‘Should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’  Matthew 18:33 ESV¹

Read Matthew 18:21-35

Pay It Forward is an American film from the year 2000 written by Catherine Ryan Hyde, directed by Mimi Leder, and starring Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and Haley Joel Osment. It is the fictional story of a Social Studies teacher who gives his class an assignment to come up with an idea to change the world for the better. The movie describes what happens when one student creates a plan for a goodwill movement which he calls, “Paying it Forward.” Pay it forward has since become an expression for the honoring and repaying of good deeds by passing on acts of kindness to others instead of the original altruist. This idea has, among other things, led to long lines at restaurants and coffee shop drive-throughs with person after person paying for the order of the car behind him or her. This concept has sparked an organization, The Pay It Forward Movement and Foundation, and a day of recognition, The International Pay It Forward Day. Though there may be social pressure to perform such acts of kindness, paying it forward is an optional activity—except in one instance.

The circumstance in which God requires His children to pay it forward is revealed in this parable of Jesus:

“‘The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So, the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, “Pay what you owe.” So, his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” And in anger, his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also, My Heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your Brother from your heart’” (Matthew 18:32-35).

The Setting

Jesus told this parable in response to the question of one of his closest disciples. After Jesus taught on church discipline, Peter asked, “‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?’” (Matthew 18:21a). Peter guessed that seven times would be adequate, but Jesus replied, ‘‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times’” (Matthew 18:22). Some versions of the Bible translate seventy-seven as seventy times seven. Either way, in the teaching of this parable, Jesus showed that forgiveness is a much bigger deal than we humans often realize.

This parable is one of the Kingdom of Heaven parables. As you may recall from our study of other such parables, the major focus of these allegorical stories is the relationship between God and man. In this story, the king represents God and the servants represent those who have committed their lives to Christ. This is not a picture of interactions between non-believers but between God and His Children and between Brothers in Christ.

The Main Characters

The word translated servants in this version of this parable is the Greek word, doulos. This word is sometimes translated as slaves or bondservants. This kind of servant is completely devoted to his or her master to the disregard of his or her interests. Doulos is often used in the New Testament as a metaphor for one who gives up himself or herself to the will of Christ to be used by Christ in extending and advancing His cause among humankind.

Doulos are more like members of the family than other servants or hired hands. They are completely dependent on their master. They have no property of their own; they live with their master and receive all that they need for their daily lives and their work directly from their master. Their greatest concern is supposed to be that of their master and they should always be available to the master’s beck and call. In this story, the master of these servants was a king.

The Protagonist

In the country in which I live, we do not have a king. Therefore, we lack the knowledge of how to properly respect royalty. In the United States, nearly anyone with a desire to do so can run for and be elected to public office. Almost everyone who is willing to put in the work can rise to the level of leadership in a company or an institution. Because of this, we assume those in positions of authority are not much different than ourselves. As a society, we do not generally appropriately respect leaders or their positions. It is not uncommon for those in authority to be identified without their titles or to be called by their first names. Political leaders are often slandered in the media. Children routinely disobey their parents and teachers. Civilians have been known to treat the police with contempt. Since this is our attitude and our experience, we are far more likely to consider God on a level much closer to our own level than we should.

For a revamp of your view of God, check out Revelation 4. If the inhabitants of Heaven, who have been in God’s presence for an eternity in the past and will be for an eternity in the future, can’t get over God’s holiness but continually praise Him for it, we are off in our thinking. I believe we are far too irreverent toward the Sovereign One of the Universe!

To properly understand this parable, we must try to grasp how far above and unlike us God really is and how much He is worthy of honor, worship, and praise. Though He is most definitely good and loving, He is not your buddy or the guy next door; He is Almighty, All-Powerful God! That being said, God has the right to do anything He sees fit. In this parable, the king decided to settle accounts with His servants.

The Antagonist

I imagine the first servant mentioned in this parable hoped a day of accountability would never come. He had racked up quite a debt. So, about how big of a debt are we talking? The first servant owed the king 10,000 talents. One talent equaled 20 years’ wages, so he owed 200,000 years’ wages! That is a lot of money!

The average blue-collar worker in the United States makes about $35,000 per year. Without regard to inflation or raises, staying at that rate, in 20 years, a blue-collar worker would make $700,000. Multiply $700,000 by 200,000 and you get, $140,000,000,000 or $140 billion.

If the antagonist of this story lived 2,000 lifetimes and gave up everything he owned and everyone he loved, this servant would never have the means to pay back the equivalent of $140 billion. He knew he couldn’t repay, so “‘the servant fell on his knees, imploring [the king], “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything”’” (Matthew 18:26b). But he didn’t understand the enormity of his debt. There was no way he could ever pay back what he owed. He wasn’t going to live and work and sacrifice for 200,000 years.

Although the king understood the depth of this man’s debt, “‘out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt’” (Matthew 18:25). The king willingly took the debt upon himself; he absorbed the $140 billion loss. Because this servant didn’t accurately perceive the outrageous size of his debt, he couldn’t understand the extent of the king’s loss on his part.

