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Q12. Unforgiving Servant


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  • 3 months later...

Q12. (Matthew 18:21-35) In what way does the king show grace in this parable. How does the forgiven servant withhold grace? Can we call ourselves Jesus' disciples if we withhold grace according to Matthew 18:35 and Matthew 6:12-15?

The king shows grace in that he forgives the debt of the servant and does not send him to jail,

The forgiven servant withholds grace from another person who owes him less than he owed the king. He grabs him and throws him in prison instead.

No we cannot call ourselves His disciples if we withhold grace or choose not to forgive others their debts to us. Because then He will not forgive us our debts either and we will have no peace or joy until we do it. We will be most miserable. Because this is what agape love is all about; forgiving those who hurt us just like Jesus did. Showing them grace even though they might not deserve it.

 

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Q12. (Matthew 18:21-35) In what way does the king show grace in this parable. How does the forgiven servant withhold grace? Can we call ourselves Jesus' disciples if we withhold grace according to Matthew 18:35 and Matthew 6:12-15?

The king forgives the debt of the servant which was so large that he would never have been able to repay.  I don't know if there was interest in those days but that would have compounded the amount to an astonishing figure.  The king showed mercy to the servant.

The servant did not show mercy to a man who owed him a small amount and put him in jail until he could pay him  back which couldn't happen because he was in jail and couldn't work unless there were loan companies in those days and then he would have had to have collateral to obtain a loan.

Our King of kings and Lord of lords forgave us an amount that was much more than the richest person on earth could pay, because of His great mercy.  Even we combined all the wealth of everyone we still could not pay what we owe Him. We can never pay Him what we owe Him. Someone owes us a pittance and we cannot forgive?  I think forgiving sometimes is hard but we must and in that way we show the grace of God in us as His child.  It is not a matter of feeling, forgiving is a matter of the will.

God bless!

Jen

Ephesians 4:32

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First of all the king felt compassion for the slave.Then he forgives him of the debt.

He doesn’t have any compassion for his debtors situation and begins to choke him, demanding payment on the smaller debt. Then he has him thrown into prison until he can pay it back.

If we withhold grace to those around us we are behaving contrary to the teachings of Christ as well as His very nature. As these scriptures teach, Christ‘s disciplines needed to be taught more than once about forgiveness and grace. These are lessons and attributes that don’t necessarily come natural to us. Jesus teaches it to His disciples (us) and models it perfectly so we can learn to walk in it and share His grace and forgiveness. It is an ongoing challenge as we all strive to be more Christ like and to honor God.

 

 

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Q12. (Matthew 18:21-35) 
In what way does the king show grace in this parable. How does the forgiven servant withhold grace? Can we call ourselves Jesus' disciples if we withhold grace according to Matthew 18:35 and Matthew 6:12-15? 
The king shows grace in the forgiving of an immense debt owed by one of his servants. He knew that this was such a huge debt and the servant would never be able to repay it. But when he saw that the servant promised to pay if given the chance, as well as the repentant attitude shown, he forgave the servant the entire amount. We see the king taking pity on the servant, cancelling the debt, and setting him free; a massive display of grace. This same forgiven servant was owed a much smaller amount by a fellow servant. Even after pleading for an extension, he was still thrown into prison. Instead of forgiving him, as he had been forgiven, he demanded payment in full, thereby withholding any grace. As a disciple of Jesus, we have had all our sins forgiven, how can we therefore be unwilling to forgive those who wrong us? Having received grace in the form of forgiveness, we will want to pass it on to others; if not then we have not been united with Christ and cannot be called a Jesus disciple. 
 

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In Mt 18.27 the king shows grace by having canceled his debt, wiping away his IOU. There does not appear to be any conditions on the debt forgiveness.

In the two extra verses that Pastor Ralph gives, however, grace seems qualified. To receive God's grace certain preconditions must be met.

First, in Mt 18.35, God's grace is contingent on our forgiving others. To word this in the negative, a person who has not forgiven other will not receive God's grace. This worries me. Have I truly forgiven people who have hurt me? Is there some lingering anger within me?

Second, in Mt 6.12f, A verse about temptation and deliverance is sorta wedged in between two verses about grace. But, in this case, God delivers us -- we don't do anything EXCEPT ask him to keep us from temptation and deliver us. So grace, again, is contingent upon our asking to be delivered from Satan.

