"Biblical Thinking through a Powerful Parable
The pattern for mortifying ungodly emotions starts with biblical thinking. We need to get our heads straight on the issue, and there is no better place to start than with our Lord's parable in Matthew 18:21-35. It is a great place to start because we connect with Peter's question about forgiveness, and then Jesus tells us a story that is designed to inform and move us into right thinking, right feeling, and right actions.
'Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?'" (Matthew 18:21). This question comes in the context of community relationships and sins within the church (verses 15-20). It is a natural question, and Peter is wondering, 'What's the limit, Lord? I mean there must be a limit.' The rabbinic view held that one might forgive three times, but come the fourth time there is no forgiveness. Peter, feeling large-hearted and generous, suggests seven times. Jesus, never one for quick and easy answers, replies with a bombshell and nukes Peter's perceived large-heartedness, saying, 'I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven' (Matthew 18:22).
This answer is not a math problem. 'Okay, that equals 490 times!' Kistenmaker underscores the significance: 'Completeness times completeness and completeness.' Jesus is telling Peter and us that the way of discipleship is the way of forgiveness. Forgiveness marks those who follow Jesus.
Jesus then tells a parable about the seriousness of forgiveness. The parable unfolds in three acts, showing that all of God's true people have been forgiven for far more than they will ever forgive. Therefore, forgiveness from the heart is the true indication that they have received God's forgiveness and cherish it.
The First Act of Jesus' Parable (Matthew 18:23-37)
'Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who
wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle,
one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And
since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his
wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So
the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, "Have patience with me,
and I will pay you everything." And out of pity for him, the master of
that servant released him and forgave him the debt.'
A day of reckoning had come when the books were opened and accounts were settled. The slaves who were to appear before the master were, perhaps, those who had leased property to farm. Now their April-fifteenth appointment with the tax man had arrived. One particular slave had to be brought before the master; his debt was 10,000 talents. A conservative estimate by today's economic standards would be in the neighborhood of a billion dollars. The amount, of course, is outside the bounds of reality, but that is the point. What the slave owed was an incalculable amount. The amount is so astronomical in the financial realm that it is unbelievable. But in the realm of God and sin, it is an accurate reflection of the magnitude of our sin against God. The point is the man has no possible way to pay it back.
According to the custom of the day, the master sells the servant, the servant's wife and children, and all the servant's assets. The primary point here is that the man had no way to cover the liabilities. As Morris puts it, 'The sale was a gesture, not a settlement....His being sold is no more than punishment.' There is no chance of being free. Everything is lost. The scene puts a knot in the pit of our stomach if we read it with a little imagination. In an act of absolute desperation the servant does the only thing he can. He falls down on the ground, jettisons any appeal to justice, asks for patience, and then promises the impossible. The master is moved with compassion by the scene and acts graciously.
The analogy in the parable is obvious. The master's compassion reflects God's character. The master does more than the man asks and shows unbelievable magnanimity and abounding mercy. He cancels the debt in its entirety. Again, in the realm of finances, it is an unbelievable turn of events. But in the realm of sin and grace it is an apt portrayal of the greatness of grace.
The Second Act of Jesus' Parable (Matthew 28-31)
'But when the same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he
began to choke him, saying, "Pay what you owe." So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, "Have patience with me,
and I will pay you. " He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what
had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.'
The scene is designed to grip and amaze us. As this servant leaves his master's presence, he should have been so overwhelmed with the profound reality of mercy as to be shouting praises to the master with tears of joy. Instead, he looks for another servant, an equal, a peer, who owed him some money. The amount was 100 denarii, which, although not a small sum, was a pittance compared to what he had owed and had been forgiven. Upon seeing his debtor, he violently grabbed him, threatened his life, and threw him into prison, enforcing the same penalty from which moved the master to pity and forgiveness. But his fellow servant's plea for mercy leaves him unmoved.
The scene is disturbing. The servant sends his peer to the torturers without one shred of mercy. The one who had received mercy now acts with strict justice, revealing a small heart and no understanding of what's been done for him. The fellow servants who see it are deeply disturbed by the event and react by reporting it to the master.
Our Lord, just like Nathan the prophet before King David, is setting up his audience. As we read the words of the parable we shake our heads in disgust and unbelief. 'What a fool! How could somebody be so blind, so cruel? Can't he do the math?'
The Third Act of Jesus' Parable (Matthew 18:32-35)
'Then his master summoned him and said to him, "You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?" And in anger his master delivered him to the
jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother
from your heart.'
This is high drama. The lord calls him in, calls him on the carpet, and calls him evil. 'You evil slave!' Don't miss the significance of this adjective in connection to what he says next. 'I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' What the master had done to the servant should have been so valued by the servant that he in turn acted in a way that showed he valued mercy. The heart of the parable is we are to act towards others as God has acted towards us.
The scene is not over. The master in the parable experiences righteous wrath. What moved him to wrath? The servant spurned the master's mercy by demanding justice from another. Mercy spurned produced holy, white-hot wrath. The master turns over the servant to the torturers until everything is paid. Since the man had no way to repay, this was a life sentence. The language implies eternal punishment. By demanding justice, the servant cuts himself off from mercy.
That is a chilling parable. But Jesus is not quite done. After the sobering end of the parable, Jesus gives his listeners, including us, the prophetic, 'thou art the man' application: 'Likewise, my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother from the heart.'
Forgive from the Heart
There are two things we must not do with this parable. First, we must not minimize this text and explain it away because we believe in eternal security. Second, we must not miss the emotional element of forgiveness, which our Lord specifically calls attention to when he says, 'Forgive your brother from the heart,' that is, with all sincerity, all that we are. This passage holds out the wonderful offer of forgiveness to sinners of all shapes and sizes. As Fanny Crosby said:
The vilest offender, who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus forgiveness receives!
Nevertheless, the passage also emphasizes a serious threat. God's boundless grace to forgive sin is offered, and his awful wrath against all who would spurn that grace through unforgiveness is threatened. Jesus unambiguously teaches the awful fate of being an unforgiving person. Jesus taught us in what we call the 'Lord's Prayer' to pray, 'Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors' (Matthew 6:12). He then immediately warns, 'For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses' (Matthew 6:14-15). D. A. Carson states, 'Jesus sees no incongruity in the actions of a heavenly Father who forgives so freely and punishes so ruthlessly, and neither should we.' In order for us to think biblically about forgiveness, we must truly believe the threats against unforgiveness." pgs 112-117
- Brian S. Borgman
Borgman, Brian S. Feelings and Faith: Cultivating Godly Emotions in the Christian Life. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2009.
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