The Joshua Victor Theory

  Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. In today’s parable, “The Unforgiving Servant”, Jesus teaches about forgiveness. Forgiveness was a major theme in May, from John 20, where Jesus commissioned His apostles to spread His word of forgiveness to those who repent, and to withhold forgiveness (or bind sins) for those who do not repent. Matthew 18 today, is one of the major passages in the Gospel where Jesus deals with forgiveness and unforgiveness. In the parable, a servant is forgiven an enormous debt. A debt that would have taken several lifetimes over to be able to repay. There is no way on earth that he could ever repay it, but he begs for mercy from his master and gets more than he bargained for…in an incredibly good way! While the servant was hoping for an extension or some leniency, instead his debt is cancelled in full. This unforgettable and undeserved act of generosity spoke volumes about his master. How could...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today Peter addresses Jesus on the question of forgiveness, and seems to be testing the upper limits of what God expects or requires of our forgiveness. Shall I forgive my brother 7 times? From the perspective of our sinful flesh, 7 times seems pretty generous and patient. But Jesus replies, “ I do not say to you seven times, but seventy seven times ” or “ seventy times seven ”. There is disagreement about how it’s translated. But whether 77 or 490 times, Jesus’ point is clear—don’t keep score of the sins committed against you, and don’t seek for an upper limit of forgiveness. Do not keep track, but forgive generously and without limit, as God has done for you. Jesus then tells a parable of forgiveness that begins with the debt a person owes, amounting in what today would be hundreds of millions or billions of dollars—or perhaps the equivalent of a couple hundred thousand years of work, at a laborer’s wage. Jesu...

Sermon Outline: 1. Today’s Gospel continues Jesus’ teachings on forgiveness, repentance, and now mercy, begun last week. Various pitfalls to salvation. 2. Peter asks about forgiveness. 7 times is generous? Peter is asking the question out of the sense of fairness, not out of the sense of mercy. Mercy doesn’t deal with what is fair, but what is undeserved! No, 70 x 7. “Jesus raises the debt ceiling.” Don’t keep a record or count of sins. “Love keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Cor. 13:5). A lesson in mercy and forgiveness: Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. God’s mercy received is mercy lived. 3. Important details: 1) scenario of master settling accounts like the final judgment we all have before God, 2) 10,000 talent debt was beyond payable. 1 talent = 20 years wages for a laborer. 10,000 talents is 200,000 years of work!! Millions or billions of dollars. Like a single individual being held responsible for paying off the US national debt. 3) ‘Have patience with me and I will pay you every...