Parable of The Unforgiving Debtor

12-11-2009
Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor

In the first part of Matthew 18 we discussed the proper way to handle a dispute with another believer in Christ. The last part of Matthew 18 is the parable of the unforgiving debtor.

“21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[a]
23"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents[b] was brought to him. 25Since 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"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27The 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 denarii.[c] 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 you back.'
30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed 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. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34In anger his master turned 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 from your heart."

Forgiving those that wrong us isn’t the easiest thing to do, however we are called to do so every time someone truly repents. When we stop and consider not only the forgiveness Christ shows us, but also the price he paid for us, we should freely forgive those that wrong us. Just imagine if Christ didn’t forgive us of our sins! We are all in desperate need of Christ’s forgiveness; therefore we should focus on loving people, and not judging people. It’s easy to find fault in just about everything, but the Christ-like thing to do is to forgive others with the love of Christ!

Application:
1. Read Matthew 18:21-35
2. Forgive just as Christ forgave