Q4. Unmerciful Servant

[Pastor Ralph]

Q4. (Matthew 18:23-35) In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, where do you see justice? Where do you see grace? Where do you see greed? Where do you see unforgiveness? What lessons from this parable are disciples to incorporate into their lives?

[Christopher Olamiji Taiwo]

On 4/22/2023 at 12:59 AM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q4. (Matthew 18:23-35) In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, where do you see justice? Where do you see grace? Where do you see greed? Where do you see unforgiveness? What lessons from this parable are disciples to incorporate into their lives?

In the parable of the unmerciful servant, I saw justice in Master cancelled debt, I saw grace also in the master kindness of cancelation of the servant debt because he did not asked for cancelation but time to repay. 

I saw greed in the action of the unmerciful servant and the spirit of unforgiveness for failure to forgive his colleague and threw him into prison. 

The lessons learned that disciples can incorporate into their lives is the spirit of forgiveness and ability to show mercy to others as they also received. 

[Violette]

Justice was given by the master to the servant and grace. The servant's whose debt was cancelled showed greed by throttling the guy who owed him money and throwing him into jail. This servant showed no remorse to the one that owed him money and yet he had received pardon for his debt.

The lessons the disciples can show is forgiveness and mercy.

[Bianca]

My Answer:

 

Justice - The King being merciful to forgive the servant of the debt. But, if only the unmerciful servant in the end would have decided to be like the king and be merciful to his own servant his punishment could have been avoided.

 

Grace- The king was gracious enough to forgive the servant of a huge amount of money. This also reminds me of how merciful our Heavenly Father is towards us. 

 

Greed- The unmerciful servant though forgiven for so much still chose to be greedy and wanted more and refuse to forgive though he was forgiven. 

 

We should remember that as we have been forgiven of much we should also forgive others of much.

[Robomom3]

Q4. (Matthew 18:23-35)

In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, where do you see justice?

The servant who owed a debt was called before the King to account for his debt.  This, in itself, is justice... for we all should be accountable for our own debts. Grace was removed and the servant was made to pay for his own debts once he showed no mercy to a fellow servant... this also is justice. 

Where do you see grace?

Mercy and grace is seen in the King's response to the incredible debt the servant owed.  The servant owned up to his debt and begged for time to pay it off... but the King had a heart full of mercy and grace for the humble servant before Him and He cancelled the ENTIRE DEBT and set him free as if he had never run up the debt to begin with.

Where do you see greed?

The servant who was forgiven did not internalize this incredible gift of mercy and instead of setting a fellow servant free from a much smaller debt, which he had full power to do, he instead took his freedom from him and bound him in prison until he could repay what he owed him.

Where do you see unforgiveness?

Unforgiveness is seen both in the 1st servant towards the 2nd servant's debt and from the King to the 1st servant's debt after that servant showed he had an ungrateful and unforgiving heart.  

What lessons from this parable are disciples to incorporate into their lives?

What I notice is, the King did not kick the servant out of the Kingdom... but instead had him pay his own debt before he would be set free.  I'm not sure how to interpret this completely.  But it would seem, that we will only receive the forgiveness that comes through the Blood of Jesus if we, in turn, are able to forgive ALL who sin against us.  God forgave the totality of ALL MY SINS... an entire lifetime of sin has been wiped clean (20 million dollars' worth of sin). Who am I then to think I'm better than God in that I would not forgive someone just one of their sins because it happened to hurt me? (12 thousand dollars' worth of sin).  I caused the Savior of the world... God's One and Only Son to have to die on a cross for the sins I committed against HIm... God has been so good to me... He has helped me to forgive things I never thought I would be able to forgive... things that changed the course of my life... things that stole my childhood from me... but... because of the Love of my Savior... I was able to let go and heal... and even love the ones who hurt me most... We must let go of the hurt... if we don't, we will meditate on it and on the ones who hurt us and slowly it will eat away at everything good within us.  I believe this parable clearly tells us... if we refuse to forgive... if we choose instead to live in anger and bitterness and hurt... then when we reach Heaven... the Blood of Jesus will not cover our sins... we, instead, will have to pay the penalty for them ourselves... We may still eventually have a chance to be a part of God's Kingdom (this is the part I'm not completely clear on)... but we will need to cover our debts first... This rings out very clearly as Justice to me...

[Vangogh357]

Q4. (Matthew 18:23-35) In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, where do you see justice? Where do you see grace? Where do you see greed? Where do you see unforgiveness? What lessons from this parable are disciples to incorporate into their lives?

