“Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.” It’s difficult to imagine that Peter would not have been shocked at this answer. In offering the perfect number, he may have considered himself generous in forgiveness. Jesus’ story in response should have ‘blown his mind.’
The story is full of drama and wonderful exaggeration. The servant is forgiven a debt of 10,000 talents, about $10,000,000 in our terms, and then would not forgive the $20 debt of a fellow servant. A notable imbalance. With the larger debt, the master ‘felt sorry for him, let him go, cancelled the debt.’ When the servant went to his fellow servant, he violently, ‘seized him by the throat, began to throttle him and had him thrown into prison.’ This is a story full of contrasts in attitude and action.
To forgive is difficult. We can experience quite deep hurt in our homes, our relationships, at work and from individuals, institutions, and organizations. We can often analyse and nurse the incidences of hurt, seeing injustice and lack of understanding at play. However, we are still commanded by Jesus to forgive our sisters and brothers ‘from your heart.’
The first reading from Ecclesiasticus gives us the clue and the motivation. Remember. Remember the way you have been treated by your loving Father, how since your life began, he has been faithful to his promises to you. Remember life is short, it is not worth being miserable, carrying resentment. And the psalm in our liturgy today reminds us, all our guilt is forgiven, our ills are healed, we are redeemed from the grave. God’s action towards us is not punishment for our sins but pure love and compassion.
As with the servant in relation to the master in the gospel, we have been loved and forgiven out of all proportion to the good will and forgiveness that is asked of us. Let us deepen our understanding of this and help to heal our world as people of compassionate forgiveness.