The Unforgiving Servant
Study Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35
Lesson 7

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Key Verse

Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

Matthew 18:27

INTRODUCTION

Jesus had taught and continued to teach his disciples about the qualities of those who would be citizens of his kingdom.  The disciples were ambitious men, who thought that exaltation of self was a virtue and they were not shy about it; so they asked Jesus which one of them would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 

Jesus used this occasion to rebuke them for their ambition and to teach them about the desirable quality of humility.  He took a little child and pointed to the nature of children, as the required and desirable quality for those who would enter the Kingdom.  Clearly children were naturally unconcerned about their status and it never bothered them that they were never the center of attention.  

Jesus not only required his followers to become as humble as little children, He made it clear that when they accepted a little child in his name, they were in fact receiving him. In addition, anyone will offend the “ little ones” who believed in him, would face severe and unimaginably harsh judgment. 

Jesus declared a “woe” against those that brought offenses, explaining that it would be worth it, to make extreme sacrifices to avoid being counted by God as an offender, in light of the judgment that awaited those who caused others to sin. 

Jesus taught that his disciples had a great responsibility to minister to the weak and to guard God's little ones, for they were to show God’s great caring for people.  People were valuable to God and He wanted his followers to reflect the same care. 

It was the will of God that those who are lost would be saved and that those who are saved should never perish.  God’s wrath would be kindled against anyone that was responsible for evil against their brothers. 

Jesus then became very specific, raising the matter of discipline in the kingdom community. He taught that if a member of the kingdom community sinned against another believer, the believer sinned against should go and confront the guilty party directly, avoiding gossiping and griping to others. If the guilty party was unrepentant, other believers should join in getting the guilty party to repent. 

If the guilty party was adamant and unrepentant, only then was that guilty party to be removed from fellowship.  The unrepentant one should be treated just like a heathen, placed outside the fold.  

If this process was followed as directed by the Word of God, this action was binding as far as God was concerned. There was no escape for the unrepentant one.  Simply beginning to visit another church would not help. 

Clearly, there is real power when there is agreement with the Word of God, for the presence of Jesus would be there to ratify that decision   

We can imagine the effect on the disciples when Jesus taught humility and rebuked self- exaltation and personal ambition.  They must have been stunned when Jesus went on to illuminated them, on the importance to God of those who believed in Jesus. 

God would not tolerate anything less than complete brotherly unity, each being their brother’s keeper and every effort made to keep sin and destruction from the life of every member of the kingdom community. 

Everyone was required to behave as children of God, joint heirs with Christ, and fellow citizens with the saints. None could expect to misbehave without severe repercussions.  High moral standards were to be followed by all.  Those sinned against should aim at having the offender restored to full fellowship and not make restoration more difficult, by spreading gossip and inappropriate remarks and judgments. Those not behaving properly and creating offense should understand that God would never support bad behavior and was fully prepared to execute painful judgment on offenders. 

It is in this context that the brave Peter raised a question that led Jesus to go further in explaining what God required of his people. 

This discourse concerning offences should be understood as being applied to personal wrongs, which are in our power to forgive.  The real point seems to be as one writer puts it:

“ Unlimited forgivingness ought to be demonstrated with mercy toward others because it is the reflection of a right relationship with the Father.  Or to state it another way.  God's forgivingness of our sins should motivate us to forgive those who offend us.” 

This text seems to be geared towards the relationship between believers, how we should conduct ourselves with one another, in order to strengthen the bonds of love and service. 

The parable Jesus spoke teaches at least three basic ideas. 

The first is that every sin we commit is a debt to God. In truth, the debt created by all of our many sins represents an insurmountable problem for us.  We can never hope to repay it.   

The second is that there is an account kept by God and we must face up to the fact that God keeps an accounting. There is a day of reckoning coming, when these accounts will be called in and either passed or disallowed and nothing but the ‘blood of Christ’ will balance the account.  

The third is that sin is a very great debt.  There is no evading the requirements of divine justice, our sin will be sure to find us out.  We do not even know the extent of our trespasses (Ps.19:12.), but we know that God hates sin and is angry with the wicked every day.  

Remember that Sinners are insolvent debtors, i.e. individuals in a state of bankruptcy.  Thus God can act in strict justice and condemn us, since that is the satisfaction that justice demands. God is right to say, let the sentence of the law be executed.

THE TEXT

Verse 21.   Peter asked Jesus a direct question in this verse.  Peter asked how many times should he forgive his brother, when his brother had done something against him?  and quite generously he responded and asked, until seven times? 

According to Rabbinical teaching, three times was the required amount of times for forgiving a brother who had trespassed against you.  So by saying seven times, it seems as though Peter was aware of what he should be doing, if such a situation arose.   

