Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35

What Does the Text Say about Forgiveness ?

It’s a grim scenario for one who refuses to forgive. Even Jesus said “Father Forgive them”

1. The text tells us How often one should forgive

* Peter had it all figured out 21 Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church* sins against me, how often should I forgive?

* Peter wanted to know How often should I forgive ? As many as seven times?’ 22Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven* times.

* How often should one forgive?" Many commentaries point out that Judaism of the first century taught that one should forgive another person one, two or three times, but probably not four times. In short, there was a limit to the requirement for forgiveness.

* Jesus responds by basically says forgiveness should be unlimited

2. Forgiveness should be Given

* Forgiveness is given if asked for, no matter how often one is sinned against and no matter how large the debt.

* In verse 35, the reader is also reminded that true forgiveness is from the heart.

* Jesus demands Forgiveness Jesus demands that we forgive other people, based on the fact that we have all been forgiven. He insists that we make the choice to forgive, day after day, and turn it into a process that makes us stronger and stronger.

3. The Greek word properly translated "forgive"

* To Forgive in the NT means "to send off," I am sending you on your way your forgiven

* To Forgive means to “hurl," Jesus includes our love of hurling by saying we have a duty to toss aside offenses.

* To Forgive means to “release," one can escape from this confinement one can be set free

* To Forgive means “to let go." Don’t hold on to hatred, grudges, been done wrong let it go.

* Therefore, to forgive is to hold no idea of revenge Jesus says to do it endlessly.

* The folks in first century this was not what one should do but you’re suppose to eye for eye tooth for tooth.

4. In conclusion Forgiveness is throwing

* We like to throw things. We skip stones across a lake. We throw baseballs and footballs. We throw javelins and spears. We toss logs in lumberjack contests. We love to toss, throw and hurl things.

* Jesus is saying we have a duty to toss aside offenses. To understand what it means to forgive, we should think of forgiveness as that moment in which we throw off our injuries, or that process by which we shed the offenses against us. And the farther we can toss this stuff, the better.

* Forgiveness is unlimited, forgiveness should be given, forgiveness is to send off, it is to hurl, it is to release, to let go, it is to toss off.

* How much one should be willing to forgive.

* One must be willing, if asked, to forgive even the unforgivable, unpayable debt, because such is the mercy of God. Only God can do the unimaginable. Jesus concludes his teaching, stressing that one must forgive from the heart in the same way that one must love God with one's whole heart. Divine mercy and the inconceivable forgiveness of God cannot be fathomed — only felt, lived, believed and comprehended in the doing.

* Jesus shows us the example of forgiveness: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” I believe this is the single most powerful prayer that has ever been prayed!”