Tuesday in the Third week of Lent, March 5, 2024

Matthew 18, 21-35

Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘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?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”

St. Peter asks the Lord a very concise, practical question, and the Lord Jesus answers him in kind, although his answer may have come as a surprise (or disappointment) to Peter.  Peter allows for a limited generosity in forgiveness, but which still went beyond what was conventional.  Jesus tells him that this generosity must be without bounds because the believer is imitating the God whom he worships and whose forgiveness he begs for himself.  To our ears, and perhaps to Peter’s as well, this might seem hard.  But this is because we understand forgiveness wrongly.  Forgiveness does not mean allowing a person to cause harm again and again.  Forgiveness does not mean being friends with the one causing harm.  Forgiveness does not rule out the pursuit of justice.  But it does rule out personal vengeance.  When we or people whom we love  are harmed by another person, our instinct — our fallen human nature — wants us to strike back, not in defense but in revenge.  But revenge embitters us.  It does not make the situation better.  We can avail ourselves of justice by which duly appointed officials take charge and decide how the guilty person should be punished.  But this is not vengeance.

Peter’s simple question receives from Jesus a simple answer as well as a fairly involved parable.  The Lord tells it to Peter because of the necessity of forgiveness.  This is no small matter, for “if you will forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offenses. But if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offenses” (Matthew 6, 14-15).  We pray for the grace to forgive as we are forgiven in the prayer Jesus taught his disciples.  And we see how Jesus forgave even the people who were crucifying him (cf. Luke 23, 34).  

Revenge after receiving harm is like getting a sliver under our skin and then instead of removing it we rub it so that it works its way deeper within us.  We try, in effect, to harm the splinter, rejecting what would actually help.  Forgiveness is perhaps the hardest thing we do as believers in Jesus Christ, but it is also one of the ways we become most like him, with the help of grace.