--

The idea of grace is getting murkier in my mind. Yesterday it was close in meaning to love -- today it's close in meaning to forgiveness. Grace may be unmerited, but it's not freely given. It's contingent on truly forgiving others as well as asking God to help us fend off temptation.

 

 

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  • The king not only finds out how much the servant owes him (10,000 talents: 1 talent equals roughly a year's wages) but he FORGIVES him the debt.  The debt which the servant could never repay is written off the books.  There was no further expectation that the servant pay the king back.  Note too:  there was no squabbling that the servant did not owe the money to the king.  This was taken as fact.
  • The forgiven servant withheld grace as soon as he looked to those people who owed HIM money. He went out and threatened the debtor with physical violence.
  • We cannot call ourselves Jesus' disciples when we withhold grace.  We are to be a reflection of Jesus as his disciples.  I think the language in Matthew 18:34-35 is pretty plain: 34) And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35) So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses".
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Q12. The servant owed his king a very big debt. He pleads for him to be given time to pay his debts. The king in his mercy and Grace took pity on his servant and cancelled his debt altogether.  The forgiven servant went out and met a fellow servant who owed him money. He grabbed hold of him and began to choke him demanding his money back. The fellow servant pleaded for time to repay his debt but instead he refused and he had him thrown into jail. This man acted in a totally different way to the king, he withheld any bit of grace or mercy. As Christian’s we must act like Jesus. If we withhold grace from people we cannot be a disciple of Jesus. Jesus is our example in all things and we must strive everyday to imitate Him and His ways.

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On 10/6/2022 at 7:29 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q12. (Matthew 18:21-35) In what way does the king show grace in this parable. How does the forgiven servant withhold grace? Can we call ourselves Jesus’ disciples if we withhold grace according to Matthew 18:35 and Matthew 6:12-15?

The servant owed so much to his master and his master had mercy on him and forgave him his debt and let him go free.                                                                                           

 The forgiven servant withholds grace because he sees his fellow servant that owed him 100 denarii and would not forgive him but had him thrown into jail, even though he   begged forgiveness.

No, we need to forgive others just as God forgives us.  If we don't forgive others, God will not forgive us.

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The man begged 'please be patient with me & I will pay it all' (v26, NLT)

The king showed grace in this way 'filled with pity for him ... he released him & FORGAVE his debt' (v27, NLT)

This was grace not to 'extend terms' but to CANCEL the debt!

'When he went to another servant who owed him money we are told 'he grabbed him by the throat & demanded instant payment' (v28, NLT) & 'he had the man arrested & put in prison until the debt could be paid in full' (v30, NLT)

He withheld grace!

Do Jesus' disciples withhold grace?

Simple answer ... NO! we are to forgive as we are forgiven - recipients of grace should be dispensers of grace.

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Q12. (Matthew 18:21-35) In what way does the king show grace in this parable.

The king showed grace by cancelling all the huge debts of the servant.

How does the forgiven servant withhold grace?

The forgiven servant that was forgiven so much could not forgive his fellow servant who owed just a little but sent him into prison until he could pay back every dime.

Can we call ourselves Jesus' disciples if we withhold grace according to Matthew 18:35 and Matthew 6:12-15?

No.
 

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The king exhibits grace through compassion and forgiveness.  He at first threatens to commit to prison the servant, his wife and his children until payment is made.  The servant pleaded and begged, asking for patience and forbearance. Being moved in his heart, the king forgave the servant and cancelled his debt.  Then the foolish man goes out and does the exact opposite.  He withholds favor from a man who owes him just a little (in relative terms), putting him directly into prison.  We know what happens next, he loses the favor that he just earned from the king.

To not be hypocrites, we must forgive others for any debt that may be owed to us. If we expect God’s grace (which as we now know is favor granted without being earned) we must be quick to forgive others and “cancel” their debts.  Remember, each time we pray the Lord’s prayer, we ask God to forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.  Let’s truly mean it next time we pray it!

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The king shows grace by canceling the debt of the servant who owed him a lot of money. This is symbolic to what God has done. "As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us". Like the king, God has written of all our iniquities and allowed mercy to rewrite our lives.

The forgiven servant withholds grace by beating the other fellow who owed him money and did not show him any mercy. Moreover, he had the man arrested and put to jail until all his money was paid up. It is interesting to learn that the beaten man only owed him little money but the servant owed the king huge amounts. It shows that we sometimes lack forgiveness. We want people to forgive us for the wrongs we do but we do not want to forgive others.

