Third passover until Jesus' arrival at Bethany
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Forgiveness Between Brethren
Jesus said:
If your brother sins against you, go to him and show him his fault, between you and him alone.
If he listens, you have gained a brother.
But if he will not listen then take one or two more witnesses with you, so that the matter is made clear.
If he still refuses to hear then take the matter to the church.
If he refuses to hear the church, then leave him alone and stop having any dealing with him and treat him like an outsider.
The important truth that you need to understand is that whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth will be loosed in heaven.
Again I tell you, if any two of you will agree on anything that you ask, it will be done for you by my Father who is in heaven.
Where two or three have gathered together in my name, I am among them.
Then Peter came and asked:
Lord, how often should I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Should I forgive him seven times?
Jesus said to Peter:
Not seven times, but 70 times seven times.
The kingdom of heaven is like a king who called upon all of his servants to account for the debts they owed him.
One of the servants who was brought to the king owed the equivalent of $1.5 million.
Because the servant could not pay the debt, the king commanded that the servant’s land and property all be sold and that he and his family be sold as slaves in order to settle the debt.
The servant fell down and worshipped the king, and begged him to have patience with him, promising to pay it all.
The king was moved with compassion and released him from bondage and forgave him the entire debt.
That day, the servant went out and found another fellow servant who owed him $500. He grabbed the servant by the throat and told him that he must pay what he owed.
The fellow servant fell down and begged the man to have patience with him, and he would pay what he owed. But instead of showing him mercy, he had the fellow servant thrown into prison.
When the other servants saw how their fellow servant had been treated they were very upset, and they went to the king and told him everything that the unforgiving servant had done.
The king then summoned the unforgiving servant and said to him:
You wicked servant, I forgave you the all the debt you owed because you pleaded with me to do so. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?
The king became very angry with the wicked servant and had him taken to the tormentors until he could pay all that was due.
Then Jesus said:
Your heavenly Father will treat you the same way if you do not forgive you brother from you hearts.