- Nov 17, 2018
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Hello Family of God,
A detailed analysis of the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:21-35):
"Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that [EVIL SERVANT] (Grk. "doulos" δοῦλος; literally, a SLAVE) shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 24:45-51)
I'm not sure if some Christians realize this; but every creature is a "slave" to God regardless if they are saved or not. He is LORD over all of creation! If you're a Christian, and you're having an issue with forgiving others who have wronged you, then pray that the Lord God will remove that callous heart of yours. An unforgiving attitude is willful disobedience and habitual sin; so you are either a slave to righteousness, or you are a slave to sin.
"Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever." (John 8:34-35)
"Therefore to him that knoweth to [do good], and [doeth it not], to him it is sin." (James 4:17)
The one professing to be in Christ ought to walk as Christ walked; he/she is to in no way withhold forgiveness to anyone regardless of how much they have hurt them emotionally or physically. An unforgiving attitude is one of the most common of sins which will grieve the Holy Spirit. This not only hinders spiritual growth; but it is also one of the reasons why God will not answer your prayers. We need to do a self examination of our hearts to see if there are any hidden sins that need to be purged. Those who have had their sins forgiven by God will be forgiving to others; because they realize that the penalty for their debt has been nullified; and this is a debt infinitely more greater than all other debts. Forgiveness is an attribute and fruit that EVERY Christian should be possessing. If you have a problem with this, then you may want to ask yourself if you truly did have all YOUR sins forgiven. An unforgiving attitude does not reflect the character of those with a broken and contrite heart. This can lead to a self-deception of ones spiritual condition; and as a result . . . such a one will be in for a rude awakening when they stand before the LORD at the day of Judgment -- and the LORD will profess unto them, "I NEVER knew you" (Matt. 7:23).
I have read several commentaries on this parable with each having a different interpretation of the passage in question. Some have suggested that the unforgiving servant refers to a *true* believer; while others have suggested that it refers to an unregenerate person. My take on this is that it refers to ANYONE -- whether saved or not. Jesus COMMANDS us to forgive others even if they have done NO WRONG. That is, we are not to harbor any root of bitterness within us towards our fellow human beings (cf. Ps. 51:10-13; Prov. 14:10; Eph. 4:26,31; Heb. 12:15; Js. 3:14; cf. 4:1-2; 1 Jn. 2:9). Such behavior will only result in that person having their conscious tormented until they come to the realization that this sort of behavior needs to be done away with (cf. Rom. 2:15; 1 Cor. 8:12; 1 Tim. 4:1-2; 5,19; Tit. 1:15; Heb. 13:18; Js. 4:17; 1 Pet. 3:16). In other words . . . this person needs to REPENT!
On the parable, this is a parable. In parables, only the critical details contain doctrinal information. There may be some application to be made from the non-essential details, but this sort of thing is usually overdone to the point of obscuring the main interpretation and confusing the issue (as some of the commentators demonstrates). So while a person might make a point of comparison from the fact that the steward had a wife and children who were going to be sold into slavery before his master relented, trying assign significance to what the wife and children "represent" is no doubt a mistake.
The particularly violent action of this fellow (i.e., "the unforgiving servant") is chosen by our Lord to make the point in parable style of just how hard-hearted he is. It is not to be taken as the only possible negative action a person might take -- it merely represents an unforgiving attitude which results in actions which bespeak a lack forgiveness (Matt. 6:14-15; Eph. 4:26-27; 2 Cor. 2:10-11; Eph. 4:26; Heb. 12:14; cf. 1 Jn. 4:20). We have all certainly seen believers act in that way I would imagine. It's not proper believer behavior, but it happens. Whenever, for example, a believer is poorly treated by another believer, it is tempting to retaliate or else remain aloof in an unforgiving way. This does not mean, of course, that we are required to stay best friends with someone who betrays us, e.g. That would be foolish. But it does mean that we need to forgive them in our hearts and move on, and not withhold prayer, for example, because of the wrong we have been done.
In Closing:
So this parable applies to everyone. Remember, our Lord came to the lost sheep of Israel, and Israel was God's special nation. Everyone was supposed to be a believer; those who were not were supposed to be stoned. So everyone to whom Christ spoke this parable was to understand from it that, having been forgiven everything by the Lord, being forgiving towards neighbors (other members of Israel) was not optional -- not if a person wanted to continue to receive God's forgiveness. And, after all, that is exactly what the Lord says without the use of a parable when asked by His disciples how to pray:
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:12, 14-15)
God Bless!
