Submitted by Pastor Brad Dush, Fairfax Methodist Church

Another parable that Jesus told, found in Matthew 18:21-35, is the story of the unforgiving servant. If you have not read it recently, I encourage you to pause and read the passage before continuing. (FYI: This parable is unique to Matthew’s Gospel, which often emphasizes righteousness, mercy, and life together in the community of believers.) In this parable, Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive someone who sins against him. Thinking generously, he suggests seven times. Jesus responds with an even greater number: “Not seven times, I tell you, but 77 times!” (Matthew 18:22 NET), pointing to forgiveness that knows no limit.

Jesus then describes a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. One servant owed him 10,000 talents, a sum so enormous no ordinary person could ever repay it. (FYI: one talent equaled more than 15 years of wages for a laborer, so 10,000 talents represents a debt beyond imagination, intentionally exaggerated to make the point.) The king astonishingly forgives the entire debt, releasing the servant from what should have been a lifetime of bondage. Yet that very servant, when he found a fellow servant who owed him a hundred denarii, about three months’ wages, refused mercy and had him thrown into prison. (FYI: the shocking contrast between these two amounts shows how small our debts against each other are compared to what God has already forgiven us.)

When the king hears of this lack of mercy, he is outraged. He revokes his forgiveness and delivers the unforgiving servant to be punished until the debt is paid. The parable concludes with a sobering reminder: “So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart” (Matthew 18:35 NET).

This story continues to challenge us today. Forgiveness is never easy, but it is the way of the Kingdom. To forgive is to live in the freedom God has given us, to reflect the mercy of the King, and to embody the prayer Jesus taught: “And forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12 NET).