No, we cannot withhold grace as Jesus disciples. The Word teaches us to forgive and let go. It is wrong to remind a person of the wrongs done even after that person has asked for forgiveness. We cannot pray daily Matthew 6:12-13 and yet we still harbor anger and unforgiveness in our hearts.

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Q12. (Matthew 18:21-35) In what way does the king show grace in this parable. How does the forgiven servant withhold grace? Can we call ourselves Jesus’ disciples if we withhold grace according to Matthew 18:35 and Matthew 6:12-15?

1. The servant owed a huge amount of debt and asked to be forgiven. The king show grace by forgiving him without being paid back.

2. He did not forgive the one who owed him. He had him sent to prison.

3. No, we must quickly forgive others. Do unto others as we want to be forgiven.  

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The King shows grace in this parable because he knows that it is impossible for the servant to pay him back.

The forgiven servant failed to grant the same mercy to his creditors as the king had granted him. 

Jesus expects his disciples to show this kind of mercy from them to others as well.  

  

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Q12. (Matthew 18:21-35) In what way does the king show grace in this parable.

The king grace is shown by him taking pity on the man and canceled the debt and let him go.

How does the forgiven servant withhold grace? Can we call ourselves Jesus’ disciples if we withhold grace according to Matthew 18:35 and Matthew 6:12-15?

Forgiven servant withheld grace by not showing mercy on the one that owe him as it was shown to him.  We cannot call ourselves Jesus' disciples if we are not willing to show mercy and Jesus shows us each and every day.

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Q12. (Matthew 18:21-35)

In what way does the king show grace in this parable.

How does the forgiven servant withhold grace?

Can we call ourselves Jesus' disciples if we withhold grace according to Matthew 18:35 and Matthew 6:12-15?
The king cancels or absolves the debt owed to him.  

The forgiven servant does not allow another servant time to pay off a debt owed him, much less than the amount that he had owed the king.  He demands it as in now and thereby chokes and genuinely mishandles the fellow servant.  

No, We need to follow Christ's example and forgive as He forgave and live as He lived, treating our fellow neighbours as He did.

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Legally, the king had every right and authority to sentence this debtor to slavery (along with his entire household). But when the man pleaded for mercy and made a promise to repay the huge debt, the king responded with pity and compassion. He not only revoked the sentence but completely forgave the entire debt. However, the man was not humbled by this undeserved, unmerited favor. He evidently went straight out to find a fellow servant who owed him money, physically accosted the man, and demanded immediate payment of that debt (vs.28). The man pleaded for patience and mercy just as he himself had done with the king, but he was unmoved and had the debtor thrown into prison.

This is convicting, isn’t it? We plead for mercy and favor, yet so often turn right around and deny such grace to others for even lesser offenses than ours. There absolutely is a balance to be maintained between compassion and accountability, but Christ-followers are called to be people willing and desiring to offer forgiveness. A true disciple of Christ will not be perfect in obeying this call to offer grace because of our battles with the fleshly human nature.  But a true disciple of Christ will be growing in this call and won't have true peace when we harbor an unforgiving spirit. Our King is watching.

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  • 4 weeks later...

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant shows the extreme grace of the King in forgiving an immense debt, but also the requirements that receiving such a pardon places on the recipient - to show grace to others. The forgiven servant withhold grace by not extending the forgiveness of debt to those who owe him debt. We should not call ourselves Jesus disciples if we withhold grace to others because Jesus Christ forgives his disciples and are taught to forgive those who sin against them.  

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

Q12. (Matthew 18:21-35) In what way does the king show grace in this parable. How does the forgiven servant withhold grace? Can we call ourselves Jesus’ disciples if we withhold grace according to Matthew 18:35 and Matthew 6:12-15?

The king in Matthew 18 shows grace in forgiving the servant's entire, huge, debt.  The forgiven servant does not extend the same grace to the man under his authority.  Jesus is very clear in Matthew 18:35, "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” and His 'this is how' refers to the Master's anger and throwing the wicked servant into torture. Jesus is very clear that forgiveness from the heart is SO important.  We are Jesus' disciples when we extend the grace He gave us from the cross to others.  It is not easy.  I praise God that He gave the Holy Spirit to help us accomplish that.

 
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