Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

I. God won’t forgive the unforgiving because we’ve been forgiven for more than we’ll ever forgive.

A. Jesus’ discussion of forgiveness in Matthew 18 is prompted by a question from Peter about how often to forgive. Jesus commands unlimited forgiveness (vs. 22). Jesus commands the opposite of what a man named Lamech said about himself in Genesis 4:24: “If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.”

B. The king in Jesus’ story forgives a debt of 10,000 talents (vs. 24). The average Jewish day-laborer would have had to work for 200,000 years to make such an enormous amount of money. The debt could never be repaid. So, the king ordered the man and his family to be sold into slavery to repay a tiny fraction of the debt (vs. 25). But after the servant begged, the king had pity (vs. 27) for the man and his family. The king forgave his debt of zillions of dollars.

II. God won’t forgive the unforgiving because we have rejected His grace.

A. Grace is an undeserved, unearned gift. You would expect then that this debtor would have been so overwhelmed by the grace and forgiveness of the king that he would have passed on such grace and forgiveness to anyone who owed him a debt. That is not what happened (vs. 28). The forgiven man wanted to pay back the gift of the forgiven debt to the king. He rejected the king’s gift of grace. He tortured his own debtors to pay back the king.

B. The forgiven man put his debtor in prison until he should pay the debt (vs. 30). He wanted to repay the king for the debt he owed, even though it was impossible for him to repay. Grace should have changed this forgiven debtor’s life. And do you know what would have been the proof that he received and understood the grace of the king? He would have turned around and shown grace to others who owed him a debt.

III. God won’t forgive the unforgiving because He is just.

A. The last part of Jesus’ story tells us how the king responded to the wicked actions of the forgiven debtor who had refused to forgive (vs. 32-35). This unforgiving debtor would be handed over to the jailers to be tortured (vs. 34). This torture would be a picture of hell. If you refuse to forgive when God has extended you forgiveness, what is the just punishment? God will refuse to forgive you. Look to Jesus on the cross for the power to forgive those who have hurt you. Luke 23:34: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Application:
Let the grace and mercy of King Jesus empower you to forgive others.
Sources:
The Bible
Commentaries by D.A. Carson, J.C. Ryle, and Charles Quarles.

Sermon Discussion Questions

1) How great was the debt this servant owed to the king? How great is the debt we owe God?
2) What does it mean that God has shown us grace? What is grace? What is the proof in our lives that we have understood God’s grace to us?
3) Why is God just to have turned the forgiven debtor over to be tortured? Since God has forgiven us, how should we live?