TAIZÉ

Commented Bible Passages

 
These Bible meditations are meant as a way of seeking God in silence and prayer in the midst of our daily life. During the course of a day, take a moment to read the Bible passage with the short commentary and to reflect on the questions which follow. Afterwards, a small group of 3 to 10 people can meet to share what they have discovered and perhaps for a time of prayer.

JPEG - 134.8 kb

2009

January

Matthew 18:21-35: Forgive from the Heart
Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
 
“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go. But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow-servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. His fellow-servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow-servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18:21-35)

Matthew 18 collects some sayings of Jesus concerning the common life of his disciples. The last third of the chapter deals with forgiveness. Without forgiveness, there is no community life, no Church.

Peter is the one who asks the question. He is aware that, even among the disciples, there will be misunderstandings, tensions, words or acts that wound. He has lived with Jesus long enough to know that forgiveness is the only way out of the deadlocks created by sin. That is why he does not ask whether he should forgive or not, but how far to go. By offering to forgive seven times, he undoubtedly thinks he is doing a lot. And he is right: forgiving the same mistake seven times is a lot.

Peter and the other disciples must have been surprised at Jesus’ reply: “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” In other words without limit, without counting. The number seventy-seven is perhaps an allusion to Lamech, the descendent of Cain, avenged seventy-seven times for being wronged, in other words out of all proportion (Genesis 4:23-24).

Jesus rejects Peter’s question regarding the limits of forgiveness and tells a parable that emphasizes two things. On the one hand, forgiveness is limitless. And on the other hand, forgiveness is an unbreakable whole; it is impossible to separate God’s forgiveness and the forgiveness we show to one another.

The king in the parable is not God, of course. God does not intend to sell his servants as slaves; he does not throw people into prison and torture them. In the parable, we have to pay attention to unexpected things that are significant, to surprising details.

The debt that is forgiven is “ten thousand talents.” That is the equivalent of the yearly salary of about 150,000 workers, a sum which today would be billions of euros or dollars. It is unimaginable that a king would let himself be moved by the mere plea of his servant to forgive such an amount, with no questions asked. That is an incredible exaggeration; such a king is not reasonable, but would be acting according to the fantasy of his heart. Jesus wants us to understand that God’s forgiveness is not reasonable but unbelievable, that it flies in the face of common sense and is beyond all calculation.

The refusal of the servant to grant a delay to his companion who owes the small amount of a hundred denarii, in other words scarcely four months of a worker’s salary, is equally surprising, and in addition it is scandalous. The other companions are right to be distressed, as is the king for getting angry. The servant’s lack of consideration is almost cynical. How can he demand his own rights while he himself owes everything to the king’s act of mercy?

By this parable, Jesus holds up a mirror to us each time we think we have to limit our forgiveness. “Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow-servant just as I had on you?” That question of the king’s is also the question that Christ asks us. Dragging our feet in forgiving is illogical for someone who has come to know God’s excessive forgiveness.

God’s forgiveness of course comes first. It is not conditioned by our forgiveness. But since forgiveness is an undivided whole, it is impossible to live in God’s forgiveness without “forgiving your brother or sister from your heart.”

- Does it happen that I say “Enough!” What limits do I set to my readiness to forgive? Why?

- What does it mean to forgive from the heart (v. 35)?

- How can what is unbelievable and excessive about God’s forgiveness transform my attitude towards those who are unjust to me?



Other bible meditations:

Last updated: 1 March 2024