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Scripture

An Introduction to the Sunday Scripture Readings - September 13, 2026

“I SAY TO YOU, NOT SEVEN TIMES BUT SEVENTY-SEVEN TIMES”

Last Sunday's readings reminded us of our God-given responsibility to care for and correct one another in love. This Sunday, that theme is brought to its natural fulfillment in our duty to forgive others, always.

In our first reading (Sirach 27:30 - 28:7), the author, Yeshua ben Sira, teaches us that the refusal to forgive, clinging to "wrath and anger”, are in themselves sinful acts. “Could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the LORD?” This reading could be called the Old Testament parallel of Jesus’ parable of the merciless servant that we hear in today’s Gospel. The themes are very similar – we have a duty to forgive others just as the Father forgives us.

Our Epistle reading (Romans 14:7-9) is short passage, probably taken from a poem or song. It underscores the transcendent nature of our relationship with Christ. It should comfort us to know that the dead belong to the Lord as much as the living. “For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”

In our Gospel passage (Matthew 18:21-35), we hear a continuation of last Sunday's Gospel, where Jesus instructed His disciples on the process of reconciliation and then gave them the authority to “bind and to loose”. In the very next sentence, Peter asked Jesus how often must he forgive others, “As many as seven times?” Jesus' answer probably shocked him, as it went far beyond what would have been Jewish custom of the time (seven-fold forgiveness). "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.“ Then Jesus told His disciples the parable of the Unforgiving Servant, where the master forgave him an enormous debt and then that servant refused to forgive a much smaller debt from a fellow servant.

Forgiveness is the opposite of vengeance; you can't have both at the same time. When we find ourselves resentful that we must forgive someone over and over for the same offense, it might do us good to consider that our Father in heaven has already forgiven us far more and far more often than we could ever repay. When we are “slow to anger and rich in Compassion”, we are imitating God.