I have entitled our message this evening “A Non-repayable Debt,” and we will be looking at what is commonly called, “The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.” “John Oglethorpe, in talking to John Wesley, once made the comment, ‘I never forgive.’ Mr. Wesley replied, ‘Then, Sir, I hope that you never sin’.”(1) We are going to learn tonight that if we never forgive, then we had better hope that we never sin.
All people owe a non-repayable debt to the Lord. If the Lord dismisses our debt (and He will), then we should extend the same courtesy to any of our debtors. So, what is the non-repayable debt that we owe, and to whom are we indebted? What does it cost us personally, and how can we have our debt dismissed? Also, what happens if the debt is not dismissed? These are some question that will be answered tonight as we go through this parable.
Peter Demonstrated Generosity (vv. 21-22)
21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”
It’s highly unlikely that Jesus was angry with Peter’s question concerning how many times someone should be forgiven. In fact, his suggestion to forgive “up to seven times” was quite generous when compared to the standard of forgiveness set forth in the law. A. T. Robertson says, “The Jewish rule was three times” (Amos 1:6).(2) Rabbi Jose ben Hanina said, “He who begs forgiveness from his neighbor must not do so more than three times.”(3) Rabbi Jose ben Jehuda said, “If a man commits an offense once, they forgive him; if he commits an offense a second time, they forgive him; if he commits an offense a third time, they forgive him; the fourth time they do not forgive him.”(4)
Peter was being especially generous in his pronouncement of forgiveness up to seven times. He sought to impress Jesus with his answer, and He was likely pleased with Peter; however, Jesus sought to clarify the standard of forgiveness set forth in “the law of love.” Jesus said, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” When He stated forgiveness up to 490 times, He was not being literal. Jesus was using figurative language to convey the spiritual truth that forgiveness should be granted to an individual an unlimited number of times. He then began to share a parable to illustrate this principle.
He Who Owed Much (vv. 23-27)
23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.”
Jesus shared this parable in order to reinforce God’s standard of forgiveness. He spoke of a king who began to settle accounts with his servants. This king represents God Almighty, ruler of heaven and earth. There was also a servant and his master. The servant owed a non-repayable debt to the king, which represents how all human beings owe a debt to the Lord for their sin; one which cannot be paid on one’s own. The master represents Jesus Christ who will execute judgment in the final day on those whose debt has remained unpaid, or has not been forgiven.
Verse 24 shows how a servant who owed ten thousand talents was brought to the king. An understanding of the value of measures listed in this parable will help unravel the spiritual application. A talent is a measure of weight. In the U. S. weight standard, which is a pound, a talent is equal to 75.558 pounds.(5) A. T. Robertson stated back in the 1930’s that one talent is worth 6,000 denarii or about 1000 U. S. dollars, and that ten thousand times this amount is equal to 10 million U. S. dollars.(6) However, today, ten thousand talents are now worth around 450 billion U. S. dollars.(7)
What was ten thousand talents worth in Jesus’ day and time? Robertson said, “The imperial taxes of Judea, Idumea, and Samaria were only 600 talents while Galilee and Perea paid 200.”(8) The man with whom the king wished to settle an account owed him ten thousand talents, which was 16 times more than the imperial taxes of Judea, and 50 times more than the imperial taxes of Galilee. Ten thousand talents would have been more than what was contained in the treasuries of some of the smaller countries. The servant whom the king had brought before him owed a king’s ransom.
The Greek word for “servant” in verse 23 is doulon, which actually means, “slave.”(9) The sum of money that was owed could not have possibly been paid off by a slave in his lifetime. As verse 25 reveals, the master commanded that the servant’s wife, children, and everything he owned be sold; nevertheless, the lives of his own family members were not worth the debt that had been accumulated. How long would it have taken a slave to work off this debt? One commentator says,
The Attic talent, which probably is the weight mentioned here, amounted to no less than six thousand denarii the equivalent of sixteen and one-half years of labor for the common man. From this we conclude that it would have taken the average man over one hundred sixty-six thousand years of labor to earn this amount of wealth. If we assume that an average life span is sixty years, it would have taken nearly twenty-eight hundred lifetimes to earn ten thousand talents!(10)
All people owe a debt to the Lord that cannot be repaid. We owe our very lives because we have all sinned (Romans 3:23). The wages of sin is death, according to Romans 6:23. There is nothing that any human being can ever do or give that will purchase their life. No man-made sacrifice can be made to adequately atone for sin. Even though a person can’t give anything sufficient to escape the penalty of sin, there is a massive clue here as to how an individual can be forgiven of his or her debt. All that is required is for a person to ask for forgiveness of his or her sin; and forgiveness must be requested of Him who has the power to pardon our sins, which is the Master, Jesus Christ.
He Who Owed Little (vv. 28-30)
28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.”
