The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
The servant owes his king ten thousand talents with nothing to pay and faces the just sentence to be sold with his family, so he falls down before his lord and begs for patience while promising to pay all. His promise cannot be fulfilled because the debt is too great ever to be repaid, and it shows he does not grasp how great his debt is or how helpless he is to meet it. Moved with compassion by the plea, the king releases him, revokes the sentence, and freely forgives the whole debt to his surprise and joy. The pardon pictures God's free and complete forgiveness of sin through Christ's sacrifice, for sinners stand condemned with nothing to pay and cannot save themselves. Those so forgiven must from the heart show the same patience, compassion and forgiveness to others for their far lesser wrongs, for whoever withholds mercy loses the pardon received and will face judgment without mercy.
The Servant's Plea
The servant owes his king ten thousand talents and has nothing with which to pay, standing under the just sentence for his immense debt. Faced with the king's order to sell him and his family because he cannot repay, he falls down before his lord and worships him. He begs for patience and more time, promising to pay all of the whole debt he owes. His falling down, worship, begging for patience, and promise to repay everything belong together as one act of pleading before the king.
The promise to repay is not a realistic plan of repayment, because the debt is so enormous that he cannot in fact pay it and can never pay it. The lord knows the debt cannot be repaid, and the plea is therefore an appeal for mercy rather than a workable proposal to satisfy what is owed. It expresses the servant's alarm and his need for mercy in the face of the just sentence.
The plea reveals that the servant does not grasp how great his debt is or how helpless he is to meet it. He wrongly believes and hopes with mistaken confidence that with more time he can repay the whole of what he owes. This pictures people who try to earn God's favor by their own works rather than receive grace as a free gift. Because they are not humbled and broken over sin, they remain self-righteous, exacting and unforgiving toward others, though their sins against God far exceed the sins others commit against them, and their helplessness illustrates that people cannot save themselves.
The King's Compassionate Pardon
The servant's falling down and begging for patience moves the king with compassion to loose him, release him, revoke the sentence against him, and forgive the whole debt, to his surprise and joy. The plea follows the just order to sell him and his family because he owes ten thousand talents and has nothing to pay, and the king answers not with more time but with full pardon. This pictures God's compassion in dealing with those in error, showing the tender mercy that is to be shown to others after mercy has been received.
The pardon represents God's free and supernatural forgiveness of all sin, and the great debt represents sin for which the sinner has nothing with which to make equivalent repayment. Humanity stands condemned by the broken law and cannot save itself, and the servant's helplessness under an immense debt he cannot pay illustrates that people cannot save themselves and depend completely on mercy. The forgiven debt therefore shows how completely the servant depends on mercy from his lord.
The free pardon is offered through Christ's sacrifice, in that Christ took on humanity and gave His life for sinners, securing pardon through His blood. Christ gave His life for the unjust and lived as an example of this forbearance.
The sum owed to the Lord cannot be computed, because Christ denied Himself every luxury, suffered to secure salvation, endured death on the cross despising the shame, poured out His soul unto death, would not save Himself, and descended to the lowest depths of humiliation so that sinners might sit in heavenly places. This love puts to shame extravagant outlay to make a show in the world. The debt lays obligation to awaken to duty to God, to be a producer and not a consumer, and to study the Saviour's life and practice His lessons, for without this no one will enter the courts of the blessed.
The Chapter's Wider Teaching
Matthew 18 is instruction to be hung in the chambers of mind and memory, to be often read and pondered and obeyed and woven into Christian experience. It is to be read and practiced as a learner in the school of Christ, and studied with its counsel followed, with Christ's grace establishing believers in His Word. It gives relief and courage and hope and calls for going forward in faith and working right to the point.
