The Unjust Steward

This would be a great place to live if everyone lived by this Bible principle. The fact is, many among us would be irate, to say the least, if others treated us the way we treat others.

Illus: Have you ever been on the side of the road trying to get someone to allow you to enter the traffic flow? Car after car drives by, and it appears they can not see you in your predicament. At least that is what they would like you to think.

But I have noticed something. (humor) If it happens to be a nice looking woman, in a nice car, it is amazing how many men can see her predicament.

If it happens to be a nice looking man, it is amazing how many women can see him in this predicament, and will allow him to enter the traffic lane.

But suppose the shoe was on the other foot. Suppose they are the person trying to get out into the traffic flow, but every one drives by them as if the only thing they have to do is sit all day on the road side and watch the traffic go by. THEY WOULD BE UPSET!

In times like this, you wish you had a ten foot banner that you could hold up that says, “DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM TO DO UNTO YOU!”

We often say, “Children are rough on each other!” They can be unmerciful in how they treat each other!

But children are not the only ones who are unmerciful in how they treat each other. For example, they might say to each other:

• You are ugly!

• You smell!

• You have bad breath!

• You are dumb!

• What tribe do you come from?

It seems there isn’t anything they won’t say to each other!

But listen, as rude and unmerciful as boys and girls are with each other, I have seen adults act just as bad if not worse.

They do not care in the slightest how they might hurt or embarrass someone. For example, have you ever seen an adult:

• That had a full head of hair, walk up to a man who has lost his hair, and make fun of him

• That was thin, walk up to a person who has a weight problem due to a health condition, and make fun of him

• That was a college graduate, walk up to a person who does not have a good education, and make fun of their poor grammar

Some of the meanest and unkindest things that can be imagined are done by childish adults. And many times it comes from those who profess to be saved.

If anyone did the same thing to them, in the same way, they would be furious.

There isn’t a person here that is exempt from someone making fun of them and embarrassing them. But the folks that do this have such a high opinion of themselves, they think they are above being picked on.

A person that does this, does it for one or two reasons:

• They do it because of contempt for the person they are trying to hurt or embarrass

• Their parents raised a stupid child

It could be a combination of both of these.

The Lord told this parable so we can see how UNMERCIFUL, MEAN-STREAKED, and UNKIND SOME FOLKS CAN BE.

I. LOOK AT THE SITUATION

Look at Matt. 18:21-22, we read, “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”

Notice the motivation for this parable comes from a question that Peter asked the Lord Jesus.

Look at verse 21, we read, “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?”

Notice, Peter asked the Lord how many times he should forgive a brother. He asked, “Should I do it seven times?”

WHY DID HE CHOOSE THE NUMBER 7?

The number 7 is the number of completion or perfection. Possibly, since that number stands for completion or perfection, he chose this particular number to show complete forgiveness.

We do not know exactly why he chose the number 7. He could have just randomly chosen this particular number. But we do know this; to forgive someone seven times is certainly being gracious.

Why? Because if you do some people wrong one time, they will never forgive you. NEVER! NEVER!

They might say they did, because they have concocted their own definition of forgiveness, but the fact is they DO NOT EVEN KNOW THE MEANING OF FORGIVENESS!