The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant - Matthew 18:21-35
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.
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 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. 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.”
Reflection: Today's parable is all about forgiveness. God's forgiveness of us and then how we should forgive others. And the assumption is that when we understand how much God has forgiven us that it would be outrageous for us to withhold forgiveness from someone else who offends us. The parable starts with Peter asking if there is a limit on forgiveness. He asks Jesus should we forgive up to seven times? It is almost as if Peter thinks he is being pretty generous by offering this large amount of forgiveness. But Jesus says, "No, Peter seventy times seven!" Is Jesus saying 490 is the number? No, he is using a teaching method called "hyperbole" to say the perfect number is an unlimited number to which there is no end. Just think if we had a cap on the amount of forgiveness we had with God, as if there was some meter in heaven that calculated our total sum and it expired when we went over.
But yet somehow the guy in the story received a huge amount of forgiveness, as represented by the "ten thousand bags of gold", and then went back and choked his servant to get 100 silver coins out of him. It would be like comparing a day laborers few days of minimum wage, to Albert Pujols or Kobe Bryant's 10 year multi million dollar contracts. And the whole point of the parable is to compare and contrast God's great love and magnanimous amount of forgiveness with our forgiving someone for their offense against us.
And here I think is the point. We don't often take enough time to reflect and meditate on how great God's forgiveness is for us, motivated by His great love for us. A lot of us hear about God's forgiveness and know it intellectually but have really not come to grips with just how great a gift we have been given. So what would be a good test to know if we have? The passage would suggest it would be demonstrated on how merciful we are to others. How do we make construction on our neighbor's behavior? Are we quick to judge and throw down the gavel? Or are we slow to judge and quick to forgive?
Maybe there is someone in your life that you are holding a grudge against? And maybe they really have hurt you. It happens. But when we see how great our Father's love is for us and how much we have been forgiven, we can begin to approach the merciful attitude Jesus shows on the cross when he says to those who were crucifying him, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do!" Maybe that could be your prayer today, Father forgive them, they know not what they do.
Jesus we thank you that while we were yet sinners you died for us. As we trust in what you did for us on the cross we are forgiven, and set free to show this great mercy to others as a reflection of what you have done for us. Amen.
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.
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 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. 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.”
Reflection: Today's parable is all about forgiveness. God's forgiveness of us and then how we should forgive others. And the assumption is that when we understand how much God has forgiven us that it would be outrageous for us to withhold forgiveness from someone else who offends us. The parable starts with Peter asking if there is a limit on forgiveness. He asks Jesus should we forgive up to seven times? It is almost as if Peter thinks he is being pretty generous by offering this large amount of forgiveness. But Jesus says, "No, Peter seventy times seven!" Is Jesus saying 490 is the number? No, he is using a teaching method called "hyperbole" to say the perfect number is an unlimited number to which there is no end. Just think if we had a cap on the amount of forgiveness we had with God, as if there was some meter in heaven that calculated our total sum and it expired when we went over.
But yet somehow the guy in the story received a huge amount of forgiveness, as represented by the "ten thousand bags of gold", and then went back and choked his servant to get 100 silver coins out of him. It would be like comparing a day laborers few days of minimum wage, to Albert Pujols or Kobe Bryant's 10 year multi million dollar contracts. And the whole point of the parable is to compare and contrast God's great love and magnanimous amount of forgiveness with our forgiving someone for their offense against us.
And here I think is the point. We don't often take enough time to reflect and meditate on how great God's forgiveness is for us, motivated by His great love for us. A lot of us hear about God's forgiveness and know it intellectually but have really not come to grips with just how great a gift we have been given. So what would be a good test to know if we have? The passage would suggest it would be demonstrated on how merciful we are to others. How do we make construction on our neighbor's behavior? Are we quick to judge and throw down the gavel? Or are we slow to judge and quick to forgive?
Maybe there is someone in your life that you are holding a grudge against? And maybe they really have hurt you. It happens. But when we see how great our Father's love is for us and how much we have been forgiven, we can begin to approach the merciful attitude Jesus shows on the cross when he says to those who were crucifying him, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do!" Maybe that could be your prayer today, Father forgive them, they know not what they do.
Jesus we thank you that while we were yet sinners you died for us. As we trust in what you did for us on the cross we are forgiven, and set free to show this great mercy to others as a reflection of what you have done for us. Amen.
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