1568 | MattheW 18:19
19
“ Again , tru ly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about any thing they ask for , it will be done for them by my Fa ther in heav en . 20 For where two or three gath er in my name , there am I with them .”
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21
Then Pe ter came to Jesus and asked , “ Lord , how many times shall I for give my broth er or sis ter who sins against me ? Up to sev en times ?”
22
Jesus an swered , “ I tell you , not sev en times , but sev en ty-sev en times . a
23
“ There fore , the king dom of heav en is like a king who want ed to set tle ac counts with his servants . 24 As he be gan the set tle ment , a man who owed him ten thou sand bags of gold b was brought to him . 25 Since he was not able to pay , the mas ter or dered that he and his wife and his chil dren and all that he had be sold to re pay the debt .
26
“ At this the ser vant fell on his knees be fore him . ‘ Be pa tient with me ,’ he begged , ‘ and I will pay back ev ery thing .’ 27 The ser vant ’ s mas ter took pity on him , can celed the debt and let him go .
28
“ But when that ser vant went out , he found one of his fel low ser vants who owed him a hun dred sil ver coins . c He grabbed him and be gan to choke him . ‘ Pay back what you owe me !’ he de mand ed .
29
“ His fel low ser vant fell to his knees and begged him , ‘ Be pa tient with me , and I will pay it back .’
30
“ But he re fused . In stead , he went off and had the man thrown into pris on un til he could pay the debt . 31 When the oth er ser vants saw what had hap pened , they were out raged and went and told their mas ter ev ery thing that had hap pened .
32
“ Then the mas ter called the ser vant in . ‘ You wick ed ser vant ,’ he said , ‘ I can celed all that debt of yours be cause you begged me to . 33 Shouldn ’ t you have had mer cy on your fel low ser vant just as I had on you ?’ 34 In an ger his mas ter hand ed him over to the jail ers to be tor tured , un til he should pay back all he owed .
35
“ This is how my heav en ly Fa ther will treat each of you un less you for give your broth er or sis ter from your heart .”
Divorce
19:1-9pp — Mk 10:1-12
When Jesus had fin ished say ing these
19 things , he left Gal i lee and went into the region of Ju dea to the oth er side of the Jor dan . 2 Large crowds fol lowed him , and he healed them there .
3
Some Phar i sees came to him to test him . They asked , “ Is it law ful for a man to di vorce his wife for any and ev ery rea son ?”
4
“ Haven ’ t you read ,” he re plied , “ that at the begin ning the Cre a tor ‘ made them male and fe male ,’ d
5 and said , ‘ For this rea son a man will leave his fa ther and moth er and be unit ed to his wife , and the two will be come one flesh ’ e ? 6 So they are no
a
22 Or seventy times seven b
24 Greek ten thousand talents ; a talent was worth about 20 years of a day laborer ’ s wages . c
28 Greek a hundred denarii ; a denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer ( see 20:2 ). d
4 Gen . 1:27 e
5 Gen . 2:24
18:21 – 35 Apparently in response to Jesus ’ statement in v . 15 , Peter asks about the limitations of forgiveness . Jesus replies that he should forgive lavishly . This prompts the parable of the unforgiving servant .
18:21 Up to seven times A generous offer , but not enough for Jesus ( see v . 22 ). In Lk 17:4 , Jesus suggests unlimited forgiveness by using the number seven , which often represents totality or completeness . 18:22 seventy-seven times Represents an unlimited amount . Jesus tells Peter and the rest of his disciples that they should forgive continuously and without limit , just as God forgives them . 18:24 ten thousand bags of gold The servant owes roughly 150,000 years ’ worth of wages — an absurdly insurmountable debt intended to shock Jesus ’ listeners and pale in comparison to the much smaller amount demanded by the servant in Mt 18:28 . The Greek text ’ s reference to 10,000 talents represents the largest number used in ancient calculations and the highest monetary unit at that time ( one talent was equivalent to 15 years ’ worth of wages ). 18:25 be sold Being forced into slavery to settle a debt was common in the ancient world ( e . g ., Ex 22:3 ; 2Ki 4:1 ; Ne 5:1 – 5 ). 18:26 I will pay back everything An impossible undertaking , given the absurd amount . 18:28 a hundred silver coins Equal to 100 days ’ wages — a paltry sum in comparison to the servant ’ s debt . 18:34 until he should pay back all he owed The man ’ s debt was insurmountable ; once in jail , he would not be able to make restitution .
19:1 – 12 When the Pharisees test Jesus with a question about divorce , he turns the tables on them to stress the permanence of marriage and corrects their misunderstanding about acceptable grounds for divorce .
19:1 went into the region of Judea Jesus may have taken a path that goes around Samaria to reach Judea . Both Galilee and Judea were west of the Jordan , so it was possible to travel between the two regions without crossing the Jordan River . However , because Jews and Samaritans despised each other ( see note on Jn 4:9 ), Jews traveling between Galilee and Jerusalem would go out of their way to avoid Samaria . The southbound journey from Galilee involved crossing the Jordan River into Perea , heading south around Samaria , and then crossing back over the Jordan at Jericho to enter Judea . From there , it was roughly ten miles to Jerusalem . 19:3 Pharisees See note on Jn 1:24 . to test him Their real intention is to discredit Jesus by getting him to contradict what Moses taught about divorce ( compare Mt 16:1 ; 22:18,35 ). for a man to divorce his wife The Pharisees themselves had different interpretations of the law on divorce . The school of Hillel interpreted Dt 24:1 loosely and taught that Moses permitted divorce for any reason . The school of Shammai followed a stricter interpretation that allowed divorce only in cases of adultery . Compare Dt 24:1 – 4 and note . 19:4 male and female Jesus refers to the creation account ( Ge 1:27 ). 19:5 the two will become one flesh Jesus appeals to Ge2:24 to teach that God intended marriage to be permanent .