We come to Jesus’ harshest bedside story about mercy—and it lands on the places in us that ache: the places that want to be known, to be forgiven, but also fear being used or betrayed. Have you ever kept a mental ledger—what people owe you—instead of letting mercy rewrite the balance? Matthew’s parable cuts straight to that ledger and asks whether the Gospel has really changed the way we count debts.
In Matthew 18:21–35 Peter asks Jesus how often he should forgive a brother; Jesus answers, not seven times, but “seventy times seven,” and then tells a story. A king cancels an enormous debt of a servant who begs for mercy. That same forgiven servant then refuses to forgive a small debt owed to him by a fellow servant; he has the man thrown into prison. When the king hears this, he restores punishment to the unforgiving man. This exact parable appears only in Matthew (18:21–35); while other Gospels teach forgiveness in different scenes, this particular sharp parable is Matthew’s way of pressing the point.
This story reveals Jesus’ view of the Kingdom: it is founded on absurd, unearned mercy. The king’s forgiveness is not proportional—it's gratuitous—and that is the point. Jesus isn’t denying the reality of hurt or justice; he is exposing how easily we receive mercy but keep it from others. The weight of the moment is this: being forgiven changes your obligations. If we grasp the depth of God’s pardon, we cannot live the same, petty ledger-keeping lives. Yet Jesus also calls us gently but firmly to be formed by that pardon—our capacity to forgive is the visible fruit of having been forgiven.
Practically today: pick one person you’ve been keeping a debt with—big or small—and do one concrete thing. Pray a short prayer for them, send a brief note that releases resentment, or offer a small act of kindness. If reconciliation is unsafe or premature, start by confessing to God how you feel and asking for the grace to let go. Let this be more than sentiment; let it be a practiced habit of returning to the cross where our debts were cancelled, and learning to live as people with mercy to give.
In Matthew 18:21–35 Peter asks Jesus how often he should forgive a brother; Jesus answers, not seven times, but “seventy times seven,” and then tells a story. A king cancels an enormous debt of a servant who begs for mercy. That same forgiven servant then refuses to forgive a small debt owed to him by a fellow servant; he has the man thrown into prison. When the king hears this, he restores punishment to the unforgiving man. This exact parable appears only in Matthew (18:21–35); while other Gospels teach forgiveness in different scenes, this particular sharp parable is Matthew’s way of pressing the point.
This story reveals Jesus’ view of the Kingdom: it is founded on absurd, unearned mercy. The king’s forgiveness is not proportional—it's gratuitous—and that is the point. Jesus isn’t denying the reality of hurt or justice; he is exposing how easily we receive mercy but keep it from others. The weight of the moment is this: being forgiven changes your obligations. If we grasp the depth of God’s pardon, we cannot live the same, petty ledger-keeping lives. Yet Jesus also calls us gently but firmly to be formed by that pardon—our capacity to forgive is the visible fruit of having been forgiven.
Practically today: pick one person you’ve been keeping a debt with—big or small—and do one concrete thing. Pray a short prayer for them, send a brief note that releases resentment, or offer a small act of kindness. If reconciliation is unsafe or premature, start by confessing to God how you feel and asking for the grace to let go. Let this be more than sentiment; let it be a practiced habit of returning to the cross where our debts were cancelled, and learning to live as people with mercy to give.
Matthew: 18:21-35
When Peter asks Jesus how often to forgive, Jesus answers (seventy-seven times) and tells the parable of a king who cancels a massive debt for a servant who then refuses to forgive a small debt of a fellow servant; the king punishes the unforgiving man, teaching that God expects unlimited forgiveness from those He has forgiven.
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