TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A
Commentary of Fr. Fernando Armellini
A good Sunday to all.
When we are offended, our immediate reaction, the one that comes out spontaneously, is not forgiveness but resentment and hatred, especially when the damage made has left deep wounds, those that do not disappear over time and sometimes last a lifetime. In these cases, the natural reaction is to pay back the pain caused. This primitive instinct in history caused duels and endless struggles, marking the relationship between peoples.
Forgiveness does not come spontaneously; it is not natural. We even have difficulty forgiving ourselves because we torment ourselves with remorse and do not accept the humiliation of a weakness. We have a high opinion of ourselves, and guilt and self-punishment only hurt us when this feeling is hurt. On the other hand, he who has a serene relationship with himself recognizes his own mistake and can recover positively from the bitter experience of sin.
If it's hard to forgive ourselves, it is much more difficult to forgive others because the disappointment, the pain of treason, and the fear that the offense will be repeated are very significant. The impulse that drives us to break relationships and take revenge is practically unstoppable.
Many thinkers have approved of revenge; one is Nietzsche, who said that if he forgives, he is weak and cannot assert his rights. Goodness is an inability to rebel; patience is cowardice; forgiveness is the inability to take revenge. Freud, too, was against forgiveness. For him, it was an absurd demand and also harmful to the psychic balance of the individual.
I think that today, science no longer agrees with these thinkers. We know very well that hatred, animosity, and resentments do not favor the person's inner balance nor assure peaceful sleep and, even less, a serene and happy life. In addition, they encourage the use of psychotropic drugs.
But the most important question is another. Is revenge an expression of humanity, or is it a regression to pre-human behavior? We come from the pre-human naturally ... What is the last link? The 'homo sapiens sapiens'? But if people build bombs ... they have not yet become fully human ... they are at the level of beasts. The previous link in evolution is the 'homo amans'—only when one loves the person is fully human. Therefore, revenge should be excluded from human behavior if things are like this.
In Jesus' time, there was much emphasis on maintaining peaceful relationships; revenge, anger, and hate were condemned, and reconciliation was demanded. The rabbis said that those who made mistakes should recognize their mistakes and ask for forgiveness from the offended person. And the offended person was obliged to grant it. If he rejected it, then the person who had made the offense had to bring two witnesses and, again, in front of them, apologize to the person whom he offended. This way, he could show that he had done everything possible to live peacefully. If the offended person died before reconciliation, the offender had to go to the grave and ask for forgiveness. But the obligation to forgive was restricted to the children of the people of Israel, not to the pagans.
And especially the number of times one was forced to forgive was three times. On the fourth time, he had every right to go the legal route. Indeed, Peter understood that in this field, too, Jesus was not limited to what the best and the most generous of rabbis had established: to forgive three times. He must have understood ... in fact, let's listen to what he asks the Master:
“Peter approached Jesus and asked him, ‘Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.’”
Peter's question to Jesus: Will I have to forgive my brother up to seven times? He revealed that he had begun to understand that the Master wanted to go beyond all limits established by the rabbis regarding forgiveness. Perhaps he has already heard a phrase that Jesus has said and that the evangelist Luke narrates in chapter 17: “If your brother sins seven times a day against you—not seven times in total, seven times in a day against you—and seven times he comes to ask for forgiveness, you must forgive him.”
Peter is puzzled because he knows that the number 7 is not "quantitative" but "qualitative" and that you must forgive without condition. And now he wants Jesus to confirm it ... "Did I understand what you mean?" The Master's response goes far beyond what Peter expected. "Jesus answered him: I do not tell you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven."
The reference of Jesus is clearly to the furious cry of Lamech, the son of Cain, who had summoned his two women (the first polygamist the Bible speaks of) and said: "Cain took revenge seven times; Lamech seventy times seven." Lamech's retaliation reached infinity. With this reference, Jesus says to Peter: ‘Forgiveness must reach infinity, just as Lamech's retaliation reached infinity.’
And now Jesus clarifies his position with a parable. Let's listen:
“That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor who owed him a huge amount was brought before him. Since he could not pay it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, to pay the debt. At that, the servant fell, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion, the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.”
