Sunday 10:09:11

Matthew 18:21-35 v. 21-22 – Peter must have felt that to forgive someone 7 times was extremely gracious. v. 23 – A king settling accounts – God v. 24 – “ten thousand talents” millions of dollars. How bad was your sin? How big was the debt that had to be paid for your sin? The size of your sin debt was horrendous and totally beyond your ability to pay. To understand the size of your sin debt, look at Jesus’ suffering on the cross. v. 25 – sold to repay the debt – not an uncommon practice – people and their families could be sold into slavery until a debt was repaid. We were sold as a slave to sin. v. 26 – What did the servant have to pay off his master? Nothing. He resorted to pleading for his life. v. 27 – Out of pity – He canceled his debt and let him go. Jesus’ answer reveals that Peter completely missed it. Jesus was not only telling about how we need to forgive each other, but also in this parable tells about his own work on the cross – that through Jesus’ sacrifice, sinners are forgiven completely. In the OT, sins were covered over, but in the gospel, sin and guilt are completely removed. Jesus’ sacrifice is that it brought complete forgiveness. This was radically different from the OT sacrificial system. This was separation of sin from sinner. This was the guilty suddenly being proclaimed not just innocent, but righteous. By the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God forgave you – completely. v. 28 – the forgiven servant finds a guy that owes him a few bucks and demands that his debt be paid. Millions of dollars are owed to the king, but only a few bucks are owed to another servant. Why the contrast? Every sin you committed is a sin against God. Psalm 51:3-5 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Sin is not serious just because it’s wrong. Sin is serious because of whom you have sinned against. Sin is serious because you have sinned against a ferociously holy God. People in His presence cower in his sight because they were terrified of his holiness. He is so completely different from us in this. He is fearsome in holiness. And you and I sinned against him. v. 29-30 – You and I read this and know this isn’t right. This isn’t just. When you realize how much you’ve been forgiven, you realize how ridiculous it is to hold onto unforgiveness. When you realize the terrible cost that Jesus paid for your forgiveness, you realize how much you need to forgive. You can only begin to forgive others by experiencing forgiveness yourself. Are you holding onto unforgiveness in your heart? • Are you waiting for someone to come say the words, “I’m sorry” or say it like they mean it. • Are there people from your past you cannot think about without getting angry? • Are you having conversations in your head with people? Are you thinking, “I wish I would have said…” or “the next time I see them, I’m gonna say…” In his book. Lee: The Last Years, Charles Bracelen Flood reports that after the Civil War, Robert E. Lee visited a Kentucky lady who took him to the remains of a grand old tree in front of her house. There she bitterly cried that its limbs and trunk had been destroyed by Federal artillery fire. She looked to Lee for a word condemning the North or at least sympathizing with her loss. After a brief silence, Lee said, "Cut it down, Madam, and forget it." It is better to forgive the injustices of the past than to allow them to remain, let bitterness take root and poison the rest of our life. When you’re having trouble forgiving, there can be a few things going on: • You simply are not spending time with the Lord and in His Word and have forgotten the great work of love that Jesus died to bring you complete forgiveness. Don’t make little of Jesus’ great sacrifice because you forgot the price that was paid for you. (It is a dangerous thing to make light of the Jesus’ suffering and death.) • You don’t understand the gospel – you think you’ve earned God’s forgiveness by being an exceptionally good person – better than all the other sinners. Luke 7:41-47 He Who Is Forgiven Much Loves Much