The Conflict

The first servant didn’t adequately appreciate what he had been forgiven nor the greatness of the one who took the loss upon himself, so when he found another on his level who owed him far less, he didn’t respond appropriately. “‘That same servant went out, [and] found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, “Pay what you owe”’” (Matthew 18:28).

The second servant was also a debtor. He owed the first servant 100 denarii. A denarius was one day’s wage, so the second servant owed the first servant 100 days’ wages. If the average blue-collar worker in the United States makes about $17 per hour, in an 8-hour day, he or she would make roughly $136. So, the second servant owed the first about $13,600. This is a significant amount, but it is a far cry from $140 billion. In a matter of months or at the most years, with some extra work and a little sacrifice, this amount could be paid off.

But the first servant was selfish, inconsiderate, and incapable of comprehending the debt he was forgiven. He wanted what he was owed and he wanted it immediately, so he seized the second servant and “began to choke him, saying, “Pay what you owe.” So, his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” [But the first servant] refused and went and put [the second] in prison until he should pay the debt’” (Matthew 18:28b-30). When confronted about his debt, the second servant reacted exactly the same as the first servant had. But the first servant didn’t respond in any manner as the king had reacted to his plea. The first servant didn’t give the second a chance but threw him in prison until he should pay.

Switching Scenes

Though it doesn’t make much sense to our modern way of thinking, putting people in prison until their debts were paid was a popular practice even in developed countries until about 200 years ago. According to the law during Jesus’ time on Earth, both the king and the first servant in His parable had the right to put their debtors in prison until their debts could somehow be repaid.

“Debtor’s prisons … were built for those who did not or were unable to pay back debt. The earliest kinds of debtor’s prisons were single rooms, sparsely furnished in appalling conditions. [People] could spend their entire lives within the prison due to unpaid debts or find themselves forced into indentured servitude until the labour paid for the debt … Certain liberties were allowed for prisoners who had a little money. Marriages, their own room, cooked food, almost any luxury or allowance could be bought. For those who could not, cramped conditions, filthy floors, and starvation awaited. Indeed, it was not unheard of for prisoners to exit with less than what they arrived with; unable to pay the prison garnish, a sort of criminal toll, even the very clothes from their back could be forfeit. All the while an inmate remained in a debtor’s prison, his debt accrued, and moreover, as the prisons were privately owned, a prisoner also had to pay for bed and board, even if none was provided. In order to gain a release from such an institution, an inmate must either work through the debt with labour provided inside, through alms given by charitable passers-by, or by securing funds from friends, family, or an aid society”²

The king in this parable mercifully didn’t exercise his right to incarcerate his servant. The first servant, out of gratitude for the king saving him from such horror, should have extended the favor to the second servant. But he did not. So, “‘when his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place’” (Matthew 18:31)

The Resolution

“‘Then his master summoned him and said to him, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” And, in anger, his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt’” (Matthew 18:32-33). Because he was so determined that his fellow servant get the punishment due him, the first servant was also sentenced to debtor’s prison. Whereas the second servant, had hope of returning to normal life in a relatively short time, the first servant, because of his vast debt, earned himself life imprisonment.

But the first servant’s punishment included more than incarceration for the rest of his natural life. Notice, “‘his master delivered him to the jailers’” (Matthew 18:34a). According to the Blue Letter Bible, an online Bible study tool, the word translated jailers here is the Greek word basanistes; it is defined as torturers, ones who elicit the truth by the use of the rack.³ The “rack, [is] a bedlike open frame suspended above the ground that was used as a torture device. The victim’s ankles and wrists were secured by ropes that passed around axles near the head and the foot of the rack. When the axles were turned slowly by poles inserted into sockets, the victim’s hip, knee, shoulder, and elbow joints would be dislocated.”⁴

What life the antagonist of this parable had left would not be pleasant. Again, according to our way of thinking, this seems extreme. Yet, Jesus made it clear that this kind of punishment was a reasonable consequence for all who refuse to forgive.

Based on a True Story

Jesus concluded His parable with, “‘So also My Heavenly Father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your Brother from your heart’” (Matthew 18:35). This is a horrifying thought. How could a loving God torture people who can’t truly forgive those who have sinned against them?

I assure you; God doesn’t want to torture anyone. Just as the king in the parable was willing to forgive the servant’s debt and take the loss upon himself, God has done the same thing for humanity. He showed “His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5”8). And, “Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).

No God doesn’t torture His Children who refuse to forgive their Brothers or Sisters from their hearts; they torture themselves when they don’t forgive! When humans won’t forgive, they open up themselves to the powers of the demonic and trouble of all kinds.

