Skip to main content

163. The Parable of The Unmerciful Servant


Matthew 18:21-35
Key Verse: "This is how My Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother, or sister, from your heart."
Matthew 18:35

"Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matt. 6:12 & 14-15)

Jesus is consistent here on His teaching about forgiveness. It's what He came to make a way to do and He expects no less from His followers.

God bless Peter with his inquisitive nature. We learn so much because of his outspokenness. "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me?" One has to wonder, was Peter looking for a loop hole here? Was there continuing trouble among the ranks of disciples that Peter was having trouble enduring? We have to think that something happened to provoke this question. Also, I have to admit that, were I Peter, I might not find Jesus' answer exactly satisfying. I think that there is something within most of us that wants to cry, "Enough! That’s the last straw!" when we feel that we've reached the end of our rope of tolerance. "Surely God, you can relieve us now!  Haven't we endured enough?"

While Jesus' parable here focuses on money issues the lesson is not lost on relationship issues as well. Forgiveness is hard work and while we appreciate being forgiven, we often fail at extending our forgiveness toward others.

This is another parable about the Kingdom of God, so, of course, we begin with a king, representing God Himself. He's doing His finances and comes across the account of a servant who owes a debt that he can never repay. Sound familiar? He brings in the man and orders him to pay up, which, of course, he cannot do. The debtor pleads for mercy and the king takes pity on him, grants his request and cancels the debt. Good for him!

Now enters his equal, another servant just like himself. This time, however, the original debtor is the one with the power, for this servant owes him. However, instead of showing forgiveness in turn, the first servant demands justice, which he has a right to do. In mercy, he could have set his rights aside and extended grace, as he himself was given, but he had learned nothing from his encounter with the king and ordered this second servant to "Pay up." Fortunately, this troubled the onlookers, who reported all this to the king. The king in turn, invoked his rights, and revoked his forgiveness as well.

In the Kingdom of God, forgiveness reigns supreme. Those who do not practice it are not part of His Kingdom. He has instructed us to pray about it.  He has taught us how to practice it and He has set the example by doing it. What are the petty sins of your fellow man against you compared to your sins against a Holy God? Do you appreciate what you have been given? Do you extend this gift to others?

"I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." (Matt.18:22) Or in other words, "always be ready to forgive."

Hymn: "Forgiveness"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

258. "Remember, Always Remember!"

Exodus 12:1-30 Key Verse: "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord a lasting ordinance." Exodus 12:14 "Celebrate the feast of unleavened bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come." (Exodus 12:17) "And when your children ask you, "What does this ceremony mean to you?" then tell them, "It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when He struck down the Egyptians." (Exodus 12:27) The original act was an act of worship as the first true act of freedom for the people of Israel. They had been brought to Egypt by Joseph during a time of famine so that through Joseph God could preserve their lives. ( Genesis 37 , & 39-50 ) After Joseph died, however, instead of heading back to C...
Post a Comment
Read more

This Little Light of Mine

Scripture: Psalm 130 Listen Link: www.lcepc.org then look for “sermons” tab. It’s the first Sunday of Advent. Today we lit one candle and heard the passage, in Isaiah 9, about the great light! We have heard that the great light is the child born to us on Christmas day. It is Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Christmas is a day we will truly celebrate as we have for years and years, and our ancestors before us for centuries. Christmas is coming! Advent means coming! It is good to spend the next few weeks reflecting on all that it means for us. We begin from the depths of darkness. The world is still suffering the effects of sin. We are still suffering the effects of a world broken by sin. And not just the consequences of our own sins. According to Romans 8:22, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” The fires in California, the floods and storms on the East coast, and all the other natural disasters we hear ab...
Post a Comment
Read more

August 13 What Is Fitting

It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury—how much less for a slave to rule over princes! ~Proverbs 19:10   On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man!” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. ~Acts 12:21-23  Wow! Well, what in the world can there be to benefit us here? First of all, perhaps we should review the first Biblical definition of a fool, penned by no other than Solomon’s Father, David himself. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1) It is not fitting for the fool to live the blessed life. Why should they when they deny from whom all blessings flow?  King Herod was a fool. Now, just to be clear, this is not the Herod who ruled at Jesus’ birth and ordered the slaughter of the male children in Bethlehem. He ...
Post a Comment
Read more