Matthew 18~ Forgiveness... Again..... Vs 21, Peter is asking Jesus how often we should forgive... Jesus answers him by telling them a parable of an unforgiving servant. Vs 23-27~ The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. Paraphrased: The king commanded his servant, who owed him 10,000 talents, to settle or to pay him. The servant was unable, so the king demanded that he and his family be sold. The servant begged the king for patience, and promised that he would pay it all back. The king was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave the servant of his debt. Vs 28~ But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me what you owe me!. Vs 29~So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him to have patience with him, and he would pay him all... Vs 30~ He would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt In the end of the story, the other servants see this unfairness and return to tell the king what the forgiven servant has done... The king, in his anger, says, Should you not have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?, Vs 33.... In response to Peters question about forgiveness, Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to this parable. In other words, He explains that the compassion of our heavenly Father towards us should be the precedent that we use to forgive others. But, we dont..... Just as that forgiven servant went to another and sent him to prison with his unforgiveness, we do the same to those who we choose not to forgive. And just like the parable, we also end up tortured by our unforgiveness. Jesus is giving us such a beautiful picture of how His kingdom works. If you have ever been forgiven of ANYTHING... Then there has to be a reciprocation of that forgiveness to others who need our forgiveness. If our King is willing to show us compassion and give us a clean slate and fresh start then He commands us to do the same for others in our lives. Keep in mind there is no talk in the parable about how the debt was acquired, who wronged who, or even if one was innocent and one was guilty... There is no excuse that we can give our Father for unforgiveness. His statement to us is still the same as the king in the parable... Should you not have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?....
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 16:15:44 +0000