Lesson 14 The Unforgiving Servant

Introduction

Peter asks Jesus a question about forgiveness. Peter thinking of himself as a generous person, offers up the number 7, the perfect number. The rabbis taught from the book of Amos to forgive 3 times but not the 4^th time. Jesus responds with saying 70 times 7 was the correct number. This was a phrase that stood for an infinite number. In the movie Toy Story there was a wonderful character called Buzz Lightyear. His favorite saying was “to infinity and beyond.” I think Jesus would agree with Buzz that when it comes to forgiveness “to infinity and beyond” is a good summary.

1) The Generosity of the King

The king in the story is merciful, generous, compassionate and a good listener. He listens to the pleas of the servant and responds with grace.

2) The Bad Behavior of the Servant

The servant who has received such staggering mercy does not extend the grace that he received to his fellow servant who owed him a trifling amount. The outstanding issue here is the lack of love the servant demonstrates in his own life. He did not receive the love given to him by the king nor did he give any to anyone around him. He acted as though nothing good had ever happened to him. There was no evidence in his life of the great mercy extended to him by the king.

3) Outraged Servants

The commentaries did not mention these cast members, but they are important to the story. They observed the actions of all the parties. They understood justice and fairness. They reacted with anger at such unbelievable behavior. They contrasted the staggering debt vs. the trifling debt. They took the matter to the king. I think what is going here is that our behavior does affect others and the fellowship of believers. It is not just between the king and the 2 servants, the whole community is hurt.

4) Rejection by the King

The king hearing of the behavior of the first servant, takes back his decision. He calls the servant to appear before him and then requires full payment.

Jesus is clearly commanding us to forgive others. In view of all that we owe Jesus, to forgive others is how we show our love for him and gratitude for all he does for us.

Application

John Wesley once heard a man say, “I never forgive.” His response was incisive: “Then I hope, Sir, you never sin.”

Lloyd Ogilvie says,”On most Wednesdays, I spend the day listening to people. Seventy five percent of the people are paralyzed by an inability or unwillingness to forgive to the degree they have been forgiven by God. This parable is an alarming prescription for their spiritual sickness.”

Forgiveness is a key message throughout scripture.

Ps 130:3,4,7

Ps 103:12-13

Is 1:18

How to do this:

1) Take an inventory of hurts that need to be forgiven. For me that is remembering a hurt and if I have forgiven it, there is no or little emotion involved with the memory and even some of the details may now be fuzzy. If a remembered event still brings a strong reaction, then I know that there is more work to be done.

2) I ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind unfinished business that I have forgotten about but is still festering and affecting my life and needs resolution. Last August I had a problem with mold. My reaction was strong and swift, I was horrified and flew into action. I got it all cleaned up! Over the next few weeks, I kept finding things in weird places that had mold that needed to be cleaned. The problem was bigger than I first thought and took more work than my initial effort.

3) I need to confess an unwillingness to forgive. I’m not ready to give up some pet grudges. I am stingy and lacking in love.

4) I have to ask for God’s power to forgive. I can not do it on my own, I’m inadequate.

I believe that God’s helping us to forgive can be a process and if it takes time not to be discouraged. In some cases forgiveness comes instantly, but it is always by God’s power. We forgive because God commands us to forgive, but it is also the only way to be healed of past hurts and render them powerless in our lives.