The instruction forbids striving for supremacy, because greatness in Christ's spiritual kingdom is inward excellence and spiritual excellence manifested in true conversion rather than position, outward splendor, or authority. Self must not interpose between the worker and God, and workers must not stand on dignity when their judgment is unappreciated, take satisfaction in brethren's deficiencies, or hinder the work by failing to speak words that build up the kingdom. Inward concealed strife to be first must be cleansed from the soul temple, lest those who should be a blessing become a curse retarding the work and the Lord cannot manifest His power and grace until the unsanctified element is removed.
Following closely requires thorough conversion, singleness of purpose and purity of motive, humbling before God, and turning from self to sympathy and love for others with personal effort for those outside Christ. It means loving God with all heart and soul and mind and strength and neighbor as self as the only terms for eternal life, taking one's own soul garden under stewardship and removing every weed and tare Satan has sown instead of finding weeds in a neighbor's garden. Thoughts are to be purified and brought into captivity to Christ, without scattering words recklessly without considering their lodgment and result. The lessons teach that people reap what they sow.
The chapter shows the church to be thoroughly organized and responsible for addressing wrongdoing, giving instruction on restoring a brother and dealing with those who fall into error and sin. Workers for the Master are to do His work as stewards under the control of the great Teacher, properly representing truth in all its lines, not giving the gospel ministry an inferior place or disparaging it, and giving teachers of men, women, and children ample room to do their appointed work. The Bible is to be studied with intense interest and practiced, so less human wisdom is seen and more of God's wisdom, saving time and strength. Carrying out Christ's instruction on restoring a brother and forgiving others brings a different spirit to family, school, and church life.
God does not desire anyone to draw apart from brethren, and the chapter applies directly against division. Lack of love is sure evidence Christ is not dwelling in the heart, and hindering one doing good, accusing one another, wanting a fellow worker removed, thinking and speaking evil, and devising separation are the enemy's devices to be refused, met, and condemned. The chapter gives educating lessons of high and holy principles for daily practical life, calling for spiritual life, brokenness before God, unity as branches in the true vine working together under Christ as head, perfect love and compassion, and self-reform before reforming others. It calls for sanctified ears, eyes, and tongues through Christ formed within, deep interest in youth as Christ's property, earnest united prayer, and deeds of compassion, tenderness, and love in educating and training youth, including missionary work in the publishing house.
The verse gives discipline of the Word that reprimands a selfish, unholy spirit, self-exaltation, envy, jealousy, hardness, unforgiveness, unkindness, and withdrawal from brethren. It requires stopping where one is, taking self in hand, daily humbling before God, overcoming entertained temptation, and receiving Christ's lessons in order to be fit to preach and handle sacred things. It is plain, decided, clear-cut word against dissension, self-esteem, self-exaltation, and strife to be highly esteemed, to be read to any who begin criticism and faultfinding to show such work is expressly the devil's. That work began in heaven by seeking sympathy, suggesting change in God's government, putting his thoughts in other minds, winning assent by deceit, covering tracks, and sowing suspicion and distrust of God and one another, until rebellion had to be met and the disloyal with the instigator were expelled for the good of the loyal, thus tracing disaffection to its cause and evil consequences. Men in responsibility are to serve without acting as lords or ruling like kings, and the chapter is to be studied for correcting harsh, dictatorial conduct and cultivating a spirit that represents Christ.
Forgiven People Must Forgive
The servant's plea for patience and promise to repay stands set against the king's compassion, release, and forgiveness of the whole debt, and teaches that those forgiven their great debt and sins by God must from their hearts show the same mercy, patience, forbearance, compassion and forgiveness to others who have sinned against them for lesser wrongs. The plea was made by one who could not pay his enormous debt, yet the king had compassion and forgave it, and the scene makes the mercy later withheld from a fellow servant especially clear. Those who depend on such mercy from Christ must therefore treat erring fellow servants with tenderness, patience and forgiveness rather than criticism or condemnation, in every relationship including church and business, because mercy received is the ground for compassion.