 

Justice. The King show's justice (against the administrator that owed him money about 15 million dollars) by sending the administrator to prison for not only not forgiving the debt of another person's debt which was 15 thousand dollars, but sending the poor guy to prison 

Grace.  In the parable I saw grace and compassion from the king himself towards the administrator, who was begging and pleading for more time to pay off the debt he owed to the king.

Greed & Unforgiveness. That was shown by the administrator for aggressively abusing the man that owed him money and not showing mercy like the king did to him. All the administrator focused on was the money owed to him by the poor man he was choking and threatening. Instead of forgiving and demonstrating the same mercy extended to him, he sends the poor fellow to prison until his debts towards the administrator was paid off.

LESSON: We as future disciples must show mercy and forgiveness towards those that have offended us and demonstrate God's love and mercy, keeping in mind that the good LORD forgave our debts as well.  The LORD cancelled our debts with the blood of KING JESUS, so should we demonstrate that same mercy as well to the ones that offended us. Our king is watching us and hearing our thoughts and hearts. We must be careful not to ever behave like that Administrator in that particular parable. 

 

 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Vangogh357
forgot to highlight "LESSON"

[Vangogh357]

Thank you.

[Sister Evelyn]

The parable of the unmerciful servant, where do you see Justice?

"Karma"...What goes around comes around. The master did to the unmerciful servant what the unmerciful servant did to the begging servant. H was put in jail, but suffered greatly because he was tortured. Something that perhaps he would of never image would happened to him. This reminds me of the verse (Hebrews 10:31) It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Grace was still upon him because he probably didn't get what he really deserved. And, he didn't realize that the servants master had taken pity on him and cancelling his debt. The same way he begged the other man begged. The man showed his greed for his money and not having compassion on the other man who begged him. 

Unforgiveness, in today's society is so hard for many. People do what they want to do and feel they can get away with stuff. Now once they care caught they tried to get out the situation. People will harm others and if the tables turn they will not forgive. The unmerciful servant only thought about himself. He showed no empathy towards the other man. We see that in today's world. 

We as followers of Christ we must forgive from the heart not just words. It is said in the Lord's Prayer. "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. We are to constant forgive others as hard as it may seem and ask for forgiveness also. This is part of the Christian wlk.

[Grow~Deeper]

On 4/22/2023 at 8:59 AM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q4. (Matthew 18:23-35) In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, where do you see justice? Where do you see grace? Where do you see greed? Where do you see unforgiveness? What lessons from this parable are disciples to incorporate into their lives?

Justice - The king show justice.

Grace - ’The king was gracious enough to forgive the servant of a huge amount of money. Our God is merciful.

Greed & Unmerciful - The unmerciful servant received grace from the king but he has no grace to his fellow servant and demand him to pay what his fellow servant owe him. 

 

 

[Janzie]

On 4/21/2023 at 8:59 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q4. (Matthew 18:23-35) In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, where do you see justice? Where do you see grace? Where do you see greed? Where do you see unforgiveness? What lessons from this parable are disciples to incorporate into their lives?

I see justice that when the unmerciful servant would not forgive the servant of a much smaller amount than he, even though he was forgiven of the great debt that he was found out and put into prison himself.

I see grace in that the unmerciful servant after begging was forgiven of his great debt.

I see greed in that he was not thankful after being forgiven and went after the servant that owed him a little debt and threw him in prison.

I see unforgiveness after his being forgiven he did not extend grace and forgive his servant of the little debt he owed and grabbed him by the neck and choked him and demanded immediate payment and showed no mercy like he received.

We are to forgive people from the heart, not just lip service, but to show mercy and grace. "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:14-15) 

[Menberu Adane]

Jesus told us that we will be measured by the measure we measure, thus, justice is served when the cruel servant was measured by the measure he measured. 

The canceled debt given for the cruel servant was the exhibit of grace but he despised it.

The cruel servant is unforgiving to his fellow as he was forgiven, and I see greed in him. He wants to prosper in a greed way. Thus, in the end he was unforgiven and lost forgiveness.

We should be wise/filled with wisdom. and pray that God increases our faith to use the grace we have already got by using it the same way in our community so that it will multiply for others to gather in the kingdom of God.

