Matthew 18:28, commentary and pictures

The servant just forgiven an enormous debt went out and found a fellow servant who owed him a hundred pence, and laid hands on him and seized him by the throat and angrily demanded immediate payment. The hundred pence is a brother's sins and offenses against us, small beside the ten thousand talents of our own sins against God, a contrast of nearly one million to one. Though his fellow servant pleaded for the same patience he himself had sought, he refused mercy and enforced punishment and had him imprisoned. The great mercy and forgiveness received should soften the heart and lead a person to forgive others from the heart with patience and compassion and love. Refusing to forgive others from the heart forfeits the pardon received, and unless the hard heart is melted and renewed, a person cannot enter heaven.

Story and Terms

The servant had just been forgiven a very great, immense debt, yet he went out and found a fellow servant who owed him a hundred pence, a far smaller sum, and laid hands on him and seized him by the throat with anger and violence to demand immediate payment. His harshness stands in direct contrast to the compassion his master had shown him, for instead of patiently hearing his fellow servant's plea he forgot his fear after forgiveness and acted the part of an oppressor. Such dealing reveals an unsoftened, selfish, unforgiving heart that has failed to extend the compassion received and has not learned to show the mercy given to itself, clinging instead to an exacting spirit. Such a representation must not be seen among God's people, who are to walk and work in love and conduct all business on its lines, showing tenderness and forgiveness to one another, for the work of those who refuse to forgive when they themselves have been forgiven will not be sanctioned.

The hundred pence is a brother's sins and offenses against us, and the few pence owed by the fellow servant picture the small debts others owe in every relationship beside the great debt owed to God. That small sum stands against the ten thousand talents of our own sins against God, a contrast of nearly one million to one, the negligible beside the immense. Demanding one's rights without mercy over such a small debt exposes no true sense of the greatness of personal debt and helplessness, with hearts not broken and humbled on account of sin. Those who hope by their own works to merit God's favor instead of accepting His grace as a free gift build up in self-righteousness while daring to be exacting and unforgiving toward others, revealing an unchanged, ungrateful character rather than the compassion that receiving mercy should produce.

Though the fellow servant pleaded for the same patience the first servant had himself sought, using the same plea for forbearance, the first servant refused mercy, demanded payment with vehemence, threats and severity, enforced punishment, and had him imprisoned when he could not pay. The scene is one of selfishness and severity toward a brother, holding another to strict account for lesser wrongs while ignoring one's own far greater wrongs after receiving forgiveness. Focusing only on another person's small debt hardens the heart, whereas receiving mercy should soften the heart and lead a person to forgive others and treat them with compassion, kindness and patience. The monetary and administrative details of the parable are not themselves given a spiritual counterpart.

Chapter Teaching Context

Matthew 18:28 belongs to Christ's lesson in Matthew 18 on how His followers and the church are to deal with error, sin, trespass, dissension and alienation, and that lesson must be studied and brought into practical life in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Divisions and alienation could have been healed if those corrected had received reproof and turned from their wrong course, and carrying out the instruction about a brother's trespass brings a better atmosphere to the family, the school and the church. The instruction shows the church is to be thoroughly organized, with members accountable to its supervision and discipline, and it teaches workers to love as brethren and to be tenderhearted, pitiful and courteous for present and eternal good. It condemns the masterly spirit that lords it over God's heritage and closes the gates of heaven to men, and calls instead to follow Christ who came to meet humanity and to uplift the degraded and fallen and outcast, not despising one of the little ones, because it is not the will of the Father in heaven that one of them should perish.

The harsh treatment of a fellow servant over a debt illustrates conduct opposed to the meekness, humility and inward excellence Christ requires, and to the unity that comes from living in His presence. The wrong of laying hands on a fellow servant dishonors God and mars His cause, and it forbids striving for supremacy, showing that in Christ's spiritual kingdom greatness is not position, outward splendor or authority, but spiritual excellence manifested in true conversion. That conversion is learned by coming to Christ, taking His yoke of submission and obedience, and partaking of His meek and lowly spirit. Men in positions of responsibility are therefore not to act as lords or rule like kings, but to serve with wisdom and give counsel that protects and strengthens God's people, rejecting selfishness and avoiding impatient, boastful and overbearing words and actions, and setting an example others can safely follow.

The verse speaks directly to one who indulges a selfish, unholy spirit of withdrawing from his brethren and criticizing and accusing them, calling him to stop where he is, take himself in hand, chastise and humble himself instead of charging difficulties to his brethren, be converted and become as a little child in meekness and lowliness, and practice Christ's lessons as a learner in order to find rest for his soul and be fit to preach the Word and open the Scriptures to others. God does not desire any man to draw apart from his brethren, and lack of love among believers is sure evidence that Christ is not dwelling in their hearts, seen in a strong desire to hinder and repress one who is doing a good work, in one accusing another, in one worker wanting another worker who occupies a higher office removed from his position, in thinking and speaking evil, and in devising plans to separate brethren. Such plans are the enemy's devices and must be met and condemned, with no place given to the enemy by thinking or speaking evil, but with the Word of God given in strong portions to mischief makers. Against dissension, self-esteem, self-exaltation, strife to be highly esteemed by men, and criticism and faultfinding there stands a plain, decided, clear-cut It is written, to be read to anyone who begins that work without any daubing with untempered mortar.

