Parables #23 Unmerciful Servant
Parable #23 Matthew 18:23-34 Unmerciful Servant
23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.( Greek 10,000 talents [375 tons or 340 metric tons of silver].) 25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt. 26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. 28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars.( Greek 100 denarii. A denarius was equivalent to a labourer’s full day’s wage)He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. 29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters[a]from your heart.”
Parable #23 — Matthew 18:23-34 — Unmerciful Servant
1. Jesus told the parable of the unmerciful (unforgiving) servant right after telling Peter he must forgive someone seventy-seven (or seventy times seven) times. How likely are we to forgive someone many times for a similar offense?
2. Why is an unforgiving spirit so deadly?
3. What is the only request in the Lord’s prayer that requires something of us?
Matthew 6:12-1512 and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
4. In today’s terms, roughly how much did the first servant owe the king?
A talent was a monetary unit worth about twenty years’ wages for a laborer so today it would be worth about R5 million..How much did the second servant owe the first?
A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer, today about R200
5. In what ways has God shown mercy in forgiving your sins?
6. If God is so willing to forgive us, why are we often unwilling to forgive others?
7. Is it really possible to “forgive and forget?” How is it possible to forget the wrongs that others have done to us?
8. What happened to the servant who was unforgiving? What is the parallel meaning for us today?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Unforgiving / Unmerciful Servant?We find the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant only in Matthew 18:23-35.
The Apostle Peter had asked how many times one should forgive, “Till seven times?” and Jesus answered, “Not seven times but seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22).
The context of this passage is Jesus teaching His disciples about the “kingdom of heaven.” We can take some very important principles from this parable and apply them to our lives today.The servant whose lord forgave him much, ten thousand talents, equivalent to several million Rand, was unwilling to forgive another servant who owed him a hundred denarii.
A denarius was a day’s wage and was worth approximately R 35. Therefore, compared to what the first servant was forgiven, this was a very small amount.The principle here is, “the one forgiven much should forgive much.” In other words, the principle of forgiveness is that grace or forgiveness to another is without limit. The disciples are not to count the number of times they forgive. Rather, as the parable teaches, they are to forgive much because God has forgiven much.In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, Jesus is presenting a new principle that is similar to the basis of the forgiveness command for believers found inEphesians 4:3232 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.Jesus is teaching His disciples about forgiveness before His crucifixion and before the first church was established, but the basis for forgiveness is the same for us today. Because God has forgiven us, we are to forgive each other. Romans 5:8“8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.Therefore, because we have received much grace, we are commanded to give that same grace to others. In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, the first servant’s debt was forgiven, and he was not required to repay until his unforgiving nature was discovered. In contrast, our sin debt was paid in full by Christ and is the only basis for God’s forgiveness. We cannot repay our debt to God or earn our salvation. It is a gift of grace Ephesians 2:8-98 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.Therefore, in the Parable of the Unforgiving / Unmerciful / Unjust Servant, Jesus is teaching His disciples and us, that forgiveness should be in proportion to the amount forgiven. The first servant had been forgiven all, and he then should have forgiven all. It describes the children of God who by faith through Christ has had all their sins forgiven. Therefore, when someone offends or sins against us we should be willing to forgive them from a heart of gratitude for the grace to which we ourselves are debtors.Sometimes the sinners that we need to forgive are not even alive any more, it may have happened a long time ago and they can’t repent or apologize to us. Can wereally forgive the people who caused us such pain, or maybe we think that if we do forgive them thatby doing so we would play down the sin and the effect that it had on us?Forgiving another believer
“Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times’” (Matt. 18:21-22, NIV).
Imagine that someone in the church has hurt your feelings, and the person says “sorry.” And he or she does it again, and says “sorry.” And it happens again, and again you hear “sorry.” And again, and again, and again. At what point are you going to say, “I don’t think you’re really sorry?” Maybe the person isn’t sorry, but Jesus says to forgive them anyway, even 77 times. Try saying “I forgive you” that many times! It might be good therapy.
