Introduction to the parable of the unforgiving servant
Jesus taught the parable of the unforgiving servant in order to explain an important truth to Peter. Jesus began the story when Peter asked Him how many
times he should forgive his brother or sister who do wrong to him.
Peter asked if he should forgive that individual up to
seven times. To Peter's surprise, Jesus said that he must forgive others seventy
times times seven.
How much is 70 times x 7?
Parable of the unforgiving servant
Jesus then told the parable of the unforgiving servant to show that we must forgive others just as God forgives us. This is the parable:
A king wanted to
settle his accounts with
his servants. One man
who owed him 10,000
bags of gold was
brought in. Since he was
not able to repay his
debts, the King ordered
that he, along with his
wife and children, had to
be sold as slaves.
The servant fell to his
knees. ‘Be patient with
me,’ he begged. ‘I will
repay everything.’ On hearing his pleas for mercy, the king took pity on
him, canceled the debt, and released the servant.
While on his way out the
servant saw a fellow
servant who owed him
100 silver coins. The servant who was released grabbed his colleague by the
neck and began to
choke him:
‘Pay back
what you owe me!’ he
demanded.’
The man fell
to his knees and begged
him, ‘Be patient with me
and I will pay you back.’
The servant refused and
had the man put in
prison until he paid the
debt of 100 silver coins.
The other servants were outraged at the cruel actions of the man who the king had released
When the other servants
saw what had happened,
they were outraged. They went to the king and told him what had happened.
The king became angry and locked up the unforgiving servant
The king became angry and summoned the unforgiving servant:
‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all your debt when you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have shown the same mercy to your fellow servant?’
He handed the man over
to the jailors to be
punished until he paid
back all he owed.
''As Jesus concluded the parable, he said to Peter, ‘this is how my
Heavenly Father will
treat each of you unless
you forgive your brother
or sister from your
heart.’
The meaning of the parable of the unforgiving servant
The parable of the unforgiving servant teaches several lessons. The first is that we must be patient with other people even when they repeatedly do us wrong.
Jesus said that we must be so patient that we should be willing to forgive them seventy times seven. This is a lot of times, especially when people refuse to stop doing us wrong.
The second lesson from the unforgiving servant is that we must remember that we need God to forgive our sins. He will not forgive us if we fail to forgive others.
What does it mean to forgive?
To forgive means to release people from a debt they owe. When anyone does wrong to us, and asks for pardon, forgiveness means that we should not get back at them.
We too need God to forgive our sins and He does just that. He patiently forgives until we learn to stop doing the sin.
Jesus taught us that God will forgive us as long as we forgive others.
However, boys and girls, He does not expect you to keep quiet or hide things that are not right. If someone does something that can endanger your life, health or innocence, you should tell a parent, a teaher or caregiver.
In this way, you will be protected from injury.
The parable of the unforgiving servant is not about criminal activity
Readers please pay attention and note that the parable of the unforgiving servant is not about criminal activity.
If a crime is committed, then take all necessary action to deal with the perpetrator.
Allow the courts to take action against the person when dealing with the matter.
If the person asks for forgiveness, grant it to them. This does not mean that criminal charges should be dropped, as justice must be served.
It means that you will not hate them. Even God reserves hell for unrepentant sinners. A repentant sinner is a person who changes his or her ways.
Forgive them in your heart even if they do not ask for forgiveness. You do not want to live with bitterness and anger, because God hates these things.
More importantly, forgiveness releases you from holding on to the pain of the sin done against you.
Parable of the unforgiving servant bible verses
MATTHEW 18 21- 35 - NAS – New American Standard Bible (NASB)
21 Then Peter came and said to Him, ``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.
23 ``For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.
24 ``When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
25 ``But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.
26 ``So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, `Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.'
27 ``And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.
28 ``But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, `Pay back what you owe.'
29 ``So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, `Have patience with me and I will repay you.'
30 ``But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.
31 ``So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened.
32 ``Then summoning him, his lord said to him, `You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
33 `Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?'
34 ``And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.
35 ``My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart."
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