Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

Matthew 18:21-35

I listened to the sermon yesterday and it really had me thinking. If people can forgive even without the person offending has not personally asked for forgiveness and apply it to Christ, I suppose we can conclude that in the end Judas himself was saved. Christ might just have visualize Judas (or even the Pharisees who wanted to kill him) in his/their absence and grant him/them forgiveness.

The problem lies in associating personal stress and discomfort with the issue of granting or not granting forgiveness. And it has been suggested by psychiatrists that to relieve oneself of personal contained stress from within, one has to put away an 'unforgiving' spirit.

The parable does not relate any such notions with psychology. It is actually straight to the point. No, the master has none of those stress issues. In fact he was ready to dispense justice, IF not for the servant who owed him money asked for some form of extension.

And here are the points I need to emphasize:

- the presence of the servant, the act of asking mercy, the state of helplessness are all ingredients to the dispensing of forgiveness.

- that the reason to grant forgiveness to the offendee is NOT to relieve oneself of gloom and stress. the Master has none of those issues. the granting of forgiveness or reprieve is entirely founded on the BEHAVIOR of the one asking forgiveness.

- notice the servant only asked for an extension ("be patient") but the master out of PITY cancelled his debt altogether (10000 talents being equal to Millions of Euros in todays equivalent which only proves the impossibility of paying the debt). the granting of forgiveness is founded on mercy, and it is not because we pity ourselves and our situation but we pity those who have offended us because of their dire situation. Forgiving is granting grace, totally undeserving for the person offending. The offendee has no right at all to such act of kindness, it is freely given.

The second part of the story reverses the situation for the servant, as he himself is placed on the situation the master was awhile ago. A person who owes him a hundred denarii (peanuts as compared to just one talent) and he gives out on the person demanding payment. This event was informed to his Master and He himself was dispense of justice in the same manner he did to the other servant.

And here are the points I need to emphasize as well:


- If the issue was whether the behavior of the first servant is justified, I think it was. He chose justice, and since the person owed him money, He has every right to demand repayment.

- The MASTER reverses his previous decision of mercy and grace, and resorted to justice instead. Very important point here is the reversion of decision. In as much as the offendee has no right to demand mercy or grace, so it is again totally the preference of the Master to reverse his previous decision depending on the servants BEHAVIOR.

Mat 18:35  So also my heavenly Father will do to EVERY ONE OF YOU, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."

This statement of Jesus is no longer part of the parable, but addressed to Peter and the apostles who asked the question in the first place. It is addressed to you and me. God will dispense justice even if He has previously dispense mercy.

- That our granting of forgiveness is totally founded on our understanding of the mercy we have received from God ourselves. It is not induced by our feelings of stressed or remorse. The origin is not from within, this is totally new age crap.

- This also means that our level of granting forgiveness is the measure by which we understand the grace of God, his forgiviness to us, our admittance of failure, and the genuity of our confession and repentance. Our behavior (which is much emphasized in parable) defines the reality of our conversion.

So why do we need to forgive to someone who askes to be forgiven ?

Eph 4:32  Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

"as God in Christ forgave you" -> that is the only reason why we need to extend grace/forgiveness. If you never understood that statement personally, then that is the root for those (christians) who would not dispense grace but justice.