A detailed analysis of the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:21-35):
"Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that [EVIL SERVANT] (Grk. "doulos" δοῦλος; literally, a SLAVE) shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 24:45-51)
I'm not sure if some Christians realize this; but every creature is a "slave" to God regardless if they are saved or not. He is LORD over all of creation! If you're a Christian, and you're having an issue with forgiving others who have wronged you, then pray that the Lord God will remove that callous heart of yours. An unforgiving attitude is willful disobedience and habitual sin; so you are either a slave to righteousness, or you are a slave to sin.
"Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever." (John 8:34-35)
"Therefore to him that knoweth to [do good], and [doeth it not], to him it is sin." (James 4:17)
The one professing to be in Christ ought to walk as Christ walked; he/she is to in no way withhold forgiveness to anyone regardless of how much they have hurt them emotionally or physically. An unforgiving attitude is one of the most common of sins which will grieve the Holy Spirit. This not only hinders spiritual growth; but it is also one of the reasons why God will not answer your prayers. We need to do a self examination of our hearts to see if there are any hidden sins that need to be purged. Those who have had their sins forgiven by God will be forgiving to others; because they realize that the penalty for their debt has been nullified; and this is a debt infinitely more greater than all other debts. Forgiveness is an attribute and fruit that EVERY Christian should be possessing. If you have a problem with this, then you may want to ask yourself if you truly did have all YOUR sins forgiven. An unforgiving attitude does not reflect the character of those with a broken and contrite heart. This can lead to a self-deception of ones spiritual condition; and as a result . . . such a one will be in for a rude awakening when they stand before the LORD at the day of Judgment -- and the LORD will profess unto them, "I NEVER knew you" (Matt. 7:23).
I have read several commentaries on this parable with each having a different interpretation of the passage in question. Some have suggested that the unforgiving servant refers to a *true* believer; while others have suggested that it refers to an unregenerate person. My take on this is that it refers to ANYONE -- whether saved or not. Jesus COMMANDS us to forgive others even if they have done NO WRONG. That is, we are not to harbor any root of bitterness within us towards our fellow human beings (cf. Ps. 51:10-13; Prov. 14:10; Eph. 4:26,31; Heb. 12:15; Js. 3:14; cf. 4:1-2; 1 Jn. 2:9). Such behavior will only result in that person having their conscious tormented until they come to the realization that this sort of behavior needs to be done away with (cf. Rom. 2:15; 1 Cor. 8:12; 1 Tim. 4:1-2; 5,19; Tit. 1:15; Heb. 13:18; Js. 4:17; 1 Pet. 3:16). In other words . . . this person needs to REPENT!
On the parable, this is a parable. In parables, only the critical details contain doctrinal information. There may be some application to be made from the non-essential details, but this sort of thing is usually overdone to the point of obscuring the main interpretation and confusing the issue (as some of the commentators demonstrates). So while a person might make a point of comparison from the fact that the steward had a wife and children who were going to be sold into slavery before his master relented, trying assign significance to what the wife and children "represent" is no doubt a mistake.
The particularly violent action of this fellow (i.e., "the unforgiving servant") is chosen by our Lord to make the point in parable style of just how hard-hearted he is. It is not to be taken as the only possible negative action a person might take -- it merely represents an unforgiving attitude which results in actions which bespeak a lack forgiveness (Matt. 6:14-15; Eph. 4:26-27; 2 Cor. 2:10-11; Eph. 4:26; Heb. 12:14; cf. 1 Jn. 4:20). We have all certainly seen believers act in that way I would imagine. It's not proper believer behavior, but it happens. Whenever, for example, a believer is poorly treated by another believer, it is tempting to retaliate or else remain aloof in an unforgiving way. This does not mean, of course, that we are required to stay best friends with someone who betrays us, e.g. That would be foolish. But it does mean that we need to forgive them in our hearts and move on, and not withhold prayer, for example, because of the wrong we have been done.
In Closing:
So this parable applies to everyone. Remember, our Lord came to the lost sheep of Israel, and Israel was God's special nation. Everyone was supposed to be a believer; those who were not were supposed to be stoned. So everyone to whom Christ spoke this parable was to understand from it that, having been forgiven everything by the Lord, being forgiving towards neighbors (other members of Israel) was not optional -- not if a person wanted to continue to receive God's forgiveness. And, after all, that is exactly what the Lord says without the use of a parable when asked by His disciples how to pray:
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:12, 14-15)
God Bless!
