09122020 – Matthew 18. 21-35
Jesus was on a ROLL. This is POWERFUL stuff. It has to do with “forgiveness” and “forgiving others.”
Last week, WHEN we gathered together for prayer we talked about WHEN someone hurts you, or sins against you. WHAT is the Christian supposed TO DO? Just HOW, are you supposed to handle IT. How should you proceed?
THIS WEEK, following right on its heels we get the theme of “FORGIVENESS.”
Just so we are “all on the same page here,” the GREEK word for “FORGIVENESS” means “to LET GO.” That is important! That is noteworthy! What is the “Christian” supposed to do? “LET IT GO!” Stop hanging on to that “JUNK.”
Dump it. Be proactive! Give it UP! (literally!) Do not allow it to tear you up! Do not allow it to “well up” inside of you. Do not seek vengeance. Do not walk down that road called HATRED. DESPISE NO ONE!
We are to LET GO of feelings of RESENTMENT, RAGE, WRATH, REVENGE, RETALIATION and RETRIBUTION when we are hurt by another.
SHOULD YOU hang on to it – it will only mess you up. It will “eat away at you” from the inside. It is capable of great destruction.
FORGIVENESS does not seem to come naturally, to any of us. It is NOT the first thing that comes to mind. Getting EVEN does! HURTING BACK does.
Forgiveness needs to be a CONSCIOUS effort.
NO ONE likes being filled with RAGE!
HATRED looks good on NO ONE! Heck, anger looks good on no one…CHANGE THAT WARDROBE! Get rid of those old stinkin’ clothes…
And, of course, this whole discussion is AMPLIFIED by none-other than Peter. Peter actually thinks and believes that he is being BEYOND TRULY GENEROUS by suggesting forgiving someone SEVEN TIMES!
But Jesus has “some bigger fish to fry.” You see, there was actually a so-called LAW OF REVENGE.
It comes from the Book of Genesis. Remember the story of Cain and Abel? Cain, a farmer, became ENRAGED when the GOD accepted “the offering” of his brother Abel, a shepherd, in preference to that of HIS OWN. It is a story of envy, jealousy, hatred, and sibling rivalry.
So, Cain killed Abel. You do realize, this is only the fourth chapter of the Bible and already we are dealing with killing and murder and mayhem!
Genesis chapter 4 says, “God punished Cain to a life of wandering.” And the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain shall suffer sevenfold vengeance.” And the Lord set a mark upon Cain so that whoever found him would not slay him.”
And Lamech, a SIXTH generation DESCENDENT of Cain also SLEW or SLAYED a man and as a result said,
“I have killed a man for “wounding me,” a young man for “striking me.” If Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold.’
Lamech just so happened to be the first RECORDED polygamist in the BIBLE. Even his name is thought to mean “TO MAKE LOW.”
This became known as the “LAW of REVENGE.”
Now we know – that the number – “seventy times seven,” represents INFINITY, LIMITLESS, it is an UNFATHOMABLE number. It is simple Middle Eastern-Oriental exaggeration. A number too big for ANYONE to even imagine.
Jesus obviously was looking at “reversing all revenge,” all hatred, all wrath, all retaliation, all resentment, and all retribution. WHEN IS ENOUGH — enough? When and where does it all end?
The higher path, the more “righteous way” is to forgive. TO LET GO…
Luke’s Gospel will change this ever so slightly but will add, “YOU MUST FORGIVE.” It becomes an imperative. YOU MUST! (period)
And so, to BRING IT ALL HOME…Jesus tells a profound parable about “infinite forgiveness and grace.”
Even the extremities of debt (in the parable) are “infinite,” “staggering” and “unfathomable.” It is another ARAMAIC overstatement or exaggeration, intentionally and on purpose.
And of course, the key line is the last, “So also will my heavenly father do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your sister/brother from the heart!”
God’s forgiveness is so infinitely and unfathomably great – that such forgiveness SHOULD inspire us to forgive the people who hurt US in this life.
God’s forgiveness is overwhelmingly abundant and there is no way a human mind can comprehend the magnitude of God’s forgiveness. God persistently forgives US for our TEMPER TANTRUMS, our IRRITABILITY, our loss of TEMPER, our RAGE, our THEFTS, our RAPE, our MURDER, our INCEST, our APATHY, our SELFISHNESS, our SUICIDES.
The list of our sins goes on and on and God repeatedly forgives us for our sins. There is NO BOTTOM to the well of God’s forgiveness.
For some of us, the TIME TO FINALLY LET GO, is now.
Be like Jesus. 😉
Amen.