Kings, Servants, and Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35

 I once heard a parable described as "an earthly story with a heavenly message."  Let's look at today's 'earthly story' and see if we can find the 'heavenly message.'

A king is settling accounts with his servants.  The first servant owed him 'ten thousand bags of gold,' which sounds like a lot of gold!  The king generously forgave him his debt and let him go, which meant this servant dodged a bullet:  he would have had to sell everything he owned, including  his wife and children, to pay the debt.

Here's where the story gets interesting:  one of his fellow servants happened to owe this servant money, not nearly as much money as he owed the king, but he had a debt to him, nonetheless.  The second servant begs the first servant to cancel his debt, but the recently-forgiven servant refuses and has the man thrown into prison.

When the king learns of this, he is furious:  "in his anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed."  (v. 34)

We read this parable, and we are horrified by how mean-spirited the first servant was to his fellow servant.  How could he turn around and be so evil to him after he had just experienced unmerited grace and forgiveness from the king??  We would never do that, would we??

It is so easy to see the fault in this servant, and to ignore the times that we hold grudges.....fail to ask a brother or sister to forgive us.....complain to others about a friend's faults, ignoring the log in our own eye....(Matthew 7:3-5)....

Lord, help me to forgive quickly, completely, and joyfully, even when I am in the right.  Just as the king in this parable forgave, I have a heavenly Father who forgives even when I don't deserve it.  Thanks be to God!