“Then came Peter unto him and said: ‘Lord, how often shall my brother offend against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times?’ Jesus saith to him: ‘I say not to thee, till seven times; but till seventy times seven times. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened to a king, who would take an account of his servants. And when he had begun to take the account, one was brought to him, that owed him ten thousand talents. And as he had not wherewith to pay it, his lord commanded that he should be sold, and his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. But that servant falling down, besought him, saying: ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.’ And the lord of that servant being moved with pity, let him go and forgave him the debt. But when that servant was gone out, he found one of his fellow servants that owed him an hundred pence: and laying hold of him, he throttled him, saying: ‘Pay what thou owest.’ And his fellow servant falling down, besought him, saying: ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.’ And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he paid the debt. Now his fellow servants seeing what was done, were very much grieved, and they came and told their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him; and said to him: ‘Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest me: shouldst not thou then have had compassion also on thy fellow servant, even as I had compassion on thee? And his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he paid all the debt. So also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.’”
St. Peter thought he had given a long leash to his neighbor, as seven offenses against someone that are all forgiven does showcase much patience and mercy, but Jesus goes vastly beyond this, showing how far love goes: “If heaven, and the heavens of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house which I have built?” (3 Kings 8:27). Seven indicates perfection, or completeness, so seventy times seven indicates what is endless and perfect, that merciful love may never be withdrawn, but always extended, inhibited by nothing: “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: and of his greatness there is no end” (Psalm 144:3). Now, when Jesus says “seventy times,” this is not idly said, for this is the number of completion multiplied by the number ten, which is indicative of the Ten Commandments, and so even if your neighbor should do all that is contrary to love against you, still you are called to love and forgive: “Be ye kind one to another; merciful, forgiving one another, even as God hath forgiven you in Christ” (Ephesians 4:32), just as David was kind to Saul even when the latter sought to kill him: “Moreover see and know, O my father, the hem of thy robe in my hand, that when I cut off the hem of thy robe, I would not put out my hand against thee” (1 Kings 24:12), and so even if someone is openly hostile to you, you are called to love them. Jesus then shows this in a parable, showing that He is not handing off an impossible commandment, or asking something that He does not Himself do. The king in the parable can represent both the Father and the Son, for all sin is an action against true love, thus being an offense against God: “He that loveth not, knoweth not God: for God is love” (1 John 4:8), while every sin of turning away from Jesus is a sin against Him, and to use His presence in your soul poorly is to soil the garment of your state of grace: “Wherefore casting away all uncleanness and abundance of naughtiness” (James 1:21), which is action displeasing to your Heavenly Spouse, who would see you magnificent in being joined with Him: “Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee” (Canticle 4:7). However, in focusing solely on Jesus, note that He takes account of your entire life: “And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne” (Apocalypse 5:7), the book being the story of your life. If you think about what you have done against perfect love, be it in grave, blatant action against God or even in neglected acts of charity, you have accrued a great debt. The term ten thousand indicates a thousand crimes against each of the prescriptions of the commandments; it is a look at all possible sin that can be done under the law: “And behold a talent of lead was carried, and behold a woman sitting in the midst of the vessel. And he said: ‘This is wickedness’” (Zacharias 5:7-8). Now, under one’s own power there is not the strength to pay the debt, that is, to rise again and have God’s favor upon them; though He is desirous of all to come to Him, when someone is lost to sin, their connection of love is absent and in tatters. The folly and pleasures to which one holds the Lord then commands to be taken away, not out of cruelty, but in being free from such things and forced to listen to themselves, the loving angel may prick their conscience to make them seek forgiveness: “For thy arrows are fastened in me: and thy hand hath been strong upon me” (Psalm 37:3). God is infinite love, however, and all sin is but a single blot of ink being dropped into an ocean of love when forgiveness is earnestly sought. St. John Chrysostom makes an excellent point that the servant had only sought time to try to pay, whereupon the King forgave the entire debt: “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered” (Psalm 31:1). The servant came to know his debt, that he may appreciate just how much he was forgiven, and so too a general confession, accounting for sin in every nook and cranny of your whole life, lets merciful love into all of these places: “My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall” (Canticle 2:14), that love may anoint all that was not love: “Thy name is as oil poured out: therefore young maidens have loved thee” (Canticle 1:2). Think, Theophila, of how extraordinary is the debt you accrued, but only for the sake that you may know the infinite love that throws it all into the furnace of love: “Thou shalt know therefore this day that the Lord thy God himself will pass over before thee, a devouring and consuming fire, to destroy and extirpate and bring them to nothing before thy face quickly, as he hath spoken to thee” (Deuteronomy 9:3). While two people are on level ground, God gives being, life, reason, and all the good things in life, with the greatest gift being His Son: “For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting” (John 3:16), all from an abundance of love, and therefore the respect one should have towards God is greater than the respect for one’s parents: “Honour thy father, in work and word, and all patience” (Ecclesiasticus 3:9). It could also mean that the ten thousand talents represent grave sin, a hundred pence representing venial sin, both of which are debts to God that God is eager to forgive, to restore the loveliness of your soul: “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremias 31:34). Or, this can mean that simply due to always being in God’s presence and so comparatively little in the presence of a certain individual, the number of faults against love of God is far greater than what another can do to you. What, Theophila, will you do with the magnificent freedom God has given you? Will you use it to love radically and always, or mistreat the privilege of being the dwelling place of God? “He that loveth his brother, abideth in the light, and there is not scandal in him. But he that hateth his brother, is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth; because the darkness hath blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:10-11). It is painful to see another harboring wrath, for their love story with God is clogged in these times, but you can always pray out of love for them, that they may repent of holding a barb in their heart and this is what is meant by the others seeing the wicked servant and turning to the king. Now, when the ungrateful servant came before the king with a massive debt, he was not called wicked or pitiful or anything of the sort, but the king was merciful with him. However, in holding a grudge, the king calls him wicked: “Man to man reserveth anger, and doth he seek remedy of God? He hath no mercy on a man like himself, and doth he entreat for his own sins?” (Ecclesiasticus 28:3-4). Loving kindness is the primary medicine with which sin should be corrected, but fear of punishment is, while the lowest of means, is still a means to bringing one to righteousness. There is an interesting note, that the king was angry with the servant in his lack of forgiveness; there was no anger in the great debt, but love and compassion: “And seeing the multitudes, he had compassion on them: because they were distressed, and lying like sheep that have no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36), but to receive mercy and not give it in turn is to court punishment and indignation: “But according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou treasurest up to thyself wrath, against the day of wrath, and revelation of the just judgment of God” (Romans 2:5). To be cast into the fire until the debt is paid is an elusive term, for in truth one cannot pay the debt they owe to God’s love in sinning against it, and so it is a look into an eternal punishment. It is a departure from the footsteps of the Father to withhold merciful love, who is merciful love, and without His sanctuary, one runs into the territory of demons: “But your iniquities have divided between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he should not hear” (Isaias 59:2). The Lord adds to forgive “from the heart,” that your soul may not be stuck with bitterness and ugliness, but be pure white, a reflecting image of Jesus, brilliant, lovely, and love-filled: “How beautiful art thou, and how comely, my dearest, in delights!” (Canticle 7:6). Your heart is to be a sanctuary for your Beloved, that He may walk around freely with you at His side: “My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the bed of aromatical spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies” (Canticle 6:1), not grasping onto resentment towards another. Therefore, purge out what is bitter through the sweetness of affection, that your life may be one of unceasing love.