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Matthew 18:28  (Good News Bible)
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<< Matthew 18:27   Matthew 18:29 >>


Matthew 18:28-35

Is it not odd that this man could have his fellow servant thrown into prison for a relatively small debt (as little as $20 in today's money)? We should be thankful to live in a more forgiving culture!

Today, however, there is another way that a fellow-servant can be cast into prison regardless of the laws of the culture. We can easily incarcerate someone within the confines of our own hearts and even throw away the key. It is likely that each of us has someone confined within our own heart's prison even today.

The late Lewis B. Smedes, a professor of theology at Fuller Seminary, is credited with saying: “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”

When we imprison someone in this manner, we subject ourselves to the burdensome duty of keeping him there. So instead of one, we now have two prisoners that keep each other imprisoned day in and day out, but only one of them has the key.

We have the offender as well as the offended. Assuming that most people do not purposefully look to offend, particularly within the church, the offender was probably clumsy or foolishly inconsiderate in his approach to the offended. Or perhaps he possesses, or has displayed, a character flaw that the offended feels is completely unacceptable (e.g., a betrayal of some sort).

Or maybe the offender disregarded the direction given in Galatians 6:1: “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (emphasis ours).

To avoid offense, we must remember our humility and our place whenever we are inclined to point out a fault to a brother or sister. The same advice holds for the giver as well as the receiver of a rebuke. Criticism is always difficult to give without offending or to receive without taking offense. Be always mindful that our Creator received rebuke without retaliating. No one has ever been imprisoned in His heart!

When we do offend a brother, we are tempted to approach him and immediately ask for forgiveness because we dislike being regarded unfavorably. Remember, our godly purpose is to restore the relationship, if possible, because that is what God wants to see. If we pressure our friend into forgiveness, have we accomplished God's will? Consider well the adage: “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.”

This is why God should be the very first from whom we ask forgiveness. We can ask Him to help us understand the severity of the damage we have caused and for the proper level of contrition, humility, and patience to help repair and restore the relationship. We can ask God to open the heart of our offended brother so that he willingly accept our apology and readily extend his forgiveness.

We can liken this request for the opening of our brother's heart to a request for the opening of his heart's prison doors, too easily slammed shut by an unforgiving attitude. Instead of having two (or even more) persons confined behind the doors of an intractable grudge, we experience the joy and the freedom of reconciliation. The relationship is restored, a good witness has been made, growth has occurred, and God is glorified.

On the other hand, if we have been offended, instead of giving into the temptation to strike immediately back—to seek vindication—we should also begin by going to God in prayer for humility, empathy, and mercy. We can ask God to help us understand why the unfortunate deed was done and how we can find a pathway to forgiveness. We can ask for clarity of thought, which is so often missing when anger and offense are present.

If a rebuke was the cause of offense, we should consider Solomon's words in Proverbs 27:5-6: “Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” We should always ask God to enable us to give our offending brother the benefit of the doubt at a time when it would be easy to doubt his loyalty. Chances are, the offender feels as pained as the offended.

In these troubled and emotionally charged times, a true friend may feel a need to risk a special friendship for the good of the other. We should always be mindful that God may send us a vital message of correction or rebuke through someone other than our minister or someone we regard as having legitimate authority. We should be prepared to accept criticism, legitimate or not, from any person that God sends across our path. And perhaps, only a true friend would, could, or should point out to us a weakness or fault that no one else might even see or care about.

Whenever we are wronged, especially by a brother, we should strive to avoid becoming so inflexible that we slam shut the doors of animosity against him. The consequences of such a decision—to withhold forgiveness—particularly from a brother who sincerely asks for absolution and reconciliation, can be both devastating and eternal in scope for us. The wrong mindset can lead to a sinful attitude that is in opposition to God, keeping us locked inside a bitter prison of enmity and preventing our entrance into His Kingdom.

Therefore, regardless of whether we are the offender or the offended, let us never forget our constant need to first be forgiven and reconciled with God.

Austin Del Castillo
The Prisoner



Matthew 18:28-30

The heartlessness of the forgiven man—along with his utter disregard of his obligation to emulate the gracious example of his king—is sin. Compared to our offenses against God, the offenses that our brethren commit against us are small and insignificant. Since God has forgiven us so much, we ought to forgive each other of anything, large or small (Matthew 6:15). Grace bestowed puts the receiver under obligation to manifest the same grace to others. Even though a person receives forgiveness, it does not guarantee that he will be a better person, as this deceived world generally believes today (as seen in how ineffective leniency on murderers, rapists, and thieves is.)

