Scripture Study for
Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sirach 27:30 — 28:9 / Psalm 103:8 / Romans 14:7–9 / Matthew 18:21–35
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Understanding the Word
By Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.
The tone of the passage from Sirach is set in the first verse. Wrath and anger may be instinctive responses to situations in life, but they are abhorrent if they are permanent dispositions of mind and heart. The certainty of death should prompt us to set aside anger or wrath. Life is too short to bear attitudes that can undermine our spirits. Sirach insists on the need to forgive others, for we too need to be forgiven. The basis of this teaching is not forgiveness by others, but forgiveness by God. We must be willing to extend to others the same gracious compassion that God has extended to us.
Paul maintains that Christ, by virtue of his death and resurrection, exercises power over life and death. In like manner, those who are joined to Christ are joined permanently. Nothing, neither life nor death, can separate them from the love of Christ (see Romans 8:38). He further insists that in every aspect of life and even in death, Christians are under the lordship of Christ. Having conquered death by means of his resurrection, Christ has gained lordship over all. Whether they live or they die, they belong to Christ and are accountable to Christ. This understanding is the bedrock of Christian ethics.
The rabbis taught that the duty to forgive was fulfilled if one forgave an offender three times. Peter must have thought that he was being extraordinarily generous if he forgave seven times. However, Jesus indicates that not even this is enough. He insists that we must be willing to forgive seventy-seven times. In other words, there must be no limit to our forgiveness. The radical nature of Jesus’ parable illustrates this. With one simple statement Jesus draws a connection between the generosity of the king and that of God. If God is willing to forgive the exorbitant debt we owe God, surely we can forgive the paltry debts owed us.