Seventy times Seven

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant...

enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" 

Matthew 25:21

This week in class we've been reading some of Christ's parables -- it's been interesting to see from a new perspective, from a professor who has studied these writings and teachings for his whole career and adult life. As most of us already know, there are many ways to interpret and find insights from Christ's parables. One new cool thing I learned was that each parable Christ tells, is first introduced by a question from the people -- and He will always answer that question. 

Although there are numerous super amazing parables I want to share, today I'm just going to comment one.

To start off, in Matthew 18, a man asks if he is required to forgive up to seven times -- keep in mind, Rabinical tradition is to forgive someone up to three times. The Lord responds that he should forgive "not only seven times, but seventy times seven" times. I think this is an amazing example of the Christlike attribute of patience.

Christ then proceeds to tell the parable of the 10,000 talents (also known as the Unmerciful Servant). The man in this parable is in great debt, in fact not just 10,00 talents, but an innumerable amount. When he goes to his lord, he tells him of the debt he cannot repay and asks, "have patience with me, and I will pay thee all." In return, the lord had compassion on the servant and forgave him of the debt. As the servant went out wiped of all debt, he turned to one of this fellow servants and demanded the hundred pence he owed. This fellow servant cried with the same plea, "have patience with me, and I will pay thee all." But what does this man do? He casts his fellow servant in to prison until the debt could one day be paid. The lord's remarks are insightful, as he responds to this unmerciful servant, saying, "I forgave thee all that debt...shouldn't not thou also have had compassion on they fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother of their trespasses." 

It's amazing to see this parable from multiple perspectives. From the servants view, he is forgive of all his debt, for this is no way to pay back his lord for all that He has done. However, his fellow servant still owes him a decent amount of money, enough that the offense is harmful and will hurt to not have. However, what the fellow servant owes this man is far minimal compared to what the lord has forgiven him. It's a great insight -- God forgives us for all our debts, and what should we do in return? Forgive our fellow men. Each one of us has that debt -- just as the servant does in this parable -- and a debt that is so big, there is no humanly way possible to pay it off (see Mosiah 2:20-24, and the unprofitable servant). But our Savior Jesus Christ owns those sins, He has taken them from us (hence our use of repentance) and he takes them upon his shoulders--and he owns everyone's. He takes on even the offender's sins. So how many times to you forgive your brother? Always! Let us walk away from using the atonement given us, ready to patiently and compassionately pay the mercy and forgiveness forward.