Earlier on (Matt 6:14), Jesus taught that in order for God’s children to receive His forgiveness, they must forgive others and not bear a grudge. They should not meditate on revenge and must be ready always to forgive others. 

When Peter asked his question, it seemed as though he had forgotten this lesson recently taught by Jesus and was taking the need for forgiveness from God and especially from himself to others for granted.  

Peter might have meant seven times in a lifetime.  Then if the person was desirous after that to reconcile, then it might be too late.  That individual might be expelled from fellowship and abandoned to society and Peter henceforth could have nothing to do with him.  Peter might have been thinking of texts like Amos 2:1 and Prov. 24:16 in order to justify the response to the level or frequency of forgiveness he was to give.

 Proverbs 24:16 reads:

“ For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again; but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” 

It seems that Peter had a problem dealing with the idea of forgiving others ‘many’ times, which would suggest tolerating offensive behavior.  Remember that this was a hot-blooded disciple who would not hesitate to take up a challenge from any and everybody. Still he seemed a bit worried about what would happen if believers did not forgive.

Verse 22.   Jesus answered Peter’s question directly, telling him that there should be great generosity in the number of times forgiveness is extended.   

It is very important to note the meaning of this word forgive which means primarily: “to send away, thus to remit or forgive debts’, which are then completely canceled, or the deliverance from sin, the remission of divine punishment. 

Jesus responded “until seventy times seven” which some scholars say is four hundred and ninety times or seventy seven times. 

There is some disagreement as to the exact meaning of Jesus' answer, even though everyone agrees that there must be great generosity when it comes to forgiveness.  Some regard Jesus’ reply as a figure of speech and relates it to Genesis 4:24 when Lamech speaks about revenge.  We must be careful in saying that Jesus is speaking about ‘unlimited’ forgiveness. 

Others point to the fact that seventy times seven equals four hundred and ninety, the years Israel stayed in the land without observing the Sabbath Year. God forgave Israel four hundred and ninety times before finally sending them to captivity and punishment in Babylon . 

His forgiveness has definite limits. Nevertheless, the force of the text leans towards a great number.  

The idea behind this is not to keep count of the offenses done to us by the brethren. The only one who is able to keep score is God.  Considering Deut. 32:34, He is the Judge and it is bad for us to keep count, for what it may really imply, is that at some point we can then act in retribution. 

Vengeance is His, we must not step into His domain.  This is the providence of God for the preservation of peace, within and without. Believers are to pass by injuries without reference to the number. They should just forgive and forget, since God multiples His pardons and they should do likewise. The point of the matter is that forgiveness should be habitual with us. Don’t keep count, be willing to forgive. 

In this matter of forgiveness we note that Stephen in Acts 7:60, Paul in 2 Timothy 4:14 left the matter of vengeance to God.  In Luke 23:34 Jesus on the Cross, also requested that God be with unbelievers in a manner befitting the level of their ignorance and their wickedness.

Note however that human forgiveness is strictly related to divine forgiveness and when certain conditions are met, such as repentance and confession, there appears to be no limit to forgiveness. 

But we are warned in Matthew 12:31-32, and in 1 John 5:16 that there might be limits to the possibility of divine forgiveness.

Verse 23.   In order to help Peter along in this matter, Jesus decided to teach him and the other disciples through a parable.   

(The aim of a parable is to teach a lesson.  Usually it takes shape in story form and is fictitious, but it teaches Christian duties).   

This parable is a comment on the fifth petition of the Lord’s prayer.  The idea is that only those who forgive their brethren may expect to be forgiven by God  

It is generally held that the parable presents the kingdom of heaven, the church and the administration of the gospel dispensation.

In the parable it says that the king of a country decided to go over his accounts.  If we are looking at this as a story or a metaphor, then the king might represent God the Father. 

Peter and the disciples are the audience and since the parable speaks of the kingdom of heaven, clearly the teaching is addressed to all believers.  We must ensure that in our present day relationships our lives are in line with this truth. 

It is important to remember the context for this is designed to fit in with discipline in the church.  Our Helping Hand writer makes this very important comment to which we should pay attention:

 “ Many churches have neglected the Bible’s clear teaching on confrontation and the steps to reconciliation or expulsion made clear in Matthew 18:15-17.

Churches filled with unforgiving members who will not confront their own sin or that of other members cannot be free to forgive.  For some infernal reason, we are often content to let other Christians continue in wayward and sinful ways, assuming it is someone else's responsibility.  In loving families, however, confrontation and correction are frequent and routine.” 

There should be no neglect of the Bible’s clear teaching. 

