Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Lesson 20)
Parables of Jesus (Deer Creek) 2023 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsAim: To look at the fine art of forgiveness, the command and the reward
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Parable of Unmerciful Servant - Lesson 20 - (Mt18:21-35) 3/20/24
Introduction:
Introduction:
We enter into our last section of the parables of Jesus. These will have the teaching, focus on “warnings and reward parables,” as Womack puts it.
Introduction to section:
In a world that wants things candy coated, they want the good things without the hard things. Many do not like the warnings taught by Jesus, they just think of the God of love, the God of all grace.
These parables focus mostly on the “last things,” “last days” or what is called “eschatology.”
This was an important subject in the first century that Paul addresses it, John addresses it and Jesus refers to eschatological concepts.
Womack mentions four major topics within these parables
Watchfulness and alertness
Preparedness and stewardship
Fruitfulness
And Persistence
(Transition) This leads us to our parable under consider ation today that deals with forgiveness in the parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Mt18:21-35)
Insert / Read Mt18:21-35
21 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. 26 “So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ 27 “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. 28 “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 29 “So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ 30 “But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. 31 “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32 “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ 34 “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”
Background:
Background:
Place, occasion: There is no mention in the parable
Audience: That we can know, it is the disciples (Mt18:1)
We know He had been teaching on kingdom principles
Conversion like a child(18:3)
Don’t be a stumbling block(18:7-11)
Seeking the lost sheep(18:12-14)
Discipline / Prayer (18:15-19)
This now brings us to our passage today whereas Peter is asking a good question, how many times must I forgive
More background
It was common at that time under the Talmud, taking from Amos, that a man is to forgive someone three times, but on the forth is not to forgive. For God’s forgiveness extends three times then came judgment and man’s forgiveness cannot be more than God’s.
Jesus answer to Peter’s question takes forgiveness out of the physical realm, out of legalistic things, and places it under grace, the grace of God.
For God’s forgiveness is so broad that it keeps no records of wrong (i.e. 1Cor13:5)
5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
Explaining text:
Explaining text:
I think you can see clearly that from this text there is a day of accounting coming.
Jesus uses a couple of contrasts
Two slaves both owed money, one a great amount, one a small amount
Then there is the contrast of the treatment that each debtor was given
One slave owed 10,000 talents. The exact value of a talent has often been debated it varied from about $237.00 to $1000.00 per talent. So, we are talking a lot of money owed to the king.
It was said by Kistemaker that “Herod the Great’s annual revenue from his entire kingdom was about nine-hundred talents.”
Clearly this was more than the slave would ever be able to pay
The other slave owed one-hundred denarii, which there is no argument worth about 18-cents (about a day’s wages).
I mentioned the treatment of each one was another contrast.
The one owing ten-thousand talents pleaded for mercy and the king took pity, was moved with compassion, showed sympathy according to the Greek word that was used (splagchnizomai).
The plead was for more time to pay the debt, what was given was forgiveness of the debt. The money owed was more than the man would ever be able to pay at 18-cents a day wages.
You would think one offered forgiveness would give forgiveness, mercy, show pity, have compassion, show sympathy towards another, but that is not what the man did, he had the other man thrown in prison until the debt could be paid in full.
Notice in (v.28) it says “choked him,” and that was a common thing in Roman courts for people to be brought in by choking, or brought in by their throats.
The results was the master, the king, heard of the unforgiveness and had the forgiven slave thrown in jail until he paid all of the debt.
Purpose and application:
Purpose and application:
A few points that we can glean from this parable.
* God wants us to forgive others, if we expect Him to forgive us (Wolmack).
* Forgiveness is mandatory (read Mt18:35)
Jesus came to offer forgiveness, the way of forgiveness.
Gave forgiveness so can give forgiveness. He commanded forgiveness in the model prayer (Mt6:12) and tells us without forgiveness, there is no forgiveness (Mt6:13-15)
12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
then
13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’ 14 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
Our sin debt to God is enormous when compared to others debts to us.
There is no way we can pay the sin debt on our own. Jesus came to pay that price, to atone for our sins. Jesus came to offer the sacrifice on our behalf and to be the sacrifice on our behalf.
Womack “In a word, humanity’s debt to God is so tremendous that we could never pay it.”
We too often expect grace, mercy, forgiveness from others that we are not willing to give to others.
Easy to see faults in others, not so easy to see in yourself.
We expect grace from others, demand justice for self when wronged.
Consider this, your unforgiveness hurts you more than the other person you do not forgive. It hurts, hinders your relationship with God. This can be a salvation issue!
This is how you will be treated (see the parable) if you do not forgive this is what will happen with you. You owe a debt your can never pay.
Learning to live the parable:
Learning to live the parable:
This parable is full of contrasts and in learning to live them we can look at them for some application.
First, we need to learn the fine art of forgiveness.
It does not automatically come naturally. Even after you become a Christian, it is learned and practiced.
Jesus spoke forgiveness from the cross (Lk23:34)
34 But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.
The more your practice it, the easier it gets and the more freeing it is to you who offer forgiveness.
Another, to know, to accept that everyone is indebted to God; thus our willingness to forgive others becomes more imperative.
God made man with the ability to choose, to have free will, to sin, so that man can realize the greatness of the gift of God, Jesus Christ in forgiving the sin.
Because He forgives us we must forgive those whom have sinned against us, as Christ forgave us.
If you a Christian, you are to be faithful to what God says, so it is a command, an imperative that you forgive others.
Here is a hard one, forgiveness is the art of acting as though “it” never happened.
Forgive and forget, not to be brought up again.
Does God forget? Jer31:34, says “i will remember no more,” God does not have a memory problem, he has a forgiveness that does not bring up that which has already been forgiven.
Forgiveness is an act of love (turn to 1Cor13:5) it keeps no record of wrongs. It does not say there are no wrongs, but keeps no records of wrongs.
Summary: Forgiveness is mandatory as a Christian, it is freeing as a Christian as you were set free, forgiven the debt you could not pay. May we learn and practice the fine art of forgiveness as an act of love. God is love and if God is in us, love is in us and love should come out of us, forgiveness.
(Prayer) (Close)