# Forgive then forgive again - Matthew 18:18-22;19:1-2; 13-15 - 2024-08-20 If Christ has forgiven us, then we must forgive others. This is one of those statements that we have all heard time and time again, yet it hits different when you read it in the context of the whole chapter. St. Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother, "seven times?" To which Jesus replies "seventy-seven times" or as some translations render "seventy times seven." Either way, the number is so high as to be effectively "always." This is what makes the statement “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14-15) so powerful. When we ask God to forgive us, we are in that moment also giving forgiveness to those who have wronged us. How can we ask forgiveness when we ourselves are withholding it from others? Let's read the verse that came up today in Matthew 18. *At that time, Peter came to him and said, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 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. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay it all.’ And the master of that servant was moved with compassion; so he released him and forgave him the debt. “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” - Matthew 18:18-35 (NKJV)* This text is so powerful and so convicting. It shows us that the only way that we are able to receive forgiveness is when we ourselves are forgiving others. This is not an easy road, in fact it is a difficult one. How many times have we been wronged by someone? How many times have we sinned against God? Which should be greater? Certainly the sins against God are far weightier than those against us, but if God is willing to forgive us for the greater, we cannot withhold forgiveness for the lesser. This is a lesson that I have to keep learning over and over again. It's easy to say that Christ has forgiven us for all and that we are to forgive others, but it's so much harder to put into practice. I know in my own life there are times when I want to hold onto anger or resentment toward someone, but I need to constantly remind myself that I have been forgiven so much more. > Spoken by [[Austin - Son]]: “no forgiveness without repentance?” I don't recall that from the reading there. The text itself doesn't mention repentance. It merely says if you forgive others, your Father will forgive you; if you do not, neither will He. This is a hard teaching. It means that we must forgive even if they don't repent. We must release the debt. This is not easy, but it's what we are called to do. Perhaps the role of repentance is that when we sin against someone, we should repent, and when they repent we forgive. But the teaching is broader: forgive them regardless. This is a struggle for me. I think of times when I have been wronged and the other person never apologized or changed. I'm called to forgive anyway. That's tough. Maybe this is why Jesus says " seventy-seven times" because it's not about counting, it's about the heart attitude. Always forgive.