It is easy to proclaim the virtue of forgiveness. But it is difficult to follow this much extolled virtue in real life.. C.S. Lewis says “Forgiveness is a beautiful word until, you have some -thing to forgive.” But why is forgiveness so hard? First, forgiveness is difficult because it is not natural. Revenge is the natural human impulse . Secondly, forgiveness is hard because it does not look fair and acts counter to the sense of justice.

According to Rabbinic teaching a man is expected to forgive his brother three times. The idea that God forgives three times is found in Amos 1:3,6,9,11,13 and 2:1,4,6 Peter thought that he would be commended for suggesting that a person should be forgiven seven times. But Jesus makes it seven times seventy. It means that we need to be forgiving all through our life without any desire for revenge or retaliation.

The first servant owed a lot to the king and he could not have repaid it. The sinful act we commit is not the offence against God but the spirit of rebellion to Him which made us commit the sin is the great offence. So what we have done against God by way of rejecting Him is the huge debt. God alone can extend His mercy and forgive this debt.

The next servant owed a very negligible amount . But the man whose debt was cancelled by the king was reluctant to cancel this petty amount. While we enjoy the generosity of God in huge measure, if we fail to show such generosity to others , that will be counted as a great sin. Even in our material blessings and other privileges which God in His infinite mercy has allowed us to enjoy, if we are stringent in our attitude we will incur the displeasure of God. If we harbour resentment in our hearts how can we hope to enjoy the immeasurable grace and forgiveness of God? God expects us to show our gratitude to Him in the way we treat others.

We read about one group of servants who were aware of the injustice that was going on. The fellow servants who saw what was happening reported it to the king. When such an unjust incident happens in society, what should be our response? Do we remain quiet and allow the atrocity to continue or report it to the right person? They could have discussed this in small circles or gossiped about it but they went straight to the king with a desire to redress the evil. Society will be built by such people and not by the mockers who indulge in gossip and do nothing. In Christian communities when something ungodly is identified, how do we react?

We tend to marvel at the fairness and generosity of the king himself. He cancelled the exorbitant amount with great generosity, forgiving the man’s huge failure but at the same time did not condone the subsequent failure of the hard-hearted servant.

Dr. (Mrs.) Edriana Jeyasingh