From the desk of Pastor Ben

The Example of Forgiveness – Part 5

When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. Then summoning him, his lord said to him, “You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?”     (Matthew 18:31-33)

Believers should be “deeply grieved” when another Christian is unforgiving. That hardening of the heart not only tends to drive the sinning believer deeper into sin, but it can also create dissension and division within the church, taint its testimony, and deeply grieve our Lord Himself.

The other slaves’ going to the king with the dreadful account of an unforgiving attitude gives us interesting insight into what the parable says about the Christian’s duty to carry out discipline against a sinning brother or sister, and the need, as necessary, to ask God to punish and remove the ungracious fellow believer.

The king is rightly incensed when hearing the news of the first slave’s attitude, and properly calls him “wicked” because the slave allowed remaining sin to control his thoughts and deeds. Un-forgiveness is much more sinful in a believer because that brother or sister is infinitely more capable of forgiving than is the person who has never experienced divine grace. How can someone receive God’s mercy for the un-payable debt of sin and then not forgive another’s small offense against him?

The king here does not expect the first slave to give his fellow slave an opportunity to repay the debt, but he did expect him to extend mercy and graciously forgive the man’s entire debt — even as the king had done with the first slave’s massive debt. The principle of Ephesians 4:32 applies: “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

Ask Yourself:
Perhaps with some holy imagination, you could think of an opportunity to extend lavish mercy and blessing on another person who deserves none of it. How might such an encounter take place?