Forgiven People Forgive

by Tom McCullough

On June 2, 2010, on what should have been the last play of the major league baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Indians, first base umpire Jim Joyce ruined Armando Galarraga’s perfect game by calling a player safe who obviously was out.

Every camera, every eye, every slow-motion replay saw the same mistake, and Joyce himself immediately knew he had made the wrong call. But in 2010, replays didn’t matter in baseball, and the play stood. Joyce had to live with his mistake, and Galarraga lost the chance to join the most elite group ever to take the pitcher’s mound. In the 138-year history of the major leagues—over 300,000 games—only 23 men have ever thrown a perfect game, and never more than once.

What would you do if someone made a mistake that cost you a place in history, hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts and endorsements, and the acclaim of your peers for the next century? This would have been just another story in baseball lore if it hadn’t been for the way Galarraga responded to this terrible mistake. No one would have been surprised if he had vented his rage by attacking Joyce’s ability as an umpire, even his worth as a human being. Most would have reacted just that way. But something incredible happened after the ball game. Joyce said, “I’m sorry,” and Galarraga simply replied, “I forgive you.”

I have never been called upon to forgive to that degree, but I have been called upon to forgive a thousand other smaller offenses that caused heartache, discouragement, and pain. None were as historic as a monumental blown call, but it still has not always been easy to forgive, from a joke at my expense to an intentional slight or a violation of a trust.

Perhaps I am not the only one who has struggled to forgive. Has anyone ever asked you to forgive him, and the words caught in your throat? Or maybe you actually spoke the words, but your heart retained bitterness, animosity, and anger. Have you planned revenge or secretly prayed for God to teach the offender a lesson? If you haven’t experienced this struggle, you should be nominated to the Spiritual Hall of Fame.

Jesus knows the heart of man. He knows you and He knows me, so in Matthew 18:21-35 He shared an incredible story about forgiveness, the forgiveness we receive and the forgiveness we show others. It’s the story of a King who forgave much, a servant who was forgiven much, and the unforgiving spirit that ruined his life. The story reminds readers that those who have truly experienced the forgiving grace of God will also grant forgiveness to others.

The Question

The story comes on the heels of a question from the Apostle Peter, a thinly veiled attempt to promote his position among the followers of Jesus. “How often should I forgive someone—seven times?”

Everyone listening that day knew that according to rabbinic teaching, the acceptable limits of forgiveness only reached four offenses. “Offend me once; I forgive. Offend me twice; I forgive. Offend me three times; thin ice. Offend me four times; you’re done.”

By suggesting seven times, Peter thought he was being unusually magnanimous (and probably looking for a pat on the back). Imagine his chagrin when Jesus countered with a principle rather than a number. He was not suggesting we keep track and forgive 490 times. He was telling Peter, “Don’t keep track of offenses at all…just keep on forgiving.”

God’s Crazy Grace

As we read this parable, three clear pictures emerge. The first is God’s crazy grace. Jesus loved to use hyperbole in His teaching, and you will find no better example than this. The servant owed his king 10,000 talents or 200,000 years of wages for the common laborer…if he saved every penny. The sum is absurd, approximately $10 billion today. And when Jesus used this sum in the story, He knew exactly the effect it would have. “That’s ridiculous! That’s crazy! No one could ever repay that much.”

I’m sure His listeners quickly acknowledged this King had every right to throw the man and his family into debtors’ prison. But the forgiveness of the King is equally crazy. Who in his right mind would forgive such a debt? Such forgiveness astounded Jesus’ listeners.

Jesus didn’t have to spell out whom His characters represented. It was apparent to all. The King represents the Father. Servant #1 represents the would-be follower of Jesus—Peter, you, and me. Servant #2 represents all others with whom servant #1 has relationships—the person seeking forgiveness. His message to Peter was clear, “Before we start talking about how often and to what degree you need to forgive, let’s stop and consider how much you’ve already been forgiven.”

Most times, we have an incorrect view of our sin and how much God really has to forgive. We base it upon the incorrect idea that we really aren’t as bad as other people. Sure, we may be flawed by sin, but at the core we’re really good people. We may do bad things, but we are inherently good. Nice idea, and when we compare ourselves to Saddam Hussein, Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, or the freak in Cleveland who kidnapped, imprisoned and raped women…next to them we look pretty saintly, right? Wrong. The ultimate comparison is not with others. We must lift our gaze to the ultimate standard of goodness—the holy character of God.

When you do, you will reach only one conclusion: total depravity. We are completely corrupt. No part of us is untouched by sin. We speak sinful words, do sinful deeds, and think impure thoughts. We are sinful to the core. Scripture is clear that God’s verdict against the totally depraved human race is death—such a severe judgment that no one could make restitution.

But in His crazy grace, God paid the debt I owed through the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. “For our sake He (God) made Him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him (Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Our sin makes the servant’s debt seem like Monopoly™ money. But praise God, no debt is too big for Him to forgive!

Man’s Cruel Response

Put yourself in the place of those hearing Jesus’ story for the first time. The servant’s next move is even crazier than the forgiveness he experienced. He turns around and brutalizes a peer, a fellow servant who owed him only three months wages. How absurd and cruel is that? Who would do such a thing? The King forgives, yet the one forgiven demands immediate restitution from others?

His cruel response underscores the difference between the size of the debts and the responses of the offended parties. Simply put: God has forgiven us a gazillion times more than He asks us to forgive others. So, if you’re wondering how much is too much to forgive, look to the Father. If you can’t overcome the degree of the offense you’ve been asked to forgive, consider how much the Father forgave you. The Apostle Paul echoed this principle to the Ephesian and Colossian churches, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).

Facing the Judge

Jesus quickly painted a third picture of the fate of the unforgiving. The unforgiving servant was cast into outer darkness with no hope of reconciliation. The King who showed mercy and grace also proved capable of righteous wrath against the ungodly. Does this mean that every time we fail to forgive, God withdraws His saving grace and we run the risk of eternal punishment? That is inconsistent with the rest of Scripture.

While I do believe it is possible to walk away from the grace of God, I also believe that occasional sinful action in the life of a believer does not disqualify him from grace. So, for whom is this horrific punishment reserved? Not someone who struggles to forgive but keeps trying; not someone who knows the need to forgive, wants to forgive, but finds it very, very hard because of painful experiences and memories.

No, the king in the parable condemns the one who deliberately refuses to forgive. Someone incapable of granting forgiveness to others makes it clear that his own heart has not experienced forgiveness. If I fail to show mercy to others, two things are true: 1) God’s mercy has had no saving effect on me, and 2) I will pay the consequences for my brutal treatment of others.

Forgiveness is not easy. The road toward sanctification is a long and difficult route. Forgiveness may take time. It may require the help of Christian friends and counselors. It may only be partial, but true believers will make the effort by the grace of God within them, to forgive as they have been forgiven. It is impossible to have an unforgiving spirit after truly experiencing the forgiveness of sin by a gracious God.

If you are having a problem forgiving others, consider once again the great debt God paid on your behalf:

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought,
My sin not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Oh my soul.
Jesus paid it all.
All to him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow. [1]

Forgiven people forgive others. Have you been forgiven? Then forgive.

About the Writer: Tom McCullough spent 14 years as a missionary in France and taught six years at Welch College in Nashville, Tennessee, before returning to pastor Central Free Will Baptist Church, his home church in Royal Oak, Michigan. Tom lost his battle with cancer in 2017.

[1] “Jesus Paid It All.” lyrics by Elvina M. Hall, 1865.