“Forgiveness”
September 13, 2026
Rev. Rebecca Migliore
Here we are, back in the sanctuary, back to our fall routines, and continuing to read through Matthew’s account of what Jesus had to tell us. Let’s just remind ourselves about the gospel of Matthew. It is listed first in the New Testament, partially because the early church fathers believed it was the oldest (although we now believe that honor goes to the shorter gospel Mark). It may also have been seen as a good bridge from the Jewish Scriptures to the “new” ones. The gospel according to Matthew begins with a genealogy which links Jesus to David and even Abraham. And we believe that this gospel was written with a largely Jewish audience in mind (considering how many times Matthew uses quotes from the Jewish Scriptures to show that Jesus fulfilled their prophecies).
Today we read one of Jesus’ parables, often labeled the “parable of the unforgiving servant.” In the verses that come before, Jesus has been telling them “who the greatest is” by placing a child in their midst. He models God’s love in the parable of the lost sheep. And he sets a model for how to deal with confrontation, with being wronged, within the church. So, it is totally understandable that Peter (who is often standing in our stead), wants to know what the boundaries are of this forgiving one another. “How often should I forgive?” And, of course, we all have been there. If someone (in biblical terms) sins against you once, okay, you forgive them. But what if they do it again, and again, and again. Isn’t there a limit to all this forgiveness? Or as Peter puts it: As many as seven times?
Seven times seems like a lot. By the time someone has sinned against you seven times, it seems more like a deliberative act—something that one should not stand for, because if you do, you might begin to look weak. Surely Jesus wouldn’t think that we had to forgive SEVEN times! And what does Jesus say? No, not seven times (I can see Peter grinning to the others, “see” good thing I got Jesus on the record), and then comes “I tell you, seventy-seven times (or depending on the translation seventy times seven)!” Basically, an astronomically big amount—so you might as well have said Jesus, “every single time.”
We can imagine the shock and dismay of the disciples. It is not recorded in Matthew’s gospel but the fact that Jesus then has to lead them to understanding why this was by a parable is a good clue that they were not happy. It isn’t as if this was the first time that forgiveness had come up in Jesus’ discussion of the new world that they were stepping into, this thing that he terms the kin[g]dom of heaven. From the very first sermon we hear about (what we call the sermon on the mount) Jesus is talking about forgiveness. He even includes it in the prayer that he teaches them: Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
Let’s just take a moment to talk about that. We say those words so often that maybe we don’t hear them. In some ways it really isn’t a good translation of what Jesus means. We don’t want God to forgive us like we forgive others (because frankly we wouldn’t come out very well in that instance). Jesus is trying to get us to see (as he then illustrates in the parable), that because God has graciously forgiven our debts, erased our sins, SO we should act likewise and forgive those who have wronged us. Maybe it would be better phrased: Help us to forgive our debtors because we know you have forgiveness us so much.
And in case we think that Jesus thought up this financial language—listen to these words of Jewish sage Ben Sira who predates Jesus. “The vengeful will face the Lord’s vengeance, for he keeps a strict account of their sins. Forgive your neighbor the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray. Does anyone harbor anger against another and expect healing from the Lord? If people have no mercy toward those like themselves, can they then seek pardon for their own sins? (Sirach 28:1–4). [from Nicholas J Schaser’s commentary on workingpreacher.com]
This is exactly the set-up of the parable for today. The king is settling accounts. And one of his slaves owes him 10,000 talents (I won’t try to do the math—this is an unimaginable sum—so large that NO ONE would be able to pay it back in any amount of lifetimes). And the king threatens to sell the man and all he owns (his wife, his children, his stuff). The slave begs for another chance. And the king does better than that—the king forgives the debt, wipes it clean.
It is as if it was the Jubilee Year (an image in the Jewish mind reminding all about the coming of the Reign of God). So far this is just a feel-good story, a great PR story, for the king.