[Ed Cox]

Question, why would someone who has been forgiven not forgive? Jesus is responding to Peters question vs 21. “How oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith him, I say not seven times:but, Until seventy times seven. Jesus is using what is called remez or “hinting”. See Genesis 4:24” If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lemech seventy and seven. This is about revenge. That is what Peter is really asking. When can I get even. Jesus response 70 times 7 means you are forbidden to seek revenge. The broader context of this parable is binding (what is forbidden) and (loosing) what is forbidden). Revenge leads to violence. Gen. 5:31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven: and he died. Chapter 6:13” and God said to Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them. The subject, In my view is not forgiveness, but revenge. Remember He is teaching the future leaders of the Church. If this reading has any merit and t he parable is about revenge how does that affect or understanding.

 

 

 

[Emmanuel Okunola]

Justice: God is a just God, that's what we saw the king did for the debtors. 

Grace is open to all that seek for it as Jn 1:16 says, the fullness of Jesus grants all grace upon grace.

Greed is a deadly enemy of the cross. This had caused standing believers to fall spiritually, physically and gracefully. We must seek His kingdom and His righteousness to overcome Balaam's, Gehazi and or Judas Iscariot's vicious greed.

Unforgiveness is a character of the unbroken. The servants did extended same mercy the granted to others, hence, he merited the judgment of the king. The Lord's prayer taught every true believer to forgive as to be forgiven.

Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians church in chapter 11 verse one, that, we must be imitator of Christ. He (Jesus) is the all compassing standard to all true disciple.

[Ed Cox]

3 hours ago, Ed Cox said:

Question, why would someone who has been forgiven not forgive? Jesus is responding to Peters question vs 21. “How oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith him, I say not seven times:but, Until seventy times seven. Jesus is using what is called remez or “hinting”. See Genesis 4:24” If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lemech seventy and seven. This is about revenge. That is what Peter is really asking. When can I get even. Jesus response 70 times 7 means you are forbidden to seek revenge. The broader context of this parable is binding (what is forbidden) and (loosing) what is forbidden). Revenge leads to violence. Gen. 5:31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven: and he died. Chapter 6:13” and God said to Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them. The subject, In my view is not forgiveness, but revenge. Remember He is teaching the future leaders of the Church. If this reading has any merit and t he parable is about revenge how does that affect or understanding.

Now I have another question, why would someone who is forgiven seek revenge?

 

 

 

[Debra Grant]

Q4. (Matthew 18:23-35) In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, where do you see justice? Where do you see grace? Where do you see greed? Where do you see unforgiveness? What lessons from this parable are disciples to incorporate into their lives?

1. The unmerciful servant received punishment because he did not forgive, but was forgiven. He didn't care about anyone else and showed by not forgiving or having mercy as was given to him.

2. Grace was given to the unmerciful servant after begging, but not to the one who owed him.

3. Where no forgiveness was rendered, it was greed. That was due to no thankfulness and owing less than he was forgiven for.

4. The unforgiving servant not concerned with being free, forgiving, and expressing grace to the one that owed him. 

5. If you want to be forgiven, you must forgive from the heart. Showing grace, forgiveness, love, and concern for others is a benefit.

[t-c]

Q4. (Matthew 18:23-35) In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, where do you see justice? Where do you see grace? Where do you see greed? Where do you see unforgiveness? What lessons from this parable are disciples to incorporate into their lives?

I see justice in verse 34, when the king handed the unmerciful servant over to prison until he could pay his debt off.

 

I see grace in verse 27 when the King showed compassion for the servant that owed him 10,000 talents and forgave him his debt.

I see greed in verse 28 when the unmerciful servant confronted another servant who owed him 100 denarii, choking him and demanding immediate payment.

 I see unforgiveness in verse 30 where the unmerciful servant was unwilling to relent and be patient in waiting for the money owed him. Instead he had the servant thrown into prison until he could pay back what was owed.

God offers mercy—to you and everyone else who calls on his name. If a perfect God can do that for a sinful world, then you can do it for the person who sins against you.                   -Rick Warren-

[GeraldG]

The master considered every situation with the servant, and after questioning him he seen the only wise decision was to be merciful and forgive the dept. 

The master showed grace when the servant pleaded with him to be patient with him and the master forgave the whole dept.

The servant who has been forgiven such a great dept, had so much greed in his heart he couldn't see forgiving his servants small dept, even though he pleaded with him. 

We as disciples of Christ need to understand the importance of forgiven,for just as we ask our heavenly Father to forgive us of our debts, our sins, we truly need to be able to find mercy and forgiveness for others. 

