Throughout this year’s reading in of the Gospel of Matthew, we have witnessed time and time again the mention of the problem of evil. 

 

This theme recurs also in today’s passage (Mt 18:21–35), which is a continuation of last Sunday’s reading. The topic is again about relationships and how to live in fraternity as people who have chosen to follow the Lord to Jerusalem, on the path towards Easter. 

 

The topic of forgiveness follows immediately after the topic of fraternal correction. This tells us that first of all, when a brother in the community makes a mistake, we must indeed go in search of him to save the relation, as we heard last Sunday. 

 

But, at a deeper level, there is something even more important to live together in the community: forgiveness. 

 

The topic is introduced by a question from Peter, who asks Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother: “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?” (Mt 18:21). 

 

We come to find two questions in chapter 18, which presents Jesus' discourse on the community life of the disciples. 

 

The first, found at the beginning of the chapter, the disciples ask Jesus on who is counted as the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven: “The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Mt 18:1). The second is Peter’s question, which we find in today’s passage. 

 

These two questions divide the chapter into two parts, each of which begins with a question and leads to a parable: the parable of the lost sheep in the first part (Mt 18:12–14), and, in the second, the parable of the servant who is forgiven by his master but, in turn, is incapable of forgiving a fellow servant like him (Mt 18:23–34). 

 

Furthermore, both parables conclude with a sentence that summarizes the parables and which, ultimately presents an answer to the two questions. In each of these two sentences, the protagonist is the Father: “In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.” (Mt 18:14); and: “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.” (Mt 18:35). 

 

The disciples’ and Peter’s questions are not spoken in random, rather, they reveal two primary temptations faced within the life of the community. 

 

“Who is the greatest?” expresses the temptation of superiority, of status, of merit, and of comparison. It is the temptation of power. 

 

“How many times must I forgive?”, instead, expresses the temptation to keep count, to set limits, to measure. It is the temptation of hardness of heart, of a justice that takes precedence over mercy. 

 

Matthew thus shows us that a community becomes sick when it seeks greatness and when it begins to measure forgiveness. To these two temptations, Jesus responds with two parables that speak neither of greatness nor of calculations, but of the heart of the Father. They are parables that seek to change the disciple’s gaze, so that they may learn to see as the Father sees. The Father is the one who does not want anyone to be lost; and he is the one who forgives an unpayable debt. 

 

Matthew 18, then, tells us how a fragile community—one that is familiar with evil and strives not to let it overcome it—can live. It tells us that the community is built on caring for the least among us and remains alive through mutual forgiveness. 

 

Forgiveness is never easy. 

 

The good news is that we are called and empowered to forgive without limit, “seventy times seven” (Mt 18:22). But our experience tells us just how difficult this is. We are often like the servant in the parable: after being forgiven an immense debt, we are unable to forgive even once, not even a debt that is infinitely smaller (Mt 18:30). 

 

That is why it is not simply a matter of trying harder or making a greater effort. Those who know how to forgive are the ones who preserve the memory of what they have received. They forgive because they know how to live as little children—as ones who receive everything, every time, from the Father. Those who know they can get lost like the sheep in the parable and cannot find their way home on their own, unless the shepherd, once again, sets out to go and look for them. 

 

Only those who know they are continually sought, found, and forgiven can, in turn, learn to seek, find, and forgive their brother. 

 

 +Pierbattista