The Unforgiving Servant
📖 Matthew 18:21-35 (KJV) Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. 23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32 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: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
✅ Introduction
what we first need to understand is this passage is about Forgiveness and this is a parable which means we shouldn't use this as main evidence for doctrine, but rather we use parables to explain doctrine, and this is what Jesus is doing as he explains to Peter about forgiving a brother.
📖 Matthew 18:21-22 (KJV) Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
It's very important to note that the context is about 2 saved persons and one needs to forgive.
1️⃣ Is the Parable about Salvation?
Many people can get parables mixed up, because parables uses terms that sound like it's relating to salvation for example, verse 23.
📖 Matthew 18:23 (KJV) Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
Some could use this to say that this is talking about salvation since it says it's likened to the Kingdom of heaven?
When God uses this term "kingdom of heaven" it's because this is how God in heaven would treat his followers (servants), Jesus is speaking from heavens perspective how God would treat us.
📖 Matthew 18:34-35 (KJV) And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
Now this could sound confusing as it mention God delivering the unforgiving person to the tormentors?
Some could think this is about Hell? The issue with that though is that hell is eternal, but the parable is showing the punishment to be temporal (pay the due) and he can go free.
The clearest giveaway is in verse 35 showing that God demands saved brethren to forgive their brother in Christ.
Remember the context in verse 21 is about Peter asking "how many times do we forgive our brothers!"
This is definitely not about Salvation as we know saved people cannot lose their salvation.
2️⃣ What does the parable represents
Jesus is likening the parable to the kingdom of heaven, which shows the story to be about a King (this would be God) and the servants (saved believers of God) and the debt which was the first servant was the forgiving of sins by God and the debt of the second servant was the sins against the first servant, now the debt of the first servant could be a picture of Salvation as God had forgiven him all his debt (this is why it's so high of a price) now this shows the importance of why we should forgive our brethren because when the second servant sins its minor to the debt of salvation as we are all worthy of the second death and that's our punishment that God pays for, yet we have the nerve to hold our brethren's sins against us which is minor is what we had to pay God!
3️⃣ Seriousness of unforgiveness
This is a serious matter and God wanted us to see the seriousness of this issue as there are many examples throughout history showing that Christian's can have a falling out though it's immature and I have seen a lot of disputes through the churches of my time and it's sad to see people move on because of pride and unforgiveness, but before I tell these stories let us first look at biblical stories....
👦🏼 Paul & Barnabas
📖Acts 15:36-40 (KJV) And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do. 37 And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. 38 But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. 39 And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus; 40 And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God.
Paul — the greatest missionary.
Barnabas — the “son of consolation.”
“The contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder…”
These were godly, saved men yet unforgiveness and disagreement caused a split in ministry.
✔ Shows: Even mature Christians can break fellowship.
✔ God still used them — but this division cost them unity.
⛪️ The Corinthian Church
📖1 Corinthians 1:10-18 (KJV) Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; 15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. 16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
This church was full of saved people but:
• divisions (“I am of Paul… I am of Apollos”)
• lawsuits among brethren
• unforgiveness
• bitterness
• strife
Paul rebuked them sharply because their relational sins were destroying the testimony of Christ.
✔ Shows: Saved people can act carnal and fleshly.
📕 Real stories
I knew a man once that got upset at a lady that kindly asked him to clean up his mess in church which cause him to leave the church for a while then came back in repentance, then later the church pastor quit leaving the church in free for all where this same guy tried to take advantage but there was a dispute which caused him to leave with church property and members creating his now own church! This is not of God and is a bad look on Christ to those who witnessed it.
Another story is about a man who got upset at a persons preaching that tipped him over the edge and was the final straw in which he left the church with a long list of other minor things he didn't like about the church and now this guy left and started he's own church?
4️⃣ Punishment of unforgiveness
📖Matthew 18:33-35 (KJV) Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
When Jesus was sharing this teaching to Peter, Jesus wanted to show the deep seriousness of Gods anger towards christians who cannot forgive since God has forgiven all our trespasses and sin.
📖 Colossians 3:12-14 (KJV) Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
So we see here that Christ has forgiven all our sins which allows us to have eternal life and so we are command to forgive our brethren over things that are less then what God forgave, which sounds hard but God has a point because at less your forgiven and going to heaven where the trespasses of others are minor in comparison.
📖 Ephesians 4:30-32 (KJV) And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
It grieves the Holy Spirit when we aren’t forgiving one another.
📖 Mark 11:25-26 (KJV) And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
This is where people can confuse this for salvation, but what this means is that God won’t forgive you if you can’t forgive other christians. What this could look like is God won’t be merciful to you when you sin, but rather will chastise you without mercy, God could also block all your blessings, and he’ll watch you suffer until your merciful to other christians.
