In Matthew 18:15-17 Jesus discusses right relationships among His disciples. His words (seemingly) prompted Peter’s thoughts and his questions led to the parable Jesus presented (vs. 21). Rabbis of that time commonly taught that one who sinned against another was to be forgiven three times; after that, the wronged person was not obligated to forgive (he had “done his duty”). Peter seems to display a degree of pride in suggesting that he would go farther than required, offering to forgive up to seven times. Jesus, however, identifies the problem of “measuring” forgiveness by human rather than by Divine standards, and His response must have shocked everyone who heard it.
The point of His words is not the number of times He says to forgive (He did not say “forgive 490 times”), but the conduct that should accompany it. His emphasis is not only on the act of forgiving, but also on the attitude of the one offering it.
The “story” is simple: A king is settling accounts with his servants. One servant is singled out due to the extraordinarily large debt he owes. HOW he came into such debt is not stated, but the servant finds himself in a nightmare situation — “ten thousand talents” is a fantastic sum (roughly millions of dollars). In accordance with the law of Moses (Exodus 22:3), the king commands that he be sold to recover part of the debt (a tiny portion). The servant begs – and receives – mercy; there is no mention of how he fulfill his promise (vs. 26), but the king acquiesces and grants him mercy and freedom.
The parable now turns to the servant’s subsequent actions: Having received mercy, he turns to a fellow servant who owes him a negligible sum (about a day’s wage for a common laborer) and withholds mercy when the man offers the same assurances he had given the king. His fellow servants – understandably embittered by his action – tell the king of the forgiven man’s hateful spirit, and the king withdraws his mercy.
The main lesson is that one who receives pardon from God ought to be eager to show that same kind of mercy to others. Jesus’ words in verse 22 emphasize this point, because the king offers forgiveness in response to the sinner’s plea for pardon (vv. 26, 29). Other points include…
- The glaring hypocrisy of the forgiven servant. His actions displayed his heartless attitude to all, and led the king to withdraw the mercy he had granted (there was still the issue of repayment, which this merciless servant had promised). We may wonder how he could see his fellow servant’s fault without seeing his own, until we begin to look at our own double standards (self, vs. “others” — “mischief” vs. meanness — “frankness” vs. harshness — “thrift” vs. greed, etc.).
- Do we ever expect others to take the lead, carry the load of the church’s work, and let us have a “free ride?” Don’t forget Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:1-5, warning about harsh, condemning judgements! · Note also the nature of Divine forgiveness: The king (God) is merciful, but He is also just; the “debt” each owes is due to sin (the “servant” is every person), and it is a debt none of us can ever repay (Matthew 16:26). God does pity us, and is willing to forgive (Isaiah 1:18) – but not at the expense of His justice.
Jesus does not ignore sin (nor teach us to ignore it). Sin must be rebuked, but repentance is to be followed by forgiveness.
Divine forgiveness is wonderful, but this parable underscores the condition for receiving it — willingness to forgive others. To be forgiven, we must forgive. Divine forgiveness can be summarized by two quotes from the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7), and “…forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).
Jesus’ exposes the nature of our debt to God — unpayable, by us. All accountable people are indebted to God because of sin (Romans 3:23), and none has any ability to repay Him (the amount owed to the king in the parable was more than all the taxes paid by ancient Israel in an entire year).
What’s the “take-away?” We ought to pay more attention to how much we owe God!
-Dave Rogers
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