Matthew 18:31
So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
The fellow servants knew of the vast debt that had been forgiven, and when they saw the forgiven servant refuse mercy to one who owed him far less and imprison him, they were very sorry and carried the whole matter to their lord who had authority to judge it. The contrast exposes the king's free compassion, picturing God's immeasurable forgiveness of sin through Christ's self-denial, suffering and death on the cross, set against harsh, oppressive conduct in a like case. Those who constantly need and have received such mercy must from the heart forgive, show pity, forbearance and love, and freely give as they have received, for refusing to forgive forfeits pardon and brings justice without mercy. When believers see wrong done they are not to pass it over but to be deeply grieved and make it known, for the Saviour's instruction in Matthew 18 organizes the church for orderly accountability, watching for souls, going in kindness to save the erring, and bringing grievous wrong before responsible authority. A severe, exacting, faultfinding spirit toward brethren, wife, or God's children stands reproved, grieves fellow believers and the Spirit, and is told unto the Lord, who sees self-exaltation and will repay unless there is repentance, humility as a little child, and renewal in Christ.
Parable Story Told
The fellow servants saw what the forgiven servant did to his fellow servant when he refused mercy and cast him into prison, they were very sorry, and they came and told their lord all that was done. Their grief was over harsh, oppressive and merciless dealing in a like case by one who himself needed grace and compassion every moment, and their telling exposed the contrast between the king's compassion and the servant's conduct. The man they watched had himself been forgiven an enormous and vast debt that cannot be computed, yet he demanded payment of a fellow servant who owed him far less over a small debt. He carried out against his debtor the very sentence that had been revoked for him, imprisoning him for what he owed.
The fellow servants knew the whole story of his pardon, and because they witnessed the deed with that knowledge they were grieved and carried the complaint forward. Those who witness such selfishness, harshness and severity toward an erring brother while knowing how much the doer has been forgiven cannot pass it over, but are charged to be deeply grieved and to make it known. Their sorrow and report brought the matter before the one with authority to address it, laying the grievous treatment and lack of compassion before the master and responsible authority. That bringing of the wrong to the lord led to his judgment of the servant who would not forgive as he had been forgiven, showing the seriousness of unforgiveness.
This detail helps show the danger and seriousness of an unforgiving spirit, illustrating how wrong it is to treat others harshly after receiving mercy. As part of the parable's narrative, however, not every detail is meant to have a separate spiritual counterpart or distinct symbolic meaning.
Mercy Received and Owed
The fellow servants' grief exposes the contrast between a compassionate king who forgives those in error and a servant who, though himself forgiven a great debt, acts mercilessly, harshly and oppressively in a like case toward his fellow servant. The forgiven man forgets the forgiveness he received, demands payment of one who owes him far less, and carries out the very sentence that had been revoked for himself. Work done on those unforgiving lines will not be sanctioned, and every brother must be forgiven from the heart, with all walking and working in love and all business conducted on its lines.
The king's pardon pictures God's free forgiveness of sin through Christ, who gave His life for sinners to secure salvation. The debt owed to the Lord cannot be computed, for as the great Medical Missionary Christ 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. Herein is love, which puts to shame extravagant outlay to make a show in the world, and the question of how much is owed to the Lord awakens obligation to be a producer and not a consumer, to study the Saviour's life and practice His lessons, for without this there is no entrance to the courts of the blessed.
Those who have been forgiven much and who constantly need grace, forgiveness, mercy and compassion every moment must from the heart forgive others and show them compassion, tenderness, pity, forbearance and love, freely giving as they have received. It is wrong to receive great mercy from God while refusing mercy to others who have caused grief, and receiving mercy should lead a person to forgive and to treat others with kindness. Refusing to forgive from the heart forfeits pardon and grace, and hard-hearted, unmerciful judgment brings justice without mercy. Those who deal harshly with a brother must consider how they themselves will be judged.
Gratitude for Christ's mercy in forgiving sins and transgressions at infinite price to redeem from hopeless despair requires putting away self-esteem, self-exaltation and striving for supremacy. Being severe and exacting, ready to criticize, censure and condemn brethren of like passions, is out of place and stands reproved. Meekness and humility must be cultivated to become as little children, with the same tenderness, forbearance, patience and forgiveness shown toward the erring, with self-denial and self-sacrifice to seek the wandering until found, and with thankfulness and exceeding joy when one soul is saved from death. One of these little ones, whose angels behold the face of the Father, must not be despised nor must heritage be lorded over with a masterly spirit that closes the gates of heaven, for Christ came to a world seared and marred with the curse to meet humanity and uplift the degraded and fallen and outcast, because it is not the will of the Father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
Church Duty to Report
Matthew 18:31 belongs to the Saviour's instruction for dealing with erring members when one sins, directing fellow servants to report what was done to their lord and showing that the church must be organized for orderly accountability in addressing wrongdoing and restoring relationships. That lesson is applied to dissension and alienation, where those receiving reproof are to repent and turn from the wrong course so division can be healed. Those in positions of responsibility are therefore not to act as lords or rulers, but to follow Christ's instruction with wisdom, humility, and care for the people of God.
The instruction of the chapter gives relief, courage, and hope, and includes forgiving a brother repeatedly. It stands most positive among the oracles of God and gives the principles upon which disciples of the meek and lowly Jesus are to act in all cases and under all circumstances. There is to be no striving for supremacy and no lording over the heritage, for in Christ's spiritual kingdom greatness is not position, outward splendor, or authority but spiritual excellence manifested in true conversion, learned continually from Christ in submission and obedience. The fellow servants' sorrow and report belong to Christ's lessons on humility, forgiveness, and response when a brother sins, showing that witnessing unmerciful treatment calls for grief and bringing the matter before the responsible authority, calling Christians to practical service and care for others. Its lessons also teach that people reap what they sow.