The first scene takes place in the royal palace. The great sovereign verifies the accounts and discovers that one of his servants owes him ten thousand talents—a considerable debt. Talent is not a currency but a unit of measure for weight. Equivalent to 58.9 kilos of gold. If we multiply it by ten thousand, it gives us 589 tons of gold. Remember the annual tax revenue collection of the kingdom of Herod the Great, who built large cities: Caesarea, the temple in Jerusalem, palaces, and fortresses ... his fiscal income was 900 talents. An immense sum, therefore, here is intentionally exaggerated because Jesus wants to introduce us to the immensity, the infinite forgiveness of God.
We are sometimes left a little puzzled when presented with this parable because he tells us: ‘You cannot forgive any small rudeness that a brother did to you when you have an immense debt to God. And we say: ‘Well, things are not that way… I don't owe as much….’ And sometimes the opposite happens: ‘I am aware that I have made a small mistake, but the others did me great harm.’ This is not what the parable wants to tell us, as we will see later.
This number only means one thing: the unimaginable greatness of the heart of God. We understand the nuance of two verbs well. The first is the Greek verb that the servant uses: Μακροθύμησον - macrothymeson (be patient) = have a big heart in front of my problem. And the description of the behavior of this great sovereign, who is God, and who is moved with compassion, is expressed with another verb: Σπλαγχνισθεὶς - splagchnizein = moving compassionately, that is, an immense visceral love. God does no reasoning or... calculations ... NO. Passionate love appears, which resembles the maternal viscera of God.
A parenthesis: In the Byzantine icons, when the crucifix is represented, it is always slim and presented with a prominent belly. This indicates that God's visceral, immense love has been revealed on the cross. We now close the parentheses.
This first scene wants a single truth to be imprinted firmly in our minds: the love of God for humanity is infinite. Although we separate ourselves from Him, He continues to love us. The Bible says that God does not consider our mistakes; he forgets them, leaves them behind, and throws them to the bottom of the sea. It's not that he approves of evil ... no one hates evil more than Him because corruption and sin dehumanize his sons and daughters. God will never make the person pay; there will be no retaliation with people; there will be no call to account because God is love and only love.
Therefore, these 10,000 numbers want to show us what God is like—as we will see later; the problem is to tune our hearts to His. Maybe someone could object to this image of God, quoting some texts from the Old Testament where God appears as severe, showing resentment against his enemies taking revenge; he does not leave the evil-doer unpunished. These texts exist, but we must remember that the Bible presents us with progressive revelation of the face of God. God is always the same, but people gradually discovered his face, always brighter and brilliant. The Bible tells the story of this path of discovery that people have made of God until the whole light came in Jesus of Nazareth.
On Calvary, God will show all his immense and infinite love when, after all the evil we have done to him, He says: "I continue to love you." We have committed this crime, but in the face of this crime, God has revealed how much he loves us. It is impossible to go any further beyond this revelation of love.
This is the final image of God; those of the Old Testament are a preparation for this complete revelation. And it is this last image of God that we must have present, represented by the number 10,000 in the parable. I would even say that some Christians still have not come to contemplate the last revelation of the face of God and have remained halfway; they have not yet experienced the joy that Jesus came to bring us: that the heart of God is infinite in his love.
At this point, we have understood the heart of God. We want to understand the parable's message, so we must do one thing. We must erase and cancel what happened in the first scene and what happened in the royal palace. Suppose the parable now begins with the second scene.
Let's listen to it together:
“When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison until he paid back the debt."
We have said that we want to put aside, for a moment, what happened in the room of the great sovereign in the first part of the parable. Suppose the parable begins now. We find two servants. One is loaned, and the other owes 100 denarii. And a hundred denarii are not little; they pay three months of work, and the debtor does not pay ... it is as if one did not pay the rent for a whole year.
So, what does the lender do? He confronts him, takes him with his hands, grabs him by the neck, and tries to get what the other owes him; ultimately, he puts him in jail. This was the way justice was done in Jesus' time. And Jesus uses this comparison. Therefore, the lender has not done anything wrong; he has sought justice. Perhaps the lender could have shown more understanding ... he could have said: ‘Let's see if we can solve this payment in some other way ....’ Surely, he was one with a hard heart, but he is a just person, he acts according to the established laws.
