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Matthew 18:21-35 – ²¹ Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” ²² Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

²³ “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. ²⁵ And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. ²⁶ So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ ²⁷ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. ²⁸ But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ ²⁹ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ ³⁰ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. ³¹ When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. ³² Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³ Wasn’t it necessary that you should have mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. ³⁵ So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

He got waaaay more than he asked for. This was even better than the time he asked the dealer to knock a couple hundred off the sticker price of that Mercedes S-Class, and the dealer just said, “Nah. No charge. Just take it. Here’s the keys.”

The Unforgiving Servant needs a name. Let’s call him Vinnie – that’s a fitting name for such a disgusting individual.

Vinnie’s day began badly. His breakfast had been interrupted by the king’s two brutes who hauled him off to see the creditor. From the second they burst into the door, Vinnie pretty much knew what exactly was going to happen. He didn’t know the names of the two lugs, but he was sure they had come at the command of the king.

The king had lent Vinnie some money – a lot of money. Ok an exorbitant amount of money. Vinnie owed the king more than a king’s ransom. Vinnie owed the king 10,000 talents – that’s 60 million days (164,383 years) of work. To put this in perspective: If you worked every day of the year earning a measly $10.00 per hour that would translate to $4,800,000,000,000.

Obviously, Vinnie could not pay. So the king ordered Vinnie to be sold with his wife and children and all that he had. Vinnie didn’t like the sound of this. He fell on his knees and said, “Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything.”

Yeah, right.

Notice that Vinnie is simply asking for patience and more time. But the king doesn’t give Vinnie patience or time. The king gives Vinnie more than patience or time. The king gives him mercy. Vinnie didn’t ask for the debt to be forgiven; the king simply wipes it out. A simple word from the king, and *POOF* Vinnie’s $4.8 trillion debt just gets erased – it’s gone.

Vinnie had to be feeling pretty good. What had begun as a terrible day was turning out to be an excellent day, a superb day. This was the type of day that should have been remembered by Vinnie’s children, grandchildren, and great-great-great-great grandchildren. And it would have been. But, then, Vinnie left the king’s hall.

You would think Vinnie would be so deliriously happy that he would be telling everyone about the mercy and grace of the king. Everyone had to know that Vinnie had been lent a large amount of money. Maybe they didn’t know how much, but you don’t rack up $4.8 trillion in debt without someone noticing that something’s going on. But Vinnie leaves the king’s hall and sees one of his fellow servants.

Vinnie sees Chuck (let’s call this fellow servant ‘Chuck’), and Vinnie remembers that Chuck owed him 100 denarii. One denarii is one day’s wage. Doing the same math at $10 per hour, Chuck owed Vinnie $8,000. Now, $8,000 is a significant amount, but it isn’t even chump change compared to $4.8 trillion – not by a long shot. Vinnie walks up to Chuck and without even a, “Hello,” Vinnie begins to choke Chuck saying, “Pay what you owe me.”

Pause here for a minute. Think about this: Where do kings get their money? That’s right, from taxing their subjects. Vinnie just got his debt of $4.8 trillion forgiven by the king. How much of that $4.8 trillion do you suppose was Chuck’s tax money? Chew on that later today.

Anyway, Chuck pulls the same stunt that Vinnie had just pulled with the king. Chuck pleaded, “Have patience with me, Vinnie, and I will pay you,” echoing Vinnie’s words almost exactly. But Vinnie refuses to have patience. He had Chuck thrown in prison until the debt would be paid.

Naturally, this grieved the other servants that saw it, so they went and told the king. The king summoned Vinnie back into his chambers. Vinnie entered the hall and saw the brutes standing along the wall. The king starts in on Vinnie the moment he entered the room, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Wasn’t it necessary for you to have mercy on your fellow slave as I had mercy on you?”

Then the king ordered his lugs to haul Vinnie off to the torturers until he repaid everything he owed.

Jesus concludes His parable and tells us what it means. “My heavenly Father will do the same thing to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Peter thought that forgiving his brother seven times was pretty good. And Peter was right. How many people would forgive someone seven times? Probably no one. We have the saying, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” If someone lies to you, you might forgive them, but you make sure that you don’t let them pull the wool over your eyes again. Forgive someone seven times, and people will call you a fool. But Jesus tells Peter to forgive 70 x 7 times. Four-hundred ninety times, but Jesus doesn’t intend for you to stop at 491. Forgiveness is unlimited, and Jesus explains this with the parable.

But this parable is so extreme, so unthinkable. And yet the situation Jesus puts forward is, in a terrifying way, more real and true than we will ever understand. Every last one of you here has an unimaginable debt just like Vinnie.

Sin – all sin – is against God. Every time you break God’s law, you rack up debt with your God and King. Jesus summarizes the entire Law of God as, “Love the Lord your God with all year heart, soul, mind, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.” So when you don’t love your neighbor as yourself, you aren’t loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength because you aren’t doing what He had commanded. So, you can see how quickly your debt of sin multiplies exponentially. Every week, you rack up a debt like Vinnie’s. You constantly owe God an incalculable debt of sin. And what does He do? Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, He simply wipes it out. Because of Jesus, your debt is gone. Because of Jesus, as far as God’s concerned, your sin never existed.

So, when someone sins against you, what are you to do? The words of the king tell us, ”Isn’t it necessary that you should have mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” The answer is, “Yes. Yes of course it is necessary.”

Mercy is two things. Mercy is both not getting what you deserve and getting what you don’t deserve. Vinnie got mercy. He didn’t get the punishment that he deserved, and he got his debt forgiven which he didn’t deserve. But Vinnie showed that he refused the king’s mercy because Vinnie demanded what he deserved from Chuck. By demanding his rights from Chuck, Vinnie was refusing his undeserved gift from the king.

This parable makes it all so clear. Mercy isn’t meant to be held on to. Mercy is meant to be passed on. The mercy that flows from God to you is designed to flow to others as well. It doesn’t matter what someone else has done to you, forgive them.

Now, that doesn’t mean that you won’t feel pain. People who have sinned against you can cause you hurt and scars that may never go away. The emotional pain of sin against you may last your entire life – even when you have forgiven them.

But know this for sure: God has forgiven you in Christ. His mercies are new every morning. Jesus is the Lamb of God who has taken away your sin – even your sins of unforgiveness. So comfort each another with the mercy that God has given to you. Your neighbor is dependent upon it. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.