Unli Serving Of Forgiveness

𝐀𝐔𝐆. 𝟏𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓. 𝐌𝐀𝐗𝐈𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐊𝐎𝐋𝐁𝐄, 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐉𝐨𝐬 𝟑:𝟕-𝟏𝟏𝟏, 𝟏𝟑-𝟏𝟕 

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟏𝟒: 𝟏-𝟔 “𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐥𝐮𝐢𝐚!”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐭 𝟏𝟖:𝟐𝟏-𝟏𝟗:𝟏

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑵𝒐, 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒅, 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏!” (𝒗.22)

         There’s a saying that I’m sure everyone is familiar with. It says: “To err is human. To forgive is divine!” I’m sure you are all familiar with that and it may not have been taken out of the Scripture but it certainly has some Biblical foundation for while man indeed is sinful, the reality is that God’s forgiveness is greater than all our iniquities and transgressions.

         But while God is so generous with his forgiveness, there are some of us who will stick to our own set of beliefs saying: “𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦.” I too held on to this bondage of unforgiveness that I withheld towards two of my former business associates who swindled me of a large amount of money.

         There wasn’t a moment when I wasn’t thinking of how to get back at them and it really made my life miserable. But God works in mysterious ways and God led me to forgive my two partners and all those vengeful thoughts just vanished and was erased from my mind. Now I still talk to my former partners as if nothing happened. The only thing that changed was that we never went into business again.

         But who on earth doesn’t have a debt? Being in debt is not just about money we owe but even favors we may have asked of others. And those who are in the world look at favors as a debt that must be repaid. And many times, relationships go sour when favors are not reciprocated.

         Spousal and family relationships, friendships, ministries, congregations, offices within the church or community, and even civilian governments and organizations have been ruined and shattered by divisions. We are no stranger to such divisions no matter how petty these may seem. We see this everyday especially in our current political situation where we lie witness to deep-seated political conflicts. The culprit? Hurts, ill-feelings and recriminations that we harbor toward another lead to unforgiveness, bitterness and resentment.

         The tragedy of life is that many among us miss living the kind of a fulfilled and abundant life that God has reserved for us (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟎:𝟏𝟎) because we allowed the spirit of unforgiveness to take root in our lives. And it becomes a sin when we withhold our forgiveness to those who may have hurt us because unforgiveness stems from pride which is a sin that disfigures the godly nature that is in us.

         When God forgives, so should man. This is the law that Jesus brought to the attention of his disciples as a response to a question from Peter who asked how often we should forgive a brother who has sinned against us. In this passage we see Jesus going against the existing traditional currents of his time to reorient their concept of forgiveness.

         We also see here the familiarity in the way Peter related to Jesus. Known for being hasty and impulsive, Peter asked Jesus a question but with his misdemeanor he also impishly provided the answer that he knew was beyond what the Jewish law on forgiveness provides. It was the existing law at the time that a man can forgive another only up to three times and the fourth infraction committed by a man against another will be left for God to decide.

         And Peter thought he was already being generous when he suggested seven times and he and the other disciples must have dropped on their seats when Jesus surprised them by saying 𝒗.22 “𝑰 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏.”

         In saying this, Jesus laid down the parameters of right Christian conduct in which we are to forgive one another as God has forgiven us which Paul would later write in his letter to the 𝑬𝒑𝒉 4:32 “𝑩𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”        

        To illustrate his principle of never-ending forgiveness, Jesus narrated this parable which was about a servant who could not pay his master the sum of 10,000 talents representing his debts but for which he was forgiven. But then this servant also lent a hundred denarii to another servant whom he sent to jail for his failure to pay him.

         Biblical scholars placed the equivalent of 1 talent in current value to around $1,000 while the 100 denarii will not be worth more than $18 at an exchange rate of 1 denarii is to $0.18. So if we are to use this computation, the first servant owed his master at least $10-Million while the debt he tried to collect from the other servant was a mere $18.00.

         With this illustrated contrast in the enormity of the debt of the first servant as against the minuscule amount of the other debt, the disciples understood the message that was being driven by Jesus – that God will not tire in dispensing his forgiveness to everyone and so we too must forgive one another tirelessly.

         Because God has forgiven us of all our sins, so we too are being commanded not to withhold our forgiveness for those who may have wronged us. This may be easier said than done because this is what divides a Community, Ministry and or the Church for that matter.

         The negative impact of unforgiveness is now being recognized even in the medical profession which has found some evidence that recognize the relationship between stress on the soul and its impact on the back, the link between worry and ulcers and, on distress and migraines.

         Some medical practitioners claim that our souls are weakened by negative emotions. They even suggest that unless we turn over these negative emotions to God these will be absorbed by our bodies. And Paul warns us to dispossess ourselves of all kinds of sin and negative emotions that can destroy our relationships with others and even our physical well-being. In his letter to the 𝑪𝒐𝒍 3:5, 𝑷𝒂𝒖𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔: “𝑷𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆: 𝒔𝒆𝒙𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒕, 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅...𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓, 𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆, 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒈𝒆.”

         And Jesus himself may have given a hint as to the relationship between sin and sickness when he told the paralyzed man who was able to walk in 𝑱𝒏 5:14 “𝑺𝒆𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”             As we go through life this Ordinary Times, it will do us a lot of good if we will reflect on this Gospel narrative and examine the areas of our lives we need to contend with and recall all the teachings of Christ when we went through Lent and Easter Seasons a few months back. We can begin by asking ourselves if we have forgiven all who may have hurt us? Are we so consumed by our pride that we continue to withhold our forgiveness to those who wronged us?

         To forgive means to wish those who offended us well and not harm. It doesn’t mean that we will no longer hold them responsible for what they did. What it means is that we will turn them over to a just and loving God rather than attempting to get even with them ourselves. Thus, to exact vengeance is not in our job description as Christians.

         What Jesus is clearly telling us in the Gospel is that both the divine and human forgiveness go together. It cannot be either or. This is also why we need to seek and remain in the light of Christ for it is through his light that we can learn to forgive which is the food for the soul.

         Keep it mind also that this has nothing to do with salvation. It is a matter of forgiving one another among siblings in Christ – not between God and the sinner. So, we are not to read this Gospel passage as an eternal judgment because God will definitely deal with a believer who harbors an unforgiving spirit.

         One very particular evidence that a person is saved is love for others (𝟏 𝐉𝐧 𝟑:𝟏𝟎-𝟏𝟕). Christians who cannot forgive others have forgotten what Christ has done for them on the cross. We the church must be aware of “𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔” (1 𝑪𝒐𝒓 5:6-8) that will silently grow and corrupt the entire fellowship of God.

         It cost God his very own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to ransom us with the price of his blood. Jesus paid the price for us and won for us pardon for our sins and freedom from slavery to our unruly desires and sinful habits. God in his mercy offers us the grace and help of his Holy Spirit so we can love as he loves, pardon as he pardons, and treat others with the same mercy and kindness which he has shown to us.

        God has made his peace with us. Have you made your peace with God? If you believe and accept God's love and pardon for you, then you likewise must choose to be merciful towards those who are in debt to you. Are you ready to forgive and to make peace with your neighbor as God has made peace with you?

        The Apostle Paul tells us that "𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅" (𝑹𝒐𝒎 6:23). There is no way we could repay God the debt we owed him because of our sins and offenses. Only his mercy and pardon could free us from such a debt.

         Hence, there is no offense our neighbor can do to us that can compare with our debt to God. If God has forgiven each of us our debt, we too must forgive others whatever debt they may owe us. To forgive is to make peace with your neighbor as God has made peace with you. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘈𝘶𝘨. 14, 2025)