Forgiveness is one of the most beautiful teachings of Jesus. It is also one of the hardest. Some of us walked in today carrying wounds that are fresh.
Others are carrying hurts that are decades old. Maybe someone lied about you, maybe someone betrayed your trust, maybe your family fractured. Maybe someone who should have protected you instead wounded you. The question isn’t whether forgiveness is difficult.
The question is whether followers of Jesus can afford not to forgive.
Jesus teaches us to pray:
“Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.”
Matthew 6:12 (NLT)
That single line is so important that Jesus spends an entire parable explaining it.
Let’s read it:
Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”
22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!
23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.[k] 25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.
26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.
28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars.[l] He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.
31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.
35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters[m] from your heart.”
Matthew 18:21-35 NLT
Peter asks what most of us would ask; Peter probably thought he was being generous.
The rabbis often taught that forgiving someone three times was enough. Peter doubles it and adds one. Jesus shocks everyone. Jesus isn’t giving us a calculator.
He’s describing a lifestyle. A life marked by forgiveness.
Let’s work our way through this parable and learn the power of being forgiven and learning to forgive.
The story begins with a king settling accounts. One servant is brought before him.
His debt? Ten thousand talents; to us that’s just a number.
To Jesus’ audience it was laughably impossible.
Ten thousand was the largest Greek number commonly used.
A talent was the largest unit of money.
Jesus deliberately combines the largest number with the largest currency to create an unimaginable debt.
Scholars estimate it would take a day labourer around 60 million working days to repay.
Even if someone could somehow repay ten talents every year, it would still take around 1,000 years.
Jesus is saying: This debt can never be repaid.
The servant falls before the king.
“Please be patient with me, and I’ll pay it back.”
It’s almost humorous. He couldn’t. He never would.
But the king does something unexpected. He doesn’t create a payment plan.
He doesn’t reduce the debt; He cancels it completely. He releases the servant.
The Greek word Jesus uses for forgiveness is: ἀφίημι (aphiēmi)
It means:
to let go
to release
to send away
to cancel a debt
This servant is every one of us.
“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.”
Romans 3:23-24 NLT
We owed a debt we could never pay. Our sin wasn’t a few mistakes.
It was an impossible debt before a holy God.
Think about the cross. Every lie. Every selfish thought. Every hidden sin.
Every failure. Every shameful moment.
Placed upon Jesus.
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
Psalm 103:12
It is infinite separation.
“I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.”
Isaiah 44:22 NLT
Corrie Ten Boom used to smile and say,
“And God puts up a sign that says: ‘No Fishing.’”
He doesn’t keep dragging up what He’s already forgiven.
Neither should we. Everything begins here.
The forgiven servant walks away free. Imagine his joy. Imagine the relief.
But then,
He immediately finds another servant who owes him one hundred denarii.
Now don’t misunderstand. One hundred denarii wasn’t nothing. It was about one hundred days’ wages.
That’s significant.
Real wounds are real.
Real betrayal is real.
Real abuse is real.
Real injustice is real.
But compared to what God has forgiven us, that debt is tiny.
About one six-hundred-thousandth of the first debt.
The second servant says exactly the same words.
“Please be patient.”
But instead of mercy, he grabs him by the throat and throws him into prison. The forgiven becomes unforgiving.
How?
Because he received forgiveness but it never transformed his heart.
Mercy received should always become mercy given.
Paul says it this way:
“Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”
Ephesians 4:32 NLT
Notice the order.
Not: Forgive so God will forgive you.
But: Because God has forgiven you forgive others.
Every time we refuse to forgive we disconnect ourselves from the very grace we’ve celebrated.
Jesus isn’t saying forgiveness is easy.
He’s saying forgiveness is evidence that grace has truly reached our hearts.
One detail often gets overlooked is that the other servants watched. They were grieved. Unforgiveness never stays private.
Bitterness spreads. Families feel it. Churches feel it. Children inherit it. Friendships suffer. Marriages slowly deteriorate. Sin always has a ripple effect.
We think we’re only hurting the person who hurt us. Often we’re hurting everyone around us.
The king hears what happened. He calls the servant back.
“Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’”
Matthew 18:33 NLT
Then Jesus ends with one of His strongest warnings. The servant is handed over to prison.
Jesus concludes,
“That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”
Matthew 18:35 NLT
What is Jesus teaching?
Not that believers lose salvation every time forgiveness is a struggle.
Jesus is speaking about the serious spiritual consequences of a settled, persistent posture of refusing to forgive. A heart that clings to bitterness places itself under God’s loving discipline and experiences a brokenness in fellowship with Him.
Notice the prison.
Many people think they’re imprisoning someone else through unforgiveness.
But the prisoner is usually themselves.
Corrie Ten Boom famously said,
“Forgiveness is setting the prisoner free, only to find out the prisoner was me.”
Some people have been living in emotional prison for years.
Replaying conversations. Rehearsing offences. Keeping score.
Waiting for an apology that may never come.
Meanwhile the offender may have moved on.
But bitterness has chained the offended.
Paul writes:
“And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”
Ephesians 4:30-32 NLT
Bitterness doesn’t punish yesterday. It poisons today.
Unforgiveness steals joy. Steals peace. Steals worship.
Steals intimacy with God.
Galatians reminds us:
“Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.”
Galatians 6:7 NLT
We may fool others. We never fool God.
God sees the hidden bitterness we carefully disguise behind polite smiles.
Before we finish, it’s important to be clear.
Forgiveness is not saying the wrong didn’t matter.
Forgiveness is not pretending justice doesn’t exist.
Forgiveness is not immediate trust.
Forgiveness is not allowing ongoing abuse.
Forgiveness is not always reconciliation. Reconciliation requires repentance and rebuilt trust, while forgiveness is something one person can choose before God, even if the relationship cannot be restored.
Forgiveness is releasing the debt into God’s hands.
It is saying, “I will no longer demand payment from you.
I entrust justice to God.”
“Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.”
Romans 12:19-21 NLT
God is a far better judge than we are.
So let me ask two questions:
Have you received God’s forgiveness?
Perhaps today you’ve spent your whole life trying to repay a debt you never could.
Religion says:
Try harder.
The Gospel says:
Jesus already paid.
Today you can walk away free. Not because you’re good enough.
Because Jesus is.
Who do you need to forgive?
Not because they deserve it. Because Christ forgave you.
Maybe it’s a parent. A spouse. A former friend. A church leader. A business partner.
Someone who betrayed your trust. Someone who never apologised.
Today Jesus invites you to release the debt.
The Greek word is aphiēmi.
To let go. To release. To send away.
Forgiveness doesn’t always happen in a moment.
Sometimes it is a decision you make again and again until your heart catches up.
But freedom begins with that decision.
So in conclusion:
Jesus teaches us to pray:
“Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.”
Every time we pray those words we are reminded of two realities:
Imagine what would happen if our church became known not for keeping records of wrongs, but for extending grace. Imagine marriages healed, families restored, friendships renewed, and hearts set free because God’s people chose the way of Jesus.
The cross has already declared that mercy triumphs over our debt.
So today, don’t leave carrying what Jesus is asking you to release.
Receive His forgiveness. Extend His forgiveness.
And discover the freedom that only forgiven people can know.
This is a very full-on topic, but it is one of the clearest teachings of Jesus and the mark of His life, and as his followers, we must, with the help of Jesus, make it the mark of our lives too.
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(No guarantee that I know the answer)
Have a good week 🤝🏻
John.
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