The parable also takes place involving two debtors, although this time, instead of both owing the same creditor, one debtor(a servant) owes the king and the other debtor owes his fellow servant.  But before we look into the parable, let’s look at the context.

The apostle Peter asks Jesus how often he should forgive a brother or sister who sins against him.  Peter asks if he should be forgiving up to as many as seven times.  Although at first blush, Peter might sound generous, Jesus tells Peter, not seven time, but rather seventy-seven times(some versions say seventy times seven times).  As we will see, Jesus is not suggesting that we tally the number of times a brother or sister sins against us.  But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  Jesus then proceeds to tell the parable of the unmerciful servant.  This parable is the answer to Peter’s question about how many times Peter should forgive a brother or sister who sins against him.

The Facts

A king wanted to settle accounts with his servants.   He brought in a servant who owed ten thousand talents(one talent was worth about 20 years of wages).  Because the servant was unable to pay, the king was going to sell the servant, his family and all the servant owned.  However, the servant began begging the king, asking that he be allowed more time to be able to repay the amount owed.  The king took pity on the servant and completely cancelled the servant’s debt. 

This same servant went out and found a fellow servant who owed him one hundred denarii(a denarii was about a day’s wage).  His fellow servant begged for more time to be able to pay the debt owed.  The servant refused, and he had his fellow servant imprisoned until he repaid the debt owed.

When some other servants heard about this, they told the king.  The king had the servant brought before him.  The king called the servant wicked, and he told the servant that he had forgiven the servant’s entire debt when the servant had begged the king for more time.  The king told his servant that he should have had mercy on his fellow servant, as the king had had mercy on him.   But because he did not, the king had the servant given to jailers to be tortured until the entire debt was repaid.

What Does It Mean?

As alluded to above, this parable is the answer to Peter’s question regarding how many times he should forgive a brother or sister who sins against him.  There are three main individuals in this parable:  the king, the first servant and the second servant.  We need to identify each to properly understand the parable.  The king is God.  That is easy to determine because in Matt. 18:35, Jesus states that the actions of the king coincide with how God would act.  The first servant, the one who owes ten thousand talents, is Peter . . . and by extension, each individual person(i.e. me, you and anyone else you can think of).  The second servant is Peter’s brother or sister(also known as any person who sins against any one of us).

When the first servant is begging for more time to pay the king back the money he owes the king, it’s kind of silly.  Let’s face it, this servant owes the equivalent of 20,000 year’s worth of wages.  He is NEVER going to be able to pay that back.  This is similar to the two debtors in the last parable(Two Debtors) who were unable to pay the debts they owed.  This servant is likely never going to be able to repay what he owes.  The king listens to the begging and pleas of the debtor and decides to forgive the debt.  The servant had not asked for the debt to be forgiven; he had asked for more time to pay it.  The king, no doubt, understood that the debt was something the servant would never be able to repay.  The servant should have understood the same, but whether or not the servant did understand that obvious point is immaterial.  When God forgives Peter’s debt(i.e. Peter’s sins), Peter needs to understand that he was never going to be able to do anything to pay for his sins, other than spending eternity in prison(i.e. hell).  And the reason he would spend all of eternity in hell is because he would never be able, all through eternity, to pay for his sins.

When the first servant(Peter) goes to the second servant, the amount that was owed to Peter is microscopically small in comparison to the debt Peter had been forgiven by God.  However, instead of having mercy on a fellow servant(and a fellow debtor), Peter is not forgiving.  Remember, before Jesus told the parable, Peter was asking if he needed to be forgiving as many as seven times, meaning the eighth time Peter would not be forgiving.  Instead, Peter is not being forgiving of his brother and sister.  And when others find out about this, they went to the king(i.e. God) and told him[yes, God already knows].  As a result of Peter’s failure to forgiven a brother or sister, God would no longer be willing to forgive Peter of his sins.  As a result, Peter would be sent to prison(i.e. hell) until he was able to pay the debt(i.e. pay for his sins, which he would never be able to do).  What can we learn from this parable?

Takeaways

Here are some basic things that we can learn from this parable.

When we sin against God, it is like having an enormous debt that we can never repay.  The 20,000 years of wages is a number to help us understand that we cannot pay for our sins.  We just can’t.  No amount of time.  No amount of effort.  No amount of good deeds.  Nothing will work.  Or at least, nothing we can do will work.  That is why we needed Jesus’ perfect sacrifice.

God doesn’t “give us more time to pay” because He knows we cannot pay for our sins.

God is merciful.  God provides mercy when it comes to our sins.  They are forgiven.  And we should be elated. 

Experiencing God’s mercy toward us should give us reason to be merciful toward others.

When a brother of sister asks us for our forgiveness, we need to give it.  We need to be merciful toward a brother or sister who sins against us.  This is not a matter of we should but rather a matter of we must.

If we are not merciful toward others, God will NOT be merciful toward us. 

If we do not forgive others who sin against us, God will not forgive us.  Jesus makes the point abundantly clear in Matt. 18:35, just in case you were reading Matthew and missed or forgot Matt. 6:14-15, where Jesus made the exact same point during the Sermon on the Mount.

Our salvation is only ever because of Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross for our sins.  However, we can throw that salvation out the window if we are not willing to forgive others when they sin against us.

In this section, Peter, as well as Jesus, are referring to brothers and sisters who sin against Peter(as well as us).  He is effectively referring to other followers of Jesus(i.e. other Christians).  I am not suggesting that we only need to forgive a Christian who sins against us and that we do not need to forgive someone who sins against us if there are not a Christian.  The ONLY reason I am bringing that up is because that is the language used here.  In Matt. 6:14-15, Jesus states more broadly that if you do not forgive someone who sins against you, then God will not forgive you . . . period.

The Wrap

Forgiveness matters.  It can be really easy to worry about being forgiven by God for our sins.  And we should.  But we need to make sure that we are also forgiving of others.  If we are not forgiving of others, we will not be forgiven by God.  Period.  It’s really that simple.  So let’s take a close look in our own lives at just how forgiven we are.  Let’s remember that we will never be able to do anything to pay for our sins.  We are entirely in debt to God.  The good news:  He is merciful.  He is forgiving.  But if we are not merciful and forgiving, we will lose out on our own forgiveness.  So let’s be forgiving of our brothers and sisters.  God has forgiven them just like He has forgiven us(remember, these are fellow disciples of Jesus).  Let’s learn from our Father in heaven.  Let’s be like Him.  Let’s be like Jesus, our Savior.