant could not do it, the 1st servant put the 2nd servant into prison until he paid back his debt (v30). When a person is in prison, he could not work and earn money. This effectively put him in prison for life.

The other servants felt very sorry for the 2nd servant and reported to the king what the 1st servant had done (v31).

Now the king called the 1st servant (v32-33) and pronounced his unworthiness of having been forgiven by the king.

And the king did to the 1st servant what the 1st servant had done to the 2nd servant (v34).

The story ends by warning us (v35) that the same judgment will be passed on us who don’t forgive others just as God has forgiven us.

The theological lesson learned here is that when a person doesn’t understand the grace of God, this can be seen by the person’s unwillingness to forgive others.

So when you find it hard to forgive others, it is an indication that you may not yet understand the Gospel of grace. That’s why, you must make sure you know God.

@@ Christianity is not a head religion, it is a transformed heart religion.

We’ll continue 2 weeks from today as I won’t be in Sg next week. My whole family is going to Cambodia next week for a mission trip.