We note that the king had a day in which he required the servants to give account to him of what they had done.  There seems to have been a day of reckoning.

Verse 24 .   On the day of reckoning when the servants were brought to account, one servant was found to owe ten thousand talents. This was an impossible sum to repay. This servant was not your ordinary house servant but must have been a steward of some standing to have pulled off such a grand larceny.   

A talent was worth about six thousand denarii. One denarii was a day’s wages for a laborer.  So ten thousand talents would amount to sixty million days wages, clearly a sum that would be impossible to repay. 

Commentators estimate that ten thousand talents in modern currency, would be worth anywhere between twelve million and one billion dollars. 

This represents the situation we humans are in with regard to sin.  Man is in a hopeless predicament and no human being has enough money to buy themselves out of the debt of sin.  In this parable Jesus graphically portrays this man's hopeless situation. 

When Jesus presented this ‘impossible to repay’ debt, He was pointing out the reason why Hell lasts for eternity, for it is clear that our debt to God is one we can never repay. 

It also reminds us that despite any effort man can take, only the blood of Jesus is sufficient to cover our sins and make payment sufficient to cover our debt to God.  Remember that Jesus took to himself the debt of all men, that is, the debt of all that lived, is living, and will live. 

If we assume that the debt of each person who has ever lived and will live were estimated at $100 million (1/10 of the estimated maximum quoted above), and simply look at the present population of the world estimated on July 21^st,2005, at 6,455,322,387, and multiply that population times $100 million, that is a staggering amount. But if one multiplies the staggering amounts involved, and adjusts it for all those in the planet's history, the debt that Jesus’ blood handled is in fact mind-boggling. 

Can anyone truly fathom how special Jesus is, how great He is and understand how valuable His blood is, to be able to handle that debt and save our souls from the ‘ Lake of Fire ’. 

Truthfully, only God could handle that kind of debt and cope with a task like this.  Jesus had to be God.  An angel or a created being could never bear that burden. 

We can never hope to repay Him for what he has done.  What Jesus humbly asks of us is obedience to the Father and to serve the Father in spirit and in truth, for the opportunity has been given to us. 

Note also that the weight of this debt on Jesus, bearing the wages of our sins must have been crushing.  This is a staggering debt.  Thus one can only imagine the painful death that he faced and endured and the terrible travail of his soul. 

We then must consider the very painful death that each one of us avoided because we accepted the sacrifice of Christ.

Verse 25.   The offending servant did not have the money to pay, no one could ever repay that kind of debt. 

Note that he had committed a great offense against a king.  We too must remember that in reality our sins are committed against an infinite God who is king over all.  We as finite creatures are expected to make restitution, but we cannot appease God since we are finite. 

How can we merit anything from God?  We are so indebted to Him, that we do not even warrant Him taking notice of us.

Offending the king meant that he, his family and his possessions had to be sold and restitution made. 

But note that selling him and his family meant that the king would not even get a dent in the debt, because selling him and his family would probably not bring more than a talent a piece. 

Becoming a slave instead of a servant meant a great downgrade in status. He and his family would suffer forever.  They would be mocked and jeered.  The thought of all that vanished privilege would constantly eat at him and his family.

Verse 26.   The servant, looking at the impossible prospects he faced, fell down at his master's feet and worshipped him, asking his Lord to show some mercy, to be patient with him.  He promised to pay the master all he owed him. 

Note that this position showed an unworthy aspect of the servant’s character, for he did not admit his inability to repay the debt. He must have known that he could never repay a debt that size. Yet he said he would. 

This servant did not really appreciate the enormous amount of what he owed and therefore we know that he would never appreciate the enormity of any mercy and forgivingness that he might be given. 

So it was not surprising that he turnaround and refused to forgive another servant who owed him a large amount of money but insignificant, compared to what he owed.

Verse 27.   The king was a great master, abounding in mercy and full of compassion, so he forgave a debt that he must have known could never be repaid, even though the offending servant made great promises to repay. 

Actually, we cannot imagine a king behaving in this manner. The king was really setting a bad precedent.  When the other servants heard how kind and compassionate he was, they certainly would take advantage of him and his generosity.  

The right way to run a kingdom is to be tough, intimidate all, cut off a few heads, hit sinners and offenders immediately with a few bolts of deadly lightning, take no prisoners when people blaspheme and discipline everyone who offends. 

This king must be a strange kind of king.  He appears to let everyone off the hook, or so it appears. 

The king released the offending servant, and forgave him the debt.  This was free forgiveness. 

Apparently it assumes repentance on the part of the servant, a turning away from previous misbehavior. 

