Forgave Him the Debt

In Matthew 18:21-35, Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive a brother who sins against him — and offers what he thinks is a generous answer: seven times. Jesus answers seventy-seven times, meaning forgiveness has no limit; and then Jesus tells the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant to explain why. A servant is forgiven an unpayable debt by a compassionate king, then turns around and refuses to forgive a fellow servant a small, payable debt. The point lands hard: we are the first servant. Because God's forgiveness of us is limitless, our forgiveness of others must be too.