Martin G. Collins
Parable of the Unforgiving Servant



Matthew 18:21-35

Peter asks in verse 21, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” He probably thought seven times was extremely magnanimous and merciful, as his figure was well beyond the three times rabbis taught was sufficient. Yet, Jesus demolishes His disciple's reasoning, answering, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” Effectively, He teaches there is no limit to how often we should forgive a brother for trespasses against us.

The parable supplies the reason for Christ's insistence in His Model Prayer that we always forgive: The Father, seen in the character of the king who remits the ten-thousand-talent debt, has shown us boundless compassion by forgiving us of our many egregious sins against Him. He asks the unforgiving servant, who would not pardon a coworker's pittance of a debt, “Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” (verse 33). In the next verse, Jesus says the one who would not forgive was “delivered . . . to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him”—the entire ten thousand talents!

Jesus grimly summarizes His point in verse 35: “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” God is serious about His people forgiving one another. It is a necessary first step to restoring harmonious relationships and living in peace. It is an act of love toward our neighbor that reflects the outgoing concern of God Himself toward us, a necessary component of the godly character He is creating in us.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Model Prayer (Part Seven): Forgive Us Our Debts



Matthew 18:27-35

The well-known Parable of the Unforgiving Servant is a vivid example of the debt someone owes to us when they sin against us compared to the debt we owe to God. Additionally, this parable deals a deathblow to the concept of "eternal security," and it does so in a unique way. The king represents God, and verse 27 says that he forgave the debt—one so huge it was unpayable. That debt represents our sins. Yet, his forgiveness is not absolute! Because of the servant's impatience and hardness of heart toward others, the king actually lays the entire original debt back on the servant and requires him to pay it in full.

Translating this to our own lives, our own immense debt has been forgiven—yet our treatment of others could cause that debt to be fully reinstated. We would then have to pay that debt with our lives. As one pastor and poet wrote, "He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass."

The Bible highlights certain classifications of sin, and they are described in terrifying terms. Within the Book of the Law are warnings against presumptuous sin, for which no atonement could be made (Numbers 15:30; Deuteronomy 17:12-13). Another example is Christ's warning against blaspheming the Holy Spirit, which is something that will not be forgiven (Matthew 12:31-32). In Hebrews, we are warned against willful sin, after which Jesus Christ's sacrifice no longer applies (Hebrews 10:26-27). These are the major areas of danger that we must all avoid.

However, when it comes to not receiving forgiveness from God, Scripture shows that this can happen simply because we do not forgive a brother. Are there debts against us that we are holding onto rather than giving over to God to collect? When it comes to judgment, if we want the balance to tip in our favor and to receive mercy rather than justice, we must do the same thing for our brother.

The scale on which we do these things is minuscule compared to what God does for us, but He wants—requires!—us to practice this. If we will be living with Him for eternity, we must learn to emulate Him now. The God we are striving to emulate is a God of mercy and forgiveness—thankfully.

David C. Grabbe
Sins in the Balance (Part One)



Matthew 18:23-35

Jesus, really wanting to drive home the importance of being forgiving (Matthew 18:21), tells the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. The story relates how a king, settling accounts with his servants, finds that one owed him 10,000 talents. Barnes' Notes, written in the late 1800s, estimates the value at $15.8 million! Christ's point, of course, is that no one could ever repay this huge amount. Spiritually, we owe Him far more than we could ever repay.

Normally, the servant would be cast into prison and his family sold into slavery until all was paid. But when the servant entreated the king to have mercy on him, the king, "moved with compassion," forgave the entire debt!

The forgiven servant then found one who owed him 100 denarii or about $15. This petty debtor begged for additional time to pay off the debt, but the servant, without mercy, had him jailed until all was paid. The king's other servants heard of this and told the king.

We can learn several lessons from this parable:

1. Our sins are very great.
2. God has forgiven them all.
3. By comparison to the offenses we have committed against God, our brethren's offenses against us are small.
4. We should be so appreciative of being forgiven that we freely forgive others.
5. We must forgive from the heart, not merely in words. When we truly forgive from the heart, it is as if no offense had ever occurred.
6. If we do not forgive, God is justified in not forgiving us.

John O. Reid
Forgiveness



Matthew 18:26-34

We desire others—especially God—to be patient and forgiving toward us in our faults, but do we practice the same attitude and conduct toward those whose faults offend us? Patience is a two-way street, and God clearly demands reciprocity. He expects us to pass His patience and forgiveness toward us on to others even as Christ did.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Fruit of the Spirit: Patience




Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Matthew 18:28:

Matthew 6:11-15
Matthew 14:14
Mark 6:34
John 13:14

 

<< Matthew 18:27   Matthew 18:29 >>



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