Criticism and faultfinding is expressly the work of the devil, who began it in the heavenly courts by seeking sympathy, claiming he could do wonderful things if not hampered by the law of Jehovah, suggesting a change in the government of God for the advantage of the heavenly family, putting his own thoughts in the minds of angels, gathering their assent as if in harmony with God and the Prince of heaven, repeating their words to the highest Authority, covering his tracks, and sowing suspicion and distrust of God and of one another until rebellion had to be met by a decision God alone could exercise and the disloyal were expelled with the instigator of evil for the good of the loyal and true. Self interposed between the soul and God — being self-sufficient, standing back on dignity when judgment and capabilities feel unappreciated, taking satisfaction in seeing deficiencies in brethren, allowing perversity of spirit and disposition to use words to hinder instead of building up the Redeemer's kingdom, and carrying on inward concealed and manifest strife for supremacy and to be first — grieves the Spirit of the Saviour, hinders the work, turns men who ought to be a blessing into a curse that retards instead of advances the work, and is unsanctified element that must be cleansed from the soul temple before the Lord can work manifesting His power and grace. The place of the verse in the chapter connects the servant's treatment of his fellow servant with the principle that people reap what they sow. The principles of Christian conduct in the chapter condemn a spirit of criticism and provocation toward fellow workers, and those who understand its instruction should seek to uplift and strengthen others and work in unity rather than hold grudges or insist on their own plans.

Mercy Received Demands Mercy

Receiving great mercy and forgiveness through Christ should soften the heart and lead to forgiving others from the heart with patience, tenderness, forbearance, kindness, compassion, and love, reflecting toward those who have wronged us the mercy God has shown us. The forgiven servant's harsh demand upon a fellow servant for a far smaller debt after his own immense debt had been canceled exposes lack of compassion, cruelty, and ingratitude, standing in direct contrast to the compassion his lord had shown him. That contrast teaches that those freely forgiven through Christ's sacrifice must show mercy rather than strict justice, and must not answer others with criticism, censure, or condemnation. Forgiveness from God should produce humility and gratitude that flow out in daily practice, especially in tender and compassionate dealings with others. The debts between the servants represent dealings between people that illustrate the spiritual duty of mercy, while God's pardon is divine and the sinner has nothing with which to repay it.

The servant's harsh demand over a much smaller debt after his own enormous debt was forgiven shows the cruelty and ingratitude of refusing compassion to a fellow servant. He seized him by the throat and demanded repayment, illustrating the contradiction of receiving forgiveness for a great debt from God while holding others strictly and harshly accountable for lesser wrongs. This applies to all who, though forgiven much, treat others unforgivingly, and it bears on the need to overcome an unforgiving, unkind spirit and to practice Christ's teachings.

Unmerciful Heart Exposed

The laying on of hands over a hundred pence after forgiveness of a great debt shows that severe and exacting treatment of the erring is out of place for those mercifully forgiven at infinite price to redeem them from hopeless despair. Those who need grace constantly and forgiveness daily and mercy and compassion every moment should with grateful hearts show the same tenderness, forbearance, and love instead of criticizing, censuring, and condemning brethren of like passions with themselves. Such harshness stands reproved, for it comes from self-esteem and self-exaltation and striving for supremacy, while meekness and humility must be continually cultivated to preserve the true spirit of Christianity. The anger, threats, and violence in demanding payment without mercy illustrate how pride and a hard, unforgiving heart fail to value divine mercy and turn against a brother who also needs compassion.

The relentless demand for repayment while withholding what is owed exposes the inconsistency of demanding justice from others while robbing God and neglecting duty. That harsh seizure over a much smaller debt after receiving mercy for a far greater one shows the cruelty and hypocrisy of demanding strict judgment from others while failing to show the mercy received. Such mercilessness is failure to show love and mercy after forgiveness, when the forgiven servant seizes his fellow and demands payment for the much smaller debt. It carries warning that those who judge without mercy will face justice without mercy.

Consequence and Daily Practice

Refusing to forgive others from the heart forfeits the pardon already received, for the forgiven servant's refusal of mercy to a fellow servant over a far smaller debt, even seizing him and demanding payment, teaches that those forgiven by God must forgive. The relentless one is greatly forgiven yet remains hardhearted and unsympathetic, hard to please, exacting, finding fault and laying blame on his wife at home and his brethren in the church instead of carrying his accountability as houseband and priest who binds the family together, withholding from his wife when she errs the longsuffering, kind, tender, pitiful love shown to himself. Unless he falls upon the Rock and is broken all to pieces, unless his hard heart is melted and softened, unless he dies to self and is entirely renewed in heart and mind and spirit as a new man in Christ, he cannot enter heaven with that faultfinding, undisciplined, self-willed spirit, and the Lord will repay him for all these things.

Pressing a money debt on close business terms without tenderness and carefulness cuts deeply, makes the debtor sore at every touch, and widens the breach instead of strengthening brotherly affection, for harshly demanding full repayment to the uttermost farthing is the opposite of the unity and love required to exist and be constantly cherished between brothers, with equal responsibility on both. It is especially wrong when the one demanding has himself continually received generous free gifts and help for himself and his family. Rather than pressing a debt claim too severely, one is to freely forgive others as one asks God to forgive one's own debt, and to refuse to demand compensation that might be due, returning to God what belongs to Him and directing possible back royalties to missionary work where the need is greatest.

The contrast between the forgiven great debt and the small debt violently demanded with physical force underscores the need to humble self before God and turn from self toward sympathy and love for others, especially through personal effort to help those outside Christ. Withholding compassion after receiving great forgiveness is wrong, and one with greater experience, light, and opportunities must not answer another's errors, as in dealing with Elder D, with severity, but should show others the compassion desired from God and remember that God judges each by the light received. Every person owes the Lord a debt that cannot be computed, because Christ as the great Medical Missionary used His power for suffering humanity while denying 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 sinners might sit in heavenly places. That love and the size of that debt put to shame extravagant outlay to make a show in the world, and awakening to obligation to God, becoming a producer and not a consumer, studying the Saviour's life and practicing His lessons are required to enter the courts of the blessed.