[hanks]

Q4. (Matthew 18:23-35)

In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, where do you see justice? Where do you see grace? Where do you see greed? Where do you see unforgiveness? What lessons from this parable are disciples to incorporate into their lives?

I see justice exercised by the king. One would have thought the servant would have been grateful for having been forgiven and would therefore forgive his fellow servant. Instead, he applied justice by having his friend cast into prison. This caused the king to apply this same justice to the servant. He got what he deserved and was cast into prison. I see grace shown by the king. We know the servant stole the money and was not sorry for what he had done, he only regretted being caught. He did not deserve this forgiveness, it was purely an act of love, mercy, and grace on the part of the king. I see greed in the servant who was given much, was unwilling to forgive. Pure greed, no consideration or compassion for others. He wants it all. I see unforgiveness in the servant. Having received forgiveness, he was unable to share forgiveness with those who wronged him. He was living only according to justice; always seeking to get what is his. Jesus warns us that we cannot forgive if we do not have humble and repentant hearts. Where there is pride and a desire for revenge, there can be no true repentance. It is not enough to receive God’s forgiveness; we must experience that forgiveness in our hearts so that it humbles us and makes us gentle and forgiving toward others. Ephesians 4:32 tells us to “be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” It is because of His great mercy that we are forgiven, and having experienced this mercy we will want to forgive others.

[garymerkel]

Q4. (Matthew 18:23-35) In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, where do you see justice? Where do you see grace? Where do you see greed? Where do you see unforgiveness? What lessons from this parable are disciples to incorporate into their lives?

These are great questions.  As a believer, the questions before me are, "When is mercy to be given?"  "When is grace to be given?"  "When is justice to be served?"  Forgiveness, yes, always, but what does forgiveness mean?  Trust?  No.  But then I ask myself, "Is my forgiveness supposed to be like God's Who is omniscient?"  Should trust blindly?  At what point should restoration be required like Zachaeus?  What are my motives when I forgive?  At what point is the fruit of repentance observed?  How do I know when I'm being conned and need discernment in the process of forgiveness.  After decades of jail/prison ministry have I become jaded?  At what point does a person pay consequences even though forgiven?  Definitely, God wants me to be merciful and forgive AS He forgives me, but there are times I know I'm forgiven by God but suffer some temporal consequences.  After all these years I still ask questions regarding discernment when it comes to justice and grace.

[RD35]

Q4. (Matthew 18:23-35) In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, where do you see justice? Where do you see grace? Where do you see greed? Where do you see unforgiveness? What lessons from this parable are disciples to incorporate into their lives?

Justice: "In anger his master turned him over³⁵ to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed." (Matthew 18:34)

Grace: The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go." (Matthew 18:27)

Greed:  But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.  His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'  But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt." (Matthew 18:28-30)

Unforgiveness: His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'  But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt." (Matthew 18:28-30)

Lessons: Forgiveness from our hearts to people who sin against us, just as the Father has forgiven us.

[Krissi]

I have to admit that I really dislike this parable and usually skip over it to avoid it. The harshness and horror of it, make me recoil.

Forgiveness is very hard particularly when you've been deeply hurt or damaged by someone or if there's some sort of injustice involved. Self-forgiveness, too, is hard, particularly when you've done something regrettable. Frankly, I think the hardest people to forgive are family members, but the second group that's difficult to forgive are people who have harmed you without cause or justification. I'm struggling with both of these categories now.

I know, in my mind, that forgiveness must be complete to be efficacious, that I hold back my spiritual growth and ability to love Him because it's so difficult to forgive ... the seemingly unforgivable people in my life. But I must. I pray, then, to desire to forgive. That was my initial prayer. Now, after many months/years have passed, I'm praying for the chance to forgive a particular family member who behaved in ways evil toward me.

Recently, something came up with a government bureaucrat who has harmed my family needlessly and without just cause. I'm trying to bless this man. I pray to forgive him and perhaps, lead him to the Lord.

Many years ago, a disturbed or mentally ill man shot and killed several members of an Amish community in Pennsylvania (?). The grief in this tight-knit community was palpable. I watched one of the older men stand up and invite the mother of the murderer to share meals and into their society. They loved her and helped her deal with her grief, too. It was very touching and a fantastic witness to secular people who were dumbfounded at their ability to forgive. 

I pray we all, on this site, are able to show similar forgiveness toward our enemies and harmers, if that time arises. I pray, too, that we are protected from evil doers.