The parable contrasts God's compassion in dealing with those in error with man's harshness in dealing with similar cases. The forgiven servant forgets what he received and acts as an oppressor toward his fellow servant, refusing the same patience and forgiveness he begged for, insisting on strict justice, oppressing or humiliating the wrongdoer and exalting himself. His plea for mercy makes his later harshness toward one who owed him little a lesson against withholding from others the compassion and forgiveness one needs oneself, and receiving God's abundant grace should instead produce humility, gratitude and a forgiving spirit.
Refusing to forgive a fellow servant brings judgment. The servant who is forgiven a vast debt but refuses to forgive loses the pardon he received, and those who receive mercy but withhold it act unjustly and will themselves face judgment without mercy. Forgiveness from God therefore depends on forgiving others sincerely and from the heart.
The verse teaches unlimited forgiveness until seventy times seven. It shows the sinner taking his case to the Lord Jesus in prayer believing He hears, and finding pardon through confessing sins, repenting and walking humbly with God. The forgiven one is then to act as one whom the Lord has corrected in order to purify and save him, with relief and courage and hope, going forward in faith and working right to the point.
Those forgiven so much must from their hearts forgive every brother his trespasses, walk and work in the love of Christ, and conduct all business on His lines, and God will sanction no opposite dealing. In application the plea calls for the creditor to forgive freely as God forgives human indebtedness and to treat a brother with mercy rather than press a claim severely. Carrying out Christ's instruction about restoring a brother and forgiving others brings a different spirit to family, school and church life.
The patience shown to the sinner in his many errors and sins pictures the pitying, long-suffering, kind, tender love Jesus has shown, which must be exercised toward others. This applies especially to a husband toward his wife when she makes mistakes, instead of hardhearted, unsympathetic faultfinding and blaming her for trials from his own unconverted heart, a hardhearted course illustrated by the relentless servant. Unless the hard heart falls upon the Rock and is broken all to pieces, melted and softened and renewed in heart and mind and spirit by dying to self and becoming a new man in Christ, the Lord will repay neglect and unkindness, and such a spirit cannot enter heaven.
The servant owes his king ten thousand talents with nothing to pay and faces the just sentence to be sold with his family, so he falls down before his lord and begs for patience while promising to pay all.
His promise cannot be fulfilled because the debt is too great ever to be repaid, and it shows he does not grasp how great his debt is or how helpless he is to meet it.
Moved with compassion by the plea, the king releases him, revokes the sentence, and freely forgives the whole debt to his surprise and joy.
The pardon pictures God's free and complete forgiveness of sin through Christ's sacrifice, for sinners stand condemned with nothing to pay and cannot save themselves.
Those so forgiven must from the heart show the same patience, compassion and forgiveness to others for their far lesser wrongs, for whoever withholds mercy loses the pardon received and will face judgment without mercy.
The Servant's Plea
The servant owes his king ten thousand talents and has nothing with which to pay, standing under the just sentence for his immense debt. Faced with the king's order to sell him and his family because he cannot repay, he falls down before his lord and worships him. He begs for patience and more time, promising to pay all of the whole debt he owes. His falling down, worship, begging for patience, and promise to repay everything belong together as one act of pleading before the king.
The promise to repay is not a realistic plan of repayment, because the debt is so enormous that he cannot in fact pay it and can never pay it. The lord knows the debt cannot be repaid, and the plea is therefore an appeal for mercy rather than a workable proposal to satisfy what is owed. It expresses the servant's alarm and his need for mercy in the face of the just sentence.
The plea reveals that the servant does not grasp how great his debt is or how helpless he is to meet it. He wrongly believes and hopes with mistaken confidence that with more time he can repay the whole of what he owes. This pictures people who try to earn God's favor by their own works rather than receive grace as a free gift. Because they are not humbled and broken over sin, they remain self-righteous, exacting and unforgiving toward others, though their sins against God far exceed the sins others commit against them, and their helplessness illustrates that people cannot save themselves.
