Matthew 18:21-35 | Breaking Free of the Chains of Unforgiveness
Breaking Chains: The Freedom of Forgiveness • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Announcement: On behalf of the Search Committee and the Elder Board, it is my pleasure to announce that Alex Pulido has been recommended as our next Associate Pastor. Alex’s main area of responsibility will be with the Latino ministry. The next step is to have a congregational vote at our annual meeting on April 7, 2024.
Today we launch a two-part sermon series titled, “Breaking Chains: The Freedom of Forgiveness.”
Forgiveness is a beautiful and complex topic. C.S. Lewis put it this way:
“Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea until he has something to forgive.” C.S. Lewis
Two short stories (The Quick-Reference Guide to Biblical Counseling: Personal and Emotional Issues)
Joanne’s “best friend” lied about her to her boyfriend, causing him to break up with her. Now Joanne’s friend and her former boyfriend are dating. Every time Joanne sees them at school, she feels betrayed all over again and can’t stop thinking about it.
Tom finds out his co-worker has been criticizing him to the boss and making negative comments about his work. The boss has elevated his co-worker and demoted Tom. Tom can’t stop thinking of ways to get even with his co-worker.
The sad reality is that you and I live in a fallen world where people will hurt you, and you will hurt others.
Where we are heading this morning. Message title: Breaking Free of the Chains of Unforgiveness.
Jesus said in John 8:36 “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Jesus also said in John 10:10 that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
Unforgiveness
Unforgiveness is a state of resentment, bitterness, hatred, hostility, anger, fear, and stress toward an individual who has transgressed against another in some way. Unforgiveness is a cancer that eats away at the very soul of a person. Tim Clinton, and Ron Hawkins. The Quick-Reference Guide to Biblical Counseling.
What’s the alternative to unforgiveness? Forgiveness.
Undestanding Forgiveness.
When someone sins against you, they run a debt.The Greek word for forgiveness used in our parable means to “let go” or “release.”
Matthew 18:27 “And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.”
To forgive (Gk. aphiemi)
to release a person from the obligation of repaying what is owed—‘to cancel a debt, to forgive a debt.’ Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament
Forgiveness is when someone sins against me, I will no longer hold that sin against them. On the other hand, unforgiveness is like a prison where we are constantly tortured.
What’s the key to freedom? The gospel.
Main Idea: In the kingdom of God, forgiven people forgive others.
1 John 4:19 “We love because [God] first loved us.” We forgive because..
Turn with me to Matthew 18. Peter asks Jesus a very good question about forgiveness in v.21.
Now, Jesus had already introduced the need to forgive others in the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:12
Trad. “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
ESV: “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
Peter wants to make sure he gets the forgiveness part right.
Matthew 18:21 “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?””
The Talmud (b. Yoma 86b 10) states that “When a person commits a transgression the first time, he is forgiven; a second time, he is forgiven; a third time, he is forgiven; but the fourth time, he is not forgiven.”
Jesus and his disciples grew up being taught from the Talmud that you only had to forgive people three times.
Peter proposes a more generous limit: seven times.
Jesus makes a radical declaration:
Matthew 18:22 “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
Some translations say seventy-seven times while others say, “seventy times seven.” Regardless of the translation, the point is the same: Forgive without keeping count. Forgive without limits!
Jaws drop!
In another passage we find a similar reaction:
Luke 17:3–5 “3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!””
The disciples realize that this is impossible in their own strength. Thus they cried out, “Increase our faith!”
The key to this supernatural strength is found in the power of the gospel.
From our passage today I discover this life-changing truth:
Main Idea: In the kingdom of God, forgiven people forgive others.
Two takeaways.
In Christ, we are forgiven without limits.
In Christ, we are forgiven without limits.
The kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God use different currencies:
The kingdom of the world, “don’t get mad, get even.”
The kingdom of God: forgiven people forgive others.
Jesus proceeds to tell his disciples a parable (an earthly story with a heavenly meaning):
Matthew 18:23–24 “23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.”
*ESV footnote: 1 talent was a monetary unit worth about 20 year’s wages for a laborer.
The servant in our story owed 10,000 servants.
