Matthew 18:21-35 (NRSV Updated Edition)
Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if my brother or sister sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy times seven[1] times.
“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him, and, as he could not pay, the lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him by the throat he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
[1] The NRSV has "seventy-seven" in the text, and "seventy times seven" in a footnote. I have reversed this, as I tend to agree with those who see this as a reference back to, and subverting of, Lamech's declaration, “If Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold.” (Genesis 4:24).
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Matthew 5:25-27 (NRSV Updated Edition)
Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
Matthew 6:14-15 (NRSV Updated Edition)
“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
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The latter two passages (from Matt. 5 and 6) are not from this week's lectionary, I have added them to reinforce just how seriously the author of Matthew's Gospel takes the problem of unforgiveness, as the Matthew 18 passage clearly presents. But why so extreme, to the level of suggesting that "the heavenly Father" will not forgive the non-forgiver but hand the non-forgiver over to torturers?
This question relates, I think, to other passages and parables which refer to exclusion (eg. The Parable of the Wedding Banquet in Matthew 22. And it is a question all human communities need to deal with at some time: what to do with people who themselves are rejecting, excluding - in short not forgiving - others in the community? And I think what it comes down to is accepting the reality that, even though they seem to want to be part of the community, they are in real way excluding themselves from it by not accepting others. They are essentially elevating themselves, self-appointing themselves as judge over others. And this, if it is allowed to continue, is death for the community.
The other aspect of unforgiveness, as others have clearly articulated (eg. Rob Bell in his 'forgiveness' series on the Robcast podcast), is that it imprisons the non-forgiver far more than the one who they will not forgive. So, I think, in a real way, the "torture" suggested in Matthew 18 is far more a consequence of the person's unforgiveness, rather than an external force applied to them. The unforgiving servant's actions towards his fellow servant clearly shows that he was still locked in the 'debt-prison' mentality. All that happens then is that the truth of this is revealed, and he ends up with physical conditions matching his psychological and spiritual condition, which hadn't yet grasped the reality of the grace which had been extended to him.
One of the most difficult aspects of this topic is, of course, the danger of turning forgiveness into a stick in which to beat the victim, adding further pain to what they have already suffered. The parable in Matthew 18 clearly does not present this case, as the 'non-forgiver' was not in any real way a victim of injustice, in fact he had been forgiven a debt of staggering value (10,000 talents equates to around 300,000 kg of gold). For a real victim, and there are far too many as we are all too aware, what is needed is compassion, understanding, acceptance and love, not scepticism about their experience or injunctions to forgive the perpetrator. At the same time, I think followers of Jesus should not encourage unforgiveness in any way, but pray for the eventual 'release' of the victim into renewed wholeness and freedom.
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"Now please notice that the key figure in this is the second servant - the second servant is the equivalent of the servant boy [from Matthew 18: 1-5]. It's the equivalent of Jesus, who will be in the midst of you [Matt. 18:20]. It's the one who has been scandalized. It's in not forgiving [the second servant] that the person was bringing the whole thing down. You've got to forgive. As you forgive, so forgiveness spreads. It's forgiveness that keeps the whole system going. This is what Jesus is teaching, [it's] very very remarkable.
"Whereas [in] the pagan kingdom it's debts and loans that keep the whole system going, and if you interfere with it you crash the whole system, Jesus is saying, “Actually no. I'm introducing into the midst the real working of creation, the real opening-up of creation, which is going to be from forgiveness. In as far as you keep the system of forgiveness going, carrying on forgiving each other - endlessly, 70 times 7, leaving the 99 sheep [and] going after the one, all of that - in as far as you do that, then with me, you are opening up creation and allowing creation to be brought into being. That is what my Father wants to do and that is why I have come into your midst: to open up the new creation through forgiveness.”"
- James Alison, from video "Homily for Sunday 24 in Ordinary Time Year A" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_IjeL8taW4)
[For analysis and discussion on all the lectionary texts for this Sunday, see also: http://girardianlectionary.net/reflections/year-a/proper19a/]
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