[Zanele Tlhakanelo]

Justice is seen when the king forgives the servant who owed him a lot of money knowing that there was no way where he would be able to pay him back. Grace is seen when the debt is completely wiped off meaning that the servant does not have to worry about owing the king anymore.

Greed is seen when the servant after his debt has been written off, meets the one who owes him a little and instead of appreciating what was done to him by the king, manhandles the man and even sent him to jail until he is able to pay him back. He could not pay a huge debt but has become grumpy with the little that he was owed. The king had to revoke his decision and also sent the man to jail.

Unforgiveness is seen when he made the man go to prison until he was able to pay back what he was owed. Refusing to listen to the plea for a fellow servant whom I believe is aware of his dire situation.

The Word of God teaches us to forgive seventy times seven. Meaning that forgiveness should be from the heart and not remind a person that I forgave you the other time and now you are doing it again because that can be deemed to be lip-service forgiveness. When we forgive, it must be like when God says " Is far as the east is from the west, so far has God removed our transgressions from us." Therefore, we emulate the love of God by forgiving and forgetting. It may not be easy but we must always ask the Holy Spirit to help us and He will definitely do.

Greed is not good for our lives. We need to be content with what God has given us. Always strive for justice, forgive others just as God has forgiven us and we will always receive the Grace of God is so doing.

[garymerkel]

Forgiving the HUGE debt would have been unbelievable in that day.  When I consider the debt I owe because of my sin and against Whom I have sinned, it is a much, much greater debt.  After being a sold out Christian since age 11, now 73, the debt I owe God and the punishment I deserve is beyond my imagination.  I deserve absolute justice and hell forever.  According to the world, I'm as good as good can be, but the world's evaluation system has nothing to do with eternity and sin.  Years ago a friend owed me $20,000 for lending him and his son the money for a restaurant venture.  The restaurant burned, not enough insurance and $20,000 was GONE.  The debt was forgiven and the next time I saw him I bought his breakfast, no mention of the money.  That's NOT a pat on my back but praise to God.  God never misses a step.  He has supplied our needs in a wonderful way.  Yes, lots of hard work, but God has given the health and energy to work hard.  He supplies!!  Praise to Him!!  I cannot outgive God's forgiveness.

[Katy]

Q1. I see JUSTICE metered out when the king is informed of the servant’s treatment of a fellow worker who owed him a debt. Instead of treating him with the same mercy with which him master the King treated him, he insisted on his debtor being put in prison because he couldn’t repay his debt. The King gave him the justice he deserved. 
Q2. I see GRACE given by the King to his servant who cannot repay his enormous debt. His servant doesn’t deserve it but the King totally forgives him, his debt in total. 
Q3. I see GREED in the forgiven servant who could not pass on the grace that he himself had received from the King. Instead he insisted that his fellow worker pay there and then his much smaller debt. This same man showed unforgiveness to his fellow worker who owed him money, even though he himself had been forgiven a much larger sum of money by the King. 
Q4. As disciples of Jesus we must incorporate into our lives forgiveness, a sense of justice and advocacy, and to be a dispenser of grace. 

[Marcelina]

Matthew 18:23-35

The unmerciful servant  was himself pardoned by the king, from a colossal  debt ( grace), running into millions of dollars, in today's currency, yet he treated one of his debtors callously by throwing him into prison, when he  also pleaded for time to pay his debt. He showed absolutely no mercy or compassion. But Justice was served, when the king revoked his pardon and sent him to prison, for his heartless , unforgiving, greedy, apathetic and indifferent treatment of the man who was indebted to him.

This parable was very moving because there are lessons  to be applied, as disciples of Yeshua. Truly Hashem's thoughts are not our thoughts nor His ways our ways- Isaiah 55:8-9, which is why He has bestowed on us, pardon for sins. But  like the unmerciful servant, our carnal natures, tend to hold on to unforgiveness. But  we need to remember that we have been shown grace and mercy by our beautiful Lord and need to extend the same grace to others. This also tells me, that  we need to be loving, forgiving, sympathetic, patient and non judgemental in our attitude towards others, for Yeshua has shown His compassion and forgiveness to us. It's  all about a heart change.

 It's  difficult to forgive sometimes, especially when hurt is involved, but I know from experience, that when I call on  Hashem, the Holy Spirit takes over, the tears spill,  He softens my heart and forgiveness flows.