Read Matthew 18. (Click here for more information about this devotional.)
For many students of the Bible, the words “Matthew eighteen” are synonymous with the words “church discipline.” This is, of course, because of Jesus’ extended teaching in verses 15-19 about how to respond to “a brother who sins against you” (v. 15). Although Jesus’ teaching on this subject ends negatively, with the person under discipline being treated “as you would a pagan or a tax collector” (v. 17), negativity is not the thrust of the passage. In other words, the process Jesus describes in this passage, which we call church disciple, is not intended to inflict pain or to punish the sinning believer. In verse 15, Jesus said, “If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.” That phrase applies to every step of the disciplinary process. The reason Christ told us to confront other believers who have sinned is so that the person who sinned can be restored to obedience. The goal is restoration; in other words, church discipline is part of the discipleship process. It is one of the ways God takes us from justified, but sinful to justified and holy.
Unfortunately, sometimes the injured party—the one who was sinned against—can have a difficult time forgiving the sinner when he or she repents. Jesus recognized this tendency in us and gave a parable about it in verses 21-35.
This parable of Jesus answers Peter’s question, “How many time shall I forgive my brother…” (v. 21)? Jesus answered the question directly in verse 22—seventy-seven times, which is a concrete way of saying that you shouldn’t keep track and you should never withhold forgiveness, no matter how egregious or frequent the offense.
This is difficult to accept. When someone sins against us, our personal sense of justice is smacked. We want that person punished, in part because we are sinful (therefore, unforgiving) and in part because we possess an innate sense of justice—created in us by a just and holy God—which is outraged the idea of unpunished sin. Jesus therefore told a parable to explain why we should be so extraordinarily generous when forgiving each other.
The major theme of the parable (vv. 23-34) is that a king generously forgave a servant who was then stingy about forgiving someone else. The amount of money forgiven by the king was staggering (v. 24); the amount demanded by the servant was paltry (v. 28). Jesus said that “the kingdom of heaven” is like the response of the king to the unforgiving servant. In verse 34, the king sent the unforgiving servant to jail until he was able to pay back what he owed the king, something he would never be able to do. How exactly is this like the kingdom of heaven? Jesus answered that in verse 33: “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
Given the NT’s teaching on grace and on security, these words of Jesus are stunning. It sounds like Jesus is saying that God will revoke the forgiveness we have in Christ (i.e. take away our salvation) if we are unforgiving toward others. But that interpretation misses the original answer of Jesus to Peter’s question. Read verses 21-22 again. Consider: Jesus commands Peter and us to be generous with forgiveness because God, like the king in the story, has forgiven us far more. Nobody could ever sin against you as often or as brutally as you and I have sinned against God. If we are stingy with forgiveness, then, Jesus says we are demonstrating a heart that has not really comprehended the magnitude of God’s forgiveness to us.
The Bible teaches that God saves us by giving us something we cannot deserve or earn. We are not saved by doing human works, nor do we retain our salvation by doing human works. But the same gospel that saves us also changes us fundamentally within. When we fail to show forgiveness to others, we are demonstrating to everyone that we have not truly experienced God’s forgiveness toward us. Thus, the warning Jesus closes with in verse 33 is a warning about the authenticity of our salvation. When we have truly experienced God’s forgiveness for our sins, we become forgiving ourselves. We begin to reflect God’s behavior toward us in our behavior toward each other.
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