PARABLES OF JESUS CHRIST
PARABLE OF THE WICKED SERVANT
DR. JIM DIXON
MATTHEW 18:21-35
OCTOBER 3, 1982
I want to share with you this morning on the subject of forgiveness. In the Parable of the Wicked Servant, we are told three things about forgiveness. First of all, we are told that as Christians, we have been forgiven a massive debt, a debt so great that we could never have ever paid it back. What’s the greatest debt that you can imagine or think of? Maybe you think of your current financial situation, or maybe you think of our national debt. I don’t know what our national debt is now but in 1975, our national debt was $509,700,000,000, an amount so vast that if all those dollars were stacked on top of each other, it would create a stack more than 30,174 miles high, weighing more than 473,000 tons. And yet the Bible tells us that the greatest debt in all of the world is the debt that mankind owes to God.
God gave us the gift of life and He placed us in Eden, the Garden of God. He gave us dominion over the earth, over the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, the beasts of the field. He put all things in subjection under our feet. He created us to honor Him and to love each other but we have not honored Him. We’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, and we’ve abused our dominion. We’ve tainted the creation. We’ve polluted the environment and the ecology, and we’ve not loved one another. Human history is riddled with broken relationships, with wars and with rumors of war. So, we owe God a great debt and this is illustrated in the Parable of the Wicked Servant who owed his lord a debt of 10,000 talents which equates to $50 million, a debt which no servant could ever repay. And yet his lord was merciful. His lord was loving, and his lord was willing to release him from bondage and to forgive him his entire debt. In the same way, God want us to know that He is merciful. He is loving. He is willing to release us from bondage to sin and debt and to forgive us our entire debt.
Throughout history, man has longed for forgiveness because there is guilt in the heart of man. In the Old Testament age, the Jews longed for forgiveness. As we saw last week, once a year, on the day of atonement, on Yom Kippur, the high priest would go into the temple, into the Holy of Holies, and there in the presence of God would sprinkle the blood of animals upon the mercy seat of the Arc of the Covenant, hoping to atone for the sins of the people. Then he would take the scapegoat and he would place his hands upon the head of the scapegoat symbolically imparting the sins of Israel, symbolically imparting the sins of the people of God upon that animal. Then the scapegoat would be led from the city out into the wilderness unto “azzazal,” symbolically representing the removal of the sins of the people from them, as the sins of the people removed from the city out to the wilderness. All of this was symbolic of the true atonement that would one day come through Jesus Christ.
You see, the blood of animals cannot atone for the sins of men. All the blood of all the animals that have ever breathed could not pay the debt that we owe to God. It was perfect human life that was sacrificed in Eden and only a perfect human life could repay that debt. And so, God sent His Son into the world, and He shared in our humanity. He lived a perfect human life and then He became the sacrificial lamb, and He was crucified. He ascended into heaven, into the presence of God, into the heavenly Holy of Holies of which the earthly temple or tabernacle was a mere copy or shadow, and there in the heavenly Holy of Holies, He presented Himself before His Father as our redemption, as our atonement for sin. He presented Himself in payment for our debt in order that we might now be pardoned.
You see, He is our scapegoat. Upon Him has been placed the sin of the world. He has removed our sins from us, not merely from the city out to the wilderness but He has removed our sin as far as the east is from the west. So far, He has removed our sin from us. And so, we have this offer of forgiveness, this offer of pardon that is given through Jesus Christ, but mankind must accept that offer.
In 1829, George Wilson was condemned to die in the state of Pennsylvania for crimes that he had committed but President Andrew Jackson pardoned him and then a very strange thing happened. George Wilson refused that pardon. He said that he wasn’t sorry for what he had done and that he would do it all again if he could. He said he didn’t need President Andrew Jackson, he didn’t need his pardon, and he’d rather die. Well, the President referred the whole thing to the Supreme Court of the United States. Chief Justice John Marshall rendered a verdict. He decided that George Wilson must die. Chief Justice Marshall said it is incomprehensible that any human being, under the penalty of death, would refuse pardon. Nevertheless, having refused pardon, this man must die.
A similar situation exists in the world today. God has offered pardon to all mankind. But, you see, we must accept it. We must humble ourselves and become like little children. We must admit that we have this great debt, that we have sinned, that we have fallen short of God’s glory, and we must confess and repent and we must receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and our Lord. Now, a Christian is a person who has done just that. A Christian has repented of sin and asked Jesus Christ to be his Savior and Lord. Therefore, a Christian is one who has been forgiven a massive debt.
