“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.” (Matt. 18:28)
Expanded Passage: Matthew 18:28-31
In 1947, Corrie ten Boom was speaking at a church in Munich about the mercy of God to forgive sins and cast them into the sea. After the service, a man whom she recognized instantly as a former guard at the Ravensbruck concentration camp where she and her sister were held during World War II, approached Corrie. Memories and emotions flooded Corrie as she recalled her time as a prisoner under the cruelty of this man. Since then, the guard had become a Christian. That night, he approached Corrie to ask for her forgiveness for the seemingly unforgivable pain and hardship he had inflicted.
Like Corrie, we all have opportunities to extend forgiveness to people who have wronged us. In Jesus’ parable, the man who had just been forgiven himself coldly refused to forgive a fellow servant. Corrie, on the other hand, fighting back the cold blood in her veins at the sight of her former captor, extended her hand and cried, “I forgive you, brother, with all of my heart!” Later when she recalled the incident, she said, “I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.”
Jesus asked his followers to show the same mercy they have been shown. We are called to forgive as we have been forgiven—no matter how difficult or impossible the task might seem.
Experience God’s love for you by generously forgiving others.
Branden Petersen is the cofounder/pastor of Resurrection Life NYC in Manhattan with his wife, Jenn. He is also the founder and director of the urban church planting network, Global Cities Network.
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
