Matthew 18:21-35 New International Version
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[a]
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Whenever I read Jesus’ parable of the unforgiving servant, my blood begins to boil.
I think,
“How cold, anti-social, ruthless, ungrateful, mean, and greedy this man is. There isn’t a kind bone in his body!”
Here was a man who owed more money than he could ever repay.
But after he was forgiven of his huge debt, he punished another man for owing him just a small amount.
The forgiven man had received mercy, but he did not show mercy to the other man.
It is not wrong to be angry about this.
In fact, this is the response Jesus is looking for.
But we must not stop there.
Jesus designed this story to help us think and act faithfully as children of God.
How should we respond to the kindness God has shown us?
God has forgiven our huge debt of sin; will we do the same for others who have sinned against us?
It is easy for us to ask for God’s forgiveness and yet carry grudges and ill will toward others.
It is easy to remember and resent what others have said and done against us.
But if we unconditionally accept God’s forgiveness and yet fail to forgive others, our Christianity is no different from the cold, ungrateful man in Jesus’ parable.
Jesus teaches us to forgive and to keep forgiving so we cannot remember how many times we have forgiven.
When we walk with the Spirit, we are changed.
God’s kindness begins to flow from us to others.
Forgiveness Forgiven and Forgiving
Matthew 18:26-35 New Living Translation
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.[a] 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 full.
31 “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[b] from your heart.”
A forgiven person should be a forgiving person—and, since forgiveness does not come so easily or naturally to us, we need to hear this again and again.
In other words, we forgive because God, through Jesus, forgives us.
The Bible makes it perfectly clear that forgiveness doesn’t spring from any human merit and is not the result of our own endeavors to be gracious and forgiving towards others; rather it comes from the grace of God.
One of the chief evidences that someone has truly repented of their sins, therefore, is a forgiving spirit.
Conversely, if we continually harbor enmity, grudges, and bitterness in our hearts, we not only harm our own lives and jeopardize our relationships, but frankly we also call into question whether we have ever truly discovered or grasped the authentic nature of God’s forgiveness at all.
It’s impossible to extend genuine forgiveness unless we have experienced it ourselves, and impossible not to do so if we have.
It will only flow outward from our hearts once we have been changed by God’s grace and have considered the true enormity of our many offenses against Him.
When such a transformation takes place, the sin of others against us will carry less weight as God enables us to forgive as often as we have been forgiven.
This is the principle behind Jesus’ parable of the servant in Matthew 18, who, having been forgiven a debt that was the first-century equivalent of $8 billion, then harshly refused to forgive a debt of $20,000.
Jesus wants us to see the depths of unreasonableness of the servant who had been forgiven an enormous debt in refusing to forgive the debt owed to him.
Viewed on its own, that debt was substantial; set against the amount he himself had been forgiven, it was tiny.
Likewise, it is inconceivable that we, who have been forgiven such a vast debt of offense against God, should ever fail to reciprocate and callously fail to forgive.
If we have experienced God’s mercy, then we must certainly not neglect the exercise of forgiveness.
In forgiving others, we enjoy the fullness of God’s pardon.
Give up the records of sins that you’re tempted to hold on to.
When this is hard because the wrong you’re being called to forgive was serious, look at the debt for which God has forgiven you, and look at what He gave up to do so—and that will enable you to extend mercy in your turn.
Surely, God has forgiven you through His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. He will pour out His grace and mercy to help you walk in truest harmony with others.
Talking about forgiveness and mercy in the kingdom of God.
Forgiveness and mercy are very important to God.
How do I know this?
Because Jesus said so!
Forgiveness and mercy are not natural reactions when we get wronged or hurt.
But they are core values in Jesus’ kingdom.
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit …..
Praying ….
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 