Looking for Loopholes

A Reflection on the Gospel for September 13th, 2020:
​Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Matthew
18.21-35

Peter came and said to Jesus, “Lord, how often should I forgive my brother or sister if they sin against me? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ The lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt.

“But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt.

“When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt.

“So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

"Lord, how often should I forgive my brother or sister if they sin against me? As many as seven times?"

I can almost hear the exasperation in Peter’s voice. “Again, Lord? And the next time too? Can’t I write them off yet?” It’s as if Peter was hoping for a loophole or exception to the rule. I can relate to that struggle. That Jesus took time to clarify Peter’s question with the parable of the unforgiving servant shows he anticipated this issue.

But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him one hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat he said, “Pay what you owe.”

Why would the servant do this? Why, once extended such merciful grace, would he exact such merciless justice upon another, whose position he would wholly understand? It is easy for us to claim the servant's hypocrisy. But ask this question of ourselves and we quickly lose clarity and perspective. Suddenly there are exceptions. Now we look for loopholes — our situation is different. We are injured — we cannot forgive or heal.

Yet it is still a fair inquiry: Why do I struggle to extend the same mercy that is available to me?

It is a safe place to focus on someone else’s failures. Looking inward is far more uncomfortable. But if I allow it, something more uncomfortable and even radical happens — I am seen, loved, and forgiven by Jesus all the more in my weakness. We are not accustomed to this kind of Love — agape love. We tend to shy away from its intensity, security, and accountability. Accepting this type of love can be scary. It gently persuades us to extend its merciful grace to ourselves and to others, even those who have hurt us.

To avoid this discomfort, or to feel more secure, we move our focus outward. We often find ways to hold our transgressors hostage when they can’t or won’t reconcile their debts. We mightn’t “seize our neighbor by the throat” or “throw them into prison,” but our current “cancel culture” demonstrates our tendency to deny agape love. One need only err once to exact the merciless and final judgment of the masses upon their person. You’re no good, but I still am.

Jesus is trying to show Peter that true Love doesn’t withdraw once an error has been made, nor does it judge or condemn people into groups of entirely “good” and “bad.” He hasn’t walked Calvary and hung on the cross yet, but in sharing the parable of the unforgiving servant, he’s preluding the depths to which He loves us, and the depths to which we are called to imitate it.

There is unfailing security in the mercy of the cross. It cannot allow loopholes or exceptions, because it is driven completely by agape Love.

To Peter, seventy-seven times might as well have been a million. But that is exactly Jesus’ point. He points to the cross as if to say, "Do not put limits on my love. Love, fully, as many times as required."




Michelynne Gomez
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