Chapter 24
Forgiveness
Verse 1: Then Peter came to Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my neighbour acts wrongly towards me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” | Matthew 18:21
2 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, I tell you, but for seventy-seven times. | Matthew 18:22
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
3 “Therefore kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. | Matthew 18:23
4 When he began the to settle accounts, one man owed him ten thousand talents was brought to the king, | Matthew 18:24
5 and, as he had no means to pay, the lord ordered him to be sold, together with his family and all that they possessed and repayment to be made. | Matthew 18:25
6 The servant therefore fell down on his knees before him, begging, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you everything.’ | Matthew 18:26
7 And the lord had pity on his servant and out of compassion, released him and forgave him the debt. | Matthew 18:27
8 But when that servant went out, he met one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and grabbed him by the throat he said, ‘Pay back everything that you owe with interest.’ | Matthew 18:28
9 Then his fellow servant fell down on his knees and begged him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you.’ | Matthew 18:29
10 But he refused. Instead had him thrown into prison until the debt was repaid in whole. | Matthew 18:30
11 When his fellow servants heard what had happened, they were greatly distressed and angry, and so they went and reported everything to their lord that was done. | Matthew 18:31
12 Then his lord summoned him and said, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all the debt because you begged me for mercy. | Matthew 18:32
13 Should you not have shown mercy and compassion on your fellow servant, as I did with you?’ | Matthew 18:33
14 And because he was so angry the lord handed him over to the prison guards to be tortured until he repaid all he owed. | Matthew 18:34
15 So shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you do not forgive your neighbour from your heart.” | Matthew 18:35
The Unbelief of Jesus’s Brothers
16 After all this, Jesus went walking around in Galilee. He did not wish to be seen in Judea because the Judean leaders were seeking to kill him. | John 7:1
17 At that time, the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near. | John 7:2
18 So his brothers urged him, “You should leave here and go to Judea; let your disciples there see the works you are doing, | John 7:3
19 for no one who wants to be publicly known, hides what they do. If you do these things, reveal yourself openly to the world.” | John 7:4
20 (For even his brothers did not believe in him.) | John 7:5
21 Jesus said to them, “Your time is always here, however my time has not yet arrived. | John 7:6
22 The world cannot hate you on account of your works, but it hates me because it is my testimony that its works are evil. | John 7:7
23 As for you, go up to the Festival. I am not going, because my time has not yet come.” | John 7:8
24 After telling them this, he stayed on in Galilee. | John 7:9
Jesus at the Festival of Booths
25 But after his brothers had departed for the festival, Jesus also went in secret as to not make himself known publicly. | John 7:10
26 Meanwhile the temple authorities were searching for him at the festival and asking, “Where is he?” | John 7:11
27 And many where accusing him and murmuring among the crowds. For some were saying, “He is a good man,” but others said, “No, he is deceiving the crowd.” | John 7:12
28 However no one would dare speak openly about him for they feared of the temple authorities. | John 7:13
29 About the halfway through the festival Jesus entered the temple courts and began to teach. | John 7:14
30 The crowd were astonished, saying, “How does this man possess such knowledge, when he has never been educated?” | John 7:15
31 Answering them, Jesus cried, “My teaching is not mine but is from the one who sent me. | John 7:16
32 If anyone intends to do the will of my Father will know whether my teaching is from him or whether I am speak of myself. | John 7:17
33 Anyone who speaks on the authority of your father who withholds glory and speaks from a position imposed upon them, not freely chosen. But the one who seeks glory from my Father, from whom glory flows without constraint, he is true, and no unrighteousness is found in him. | John 7:18
34 “Didn't Moses give you your Father's law? Why do you seek to kill me?” | John 7:19
35 The crowd replied, “You are possessed by a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” | John 7:20
36 Jesus answered and said to them, “I performed one work, and you are all astonished. | John 7:21
37 Moses instituted circumcision among you, not because of him but by Abraham and you cut a man on the Sabbath without hesitation. You do not ask whether the child suffers. You ask only what the eighth day demands. So you already know that flesh bends to law in your world. | John 7:22
38 I healed a man's whole body on the Sabbath and you are furious with me. Not because he suffered. Not because he remains suffering. But because I did not wait for your calendar to permit his relief. | John 7:23
39 You judge by the law. I judge by the man standing in front of me. When those two conflict and they do conflict, and you know they do, I will choose the man. Every time. That is my judgment. That is the will of he who sent me.
40 Any law that looks at a suffering man and says: wait, that law is not serving life. It is serving itself. Stop judging by the letter of what was written and judge instead by what is actually in front of you: a man who was broken and is now whole.” | John 7:24