Staying Forgiven: Matthew 18:15-35

In one of the more challenging portions of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus shares a parable that has amazing implications, both from God’s perspective and from our own. The passage we are about to cover, which is a little longer than many of our other passages, doesn’t need much explanation or expansion. This passage is very clear even if it is challenging on its own.

Let’s read what Jesus teaches and then the parable that follows. Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 18, and we will read it from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 15, Jesus told those present:

¹⁵ “If your fellow believer sins against you, go and tell him in private what he did wrong. If he listens to you, you have helped that person to be your brother or sister again. ¹⁶ But if he refuses to listen, go to him again and take one or two other people with you. ‘Every case may be proved by two or three witnesses.’ ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, then treat him like a person who does not believe in God or like a tax collector.

Before continuing our passage, I want to draw attention to a couple things we just read because I don’t want them to be lost as we move forward. In the first portion of this passage, Jesus outlines the process for conflict resolution. However, while it is tempting to treat conflict in any way other than what Jesus describes, the way Jesus describes is fascinating. Also, it is worth noting that the final step in Jesus conflict resolution process does not allow us to stop loving or reaching out to the person who has refused to listen to the church.

Instead, we are to love those who have hurt us in the same way we love those outside of the church, and we are called to show God’s love to them. Jesus loved tax collectors enough to dine with them, call them out of trees while passing by, and even invite them to be among His group of disciples.

Jesus then shares a passage that sounds similar to a promise Jesus made to Peter a few chapters before this, but the context of this promise is to all of God’s people and Jesus’ disciples. Jesus continues in verse 18, saying:

¹⁸ “I tell you the truth, the things you don’t allow on earth will be the things God does not allow. And the things you allow on earth will be the things that God allows.

¹⁹ “Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something and pray for it, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ This is true because if two or three people come together in my name, I am there with them.”

Let’s pause again here before looking at Jesus’ parable because what Jesus shared can be easily misunderstood. While one possible reading of Jesus’ promise here is that God will change His will and His law because of our prayers and our decisions, other parts of the Bible describe God as not changing. If God could brush aside the demands of the law under the frame of forgiveness, then Jesus would not have needed to die. Instead, Jesus died to pay the penalty of the law so that we could trade places. Jesus allows the punishment of the law to hold while also opening up the option of forgiveness.

The other way of seeing these verses is that when we are united with and focused on God, our will and our standards will be the same as God’s. This isn’t God changing to match us, but it is us being filled with the Holy Spirit and matching God. When the Holy Spirit is in our lives, the things we allow and don’t allow will match what God allows and doesn’t allow, and when we pray with others who are just as dedicated and focused on God, then our requests and our desires match God’s, and what we pray for will be done.

Continuing our reading in verse 21:

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when my fellow believer sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as seven times?”

²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven.

²³ “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. ²⁴ When the king began to collect his money, a servant who owed him several million dollars was brought to him. ²⁵ But the servant did not have enough money to pay his master, the king. So the master ordered that everything the servant owned should be sold, even the servant’s wife and children. Then the money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed.

²⁶ “But the servant fell on his knees and begged, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.’ ²⁷ The master felt sorry for his servant and told him he did not have to pay it back. Then he let the servant go free.

²⁸ “Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a few dollars. The servant grabbed him around the neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’

²⁹ “The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.’

³⁰ “But the first servant refused to be patient. He threw the other servant into prison until he could pay everything he owed. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very sorry. So they went and told their master all that had happened.

³² “Then the master called his servant in and said, ‘You evil servant! Because you begged me to forget what you owed, I told you that you did not have to pay anything. ³³ You should have showed mercy to that other servant, just as I showed mercy to you.’ ³⁴ The master was very angry and put the servant in prison to be punished until he could pay everything he owed.

³⁵ “This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

In this question, response, and parable, we discover just how important forgiveness is in God’s eyes. If having faith in Jesus is the most important thing for us to do, forgiving others is a close second. We could say that this passage forces us to admit that in order to stay forgiven, we must be forgiving.

It is also worth pointing out that we have already been forgiven. Jesus’ death on the cross allows God to extend forgiveness to all of humanity, and in many ways, our default state after Jesus’ death and resurrection is forgiven. However, if we choose to not extend forgiveness towards others, then we forfeit our forgiven status and we bring God’s judgment onto ourselves.

God has called us to place our faith in Jesus, to love others even if they have wronged us, to love those who are different from us, to focus on living the way God wants us to live while praying for His will to be done, and to forgive others because we have been forgiven of infinitely more. In this challenging passage, Jesus shares with us the things that matter most from God’s perspective!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first and choose to live God’s will in your life. Choose to be forgiving towards others because God has forgiven you of so much more, and when others hurt you, follow the steps for resolution that Jesus shared at the beginning of our passage.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to grow closer to God each and every day. With a strong connection with God, our thoughts, hopes, and desires will match His thoughts, hopes, and desires and we will be the representatives for Him that He has called us to be.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!