The servant who had been forgiven a non-repayable debt went out and asked one of his own debtors to settle up. What is wrong with this picture? In Luke chapter 7, Mary anointed Jesus with expensive oil, and the disciples complained that she wasted what could have been sold for money and given to the poor. Jesus replied to the disciples, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little” (Luke 7:47). Jesus basically said that a person who has been forgiven a lot will love a lot, and forgive a lot; and a person who has been forgiven a little will love a little, and forgive a little.
This truth is reinforced in “The Parable of the Canceled Debts” in Luke 7:41-43. In this parable Jesus said, “‘There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered and said, ‘I suppose the one whom he forgave more.’ And He said to him, ‘You have rightly judged’.”
This servant who had been forgiven a non-repayable debt should have been ready to forgive others, but we see that he didn’t. Could the reason be that the servant who owed him 100 denarii actually owed more money than he did? How much is 100 denarii worth today? It is about 2000 U. S. dollars!(11) The servant who owed the equivalent of 450 billion U. S. dollars, couldn’t find it in himself to forgive the man who owed him the equivalent of 2000 U. S. dollars.
In verse 29, the fellow servant asked forgiveness, but it wasn’t granted. In verse 30, he was thrown into prison until he could repay the debt. A major injustice is observed here. The man was not only denied forgiveness, but he was supposed to repay his debt from within prison walls. How can a man work when he is bound in prison? He cannot possibly repay the debt. In other words, he was forever condemned because of his debt and stuck in prison until his death.
The Lord doesn’t approach us and say, “You owe me your life, so I’m going to throw you in hell until you can repay your debt.” The Lord doesn’t condemn us; He gives us a chance. We have the choice to ask forgiveness for our debt of sin, and to have that debt paid through the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us on the cross. If God decided to go ahead and place us in the eternal prison of hell, we would never have the chance to ask for His forgiveness (Luke 16:26). A person needs to ask forgiveness while he or she is still in the land of the living.
Extend the Same Courtesy (vv. 31-35)
31 “So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”
When the servant who had been forgiven much refused to forgive the one who owed only a small amount, the other servants were troubled and told the master. The master became angry and called him a wicked servant. He said to him, “Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” If we are among those who have chosen to ask God’s forgiveness, then we know Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. Therefore, what does the Lord require from those of us who have been forgiven of our own non-repayable debt?
God asks that we be willing to forgive others. If we have been forgiven of our sins through Jesus Christ, then we have been spared from death and hell. What greater gift could we receive than eternal life? Since we have been granted forgiveness and have been given back our life, then we should be able to excuse any minor and trivial offenses committed by another human being. If we can’t forgive, then perhaps we were never saved in the first place.
This man who had been forgiven a lot was unable to forgive his debtors. He didn’t have the love of Christ abiding within. How do we know that he didn’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ? 1 John 4:7-8 says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” This man didn’t have enough love to forgive his fellow servant; therefore, he did not dwell in God. If this man truly knew the Lord, then the torturers could not have touched him.
Time of Reflection
This parable reveals that we have a debt that cannot be repaid. We owe the Lord our very life, because we have sinned against Him. If we ask forgiveness from the Lord, then Jesus Christ will pay our debt. Jesus took on Himself the debt of each and every person in the world when He died on the cross.
Our debt is paid only when we believe in Jesus. We must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for us on the cross, and who rose from the grave in order to conquer sin and death, that we might have eternal life. We need to ask for the forgiveness of our sins, and invite Jesus to come into our heart.
When we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord then we must be sincere. If we truly desire forgiveness, and we are actually repentant of our sins, then the Lord will pardon us. Some people, however, confess Christ insincerely. They are not really looking to give Him their life; they just want to escape hell.
These people can be easily identified because they will refuse to make sacrifices for the Lord, and they will not display the love of God in their life, just like the man in this parable who was unable to forgive. These people will reason that they have their fire insurance, and therefore they don’t need to do anything else. We need to make sure that Jesus truly abides within, or we risk being thrown into the hands of the torturers.
NOTES
(1) Michael P. Green, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997), 152.
(2) A.T. Robertson, “Matthew and Mark,” Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville: Broadman, 1930), 150.
(3) Greg Thurston, The Unmerciful Servant, taken from the Internet August 2000 at http://www. geocities.com/Athens/Styx/4119/para/para7.html.
(4) Ibid.
(5) Bruce M. Metzger and Roland E. Murphy, eds., The New Oxford Annotated Bible (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994), 425.
(6) Robertson, 150.
(7) “How Much Is 10,000 Talents Worth?” WikiAnswers: wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_is_10000_talents_worth (Accessed August 7, 2012). Based on a $30,000 per year income.
(8) Robertson, 150.
(9) Arthur L. Farstad, Zane C. Hodges, C. Michael Moss, Robert E. Picirilli, and Wilbur N. Pickering, trans., The NKJV Greek English Interlinear New Testament (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1994), 70.
(10) Thurston.
(11) “How Much Is 100 Denarii Worth?” WikiAnswers: wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_is_100_Denarii_worth (Accessed August 7, 2012).
