July 25, 2019
READING TIME: 1 MINUTE
David, could you please explain the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35?
SUMMARY: The servant who is forgiven a great debt but refuses to forgive his debtors represents someone who is saved but will receive little mercy from the Heavenly Father in the kingdom.
The principle here is summed up in verse 35 by noting that those who do not forgive others will not be forgiven by God. This is the same principle as in Matthew 6:14-15 (also Mark 11: 25-26) (see April 8, 2019, Ask Pastor David post). This speaks of fellowship forgiveness between God and the believer, not positional forgiveness at justification. After all, what prompted Jesus’s parable was Peter’s question about how often we should forgive a “brother” (Matthew 18:21).
As always, when interpreting a parable, it is important to understand the main point and consider the figures of speech or analogies used to make it. We should be careful about investing the details with literal understanding. In this parable, the torturers certainly represent a severe consequence, but the point seems to be that the unforgiving servant will face severe consequences, not that he will be tortured.
SOURCE USED
Bing, Charles C. Grace, Salvation, and Discipleship: How to Understand Some Difficult Bible Passages. Grace Theology Press, 92.