The parable of the unforgiving servant: Matthew 18 and the debt we cannot repay
Peter thought he was being generous. “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?” he asked. Some teachers of the time suggested forgiving three times. Jesus’ answer must have stunned him: “I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Then Jesus told a story to explain why.
The king's accounts and the plea
A king decided to settle accounts with his servants. One servant owed him ten thousand talents, an enormous sum that he could never repay in many lifetimes. The king ordered that the servant, his wife and children be sold to pay the debt. The servant fell down and begged for patience, promising to repay everything.
The king was moved with compassion. He did not simply give the servant more time. He cancelled the entire debt.
The small debt
The same servant then found a fellow servant who owed him a hundred pence, a modest sum. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded payment. The fellow servant fell down and used almost the same words: “Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.” But the first servant refused and had him thrown into prison.
Other servants told the king what had happened. The king called the first servant “wicked” and asked, “Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?”
The ending and the point
The king handed the servant over to the tormentors until he paid all. Jesus concluded that the Father would treat those who do not forgive from the heart in the same way. The parable contrasts the enormous debt God has forgiven us with the much smaller wrongs others do to us. Refusing to forgive shows that we have not understood our own forgiveness.
Forgiving does not mean pretending wrong did not happen, or that there are no consequences. It means releasing the debt and the desire for revenge.
A process and reflection
For deep hurts, forgiveness may take time and prayer. Many believers find it helpful to forgive repeatedly as memories return. Is there someone whose small debt you are still holding while living free of your own? The servant walked out of the king’s presence free of a debt he could never pay. His tragedy was that he walked straight past that mercy to grab a fellow servant by the throat.
