Reflection 20/09/2026
By Rev. Ryan Tristin Chapman
Genesis 50: 15-21: Joseph forgives his brothers
Matthew 18: 21-35: Forgive 77 times, not 7. A pardoned slave fails to forgive another
“Boundless Grace”
Today’s reading from Genesis brings us to the tail end of Joseph’s adventures with his many (11!) brothers. Previous to the reading we heard today, they have resented him as their father’s favourite son, beat him and left him in a pit. From there he was captured and enslaved, but became an advisor to the Pharoah, and served to save the region from starvation during a drought. This morning we hear his brothers approach him fearfully, worried that he will exact his revenge for all they have put him through. Like many Biblical stories, however, expectations are not met, and the world seems to turn upside down, as the action takes everyone in unexpected directions. Instead of approaching with their own apologies, Joseph’s many brothers create expectations they falsely attribute to their late father. They tell Joseph that their late father instructed him to forgive his brothers. In response, Joseph weeps.
Joseph’s brothers assume his tears are shed in anger, but he weeps tears because his heart overwhelmed by love. He is glad to be reunited with his kin, and, we soon learn, he wants to take care of him.
While humans seek understanding as events unfold, scripture shows us again and again that we will not know the outcome of the events we set in motion. We see human expectations set on their head in so many scriptures - humans simply cannot understand the will of God, or predict it with our mortal understanding of law, order, and the world.
The readings I found on this tail end of Joseph’s story encourage us to trust that God is lovingly at work, because we cannot predict the outcome of situations any more so than we might understand the decisions of others.
We follow Christ, who demonstrated the ultimate surprise in his death and resurrection. We follow a God who continues to surprise us today. While we can try to attribute divine powers behind human actions, this gives us a faulty understanding of divine love and the free will of humankind. Humans will continue to harm one another, to act out of selfishness and fear, and to misunderstand ourselves, one another, and even God. What we can trust in, is that God is at work for good, and will do her best to turn messy situations into scenarios which demonstrate love, forgiveness, and grace. While we might not see God at work in everything, we can trust that she is behind the scenes, working to turn the world upside down, and help us all land right side up, if at all possible, despite our flaws.
The reading from Matthew this week is tough to hear. It includes slavery, violence, and torture, with an unusual aspect of what seems on the surface to be threats of violence from Jesus. This is as out of character as it is absurd.
Coming to understand this parable on forgiveness as hyperbole can help us to digest this otherwise brutal exchange of power and forgiveness. Forgiving someone 77 times, or 70x7, as some translations tell us, may seem impossible, or at least a very tall order. But these verses have always sat alongside last week’s reading about the community process of forgiveness, which includes accountability and care for one another. Peter asks “how often should I forgive? As many as 7 times?” Jesus has just outlined the process of approaching an offender by ourselves, and calling in community support only if the situation does not resolve. Jesus uses an absurd story to illustrate how ridiculous Peter’s question is, within the context of the early church community building and the ways in which the body of Christ needed to stay together for the sake of survival as, well as salvation.
The forgiveness Jesus calls for is not about forgetting offense, or allowing awful behavior to continue. The forgiveness of mis-steps requires not just acknowledgement, but a change in behavior. The invitation to continue in community remains open for those who fail to respect others in the community - but only if the offender demonstrates true understanding of the damage they have caused, and that there are better ways forward, together.
This parable we heard today is absurd - it involves a slave owing an impossible amount, and a pharoah issuing an unexpected and unreasonable pardon, followed by an equally unreasonable threat. Jesus is exaggerating the story, well beyond any possibility of truth. He uses exaggeration to challenge the assumption behind Peter’s question. As Charles Cambell wrote Peter thinks- “that he can calculate and measure and limit the practice of forgiveness.”
The reason behind such exaggeration as Jesus offered in this parable is to remember the boundless grace we have been offered through Christ. The call to forgive what may seem like an unreasonable amount of times is a reminder that we, too, should offer grace beyond reason, and find ways to work together that would call into question human systems of governance, law, and fairness. To invite others into the Kin-dom of Christianity, we must remember and offer the same patience that we hope to receive ourselves. It is within this community that God’s boundless love can be found, alongside grace and mercy, all unending, and beyond our understanding.
May we go forth with forgiveness more powerful than ourselves, and love as deep and unending as the ocean. Amen.