The King's Compassionate Pardon
The servant's falling down and begging for patience moves the king with compassion to loose him, release him, revoke the sentence against him, and forgive the whole debt, to his surprise and joy. The plea follows the just order to sell him and his family because he owes ten thousand talents and has nothing to pay, and the king answers not with more time but with full pardon. This pictures God's compassion in dealing with those in error, showing the tender mercy that is to be shown to others after mercy has been received.
The pardon represents God's free and supernatural forgiveness of all sin, and the great debt represents sin for which the sinner has nothing with which to make equivalent repayment. Humanity stands condemned by the broken law and cannot save itself, and the servant's helplessness under an immense debt he cannot pay illustrates that people cannot save themselves and depend completely on mercy. The forgiven debt therefore shows how completely the servant depends on mercy from his lord.
The free pardon is offered through Christ's sacrifice, in that Christ took on humanity and gave His life for sinners, securing pardon through His blood. Christ gave His life for the unjust and lived as an example of this forbearance.
The sum owed to the Lord cannot be computed, because Christ denied Himself every luxury, suffered to secure salvation, endured death on the cross despising the shame, poured out His soul unto death, would not save Himself, and descended to the lowest depths of humiliation so that sinners might sit in heavenly places. This love puts to shame extravagant outlay to make a show in the world. The debt lays obligation to awaken to duty to God, to be a producer and not a consumer, and to study the Saviour's life and practice His lessons, for without this no one will enter the courts of the blessed.
The Chapter's Wider Teaching
Matthew 18 is instruction to be hung in the chambers of mind and memory, to be often read and pondered and obeyed and woven into Christian experience. It is to be read and practiced as a learner in the school of Christ, and studied with its counsel followed, with Christ's grace establishing believers in His Word. It gives relief and courage and hope and calls for going forward in faith and working right to the point.
The instruction forbids striving for supremacy, because greatness in Christ's spiritual kingdom is inward excellence and spiritual excellence manifested in true conversion rather than position, outward splendor, or authority. Self must not interpose between the worker and God, and workers must not stand on dignity when their judgment is unappreciated, take satisfaction in brethren's deficiencies, or hinder the work by failing to speak words that build up the kingdom. Inward concealed strife to be first must be cleansed from the soul temple, lest those who should be a blessing become a curse retarding the work and the Lord cannot manifest His power and grace until the unsanctified element is removed.
Following closely requires thorough conversion, singleness of purpose and purity of motive, humbling before God, and turning from self to sympathy and love for others with personal effort for those outside Christ. It means loving God with all heart and soul and mind and strength and neighbor as self as the only terms for eternal life, taking one's own soul garden under stewardship and removing every weed and tare Satan has sown instead of finding weeds in a neighbor's garden. Thoughts are to be purified and brought into captivity to Christ, without scattering words recklessly without considering their lodgment and result. The lessons teach that people reap what they sow.
The chapter shows the church to be thoroughly organized and responsible for addressing wrongdoing, giving instruction on restoring a brother and dealing with those who fall into error and sin. Workers for the Master are to do His work as stewards under the control of the great Teacher, properly representing truth in all its lines, not giving the gospel ministry an inferior place or disparaging it, and giving teachers of men, women, and children ample room to do their appointed work. The Bible is to be studied with intense interest and practiced, so less human wisdom is seen and more of God's wisdom, saving time and strength. Carrying out Christ's instruction on restoring a brother and forgiving others brings a different spirit to family, school, and church life.
God does not desire anyone to draw apart from brethren, and the chapter applies directly against division. Lack of love is sure evidence Christ is not dwelling in the heart, and hindering one doing good, accusing one another, wanting a fellow worker removed, thinking and speaking evil, and devising separation are the enemy's devices to be refused, met, and condemned. The chapter gives educating lessons of high and holy principles for daily practical life, calling for spiritual life, brokenness before God, unity as branches in the true vine working together under Christ as head, perfect love and compassion, and self-reform before reforming others. It calls for sanctified ears, eyes, and tongues through Christ formed within, deep interest in youth as Christ's property, earnest united prayer, and deeds of compassion, tenderness, and love in educating and training youth, including missionary work in the publishing house.
