Matthew 18:21-19:1

Joshua 3:7-10a, 11, 13-17

Psalm 114:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Matthew 18:21-19:1

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,

“Lord, if my brother sins against me,

how often must I forgive him?

As many as seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.

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 was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.

Since he had no way of paying it back,

his master ordered him to be sold,

along with his wife, his children, and all his property,

in payment of the debt.

At that, the servant fell down, 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.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants

who owed him a much smaller amount.

He seized him 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.

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 had pity on your fellow servant,

as I had pity on you?’

Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers

until he should pay back the whole debt.

So will my heavenly Father do to you,

unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”

When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee

and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, reign in my soul. I offer myself to you and ask that you forgive my many sins. I am not worthy to have the debt of my sin cancelled, and yet you have cancelled it. Strengthen me when I need to forgive those who offend me.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Seventy Times Seven: When Peter asks Jesus how often he is to forgive, Jesus responds with a number that has deep significance. Jesus tells Peter to forgive not seven times, but seventy times seven times. Seventy times seven equals 490. It is equivalent to seven times seven times ten. The number makes an appearance in the book of the prophet Daniel. Daniel was pondering Jeremiah’s words about the length of the exile in Babylon. Jeremiah prophesied that the exile would last 70 years. And this corresponds to the return of the people of Judah in 538 B.C. And Daniel learned that, although the people of Judah would return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple and the walls, the true end of the exile would not come until 70 weeks of years. 70 weeks of years means 490 years! And that corresponds to the redemptive death of Jesus, the Anointed One.

2. Jubilee Forgiveness and Freedom: The number 490 also evokes the perfection of the Jubilee Year. Israel was supposed to celebrate the jubilee every 49 years. This is when all debts would be forgiven, all slaves would be released from servitude, and all ancestral land would be restored. “Four hundred and ninety years is ten jubilee cycles, a period of perfect forgiveness. The number 490 represents the perfection of forgiveness” (Bergsma, New Testament Basics for Catholics, 56). By evoking the number 490, Jesus is alluding to Daniel 9 and Leviticus 25. “In one sense, Jesus was referencing the era of punishment the angel Gabriel described to Daniel for Israel’s offenses against the Lord (seventy weeks of years). In a way, he was saying, ‘As many times as God has forgiven Israel, so you should forgive others.’ But there was also a sacramental, liturgical aspect to Jesus’s statement to Peter, because Peter was going to be the first pope. He was going to be the head of the Church and the head of those in Holy Orders. And those in Holy Orders – the priests and bishops – are God’s chief forgivers. … Thus, when Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive, Jesus’s ‘seventy times seven’ response meant: be generous as your Father in heaven was generous. Jesus commissioned Peter and his successors to be the living embodiment of jubilee, to perpetuate the age of the Messiah” (Bergsma, Jesus and the Jubilee, 79). 

3. The Book of Joshua: Today, we begin reading from the Book of Joshua, the sixth book of the Bible. Literally, the Book of Joshua narrates the history of the conquest of the Promised Land by the people of Israel. This conquest is the initial fulfillment of the covenant promise made to Abraham that his descendants would possess the land of Canaan. The conquest of Canaan takes place in three phases. The people conquered the city of Jericho, followed by Ai, and then the central highlands. Then, there is a southern campaign (Joshua 10), followed by a third, northern campaign (Joshua 11). Tradition reads the Book of Joshua with reference to Christ and the Church. Joshua has the same name as Jesus and foreshadows Jesus in many ways. Joshua “triumphs over the enemies of God’s people and leads them to their blessed inheritance. The Promised Land of Canaan has layers of spiritual significance. Allegorically, Canaan is the world that is conquered by Christ leading and directing the missionary efforts of the Church. Battles for the conversion are fought and won, not with the physical implements of war, but with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Morally, Canaan is the soul of the believer that is captured and claimed by Jesus. As the new Joshua, he drives from it, not a host of wicked nations, but a host of sins and vices that drag us away from the Lord. Anagogically, Canaan is our heavenly homeland. There the saints find rest from the grueling wilderness of this world and enjoy forever the milk and honey of eternal happiness (CCC 117)” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 337).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are the New Joshua, who brings salvation, forgiveness, and divine rest. Lead me into my heavenly home. Wash me clean in the waters of forgiveness. Conquer those parts of my heart that rebel and resist you.

Living the Word of God: How is my spiritual battle going? What are the strong areas? What are the areas of weakness? Where has there been success on the battlefield? Where have I failed and retreated? Am I strategizing with God’s Spirit what the next areas of conquest are?