We’re taught a second teaching concerning forgiveness in the Parable of the Wicked Servant and that is this: as Christians, having been forgiven a massive debt, we are now called upon to forgive others. We are now called upon to show mercy to others. You see, the wicked servant was forgiven this great debt, 10,000 talents, but then he went out and he seized a fellow servant by the throat that owed him $50. As that fellow servant could not pay, he threw him into prison. His lord said to him, “You wicked servant. I forgave you all of that because you besought me. Should you not have had mercy upon your fellow servant even as I had mercy upon you?” So, you see, as Christians we are called forth to go into the world and show mercy. If anybody hurts us, if anybody wrongs us, we are called to forgive them because Jesus Christ, for our sake, has forgiven us.
Many years ago, Jesus and His disciples went into a little home in Bethany outside of Jerusalem. It was the home of Simon the Leper. As they sat around that home, a woman came in and she fell down at Jesus’ feet. She literally began to wash His feet with her tears and to wipe her feet with her hair. Then she began to kiss His feet and then she opened a jar of costly ointment, and she anointed His feet.
The men who were in the room began to complain to one another. Some of them said, “What a waste of costly ointment.” Other men said, “Doesn’t He know what kind of a woman she is? Doesn’t He know that she’s a sinner?” Jesus turned to Simon the Leper who was sitting next to Him, and Jesus said, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” Simon said, “What is it, Teacher?” Jesus said, “A creditor had two debtors. One debtor owed him 500 denarii. The other debtor owed him 50 denarii. When they were brought before him, he forgave them both. Which one loved Him more?” Simon said, “I suppose the one that had been forgiven more.” Jesus said, “You have answered rightly. When I came into your house, you did not give me water to wash My feet, but this woman washed My feet with her tears and wiped My feet with her hair. When I came into your house, you did not kiss Me as is the Jewish custom, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet. When I came into your house, you did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with ointment. Truly, truly I say to you, ‘He who loves much has been forgiven much and he who has been forgiven little, loves little.'”
Each and every one of you in this room who believe in Jesus Christ has been forgiven much. You have been called upon to love much. You’ve been called upon to show mercy and to show forgiveness. You see, that’s why it’s so important for us, as Christians, to confess our sin every day because it constantly reminds us of our desperate need for God’s love and mercy and grace, and it makes us more willing to show love and mercy and grace to other people. It’s not easy for us to forgive people when they hurt us, when they offend us or when they abuse us.
The story is told of a little 5-year-old boy named Bobby. He was playing in his room with his 2-year-old sister. Suddenly there was this big scream. Their mother came into the room and the little 2-year-old girl was pulling Bobby’s hair and he was screaming. The mother separated them, and Bobby was really mad at his little sister. The mother said, “Bobby, you shouldn’t be mad at your sister. She’s only two years old and she didn’t mean to hurt you. She doesn’t know that when a person has their hair pulled, it hurts.” The mother left the room. A moment later there was another scream. The mother came running m. She said, “What happened?” Bobby said, “She knows now.”
You see, we’re all a little bit like Bobby. When somebody hurts us, we want to hurt them back. We don’t want to forgive them, but the Bible says, “Repay no man evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for this you have been called that you may obtain a blessing. No one in the whole of the scriptures, no one in the whole of history is a better example of what it means to forgive those who abuse you than our Lord Jesus Christ. He was rejected by man. He was reviled. He was whipped. He was beaten. He was flogged. He was spat upon. He had a crown of thorns placed upon his head and surely He bled. He was made to carry a cross. He was crucified. His hands and His feet were pierced with nails. And yet, even as He hung on the cross with His tormentors gambling for His garments down below, even in that moment our Lord Jesus cried out, “Father, forgive them.” There is no greater example of what it means to forgive. And, you see, He has given us an example that we should follow in His steps. He committed no sin; no guile was found on His lips. When He suffered, He did not threaten. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return.
Just after World War II, three nuns and their students were standing outside the ruins of a cathedral. They were angry. The Germans, the Nazis, had destroyed that cathedral and they hated the Germans. As they stood outside that cathedral where once they had worshipped, they had tears in their eyes, and they began to say, “The Lord’s Prayer.” They said, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we…” and then they stopped because they couldn’t say the words that followed. They couldn’t forgive the Germans and what the Nazis had done to their homeland.