Ten thousand talents is therefore a sum far outside any individual’s grasp. Ten thousand is the largest numeral for which a Greek term exists, and the talent is the largest known amount of money. When the two are combined the effect is like our “zillions.” What God has forgiven his people is beyond human calculation.” R.T. France
The point is that this is an impossible debt to pay.
So the king acted with justice. V. 25,
“And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.”
The servant falls on his knees begging for patience, “I need more time and I will pay you everything.”
Jesus’ audience knew this could never happen. The amount of money the servant owes is more than a person could ever make in an entire lifetime.
Friends, we have a huge debt with the king of the universe.
Psalm 49:7–8 “No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him— the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough.” (NIV)
The good news is that God provided a way. Jesus declares in Matthew 20:28 that he came “to give his life as a ransom for many.”
This is what we see in our story in v. 27: “And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.” (Mt 18:27)
Wow! Dream with me for a moment.
How would you feel if you woke up tomorrow to find out that all you financial debt was gone? All of it.
· Mortgage
· Car loan
· Credit cards
· Medical bills
· School loan
God offers something better. The forgiveness of your sin.
Forgiveness:
to release a person from the obligation of repaying what is owed—‘to cancel a debt, to forgive a debt.’ Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament
That’s exactly what God accomplished trough Christ. We cry out for mercy. We repent and God releases us from our debt.
Ephesians 2:4–5 “4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—”’
Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
I love that God does not treat us the same way we treat each other.
“Okay Hector, I’ll forgive you x-number of times and then that’s it.” None of us would be able to sleep. Talk about having anxiety attacks.
In Christ, we are forgiven without limits. Such a great salvation!
This leads me to a second take away about forgiveness.
A forgiven community must be a forgiving community
A forgiven community must be a forgiving community
After telling of a servant whose immeasurable debt had been forgiven, Jesus goes on to tell of that same servant leaving the king’s presence and finding a fellow servant who owed him a debt (equivalent to 20 weeks of common labor)
This servant, having just received forgiveness of his own immense debt, he grabbed his fellow servant by the throat and demanded payment.
Listen to V.29 “So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’”
We saw this very same scene earlier. The first servant pleaded for mercy, and the king extended mercy.
Here’s the sad part of the story. He did not extend the same grace and mercy that was extended to him. He was not willing to forgive in the same way he was forgiven.
Our forgiveness is meant to mirror and reflect the forgiveness we have received in Christ. Yet, we often view others’ sins and faults against us as worse than how we have sinned and offended against God. By not being willing to forgive, we are acting as if we are better than God.
The gospel reminds us that the sin debt God has forgiven us is way greater than any sin that has been committed against us. There is just no comparison.
What happens if we refuse to forgive? Matthew 18:34–35 “34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.””
Those are very strong words!
Let’s be very clear of one thing. You and I cannot earn God’s forgiveness. That’s the premise of the gospel. I don’t earn God’s forgiveness by forgiving others.
Rather, because I’m forgiven I’m expected to extend that same forgiveness to others.
“A transformed heart must result in a changed life that offers the same mercy and forgiveness as has been received from God (cf. Isa. 40:2). Someone who does not grant forgiveness to others shows that his own heart has not experienced God’s forgiveness.” The ESV Study Bible
If you are not willing to forgive. If you are harboring bitterness you are in a prison. You need to come to the cross and experience the forgiveness of your sins. You need to come to the cross and see how much you are loved and how much you have been forgiven.
Notice I said the word, willing. Something in your hearts says, I want to forgive and be free but I don’t know how. Like the disciples, you can also say, “Lord, help me. This is an impossible mountain. Increase my faith.”
Luke 7:36–42 “36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?””
Luke 7:43–47 “43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.””
If we regularly ponder the depth of our own sinfulness, like the woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears, and consider the greater depth of God's forgiveness, we will grow in our love for him. (Paul Tautges).
I would like to challenge you to take one small step towards freedom and healing. What would that look for you?
· Coming to the altar to surrender and ask God for help.
· Praying for the person who has hurt you.
· Reach out to a trusted friend to help you process the pain. Church value: Authentic connection. Encouraging and challenging each other in our faith journey through consistent fellowship.
· Matthew 18:15 “15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.”
· Take one step towards forgiveness. Take one step towards freedom.
Forgiving those who have hurt us is possible because of the overflow of forgiveness we have received from God.
Main Idea: In the kingdom of God, forgiven people forgive others.