The parable of the unforgiving slave illustrates the principle that Jesus also underlined when he taught his disciples to pray. Part of that model prayer pleads with God to... "Forgive us our debts even as we forgive our debtors"
The parable of the unforgiving slave illustrates themes
Matthew 18:21-35
Verses 21-22 show us why Jesus told this parable. Peter had evidently been puzzling over the problem of forgiveness, especially when the offence is repeated. Peter suggested that seven times was probably more than reasonable to forgive the serial offender. However Jesus answers Peter, "You say seven times; I say seventy times seven". Of course, Jesus was not meaning literally 490 times, as Peter meant his seven. Jesus was really saying that you have to forgive as
Peter was missing the point. He did not take into account that, as soon as we put a limit on forgiving others, God will apply that same limit to forgiving us. We have already noted that our forgiveness by God is conditional upon our forgiveness of others. So Jesus tells Peter a parable
Verses 23-27 show how we are impossibly indebted to God and how he has shown mercy to us. The monetary debt in the parable represents the wrongs and trespasses we have done which we need to put right. The slave owed his master millions of dollars, and although he claimed that he would pay back every cent, it was clear that he could not. We are in that same position before God. We cannot make right all our wrongs, so God takes pity on us and
God has shown such mercy to us, "having forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled the certificate of debt... having nailed it to the cross"
Verses 28-30 show how God views us if we do not respond to his mercy by forgiving others as he
The forgiven slave's response is truly shocking and disgusting by any standard. He found a fellow slave who owed him around ten thousand dollars (based on a denarius being a day's wage). He intimidated his debtor with physical violence. He was deaf to his debtor's pleading. He unjustly misused the king's law against that debtor. He refused to forgive him the debt which, although a substantial sum, was nothing compared to the enormous debt he himself
Although we Australians generally disapprove of "dobbers" we applaud, in this case, the other slaves' informing on this despicable man. We may be sure that the angels of God will likewise lodge a complaint against us, if we refuse to forgive others, if we show no mercy, and
Verses 31-35 show that the grace and mercy of God, once granted, can be withdrawn and replaced by his wrath, if we do not
Jesus makes it clear that the slave who was forgiven the huge debt, was forgiven completely. He was free of the debt by the grace and mercy of his lord and king. When the king forgave the debt, he forgave it not for a year but forever. The debt was permanently cancelled. The slave did not have to keep going back to the king to plead that the debt
However Jesus also makes it clear that this forgiveness was later withdrawn, and the enormous debt in full was again held against the slave. The king remembered and reinstated the debt. He did not punish the slave with torture only because he was unforgiving. He punished the slave for all the debt that had previously been forgiven. This is the really scary part
The king forgave freely, fully, and permanently, but not unconditionally. By making forgiveness conditional, the king's kindness was not lessened. His justice, however, would have been lessened, had he forgiven unconditionally. We see the king's kindness and mercy when he forgives the debt. We see his severity and justice when he reinstates the debt. And we acknowledge both as
When the Lord promised, "I will forgive their iniquity and their sins I will remember no more"