Suddenly behind them they heard a voice. It was the voice of a man. The voice said, ‘”as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.” They turned around and they saw Albert who was King of Belgium, a man, a king known for his mercy and for his compassion and for his forgiveness. And so it was that the King of Belgium led them in forgiveness.
As Christians we have a King who is known for His mercy and for His compassion and for His forgiveness. He would lead us in forgiving others if we would only let Him. I’m absolutely convinced that as a Christian I do not have the right to refuse forgiveness to anyone. I should forgive people the minute they have hurt me. I should forgive people even before they ask for forgiveness because, you see, I have been forgiven a massive debt. If you have resentment or bitterness against your wife or your husband or your children or your parents or some people you know or an employer or whoever, God wants you to give it up, to relinquish it because He has forgiven you.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus, and he said, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God, through Christ, as forgiven you.”
We have these two messages from the Parable of the Wicked Servant. First of all, we have been forgiven a great debt and secondly, we therefore have been called upon to forgive others. Now, there’s a third and final message here and I’ll make this short. This third message that is found in this Parable is this. If we do not forgive others, there will be consequences.
The wicked servant did not forgive his fellow servant and he was thrown into prison until he should pay his entire debt. Our Lord Jesus said, “So will My Father do to each and every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” Jesus said, “If you have anything against anyone, forgive, in order that My Father who is in heaven may forgive you. If you do not forgive men their trespasses, I will not forgive you. My Father-who is in heaven will not forgive you your trespasses.”
I’m sure you’ve all heard of the Devil’s Triangle and the alleged tragedies that have taken place in that section of the ocean. It is well known in legend and in nautical and aviation history, that for no apparent reason, certain ships and low-flying aircraft have failed or perished while traveling over certain sections of ocean. Many theories have been given in order to explain this, the most recent of which is found in the August 14 issue of SCIENCE NEWS. In that article, scientists speculate that all of these tragedies are caused by what they call “gas hydrates,” bubbles of gas that are trapped in ice 300 to 400 meters below the ocean’s surface. As these bubbles of gas that are trapped that begin to expand, the pressure builds, and the ice begins to crack and suddenly all that gas comes gushing to the surface. When ships run through that gas, they lose buoyance and some of them begin to sink. As gas permeates the atmosphere and low-flying planes pass through it, sometimes their engines seize up and fail.
Now that’s the theory, but it equates, you see, to something which takes place spiritually within the life of the Christian when we do not forgive. When we do not forgive other people, bubbles of resentment, of anger, even hatred begin to form and be trapped within us. As we continue to refuse to forgive, the resentment builds and the pressure builds and our personalities, our temperaments begin to crack. Suddenly, all that indignation and anger sometimes just burst through, and we hurt people, loved ones who are around us. As all that indignation is trapped within us, it becomes like a cancer within us too. So, God wants us to know when we do not forgive, there are consequences even in this life. But more than that, God wants us to know that when we do not forgive, there are eternal consequences because, you see, even as Christians, as people who have already passed out of death to life, as people who are bound for heaven, we will still stand one day before the judgment seat of Christ, and we will give an account. He will evaluate all our life. We will stand before the judgment seat of Christ for the purpose of our eternal rewards. This is described in I Corinthians, chapter three.
We’re told that many Christians will suffer loss of reward though they themselves will be saved but only as through fire. When we stand before Christ, our hearts will be made bare, and He will know if we’ve harbored resentment. If we’ve refused to forgive, that will be made manifest.
The Apostle James said, “If anyone keeps all the law but fails in just one point, he is guilty of all of it for he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery’ also said, ‘Do not kill’ so that if you do not commit adultery but you do kill, you are judged by the law as a transgressor. So live and so act as one who is to be judged under the law of liberty for judgement is without mercy for those who have shown no mercy, but mercy triumphs over judgement.”
We have this exhortation in the word of God that we would show mercy to other people if we would have God show mercy to us. And so, we have three messages from the Parable of the Wicked Servant. The first message is that. as Christians, we have been forgiven a massive debt. Secondly, having been forgiven, we are now called upon to forgive others, to show mercy to others. Thirdly, if we do not forgive, there will be consequences both in this life and for all eternity. Shall we pray?