THE PARABLE OF THE UNFORGIVING SERVANT Matt. 18:23-35

Matt. 18:23 The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. 25 Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered Him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. 26 At that, the servant fell down, did him  homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ 27 Moved with compassion, the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. 

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This servant was forgiven a large amount of money. This has many meanings, but even in terms of money, it is a really important moment for him. He was a servant, and could have been put into outright slavery to pay it back. The servant should have been grateful.  

Matt: 18:28 When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 29 Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. 

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This servant is considered wicked because of how he behaved after having his debt erased. He didn’t even turn on a total stranger. He attacked a fellow servant. In those days, servants worked together as a team to support the master. In the same way, today, we can see ourselves as servants of the King, and we need to look out for each other. The fellow servants were horrified by the behavior. 

Matt. 18:31 Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair.

32 His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. 33 Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ 34 Then in anger, his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. 35 So will My heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”

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The very moral of this story is not so much about how much the Master forgave each of us. The heart of the matter is gratitude and learning the lesson of forgiveness. We are called to view our fellow servants of the Master with compassion. We are all a community of servants of the King. We work together to serve Him. We are all called to be deeply moved by being forgiven. And the greatest and most proper act of gratitude is to pass on the forgiveness to each other.

Meditations: 

1. Read verses 23 to 27: Meditate and write about how you are the servant who is forgiven much.

2. Read verses 28-30: Meditate and write about the truth that the Master asks you to erase or forgive the debt of others, which at times is less than your own.

3. Read the end of the story. How can you be a more faithful servant, one who shows gratitude to the Master by showing mercy to fellow servants?

Praying with the Word: Lord Jesus, our Master, help us to understand the meaning of this parable. Open our eyes to the wisdom contained within it, and help us to see ourselves in the parable. Most of all, help us to realize that we are greatly forgiven, and also called to forgive others. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.