Refusing to forgive affects people physically, whereas, forgiveness brings healing. “‘There is an enormous physical burden to being hurt and disappointed,’ says Karen  Swartz, M.D., director of the Mood Disorders Adult Consultation Clinic at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Chronic anger puts you into a fight-or-flight mode, which results in numerous changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and immune response. Those changes, then, increase the risk of depression, heart disease, and diabetes, among other conditions. Forgiveness, however, calms stress levels, leading to improved health … Studies have found that the act of forgiveness can reap huge rewards for your health, lowering the risk of heart attack; improving cholesterol levels and sleep; and reducing pain, blood pressure, and levels of anxiety, depression, and stress. And research points to an increase in the forgiveness-health connection as you age.”⁵

Refusing to forgive also affects people relationally and spiritually. Dr. Bruce and Toni Hebel are the founders of Forgiving Forward, a ministry dedicated to helping people experience the freedom of the Gospel through the power of forgiveness. In an interview, Toni stated:

“The Scriptures say that the number one sign of unforgiveness is bitterness. Bitterness is that ranking in your spirit, that anger, that wanting to have revenge or vengeance towards someone. We all know what bitterness looks like. But we have found as we have coached people individually and even from our own lives, that it goes a lot deeper than bitterness. What we see is that when people are exhibiting signs of things like depression, great fear — I’m not talking about getting afraid of a snake or having something cause fear in your life — I’m talking about fear that controls you. Paranoia. All the addictions. If you’re addicted to pornography or alcohol or drugs, sexual addictions, all of those things are rooted, we have found, in unforgiveness … We’ve also noticed one of the main signs of unforgiveness is anger. And again, I’m not talking about just general we get angry — we all get angry. But the outbursts of anger, the controlling anger, the anger that just is seething underneath the surface at all times.”⁶

Yet, the Hebels, again and again, have witnessed their clients experience freedom when they forgive.

“Judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13). When one of His Children refuses to forgive, God removes His hand of protection and allows trouble to come upon him or her. But He doesn’t do that because He enjoys seeing people suffer. God is “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God allows His Children who refuse to forgive others to experience trouble in hopes that they will realize their error, turn from this sin, and get right with Him and their Brothers and Sisters.

Fitting Ourselves into the Story

This is one of Jesus’ Kingdom of Heaven parables. That means He is attempting to teach something to those who are or wish to be part of this Kingdom. The focus of the Kingdom of Heaven is not a place or a realm; it is a Person and a relationship. All of the servants in this parable were those who had committed their lives to the king and had a relationship with him. Likewise, all who have made a decision to submit to Christ have entered into a relationship with The King and have become His Children.

“‘The Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives’” (Hebrews 12:6). Therefore, this parable is not a picture of what happens to those who reject God’s plan for salvation. And it has nothing to do with Hell or the idea that one might lose his or her salvation. It has to do with the great mercy of The King and His requirement that His Children emulate that mercy.

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Colossians 3:12-13). But if you refuse to be merciful and forgive those who have wronged you, you are in for a rough time until you chose to forgive.

Getting a Clearer Picture

As Believers, we already know that no one is good enough to earn salvation by his or her own merit and that no one can repay the debt he or she owes to a Holy, Holy, Holy God. When this truth was revealed to us, we were more than willing to accept God’s forgiveness of our debt. But we may be unclear about how great of a debt we actually owed God. And we may not realize how amazing it is that we have been completely forgiven.

At the time in which I am writing this, there are only two people out of the more than seven billion inhabitants of Earth who are worth more than $140 billion. Only two people, who after liquidating all of their resources, could repay the kind of debt the first servant in Jesus’ parable owed. Those two people are Elon Musk, the Co-founder of the electric vehicle company, Tesla, and the designer of SpaceX, and Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.

Even if you could convince Elon Musk that you are his biggest fan, or if you could enlighten Jeff Bezos how much you aided his accumulation of wealth, I doubt you could get either of them to sacrifice anything, let alone nearly everything he owns to pay a $140 billion debt for you. Yet, Jesus, the Son of Almighty God, was willing to leave Heaven and the constant fellowship of the Trinity for you. Jesus voluntarily humbled Himself enough to take on a human body and come as a baby born into a poor family. He consented to live on the Earth He created and walk among, teach, and heal those He had made. And though He was and will be rejected by many, He didn’t hesitate to be subjected to torture and shed His blood to pay your debt and the debts of all the billions of people who have lived, are living, or ever will live on this Earth.

You and I had a great debt—one that cannot be accurately translated into human wealth. Yet, we were completely forgiven just because we believed God would forgive and we asked Him to do just that. The least we can do is forgive the much, much smaller debt that those around us owe us. After all, forgiving isn’t an option; “‘if you forgive others their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses’” (Matthew 6:14-15). For the glory of God, the benefit of others, and for our own good, let’s pay forgiveness forward. Paying forgiveness forward will, without a doubt, change the world for the better. It may even lead to a movement and bring about a great celebration.

 

¹ Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.

² https://institutionalhistory.com/debtors-prisons/

³ https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G930&t=NLT

⁴ https://www.britannica.com/technology/rack-torture-instrument

⁵ https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/forgiveness-your-health-depends-on-it

⁶ https://www.forgivingforward.com/blog/what-are-the-signs-of-unforgiveness