13 August 2020
Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today Jesus tells us one of His most challenging parables, illustrating for us the true importance of forgiveness. Not only is it necessary for the sake of the Body, and for the sake of reconciling members of the Body to one another, but it is necessary for our own salvation. I do not mean only to say that we must be forgiven by God to be saved; that almost goes without saying. I mean to say that Jesus teaches us today that we must forgive our brother constantly if we have any hope of being forgiven ourselves. You might bristle at this, calling to mind ways people have wronged you, perhaps even grievously. Yet we so often forget one part of the Lord’s Prayer, which many of us pray without thought: “…and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…” This single line not only sums up the lesson of this parable but should give us incredible pause when we reflect upon our lives as Christians: is there anyone against whom I still hold a grudge? Anyone I have not yet forgiven? Jesus begs you to forgive that person, to let go of their wrong; you need not even tell them you have done so. You simply need to do it, for the sake of your soul. Detach yourself from the need to be right, the pleasure of holding power over another; humbly recall the mercy you have been shown, and imitate your Lord in showing it.
We are tempted to believe that what so-and-so has done to us is unforgivable, or perhaps we stubbornly await an apology, as a sign that they actually want to be forgiven. But notice what Jesus is teaching us in this parable: if we do not forgive those who sin against us, we will not be forgiven. Did not Jesus give us a new commandment, saying, “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another,” (John 13:34)? Has He not forgiven you every time you have gone to confession, no matter how numerous or serious your sins? Then you must forgive your brother, even seven times seventy times. For look at the servant who was forgiven by the king: he owed the king a truly unrepayable sum of money. In our Gospel we are told the servant owed “…a huge amount.” In the Greek, however, we read that it was ten thousand talents; a talent was worth roughly 6,000 denarii, and a denarii was roughly the equivalent of a day’s wage. This means the servant owed the king a debt roughly equaling everything a man could earn in about 164,383 years. The servant he would later choke, demanding repayment, owed him a mere one hundred day’s wages; a paltry sum by comparison.
And the king forgave him that debt. This tells us two things about the king: first, he is impossibly wealthy if he is capable of loaning such an amount, much less letting it go without worry of repayment. Second, the king is impossibly merciful. Now consider that Jesus is this King, and it was your sins for which He paid His life as a ransom (Matthew 20:28). You owed a debt you could not possibly repay; God gave you your life, everything you have, created an entire universe for you and you repaid Him with betrayal and rejection by your sins. Yet every time you recognize your impossible debt and you come to the King in confession, begging for His patience, He instead forgives the debt. Shall you, then, withhold such mercy from those who have wronged you? Imagine! Standing before Jesus at your judgment, begging His mercy, and He says to you, “You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?”
Forgive one another! Forgive, as you have been forgiven. Forgive, before it is too late (Matthew 5:25).