shows the moment when the king scolds the servant. University of Michigan Museum of Art. [PD-US]
Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive?
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 the fellow servant 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?’
Matthew 18:21-35
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Oh, I love this. It's a do as I do, not as I say moment, and it's so undeniably human to accept grace but not pass it on to others.
ReplyDeleteGod's forgiveness is a wonderful thing. Ours is even more wonderful because we're not God.
We're human, frail and prone to sin and goofiness and selfishness, but with a Holy Spirit dwelling within us that urges us to goodness. That goodness shines brightly today and every day!
I pray for everyone in the terrible fires.
ReplyDeleteSandy, thank you for mentioning those impacted by the fires! So horrific! God bless them all, and God bless those heroic firefighters!
ReplyDelete