Mathew 5:7
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Has someone ever done something to you that you feel you just can't overlook?
Just how much mercy and forgiveness are we supposed to show others?
To see an analogy of how much GREATER God's mercy is than our mercy, let's look at Mathew Chapter 18 in the story of "The Unforgiving Servant."
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Matthew 18:21-35 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
"The Parable of the Unforgiving Slave""
Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
“I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven. For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.
When he began to settle accounts, one who owed 10,000 talents was brought before him. Since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.
At this, the slave fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!’
Then the master of that slave had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.
But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 denarii. He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’
At this, his fellow slave fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he wasn’t willing. On the contrary, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed.
When the other slaves saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened.
Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’
And his master got angry and handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed.
So My heavenly Father will also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from his heart.
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The Greek meaning for ten thousand talents tallies up this way: a talent was worth about 20 years of a day laborer’s wages. One talent was equivalent to 6,000 denarii.
Likewise, a hundred pence (otherwise called a denarii ) was the usual daily wage of a day laborer.
So let's put that into an American comparison. The difference between ten thousand talents and 100 denarii can be seen if you walk over to the bottom of the Sears Tower, take out a quarter from your pocket and place that quarter on the ground right up next to the base of the tower.
Now look up to the top of the tower and look back down at your coin. The difference between the top of your coin and the top of the Sears Tower is the same proportion between the 10,000 talents and a hundred pence.
Now if we can figure out that proportion, we can be certain Jesus knew exactly what he was explaining to us in this story.
"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." (Mathew 5:7)
Likewise, Jesus tells us:
"For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
Mathew 6:14-15
Bottom Line:
The choice to show mercy is ours, but God's grace is sufficient for us to fully forgive.
(2 Corinthians 12:8-1)