If the parable had started this way, it would be very logical. The problem is what has happened before, in the first scene, when he has used the same verb his debtor is using: Μακροθύμησον - macrothymeson (have a little patience with me). At this moment, the message of the parable becomes clear. Here, we have two kinds of justice: that of God and that of society…. (which is ‘justice’ - not ‘injustice,’ but it is the justice of people).
And Jesus asks: Which of the two justices do you want to tune into? Do you want to be a fair, just person, or do you want to be a son, a daughter of God? You can even destroy your brother or sister if you want to act according to people’s criteria. He who is not a Christian can do it, and no one will condemn him because he acts according to justice. For the non-believer, there is no first scene; there is no reference to the heavenly Father; that person does not know the heart of God and acts with justice. But ‘for you, baptized Christian, there is the first scene; you know the heart of God; you received his Spirit, his life, you are marked with his DNA. Therefore, you must answer according to the great heart of your God, not according to people’s justice.’
Note that this image of suffocation gives an excellent idea about the psychological submission of those who made a mistake. The offended has him in his hand and can suffocate that person; at any moment, it can take away from the other person the joy of living; you can always squeeze them. Let's think about the mistakes that can be made in a relationship, even a severe mistake. He who has made a mistake has the hands of the other on his neck; a detail is enough; an allusion to the error made can destroy a person; it can take your breath away, take away the joy of living. It is the conduct of the person who follows the justice of this world.
So, we ask ourselves: What behavior should the one referring to the first scene assume because you know the heart of God? The exploiters, the thieves, should not be favored, and perhaps, for the brother's sake, it may be convenient to go to justice. But when there is no possibility of obtaining a restoration, for example, it is impossible to delete a slander, a humiliation done to me by the one who has the power and cannot be attacked ... then the only thing left is revenge. Find a suitable occasion to make him pay to have the joy of seeing him suffer. The logic of this world tells me: ‘Do it,’ enjoy this satisfaction. Let us remember Nietzsche, Voltaire, and Freud; we have already mentioned them. They advise you: 'Give yourself that pleasure.'
The parable tells you that a son or daughter of God would never do it. You are called to reproduce the face of the heavenly Father who is love and only love. This logic only applies to those who want to be a son or daughter of God—not being 'just' but a son or daughter of God.
Let's now listen to what happens in the third scene:
“Now, when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have pitied your fellow servant as I pitied you?’ Then, in anger, his master handed him over to the torturers until he could repay the whole debt. This is how my Heavenly Father will treat you if you do not forgive your brothers from the heart.”
Let's tell the truth: we don't like this concluding scene. It is very strong. The image and the language are not ours; they are from the Semitic world of the time of Jesus. Rabbinic literature is abundant with this dramatic image, cruel punishments, chains, and sticks given to the wicked. Jesus also uses them. He cannot do otherwise if he wants to make himself understood; he must use the language of his time. It certainly does not mean that God does these things.
What does he want to teach us with this language? He wants to tell us only one thing: that the one who does not know how to forgive unconditionally can be a fair person according to the criteria of this world. Still, God does not recognize him as a son or daughter; he does not see His resemblance in that person. The sons and daughters of God must be merciful, that is, have a heart as big as the heart of the heavenly Father. You must love unconditionally.
Paul, in the letter to the Corinthians, says: ‘He who loves has no account of the evil received, always finds reason to understand, to excuse the one who is wrong; does not make negative things public; he trusts his neighbor, he never loses hope that a recovery is possible.’
God has done us good. We are not created to be alone but together in a family, society, and the Christian community. And having to be together, we are going to do good, but inevitably, we will also commit faults; we will get into debt with each other, and therefore, we all have ‘bills to pay,’ all of us... some more, some less. And it is good that we are made like this. From our discussions and disagreements, in the offenses done and received, we are all offered the opportunity to resemble the heavenly Father, that we are his sons and daughters.
How beautiful to say to ourselves: I do not want to have my hands on the neck of the brother, of the sister; I renounce the justice of men because I am a son, daughter of God. And the one who sees that I forgive a hundred denarii cannot help but wonder: ‘This must have a super-rich father, and if his Father is in heaven and he can forgive a hundred denarii, the heavenly Father must forgive 100,000 talents.’
I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.
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