CD - The Fifth Petition - Matthew 18:23-35

Divine Service, God service, God worship, begins rightly with the recognition and confession of our sins and the reception of forgiveness. The divine service often begins with the words, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8,9). The passage ends, “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives” (1 John 1:10). Forgiveness is ours. It is a free gift. It has been earned by Jesus’ death on the cross. However, we can refuse and resist forgiveness by not confessing and seeking forgiveness. John reminds us that if we think we have not sinned, or if we try to claim we have not sinned, we are only lying. And, if we have no sin, there is no need to seek forgiveness, which means, no forgiveness.

The story of the unmerciful servant is a story that puts into perspective how sinful we are compared to how forgiving God is. The crux of the matter is to understand how sinful we really are. It is only when we understand our complete sinfulness, how completely corrupt we are that we will really understand how gracious and forgiving God really is. In other words, we must hear both the Law and the Gospel, never just the Law, lest we be lead to despair, and never just the Gospel lest we be lead to thinking that we have no sins to confess. The Law and the Gospel must be heard together, never too much of one, never too much of another.

The Law reminds us of our sinfulness. “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5). We are conceived and born in sin. We are messed up from the start. Added to that are our actual sins, those sins we commit on our own, sins of commission, sins in which we do something wrong that we should not do (cf. The Ten Commandments), and sins of omission, sins which we commit by not doing the right things that we should do. We sin, not just by doing something wrong, or not doing something right, but we sin by the words (unkind and hateful) that we speak, as well as by the thoughts that we have (“If you eye causes you to sin” (Matthew 5:29; 18:9; Mark 9:47).) Sin is not sin only when it is something committed, sin is sin which has its root and beginning in our heart. Remember the story of Cain and Abel. “Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.” Because his offering of leftovers was not accepted by God. “Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it” (Genesis 4:5-7). Cain’s sin was not sin, just because he killed Abel. Cain’s sin began with the thoughts of envy in his heart.

It is only after we realize how sinful we are that the Gospel will have its greatest effect on us. Unless we realize how lost we are the Gospel means nothing. But after we realize how wretched we are the Gospel sounds so sweet. The Gospel which say, “your sins are forgiven, go in peace.” The Gospel which says, Jesus died for you so that you might have life and have it to the full. The Gospel which reminds us that everything has been done for us, there is nothing for us to do, everything is given to us by grace.

Praise the Lord that our God is an awesome, loving, gracious, compassionate, and forgiving God. As He forgives us, our desire is to forgive others and to share the good news of salvation with them. To God be the glory.

Merciful Father, forgive me, the sinner, who put Jesus on the cross. Thank You for forgiveness. As I have been forgiven, help me to forgive others. Grant this for Jesus’ sake. Amen.