Audio - Parable of the Wicked Servant—Forgiveness of Sins
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The Twenty-Second Sunday After Trinity
November 4, 2007
Parable of the Wicked Servant—Forgiveness of Sins
TEXT: NKJ Matthew 18:23 "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. 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. 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."
Jesus gave us many of His teachings in the form of parables—when His disciples
asked why He gave this answer—an answer that ends by quoting from the Old
Testament writings of Isaiah
NKJ Matthew 13:10 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to
them in parables?" 11 He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given
to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not
been given. 12 "For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have
abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from
him. 13 "Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see,
and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
NKJ Isaiah 6:9 And He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do
not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' 10 "Make the heart of this
people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their
eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and
be healed."
Jesus spoke in parables to explain who He is to the believers—and to impose a
form of “judgment” upon those who do not listen and hear what is being
taught—this situation still exists today
Consider the parable of our text—the servant was within “the law”—he had a right
to what he was owed—but we must understand that there are 2 kingdoms—the kingdom
of this world—where no sins are forgiven—no Gospel is found—where governments
maintain peace—and governments administer punishment for wrongdoing
Kingdom of God—a kingdom in which there is nothing but forgiveness of sins—this
lesson is about the kingdom of God—how do we know?—let Scripture answer
Scripture—John the Baptist ties the kingdom to Jesus the Christ
NKJ Matthew 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness
of Judea, 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" 3 For
this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one
crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths
straight.' "
In the parable of the text the Lord forgives his servant—and demands that the
servant forgive others—we must never be so angry at our neighbor that we cannot
forgive him—even if they offend us continuously—this parable is an extension to
the lesson of forgiveness Jesus taught Peter about forgiveness
NKJ Matthew 18:21 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.
The lesson: as long as we forgive—we have grace—when we refuse to forgive—our
own forgiveness slips out of our grasp—forgive your neighbor—and God forgives
you
The first part of the lesson—when the king demands payment from the servant—is
our judgment day—when our King—Jesus—will demand judgment for our sins—the
servant had no chance of paying the debt—and we have no chance of paying the
debt of our sins—the price is beyond our reach
NKJ Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the
curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all
things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." 11 But that no one
is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live
by faith." 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but "the man who does them shall live
by them." 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a
curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), 14
that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that
we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
When the Law is preached—we see what we owe—more than we can pay—we are reminded
of the first commandment
NKJ Exodus 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 " I am the LORD your
God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 "
You shall have no other gods before Me.
NKJ Deuteronomy 6:5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with
all your soul, and with all your strength.
And Jesus tells the young man that all of the commandments can be reduced to
two—the first is to love God
NKJ Matthew 22:36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37 Jesus
said to him, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the first and great commandment.
God is telling us—put your trust totally in Me—love only Me—let Me be the only
reason for your hope—God demands our total obedience—and He knows we cannot
maintain perfect obedience—so He has mercy upon us—Peter tells us of this in his
first letter
NKJ 1 Peter 1:13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest
your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former
lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be
holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." 17
And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each
one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; 18
knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold,
from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with
the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
In our text the Lord demands that the servant be sold—because he cannot pay—the
Law reveals that we all deserve to perish—because we also cannot do what our
Lord demands—what did the servant do?—he tried to pay the enormous debt—but it
couldn’t be done!—what do we do?—we try to “do enough” to pay for our
sins—contribute to charities and to the church—attend church—perform good works
for our neighbors—but none of these things will pay the price
demanded—perfection of obedience!
The servant in the parable fell before the king and begged for mercy—as
Christians the Law brings us to true humility—the king in the parable had
mercy—God brings us the Gospel—He knows we cannot pay the debt—He forgives it
all!—not because of our works—not because we deserve it—He desires to have
compassion on us—God loves our humble hearts
True humility before God leads to the Gospel—which leads to heaven—the king in
this lesson forgave the debt and the punishment—God forgives our sins and gives
us heaven—it is by grace we are saved!
In this world when you sin you must pay the price—in God’s kingdom your debts
are forgiven—those who teach salvation by works do not preach or understand the
Gospel—nor the saving grace of God
NKJ Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace
is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work
is no longer work.
NKJ Romans 4:4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as
debt.
Some teach that by our freewill we are saved—that is contrary to this Gospel
lesson—this man had nothing to offer his king—forgiveness was a total gift—we
have nothing to offer God—except our humble hearts—our love—and our
obedience—and we are His by grace alone
Now let’s return to our lesson and the servant—the first servant was forgiven
his debt—kept his possessions—kept his family—what more could he ask?—He has
such a gracious lord—we are like that servant—we have a gracious God—it would be
blasphemous for us to seek God’s favor by doing works—it is ours by His mercy
and grace
Looking further at Scripture; God always warns man of pending affliction—Moses
warned the Pharaoh—Noah and the ark—Lot in Sodom and Gomorra—those who hear the
Gospel and fail to heed it and obey are also subject to punishment—this Gospel
is a comfort to those Christians who live forgiving lives—it is a terror to
those who harden their hearts and refuse to forgive.
Love God—Love your neighbor—Forgive sins—Be forgiven!—this is the Gospel!
NKJ Luke 6:37 " Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you
shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!