Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive?  As many as seven times?"  Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.  "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.  When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made.  So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.'  And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt.  But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, 'Pay what you owe.'  Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.'  But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt.  When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place.  Then his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.  Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?'  And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt.  So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."

Jesus gives us great insight into how God's kingdom works in respect to his judgment.  We will all be called before him when he settles accounts with us.  We all owe him an enormous debt which cannot be repaid.  Jesus tells us what our response should be: fall on our knees and ask for his mercy.  If we do this and trust in God's mercy he will look with pity on us and we can confidently hope for forgiveness of our debt.  This forgiveness is not unconditional, however.  It depends entirely on our willingness to forgive those who are indebted to us to a vastly smaller degree.  If we demand a precise repayment of wrongs from others we can fully expect the same from the Father.  But because what we owe God is so much greater than what others owe us our sentence will be severely worse than what we have so harshly demanded.

The fellow slaves who report back to the Lord are the angels of God who are the constant witnesses of all our behavior, deeds, misdeeds and failures to act.  (This is why they will accompany Christ when he returns in glory to judge the nations - they are the witnesses to everything).  There is nothing hidden from them.  If our deeds are lacking we will resent their unsleeping eyes.  If we are in the light we will welcome their witness and assistance as we daily wipe the slate clean of all those who have wronged us.

The demons (fallen angels) know well the law of God.  They know well that if we lead a life of forgiveness we will escape their grasping, clutching claws in the end and they will have one less human to torture and share their agony.  This is why when we set out to forgive we can well expect to hear their din, their noisy cries that we should at least seek justice, that it is unhealthy and unwise to be so indiscriminating in our forgiveness, that surely God did not mean for us to be so unqualified.  They stroke our ego and make an enormous fuss over our rights.  But if we ignore them and forgive them unconditionally they will eventually depart to seek other victims.  They are the most miserable of creatures but they will not waste their time when they know their efforts are fruitless (unless directed by God for some purpose).

We have been given a share in one of the most mysterious and powerful of all God's abilities: the power to forgive.  God puts this power to use every day when he shines his sun on the good and the bad.  Let us make daily use of this awesome power we have been given and so become like our Father.