The Seriousness of Forgiveness | Matthew 18:21-35

Introduction: The standards that God gives to His children make perfect sense — but it is GOSPEL SENSE. The standards will never make sense to the unbelieving mind. The standards would never make sense if the gospel were not true. But when we know the gospel, and know it to be true, then the responsibilities set before the believer, in the Word of God, become binding upon our consciences. WE KNOW THAT OUR LORD’S TEACHING IS NOT UNREASONABLE. WE KNOW THAT OUR LORD’S TEACHING IS NOT UNATTAINABLE. He has brought us into the realm where the standards apply. He has made us (by grace), and gives us grace upon grace, so that we embrace those standards. He has given us His Spirit, and gives us the ability, to live what He requires of us. WHAT OUR. LORD HAS JUST TAUGHT PETER ABOUT FORGIVENESS SEEMS, TO MANY, TO BE BEYOND ANYTHING REASONABLE. Unlimited forgiveness? Repeated forgiveness? Forgiveness — not just a good idea, or the expression of a great kindness — but something REQUIRED OF US? How does this make any sense? OUR LORD, KNOWING THIS, DOES NOT JUST GIVE PETER THE STANDARD. HE GIVES A STORY, AN ILLUSTRATION, THAT DEMONSTRATES THE RATIONALE FOR THE STANDARD. This story is not meant to convey every detail about salvation, but it teaches basic truths that make clear why every Christian is to be someone who goes on forgiving for a lifetime, and without limitations. • THE REALM FOR THE FORGIVENESS ILLUSTRATED (vs.23a) The first thing we must recognize is that everything about this story — the context in which it is given, the way it is introduced (“the kingdom of heaven may be compared to”), the details in the application of it — says that it applies to Christians. This is the forgiveness that is practiced by those who have entered the kingdom. This is the forgiveness that is practiced by Christians — and especially toward others who are members of that same family and serve the same king. This is an illustration about brothers and sisters forgiving sins committed AGAINST THEM by brothers and sisters. And what that means, when we come to the warnings that Jesus offers, is that THERE IS A SEVERE DISCIPLINE promised regarding believers who do not practice this forgiveness. TO PUT IT SIMPLY AND CLEARLY, THIS ILLUSTRATION TEACHES THAT GRANTING FORGIVENESS IS A SERIOUS MATTER. Or to state it negatively, unforgiveness is a sin, and it is a serious sin. • THE EXAMPLE FOR THE FORGIVENESS GIVEN (vs.23b-34) What do we see in this story? Some commentators treat it like an allegory and seek to assign significance to almost every detail. In truth, it is an example. Not everything in the story corresponds to salvation. But its MAIN POINTS CLEARLY correspond to what every Christian has experienced. What are those main points? • YOU HAVE A GREAT KING AND A GUILTY SERVANT (vs.23-24) Slave is used here in the most general way. These are servants of the king in the sense that everyone who belongs to his realm is a servant. The difference is that the main servant in view clearly had a position of great influence in the realm. It appears that what we are to envision is some kind of leader in the realm who had the responsibility to gather taxes on behalf of the king and his kingdom. But when the time came that the ACCOUNTING for his collections was due, he was found to have been unfaithful. He DID NOT HAVE THE MONEY THAT THE KING WAS DUE. We are not told why, but two things seem reasonably clear. • It seems he had taken what should have been kept in store for the king, and he had used it on himself and his family. • And, as a result, he owed a debt that was IMPOSSIBLE to repay. Comparing various sources, a talent was a monetary unit that equaled between 15-20 years of a laborer’s wages. Now, multiply that by 10,000. John MacArthur — “From historical documents of the time it has been determined that the total annual revenue collected by the Roman government from Idumea, Judea, Samaria, and Galilee was about 900 talents. Based on those figures, ten thousand talents amounted to more than eleven years of taxes from those four provinces. From the Old Testament we learn that the total amount of gold given for use in the Temple was just over 8,000 talents (1 Chron. 29:4, 7) and that “the weight of gold which came in to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold” (1 Kings 10:14). Although murias literally means ten thousand, because it was the largest numerical term in the Greek language it was also used figuratively to represent a vast, uncountable number. In that sense it has the same connotation as the English myriad, which is derived from it. Murias is therefore sometimes translated “countless” (1 Cor. 4:15) or “myriads” (Rev. 5:11). Jesus’ point in this parable, therefore, was that the man who owed the king ten thousand talents owed an incalculable and unpayable debt.”