The whole chapter is to be carefully studied and brought into practical life in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. It forbids faultfinding and despising one of these little ones, whose angels behold the face of the Father, and forbids lording it over God's heritage with a masterly spirit that closes the gates of heaven. Yet real faults must be corrected and not left to corrupt the church, for sin constantly practiced leaves the church like a terribly neglected garden, and a sinner who does not come to realize his wrongdoing will perish in his sin. Christ came to a world seared and marred with the curse to meet humanity and uplift the degraded and fallen and outcast, because it is not the will of the Father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
When fellow believers see wrong done they are to be deeply grieved and to make it known rather than pass it over, for those who see are charged to watch for souls as those who must give an account and cannot faithfully discharge duty while passing over sins. They are to go to the one who is in the wrong and tell him of his danger, not in a self-important way but in kindness and love that shows desire to save him from being ruined by his faults. Harshness toward an erring person is a serious and grievous wrong that should not be ignored, as seen when the fellow servants who knew the full story of pardon were deeply grieved and distressed at the forgiven man's merciless treatment and imprisonment of his fellow servant and brought the matter to their lord, to the master, to the one with authority to address it.
Condemning a Harsh Spirit
The fellow servants' grief and report reprove being severe and exacting, ready to criticize, censure and condemn brethren of like passions, showing such a spirit to be out of place when grace, forgiveness, mercy and compassion are needed constantly every moment. Work done on those unforgiving lines will not be sanctioned, for the contrast stands between divine compassion toward those in error and human harshness in similar cases, where one forgiven much forgets what he received and oppresses his fellow servant. Gratitude is due for mercy that forgave sins and transgressions at infinite price to redeem from hopeless despair, and it requires the same tenderness, forbearance and love toward one another, forgiving every brother from the heart, walking and working in love and conducting all business on its lines. This demands putting away self-esteem, self-exaltation and striving for supremacy, cultivating meekness and humility to become as little children, practicing self-denial and self-sacrifice to seek the erring and wandering until found, and manifesting thankfulness and exceeding joy when one soul is saved from death.
Workers must not stand back on dignity when not specially requested, take satisfaction in seeing deficiencies in brethren, hinder the work by words that can be used for evil, or cherish inward concealed strife for supremacy and manifest striving to be first. This unsanctified element must be cleansed from the soul temple so the Spirit is not grieved, so men become a blessing and not a curse that retards the work, and so power and grace can be manifested, for the lesson is against letting self come between professed Christians and God. Lack of love among believers is sure evidence that Christ is not dwelling in the heart, and drawing apart from brethren is not desired. The desire to hinder and repress one doing a good work, to accuse one another, to think and speak evil, to want a worker in higher office removed, and to devise plans to separate brethren are the enemy's devices with which the Lord has nothing to do. Such a bitter spirit of accusation grieves the Spirit and must be met and condemned, giving no place to the enemy by refusing to think or speak evil and by giving strong portions of the Word to mischief makers.
Criticism and faultfinding over dissension, self-esteem and self-exaltation and strife to be highly esteemed are expressly the work of the devil and are to be met with plain, decided, clear-cut words, not sympathy. The sorrow of the fellow servants and their laying the matter open before their lord condemns securing ends by deceiving, suggesting things, putting thoughts in minds, obtaining assent and sympathy, covering tracks, and sowing suspicion and distrust of God and of one another. That course repeats what was begun in the heavenly courts, where claim was made that wonderful things could be done if not hampered by law, where a change in government was proposed for the advantage of the heavenly family, where personal sentiments and then disaffection were presented as from members of the royal family, and where strife and rebellion came in without anyone being able to define how. Rebellion had to be taken hold of with a decision only God could exercise, and for the good of the loyal and true He entered into the matter and expelled the disloyal with the instigator of evil from heaven.
When one forgiven much treats an erring brother with selfishness, harshness and severity, those who witness it knowing the whole story of pardon are grieved and carry the complaint to God. Harsh, severe, dictatorial dealing with God's children grieves fellow believers and is brought before the Lord, who sees self-superiority. Those whose names are on church books and who claim to be sons and daughters of God must consider their relation to God and to fellow men, for while depending entirely on the mercy of a sin-pardoning Saviour hearts must not remain hard and unsympathizing. No provocation authorizes unkind feelings, resentment, revenge, coldness, indifference or contempt, and no one to whom immense trespasses are being forgiven can cast the first stone in condemnation of a brother. Men will be dealt with not according to their opinion of themselves or their self-confidence but according to the spirit revealed toward erring brethren, for harshness and severity are the spirit of Satan, while cherished pride creates envy, evil surmising and revenge and exaggerates words or actions into grievous intentional offenses. God's will requires courtesy instead of harshness, love of neighbor as self, and transformation in spirit, so that those handling sacred things represent Christ and do not wound and bruise souls, remembering that the very persons despised are under the Lord's charge and ministered unto by angels.
The wrongs a hardhearted, unsympathetic man does to his wife and to his brethren by faultfinding, by expressing his natural unconverted heart, by blaming them for trials that come from his own unconverted heart, and by exacting demands and cruelty with no pity, patience and tender, suffering, kind love are seen and told to the Lord. He is illustrated by the relentless servant, though pity and patience have been shown him in his many errors and sins. God cares for these things and will repay for neglect of duty, exacting demands and cruelty unless the man repents. Repentance means falling upon the Rock and being broken all to pieces, having the hard heart melted and softened, dying to self, and being entirely renewed in heart and mind and spirit as a new man fit for heaven.