Unforgiving Servant Sept. 14

MATTHEW 18:21-35

 NARRATOR: Then Peter came and said to him,

PETER: ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’

N: Jesus said to him,

JESUS: ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

J:  ‘For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying,

SERVANT #1: “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.”

J: And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said,

SERVANT#1 : “Pay what you owe.”

J: Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with him,

SERVANT #2: “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.”

J: But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him,

LORD: “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?” J: And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’

IN ITS ORIGINAL CONTEXT, WHAT IS BEING CHALLENGED/SUBVERTED  IN THIS PARABLE?

IN OUR OWN CONTEXT, WHAT MIGHT BE SUBVERTED/CHALLENGED IN THIS PARABLE?

IN MY OWN PERSON CONTEXT?

BACKGROUND

[There are a number of indications that this is a Gentile king.
1. The huge sum of money (10,000 talents) could only be explained as being tax revenue from a very powerful king. It is much more than King Herod received each year from all his territories (around 900 talents).
2. The king is "worshiped" by the slave (v. 26), something impossible for a Jew.
3. Jewish law prohibited the wife and family from being sold into slavery.
4. While Jewish law allowed a man to be imprisoned for debt, it didn't allow him to be tortured [basinistai in v. 34 is literally "torturers"].
 [However, the hearers' expectations of punishment are not realized when the king "has pity" (splagchnizomai) on that servant. Elsewhere in Mt, this emotion is only shown by Jesus (9:36; 14:14; 15:32; 20:34). THIS PARABLE is about the “king” as much as it is the “Unforgiving Slave”. ]
The king "forgives" (aphiemi) the loan -- the same word used by Peter in asking how many times he should "forgive" in v. 21. .. the word in v. 24 for "debtor" or "one who owed" (opheiletes) is only found elsewhere in Matthew at 6:12 -- in the Lord's Prayer where it is also connected with forgiveness.]

SUMMARY

Carter(Matthew and the Margins), using ideas from Herzog (Parables as Subversive Speech, 143-44), suggests that the real issue was power not money. (If the slave even had a small percentage left of the 10,000 talents, he would not have needed the small amount the other slaved owed him.) This first slave, by begging for pity from the king, had become vulnerable… He had no power or authority when standing there, deep in debt before the king. He regains power by demanding repayment from the fellow-slave and imprisonment when he cannot pay. He will not give up this power over others. BRIAN STOFFREGEN, CROSSMARKS]

[CAPON-(p.196) “…thinks his master is responding to his ridiculous offer of repayment…he has…not a shred of the notion of grace in his own mind.”

“In heaven, there are only forgiven sinners. There are no good guys…in hell, too, there are only forgiven sinners…the difference between heaven and hell …the forgiveness is accepted and passed along. In hell it is rejected and blocked.” P. 199
THIS IS A PARABLE ABOUT THE PRIORITY OF FORGIVENESS… not about punishment. (Jonathan+)

The kingdom of God is defined by radical forgiveness, by splagchnizomai and  aphiemi, vulnerability and love, not power and punishment. Of course it is possible to exclude oneself from such a kingdom. