Springs Of Life Bible Church - The Unforgiving Servant

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		The Unforgiving Servant

THE PARABLE OF THE UNFORGIVING SERVANT
Matthew 18:21-35

THE STORY OF THE PARABLE

We know that no matter how great the sin Jesus never turns anyone away who comes to him in repentance and faith for forgiveness and mercy. But how many times must we forgive others who sin against us?

Peter thought that he should forgive as many as seven times. He may have thought that to forgive more than seven times would just encourage sin to continue. After all enough is enough. But what would Jesus say about forgiveness?

Jesus multiplied seven times ten and added seven, that is, completion times completion plus completion, to convey how many times one should forgive his neighbor. In doing so Jesus is conveying the idea of infinity.

God’s mercy is so great that it cannot be measured.

In the first part of the parable a king called his officials (servants) together for an appointed day of accounting. One of them owed him the astonishing sum of ten thousand talents, an amount which implies millions. In fact, the word for ten thousand has an underlying basic meaning of that which is numberless, countless, infinite.

The servant pled for mercy, not for remission. He promised restitution, knowing that in a lifetime he could only make a dent in repayment and no more.

In response to his plea, the servant received what he had least expected—forgiveness of the entire debt. His master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

The second part of the parable shows how the servant responded to a fellow servant who owed him a small sum of money.

Instead of forgiving his fellow servant as his master had forgiven him he grabbed him by the throat and demanded immediate payment. “Pay back what you owe me!”

The third and final part of the parable shows the response of the servant’s master when he found out that the servant he had just forgiven didn’t do the same for a fellow servant who owed him a small sum of money.

The conclusion is that everyone who has experienced forgiveness must be ready to forgive anyone who is indebted to him and to do so wholeheartedly.

THE MEANING OF THE PARABLE
The parable of the unforgiving servant emphasizes the contrast between God’s infinite love and fallen man’s conditional love and unwillingness to forgive others.

Man’s sin is so great that God has to forgive him infinitely more than the numerical count of seventy-seven times.

The depths of God’s mercy simply cannot be measured. It can only be illustrated as it is in this parable of a servant who owed his king a sum of money that could never be repaid.

Though the word justice is not found in the parable, the concepts expressed are those of mercy and justice. They are biblical concepts because they repeatedly occur in the Old Testament, developed especially by the psalmist and prophets. “Of mercy and of justice My joyful song shall be (Psalm 101:1).

It is for this very reason that Jesus teaches the parable of the unforgiving servant. He teaches that the exercise of mercy is not an occasional setting aside of justice.

APPLICATION

Scripture does not teach that mercy eliminates justice; nor does it teach that justice nullifies mercy. The two are equally valid norms.

Man’s hopelessness is revealed when he stands before God. He owes a debt because of his sin that he could never repay. He deserves death. But he knows that God is a God of mercy.

In the second part of the parable, Jesus shows that forgiven man must reflect God’s mercy and compassion to others. Ephesians 4:31-32

Just as the unforgiving servant so easily forgot his master’s mercy and forgiveness, how easily we forget God's mercy and forgiveness when wronged by others.

The unforgiving servant portrayed in the parable, would not show mercy. He applied the principle of justice without mercy.

Instead of letting mercy triumph, he chose to have justice triumph. That was his sin. James writes that judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful (James 2:13).

In the last part of the parable the unforgiving servant faces an angry master. What the servant had done to his debtor, the master now does to him: justice you want, justice you will get. The unforgiving servant is thrown into everlasting misery.

THE CONCLUDING LESSON OF THE PARABLE

You beg for mercy from God against whom you have sinned but want justice for those who sin against you. If you want those who have sinned against you to pay then expect God to require payment from you. If you don't forgive others, God is going to refigure what you owe him.

Prompted by gratitude the forgiven sinner must always yearn to forgive whoever has sinned against him, and must do all in his power to bring about complete reconciliation.

God cannot overlook a refusal to show mercy, for this is contrary to His nature and His Word. God pardons by accepting the sinner as if he had never sinned at all. God forgives the sinner’s debt and he remembers his sin no more (Psalm 103:12 & Jeremiah 31:34). And God expects the forgiven sinner to do the same.

CONCLUDING REMARKS ABOUT FORGIVENESS

We are never more like Jesus than when we walk in forgiveness. Conversely, we are never more unlike Jesus than when we refuse to forgive those who have sinned against us, hurt us, and broken our hearts.

Unforgiveness, anger, bitterness, and self-pity will quench the Spirit just as easily as sexual immorality, drunkenness, lying, gossip, or any other sin.
There is no double standard when it comes to sin. Sin grieves God, including the sin of unforgiveness and unresolved anger. Ephesians 4:26-27, 30-32

Just as we need to ask God for our daily bread we must daily deal with this matter of forgiveness. Whether it is asking God or others to forgive us, whether it is forgiving ourselves, or others; forgiveness is a daily issue in our lives. You can’t escape it!

Forgiveness is not an emotion, it’s a choice.
Forgiveness does not mean approval.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean they won’t suffer the consequences of their actions.
Forgiveness is canceling the debt.
Forgiveness is not an option.
Unforgiveness is sin and it grieves the Holy Spirit.

When you willfully refuse to forgive you are treading on very dangerous ground. Hebrews 10:26-27