Jesus said “forgive,” not “forget,” and there is an important difference. Jesus has not forgotten who betrayed him, or deserted him, or ordered his execution, but Jesus does not harbor grudges about it.
He wants those people to accept the forgiveness that he offers—he died for them as well as for everyone else. (When the Bible says that God does not remember our sins any more, it is not talking about forgetfulness—it is using the word remember in the sense of taking action on something. Ex. 2:24 is an example of this meaning of “remember.”24 God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
This parable explains why we should forgive: Matt. 18:23-25The king represents God, of course, and the debt corresponds to our sins. We are totally unable to pay for our sins. Even selling ourselves into slavery would pay only a small fraction of the debt. We can’t work our way out of this one.
“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go”vs. 26-27 We can’t pay our debt, but if we ask for mercy, God will give us more than we ask. That’s what the kingdom of God is like. But the servant thought even though his dept was cancelled in full, he thought he could do something to repay his debt. Like many Christians today, who don’t really believe they are forgiven unless they have done some kind of penance. Yet God forgives them anyway, even if they don’t understand how far-reaching his forgiveness really is.
Up until here in the parable everything was fine and It would be a great parable if Jesus just stopped right there. But Jesus did not stop there.It is what follows in the second part of the parable that we should pay attention to. We have to remember that Peter’s question is not whether he is forgiven, but whether he has to forgive others—and this is the duty that we frequently face.
The unmerciful servant
28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few hundred Rand.( Greek 100 denarii. A denarius was equivalent to a labourer’s full day’s wage)He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.The first servant was determined to pay off his own debt by collecting every cent he could.
A hundred denarii was a significant amount, but it was only a tiny fraction of the 10,000 talents. But every penny counts, the servant must have thought, and he even used a little violence to underscore his determination to collect. Christians today do this as well. When they think they have to earn God’s respect through obedience and good works, they look down on people who aren’t trying as hard as they are.
vs. 29-3029 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.He even wanted the man’s relatives to Pay the money to get the man out of jail. He used desperate measures in a desperate attempt to gather enough money to impress the king with his sincerity.
vs. 31-3331 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ .This chapter is about life in a community, not just between one person and God. This is a small reminder in this parable that our actions affect other people, and that we should encourage one another to give mercy, just as we have been given mercy.
Then the pareable turns into a warning:vs. 34-3534 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. 35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters[a]from your heart.”
Jesus represents God as taking away the forgiveness he once gave, and inflicting punishment, knowing quite well that the man will never be able to “pay back all he owed.”
But Jesus is not attempting to tell us about the nature of eternal punishment—he is simply presenting this as a warning, with terms appropriate to the parable, that we must forgive others not grudgingly, but from the heart.
Faulty forgiveness
But is Jesus expecting the impossible from us? It is easy to say “you are forgiven,” but it is difficult to mean it in our heart. Aren’t we still angry at the injustice that was done to us? Don’t we still hurt when we think about it? Don’t we still want the person to be punished for what was done? What are we to do with the amount of bitterness we have accumulated in our thoughts?
If this parable had been longer, maybe it would have maybe sounded like this:
“And the wicked servant said, ‘O my king, you are right. You have been patient with me; I should be just as patient with my fellow servants. Please don’t throw me in jail. Have mercy on me again. I will forgive the people who ask me for mercy.’ And the king said, ‘You are forgiven.’
“And the wicked servant went out and found a woman who owed him 50 denarii, and he demanded to be repaid within a week. The woman was exceedingly sorrowful, and sold herself into slavery to pay the debt. And since she did not ask for mercy, none was given.
“The other servants found out about this and reported it to the king, and the king was angry and called the wicked servant in again, saying: ‘You wicked servant! I forgave your huge debt because you asked me to. Can you not see that the poor woman wanted mercy even though she was afraid to ask?’ Therefore I will throw you into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
“The wicked servant then said: ‘O my king, you are right again. If you forgive me this time, I will sell some of my possessions to redeem the woman from slavery.’ ‘Well done,’ said the king, ‘you may go.’ And the wicked servant went out and straightway forgot what he had promised.
