3rd Week in Lent, Tuesday – 9th March 2021 – Mt 18,21-35
Exercise Justice or Compassion
This parable illustrates the power of forgiveness between brothers, not between lost sinners and God. The emphasis in this chapter is on brother forgiving brother (Mt 18,15.21). The main character in this parable went through three stages in his experience of forgiveness. 1) a debtor (18,23-27); 2) a creditor (18,28-30); 3) a prisoner (18,31-34). The man had been stealing funds from the king and, when the books were audited, his crime was discovered. He was not ashamed because he stole the money; he was ashamed because he got caught. His case was hopeless, except that the king was a man of compassion. The king accepted the loss and forgave the servant. The servant did not deserve this forgiveness; it was purely an act of love and mercy on the part of the master. On the other hand, this servant found a fellow servant who owed him small amount. Instead of sharing with his friend the joy of his own release, the servant mistreated his friend and demanded that he pay the debt. The debtor used the same approach as the servant. Now, perhaps the creditor had the legal right to throw the debtor in prison, but he did not have the moral right. The king originally delivered the man from prison, but the servant put himself back in. The servant exercised justice and cast his friend into prison. Therefore the king threw the wicked servant in prison for abusing the other servant and ignoring the king’s kindness. If we refuse to forgive others, then we are only imprisoning ourselves and causing our own torment. In other words, he has received forgiveness, but he has not really experienced forgiveness deep in his heart. Therefore, he is unable to share forgiveness with the one who was indebted to him. If we live only according to justice, always seeking to get what is ours, we will put ourselves into prison. But if we live according to forgiveness, sharing with others what God has shared with us, then we will enjoy freedom and joy.
