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Commentary from THE ANNOTATED
BOOK OF COMMON
PRAYEREdited by JOHN HENRY BLUNT
Rivingtons, London, 1884
TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Christian love is here, as on the first Sunday after Trinity the subject
of the Epistle and Gospel; but in the present instance it is illustrated
by the tender words of St. Paul in his Epistle to the Philippians, and
by our Lord's parable of the two debtors, which He spoke as a reply to
St. Peter's question, "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and
I forgive him?" This question was asked by one who was accustomed
to the Jewish practice, which was ostentatious of its seven times' forgiveness,
but yet unforgiving in reality. Our Lord's law of forgiveness had
no limits, "Not until seven times, but until seventy times seven."
The forgiveness of the debt of ten thousand talents represents the infinite
mercy of God, and is given as a true Example and Standard towards which
His absolved servants should reach upward.
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