The Inequality of Mercy is Strained

Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Readings for Thursday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time

Reflection:

If we look first at the reading from Ezekiel and then at the Gospel today we can see clearly how dramatically Jesus changed the understanding of our relationship with the Father. Looking at Ezekiel, the Prophet is instructed to go through Jerusalem and basically predict the Diaspora, the enslavement of the Hebrew people. This catastrophic event, according to scripture, is a consequence of their failure to accept God’s Law and to be faithful to the covenants that bound them from Moses and Abraham.

Now take a look at the Gospel. Here we have Jesus responding to St. Peter when he asks; “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” (Note; Peter probably uses the number seven in reference to Hebrew numerology in which the number 7 is the perfect number – it is complete.) and Jesus responds using a similar simile with; “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” Jesus meaning is clear; we are to forgive without limits.

See how our relationship with the Father has changed? The God of Justice has been revealed in Christ as the God of Love. To make sure there was no mistake, that is, to make sure we understand another important element of his message regarding forgiveness, Jesus gives us the parable of unmerciful servant. In this story we see God, represented by the king, being merciful to a servant that owed him huge debt. That servant obviously represents us. How large a debt should we say we owe the Father of our Creation, He who gives us life and all that we have? What do we owe to the One who loves us so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus, that we might be freed from the bonds of sin and death to share eternal life with Him? I’d say that is a pretty big debt.

The story continues with that ungrateful servant who was shown mercy, turning on one who owed him a small fraction of what was forgiven him and brutally demanding full payment. And we cheer as the King discovers his unforgiving nature (he was ratted out) and; “Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.” (Do we sense Ezekiel in the background saying “See, it’s the same God.”)

Jesus, in this story reiterates something he has said more explicitly earlier in the same Gospel according to St. Matthew:

"Stop judging, that you may not be judged.
For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure
will be measured out to you.” (Mt 7 1-2)

There we have it, the difference between the Old Testament understanding of the nature of the Father’s love and how it was augmented by God’s revelation through His Son. But there is a bit of a trap there. Too often today we think only that God is love and that, with that infinite forgiveness His Son demonstrates, we can do anything we like and not be held accountable. As we clearly see in today’s scripture, that is not true. We will be held accountable and the more complete our understanding of the Lord and His wishes for us, the higher the bar. No one ever said it was going to be easy.

Pax