The Unforgiving Servant

"Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses" (Matthew 18:32-35)


Forgiveness is an important teaching in the Christian faith, and unfortunately one that is far too often glossed-over or misunderstood. When any one of us is asked about Forgiveness, we will invariably say that, through repentance, Jesus has forgiven us our multitude of sins and we have been washed clean by His Blood. But that is not all the Bible has to say on the matter. Matthew chapter 18 contains an important teaching on forgiveness, yet many do not even think about what is actually being said in the passage. We read the parable and exclaim, "oh yes, that bad servant should definitely have forgiven his fellowservant", and pay no heed to what Jesus says immediately after the parable. Throughout the Gospels, there are many examples where Jesus teaches through parable yet does not explain afterwards what it meant. However, when he does explain, we must take this as an indication that he wants to make absolutely sure we understand what he is saying to us. In other words, the parables where He explains His words carry great significance to our Faith and we must take notice. The story of the Unforgiving Servant is one such passage, and when one reads it in light of how Jesus explains it, even though only one verse, His meaning is clear.

Let me summarize the parable. A Servant owed his King a great deal of money, which he could not repay. The King proclaimed his judgment but had compassion on his servant when he begged for mercy - and then cleared his debt. This same servant then approaches a fellowservant who owes him a considerably smaller amount of money, yet when he is begged for mercy, does not forgive and casts him into prison. When the King hears of this, he summons the servant and is angered by the lack of compassion his servant has dealt to another, despite him having been forgiven. He then throws his servant into prison to fulfill the remainder of his debt.

Jesus likens the King to the Kingdom of Heaven (verse 23). This servant owed the King ten thousand talents, a figure which I have heard likened to billions of dollars in our current economic market. There is no way he could ever repay such a monumental debt, yet out of compassion, the King forgave him every last cent. When this servant refused to do likewise with a fellow servant, whose debt would have only been a few thousand current-dollars in comparison, he disrespects the King who forgave him. He places himself on a higher pedestal, being able to cast judgment upon others. The King, in response, re-establishes the debt he had forgiven and judges the servant accordingly. Jesus is telling us that this is the Kingdom of Heaven. We are the servants. God, the King, in His Mercy, chose to forgive us all our Sin - we owed Him a lifetime of Righteousness that we could not pay. We could not approach Him without this debt being paid, and He cleared that debt through the Blood of His Son. Through this He works to make us Holy in His sight, to transform us into His Image, to restore what was lost in the Garden, so He may fellowship with us in the way He had originally intended. But when we refuse to forgive one of our Christian brothers or sisters (and one may argue, anyone) we disrespect what He has given us - the Sacrifice for the remission of Sin.

At this point, some of you may be wondering, what about Grace? Does not Grace cover my sin? Of course it does. It is God's Grace that first allows us to come to Him. It is His Grace that removes the legal obstacle of Sin. His Grace is our chance to repent whenever we stumble. But it is not a method whereby a Christian may live with sin and hope God will simply 'look the other way.' Remember, He is Holy. In Isaiah's vision of God, the Seraphim are not crying "Love, Love, Love", or "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", but rather "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY" (Isaiah 6:3). Please do not misunderstand me here - God is Love and Mercy, but His Holiness is a characteristic that we cannot ignore, He must be revered as the Righteous Judge. To expect God to overlook unrepented sin, sin that is deeply rooted in the heart, is expecting God to be unrighteous! This parable in Matthew reveals the truth of this matter. The King, although he has forgiven his servant of his great debt, upon learning that this servant has refused the same compassion to one of his brethren, re-enlists the debt and holds his servant fully accountable for that which was owed. Look at the last verse in that Chapter, it is Jesus' explanation of the parable: "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." Pretty clear, right?

In comparison to the debt, which we were forgiven by God, the offenses we grow towards others are trivial. If God is able to forgive so much, we must be able to forgive the considerably smaller things we have against those around us. To do otherwise is to disrespect God's Grace. Is not the Christian life meant to be the sacrifice of one, so that we may live in Him? To live in Him is to become more like Him, to model our behaviour and actions on His Character, to die to our flesh and the desires thereof. We are all born into sin, none of us is greater than the other - note that this passage in Matthew does not say the fellowservant was 'under' or 'below' the unforgiving servant, but that they were 'fellowservants' - this implies equality in stature. For the gift God has given to us, we have no right to be the unforgiving servant, but must hold ourselves up to the example of God Himself.

Barukh atah Adonai Elohaynu Melekh haOlam (Blessed be the L-rd our G-d, King of the Universe)

In Christ’s Love and Service,

Rebecca Mihail, OIC Minister from the Australian Outback