There might after all be a difference between ‘ godly repentance’ or in this case ‘ kingly repentance’ as opposed to “ sham repentance, the begging for mercy, and worship”, or in other words “ the sorrow of the world”.

Verse 28.   The servant was forgiven, but when he left his king's throne of grace, he came across a man who was a servant just like he was and who owed him a debt of one hundred denarii or one hundred days wages. 

This was nothing to sneeze at but it certainly did not compare to the kind of debt that he had owed the king, and for which he had been forgiven. 

This unforgiving servant was vicious, merciless and violent.  Let believers carefully note this description. When we do not forgive, this is how God the Father looks at us. 

This servant grabbed the other man by the throat, ready to squeeze him to death, demanding that his fellow servant pay him what he was owed. 

This was a totally different behavior and a totally different nature from that displayed by his king.  He did not resemble his Lord.

Verse 29.   This offending fellow-servant fell down at the feet of the man to whom he owed one hundred denarii. He used the exact same plea that had brought mercy for the great debt. 

He asked for mercy, patience and some time so that he could pay the large but manageable debt.  This was a most reasonable request.

Verse 30.   His plea for mercy fell on deaf ears.  The ‘ unforgiving servant’ tossed him into debtors jail, where it is to be noted he could not pay the debt even if he wanted to. 

This man was getting even for a harm that he thought was done to him, even though getting even would hurt him, for the debt would not be repaid with the debtor in prison.  

When we do not forgive we are hurting ourselves.  In getting mad and hurting others, we demonstrate that we are not very sensible and do not appreciate our own forgiveness.  We are pretty bad inside and our iniquity is coming out in plain view.  We are violent, pitiless and dominated by a killer instinct.

Verse 31.   The actions of the ‘ unforgiving servant’ was noticed.  His behavior brought sorrow and pain to his fellow servants. 

Do we mourn over sin?  Or do we cover it up and let it sit there?  Do we pride ourselves on being liberal, being democratic, allowing everybody to do what is right in their own eyes? 

In this case the fellow servants sought justice.  They came and told the Lord everything that had happened.  They did not take it on themselves to deal with the ‘ unforgiving servant’, but turned the matter over to their Lord.

Verse 32-33.   The Lord called the merciless servant into his throne room and rebuke him, calling him a ‘wicked servant’.  

He pronounced judgment, but first explained to this ‘wicked servant’ that when he had asked for mercy and patience and time to repay the unrepayable, his petition was granted. 

It was to be expected that since he had been abundantly pardoned, receiving the benefits of compassion, he should at least have tried to reciprocate and shown pity on his fellow-servant.   

If he did not follow the example of his Lord he could only be called “wicked”.

Verse 34.   The Lord was very angry and gave the unforgiving servant the justice that he deserved.  This time he was shown no mercy. 

In fact, he was handed over to what Jesus called “ the tormentors”, or torturers, where and with whom he obviously would stay throughout eternity, for he could never repay that debt.

Verse 35.   Clearly if we are unwilling to love, treat the brethren well and forgive others, God will give us to the tormentors. 

Note though that Jesus in context is speaking only of forgiving the repentant, for if a man is unrepentant, we can't really forgive him, except in the sense of as one writer says:

 “ keeping our hearts opened for reconciliation at the slightest true repentance and keeping ourselves free from bitterness.” 

Some interpret torment as God leaving us to live or fall by our own efforts and to face our evil, so that we will recognize our sin and appreciate God's forgiveness of us. 

Others however stress that we pay up the terrible price for our unforgiveness and we undergo chastening. 

But it is very clear that we have a strict obligation to forgive those who repent, and according to Luke 17:4 we apparently have to be careful about judging the validity the of the repentance.  We must lean toward being generous in our forgivingness. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

CONCLUSION

We learn several things from this teaching of Jesus. 

First, when a person injures us, a debtor relationship is established.  We are owed something. 

Second, when we forgive we cancel the debt that someone owes us for the wrong they did to us. 

Third, we don't ask or expect them to pay us back. 

Fourth, since we have been forgiven, that is our motivation to forgive.  We can never repay God for what we owe him and when somebody does evil to us, they can’t repay us either.  We recognize that we have been forgiven and therefore we do not hold them accountable.  

Fifth, we will always be miserable if we fail to forgive.  God assures us of that. 

Sixth, our aim is to be like the heavenly Father.  He is our model.  We share his nature so we have no excuse.  If we do not follow His lead he will be angry.  We do not want to experience his wrath. 

Seventh, we recognize that some do not know what they are doing, in the sense that they do not realize what sin will lead them to in the end.  We should turn those people who do not come to us to seek forgivingness over to God.  When we give him that problem we release ourselves from undue pain.