But then, this same guy runs into someone who owes him a fraction of what he owed the king—100 denarii (which might be payable since it was about 100 days work—still not an insignificant amount for the person paying it off). The second man begs for more time. Our first guy, the one whose debts have all been forgiven, says, “No way, time’s up. You shall be thrown into prison until you can pay” (Did you ever understand the stupidity of this? How are you going to pay if you are in prison?)
Others who knew the whole story went and told the king what had happened. First guy gets pulled back in front of the king who can’t believe that after being forgiven all he couldn’t find it in himself to have mercy on another! So, the king throws him into prison where he will be tortured until he can pay the debt. (Notice how it gets more and more ridiculous and vengeful! And yet, humans have somehow behaved this way toward each other.) And Jesus ends his parable with “So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Was Jesus serious? Did he really want us to believe that God was going to punish us with torture if we didn’t have the largesse that God expects of us? I have to believe no, Jesus was pressing his point. He wanted us to remember that that could be the way God works if God forgave us the way that we forgive others. But that isn’t the model for the kin[g]dom of heaven. How do I know that? Because of Jesus’ answer to Peter. How many times are we to forgive? As much as seven times? No, we are to forgive seventy-seven, or seventy times seven, or every single time. Why? Because God has already forgiven us—the kin[g]dom of heaven is a place where it is on earth as it is in heaven. And God has wiped out our debt, our wrongs, our sin, not just once, but every day, every time.
I know someone is going to query, but what about justice? How does justice get done if we just forgive and forgive and forgive. (And by the way, this forgiveness is for a financial debt, not something like being abused by a spouse, or being abused in any way.
In fact, it is only when the forgiven guy throws another into prison that there is “justice” meted out by the king). Maybe that is why there isn’t a kumbaya moment at the end of the story, because we can’t forget about the justice component of God’s being. How that all gets worked out is way above our pay grade.
So what can we take away from this reading? Well, I think we can say that forgiveness is an important metric of the kin[g]dom of heaven. This life that we are trying to live, this place we are attempting to help build, this way of following Jesus has something to do with how we treat one another, and that something has to do with forgiveness. And what we learn about forgiveness is that it is something that God has already done for us, more than seventy times seven, more than we can ever know. It is part of who God is. A merciful God. A forgiving God. And we are created in the image of God. We are called to live as much as we can in that image, and that means learning to forgive others because we know have already been forgiven.
From this parable and from many others that Jesus tells we learn that the kin[g]dom of heaven, the reign of God, that is coming near through what Jesus is creating, has these two poles: justice and mercy. They are not anything new. We see them in Micah’s famous words, “What does the Lord require of us? But to do justice and love mercy, and walk humbly with God.” It isn’t easy to hold onto these two things (for sometimes they seem on opposite sides). As Rev. Matthew Boulton says, “If mercy without accountability (without justice) is unacceptable, accountability without mercy makes for a grim reign indeed: as Gandhi put it, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” The trick is to hold up both justice and mercy in our communal lives — with mercy always having the last word.”
So today, let us remember—“How many times?” “Seventy times seventy times seven.” Today, let us remember, that we are the ones forgiven all, by the One in heaven. We are the ones who have been given a new chance, a new start. We are the ones who have shouted Alleluia, Amen at this incredible gift. And so, because of all that, we can be changed. Because of all that, we can try to live in harmony with who we are called to be. Because of all that, we too can try, and try, and try, to forgive, to live in mercy and with justice.
To walk the life we claim we believe in.
Is it easy? No. That’s why Jesus tells us these stories again and again and again. Will we do it perfectly? No. That’s why it’s important to share our struggles and our victories with each other (and to remember that we come from a long line of disciples who were just as baffled and imperfect as we are). But we can lift up praise to the One who has shown us a glimpse of the true kin[g]dom of heaven. A place of amazing forgiveness and love and grace.
May we be surrounded by and live in it always. Alleluia, Amen.