The verse gives discipline of the Word that reprimands a selfish, unholy spirit, self-exaltation, envy, jealousy, hardness, unforgiveness, unkindness, and withdrawal from brethren. It requires stopping where one is, taking self in hand, daily humbling before God, overcoming entertained temptation, and receiving Christ's lessons in order to be fit to preach and handle sacred things. It is plain, decided, clear-cut word against dissension, self-esteem, self-exaltation, and strife to be highly esteemed, to be read to any who begin criticism and faultfinding to show such work is expressly the devil's. That work began in heaven by seeking sympathy, suggesting change in God's government, putting his thoughts in other minds, winning assent by deceit, covering tracks, and sowing suspicion and distrust of God and one another, until rebellion had to be met and the disloyal with the instigator were expelled for the good of the loyal, thus tracing disaffection to its cause and evil consequences. Men in responsibility are to serve without acting as lords or ruling like kings, and the chapter is to be studied for correcting harsh, dictatorial conduct and cultivating a spirit that represents Christ.
Forgiven People Must Forgive
The servant's plea for patience and promise to repay stands set against the king's compassion, release, and forgiveness of the whole debt, and teaches that those forgiven their great debt and sins by God must from their hearts show the same mercy, patience, forbearance, compassion and forgiveness to others who have sinned against them for lesser wrongs. The plea was made by one who could not pay his enormous debt, yet the king had compassion and forgave it, and the scene makes the mercy later withheld from a fellow servant especially clear. Those who depend on such mercy from Christ must therefore treat erring fellow servants with tenderness, patience and forgiveness rather than criticism or condemnation, in every relationship including church and business, because mercy received is the ground for compassion.
The parable contrasts God's compassion in dealing with those in error with man's harshness in dealing with similar cases. The forgiven servant forgets what he received and acts as an oppressor toward his fellow servant, refusing the same patience and forgiveness he begged for, insisting on strict justice, oppressing or humiliating the wrongdoer and exalting himself. His plea for mercy makes his later harshness toward one who owed him little a lesson against withholding from others the compassion and forgiveness one needs oneself, and receiving God's abundant grace should instead produce humility, gratitude and a forgiving spirit.
Refusing to forgive a fellow servant brings judgment. The servant who is forgiven a vast debt but refuses to forgive loses the pardon he received, and those who receive mercy but withhold it act unjustly and will themselves face judgment without mercy. Forgiveness from God therefore depends on forgiving others sincerely and from the heart.
The verse teaches unlimited forgiveness until seventy times seven. It shows the sinner taking his case to the Lord Jesus in prayer believing He hears, and finding pardon through confessing sins, repenting and walking humbly with God. The forgiven one is then to act as one whom the Lord has corrected in order to purify and save him, with relief and courage and hope, going forward in faith and working right to the point.
Those forgiven so much must from their hearts forgive every brother his trespasses, walk and work in the love of Christ, and conduct all business on His lines, and God will sanction no opposite dealing. In application the plea calls for the creditor to forgive freely as God forgives human indebtedness and to treat a brother with mercy rather than press a claim severely. Carrying out Christ's instruction about restoring a brother and forgiving others brings a different spirit to family, school and church life.
The patience shown to the sinner in his many errors and sins pictures the pitying, long-suffering, kind, tender love Jesus has shown, which must be exercised toward others. This applies especially to a husband toward his wife when she makes mistakes, instead of hardhearted, unsympathetic faultfinding and blaming her for trials from his own unconverted heart, a hardhearted course illustrated by the relentless servant. Unless the hard heart falls upon the Rock and is broken all to pieces, melted and softened and renewed in heart and mind and spirit by dying to self and becoming a new man in Christ, the Lord will repay neglect and unkindness, and such a spirit cannot enter heaven.