Context No. 3542 of 4322 · Matthew

Matthew 18:28-35: in context

28“But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii, and he grabbed 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 repay you!’ 30He would not, but went and cast him into prison until he should pay back that which was due. 31So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done. 32Then his lord called him in and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’ 34His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors until he should pay all that was due to him. 35So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don’t each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds.”

This is the sting of Jesus' parable. A servant who has just been forgiven an enormous, unpayable debt by his master turns around and violently seizes a fellow servant who owes him a trifling sum, refusing the very mercy he had received, and throwing the man into prison. When the master hears of it, he is furious.

Should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant, he says, as I had mercy on you? The lesson is inescapable: we who have been forgiven so much by God have no right to withhold forgiveness from others over comparatively tiny wrongs. The debt God has forgiven us is beyond measure; the debts others owe us are small by comparison. And Jesus ends with a solemn warning: so also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. Forgiveness received must become forgiveness given; the unforgiving heart has not truly grasped the mercy it was shown.

Have I truly grasped the immense debt God has forgiven me, and does that move me to forgive others their comparatively small debts from the heart?

Sources

Matthew 18:33: "Shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?"
Matthew 18:35: "So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don't each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds."
Colossians 3:13: "Even as Christ forgave you, so you also do."