A huge debt forgiven

There was once a king whose kingdom was divided up into provinces.  Over each of these provinces he had appointed a governor whose duty was to see that the people paid the taxes and that the money so collected went into the king’s treasury.  One day the king examined the provincial accounts and discovered that a certain governor was short of a huge sum of money – 10,000 talents.  (A labourer would have to work for more than 15 years to earn just one talent). (1)  The governor had evidently been helping himself to the taxes and had spent the money wildly.  So the unhappy man was brought before the king who ordered him to be sold, and his wife and children, and all his property.  It was impossible for the governor ever to pay all he owed: all he could do was to throw himself on the king’s mercy.  So he fell at the king’s feet and asked the king to give him time to pay: “Give me time and I will pay the whole sum”.  Whereupon the king did much more than give him time to pay; he cancelled the whole enormous debt and set the man free (Jerusalem Bible, Matthew 18: 23-27).

Failure to forgive

As the governor went joyfully down the palace steps he came across a man from his province who happened to owe him 100 denarii.  (One denarius was the usual daily wage for a labourer). (2)  The governor seized the poor man by the throat and said, “Pay what you owe me”.  The man fell at his feet and begged for time to pay in the same words the governor himself had been using only a few minutes before: “Give me time and I will pay you” (Jerusalem Bible, Matthew 18:28,29).  But the governor refused and threw him into prison until the money should be paid.

It was not long before the king was told of what had happened, and he lost no time in sending for the governor.  “You wicked servant”, said the king in great anger, “I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me.  Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?” (Jerusalem Bible, Matthew 18:32,33).  And the king handed him over to be tortured in case he had any money hidden away, and to be kept in prison until he had paid all he owed.  And Jesus ended the parable by saying, “And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart” (Jerusalem Bible, Matthew 18:35).  Notice those last words, from your heart.

Importance of forgiving others

Jesus was very insistent that our forgiveness by God depends on our forgiveness of others.  Not only did he put this clause in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us”, but after he had taught this prayer he added, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (NRSV, Matthew 6.14-15).  The reason why we cannot be forgiven if we ourselves are unforgiving, is that an unforgiving spirit is sinful and separates us from God.