“And he was reported to the king again, was threatened with punishment again, asked for mercy again, and he was forgiven again. And I ask you, how many times will the king forgive you —seven times? No, this King will do it seventy-seven times. That is what the kingdom of heaven is like. God is even more merciful than what he tells us to be.”
In other words, God even forgives our imperfect attempts at forgiveness, as long as we look to him for mercy.
The key to forgiving
The better we understand that we are forgiven, the better we can forgive others. That does not mean thinking (as the wicked servant may have), “Thanks for your patience my King; I will now try to repay all that I owe.” If we have that attitude, then we tend to still overestimate our abilities, and then we will still expect people to payback all that they owe us .
But the truth (which the wicked servant could have known, if he had listened carefully) is that when God forgives us, we are forgiven. There is no debt to repay. There’s nothing to work off, no need to prove how sincere we were this time. It’s forgiven—it’s gone.
Another point from the parable that will help us forgive others is: We have been forgiven an enormous debt; the sins that people commit against us are much smaller by comparison. Even if someone beats you to a bloody mess and nails you to die on a cross, God has forgiven you more than that. Perhaps we find that hard to believe, but this is the point that Jesus is making, and he has earned the right to say it.
Forgiveness does not mean that we pretend like nothing ever happened. It does not mean trusting a corrupt person with money,orTrusting a wife-beater to not get abusive againAppointing a child-molester to be a youth pastor. However, forgiving means that we do not harbour grudges, We do not seek vengeance. It means letting go of our need to get even. It means praying for our enemies. It means seeing ourselves in their shoes, Knowing that God has, for the sake of Jesus Christ, forgiven us all our sins too. God does not want us to sin again, but his mercy lasts forever.
God wants us to forgive, and He knows that it’s hard. He wants us to obey him in everything, and he knows that we don’t always do. That’s why our salvation does not depend on our performance, but on our righteousness in Christ. Our salvation does not depend on our performance in keeping the law, or in having enough faith, or in forgiving the way that we ought. In all these areas, we are sinners who fall short of the glory of God.
Our salvation depends not on us, but on Jesus, and on our connection to Him. He is the one who forgives with the sincerity and frequency that is required, and when our lives are hidden in Christ Paul says:Colossians . 3:33 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in GodGod sees Christ’s perfect obedience, including his perfect forgiveness, as ours.
God wants us to forgive others because he forgives us. He forgives us far more generously than 77 times. The point is that we are to realize our need for mercy, by looking to Him for mercy, Depend on his mercy, and instead of harbouring our hurts and nursing our grievances; we need to ask him to help us begin to forgive others.
In this world of sin and ignorance, offenses are inevitable. We’ve all been hurt. So, what’s the worst thing that has happened to you? What resentment do you carry? For our own good, we need to let our resentments go. Jesus will help us—that’s something worth praying about.
In conclusionI need to add this last very important condition that does affect our spiritual lives as Christians.True forgiveness plays a very important role in our lives,our thoughts our behavior and in our prayers.Jesus said that when He gave us the Lord’s Prayer in:
Matthew 6:9-13let’s look at v 12 of the Lord’s prayer 12 and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. The prayer endin v1313 And don’t let us yield to temptationbut rescue us from the evil one. Amen.
But then straight after the Lord’s Prayer Jesus added this very important next 2 verseto emphasise verse 12 when He saidthat He will forgive us our sins on one condition,14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.Can you see how important it is to read a passage in context
Jesus makes the same remark in Mark 11:22-25
In this passage of Scripture Jesus was busy teaching the disciples about faith and how to apply it, that when they pray they should believe that God will answer their prayers but then again He adds an important prerequisite or condition and that is, before He answers a prayer Vs 25 25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.(Some manuscripts add verse 26 But if you refuse to forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins. )”What He is saying is “If you want me to answer your prayers, first make sure that you forgive those people that you feel have wronged you”What does this parable teach us?This parable teaches us that we are part of His Kingdom, we have been forgiven much and God keeps on forgiving us , but we must forgive others as well otherwise we will not be forgiven.