24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (year A)

(Mt 18:21–35)

23Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24He had begun to settle accounts when a man was brought before him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25As the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he, his wife, his children and all his possessions be sold to settle the debt. 26Then the servant fell to his knees and begged him, saying: ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back everything.’ 27The master took pity on that servant, let him go, and forgave him the debt.
28As soon as he went out, that servant found one of his fellow servants, who owed him a hundred denarii. He seized him by the throat and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe!’ 29His fellow servant, prostrate on the ground, begged him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30But he refused; instead, he went and had him thrown into prison until he had paid the debt.
31When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply distressed and went and reported the whole affair to their master. 32Then the master summoned that man and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I cancelled that entire debt for you because you pleaded with me. 33Should you not also have shown mercy to your fellow servant, just as I showed mercy to you?’ 34In his anger, the master handed him over to the torturers until he had paid back everything he owed. 35In the same way, my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.’

‘…A king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.’ Note that it is not the subjects who are summoned, but the servants. This judgement, therefore, is not directed at the world, but at the disciples. Meanwhile, a servant, who owed ten thousand talents, is discovered and dragged before the king. The verb ‘prosēnéchthē’ conveys a sense of compulsion; it means to push forward, to bring out, to bring to light, to present. What was hidden is now brought to light; no one can think they will get away with it. The amount in question—ten thousand talents—is enormous, hyperbolic; and for this reason, the promise made by the servant, caught red-handed, to pay off his entire debt is not credible: even a thousand lives would not have been enough for him.

Beyond the numbers, the intention is to contrast the ten thousand talents owed to the king with the hundred denarii owed by another servant. Two quantities, two values that are simply incomparable and which, precisely for this reason, create a gulf between the two behaviours. But here we are in the realm of a story, and the aim is not to report news items, but to provoke the reader’s final sense of indignation – in which they will naturally feel involved – when they discover that this servant was unable to forgive a colleague a mere handful of denarii. The parable, in fact, has precisely this primary aim: to draw the listener personally into the story, so that, without realising it, they become one of the characters moving through the narrative.

The servant has but one card left to play: a plea for clemency and mercy, accompanied by an impossible and absurd promise to settle the entire debt. The king was moved to compassion towards that unfortunate servant. The verb used to express compassion is ‘splagchnistheìs’, which indicates a visceral compassion; an emotion that seizes him completely and leads him to release that servant from all his debt, restoring his dignity as a free person and, at the same time, saving his own family from slavery. The moral stature of this king is immense, just as immense as the forgiveness he grants his servant.

Verses 28–30 introduce the other parallel episode, concerning the two servants. The size of the debt varies, and the decisions of the two creditors are radically opposed: one displays enormous generosity in the first episode; the other is selfish, petty and absurd. Consequently, the fates of the two debtors are opposite: the first is forgiven and restored to his dignity; the second is thrown into prison. Faced with his servant’s plea, the king is deeply moved; whereas in the second case, the servant, when confronted by his fellow servant, proves to be hard-hearted and closed to any compassion.

If no brother owed me anything, I would never know what selfless love means. It is precisely the debts we owe one another that allow those who are forgiven to experience that God forgives, and those who forgive to become like God who forgives.

We realise, then, how much we have to learn in community life and within families, even from disagreements and quarrels. In other words, evil arises precisely where we are together, and it is there that evil must be overcome by love and forgiveness. So, let us try to see how those negative things that happen to us every day—these hundred denarii that we owe one another—can be the very place where we can say: ‘Where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more.’ Having established the premise for forgiveness (the many debts we owe to God), the forgiveness we have received must also be extended to others. Having been forgiven, we forgive. Those who are aware that they have been forgiven, forgive.

‘So too will my heavenly Father do to you if you do not forgive your brother from the heart.’ Every action has its resonance and its consequence, even in heaven. The believer is simultaneously a citizen of two homelands, one earthly and one heavenly, and everything they do in one has consequences for the other. That phrase ‘So also will my heavenly Father’ implies that we shall be measured by the same measure with which we measure, and the judgement we reserve for our fellow human beings will be reserved for us. After all, Jesus himself taught his disciples to turn to the Father, asking him to forgive their debts, just as they would forgive those who owe them. It is, therefore, we ourselves who, here on earth, lay the foundations for our own judgement.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation – an exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers – Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, in the mystery of the Trinity

Jesus’ prophetic discourse (Matthew 24–25)

All Generations Will Call Me Blessed

Catholics and Protestants Compared – In Defence of the Faith

The Church and Israel According to St Paul – Romans 9–11

(Available on Amazon)