Pentecost 16 (year A proper )- Matthew 18:21-35

 The Gospel for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost is from Matthew 18:21-35. It contains two sections on forgiveness. In the first brief section (18:21-22), Peter asks how many times he is expected to forgive a fellow believer. According to one Jewish tradition, forgiving someone three times was sufficient. So when Peter suggests that forgiving seven times might be enough, he is being generous. Jesus, however, tells Peter that it should be "seventy times seven." Of course, keeping a mental count of 490 incidents would be impractical and unlikely. So, by this figure of speech, our Lord tells Peter and us not to keep count of how often we forgive. Our graciousness and mercy should be as abundant as God's.

The second section of today's Gospel (Matthew 18:23-35) has been called the Parable of the Unjust or Unmerciful Servant. This parable illustrates Jesus' preceding message to Peter, and it warns us against being unmerciful. In the parable, a servant owes his king an enormous debt, a billionaire's debt. He and his family are about to be sold into slavery. The man begs for an extended payment plan, and the king graciously writes off the whole debt. 

As a recipient of such mercy, the servant should be humble, grateful, and kind; instead, he goes out and ruthlessly tries to get every penny from a fellow servant who owes him a minuscule debt. When the king hears of this lack of mercy, he revokes his previous decision and punishes the unjust servant to the full extent of the law. Then our Lord adds the key conclusion in Matthew 18:35 (KJV), "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also to you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every man his brother their trespasses."

In a similar way, all the debts that we human beings owe each other are minuscule compared to what we owe our heavenly King. We can never repay God for what He has given us and forgiven us. He has given us life, and through Christ, He has forgiven our sins. Our trespasses are enormous offences against divine goodness and holiness. We can not make amends, and we are completely dependent upon divine mercy. Although we should not encourage manipulative people, we are also called to show mercy by forgiving others. As we pray repeatedly, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."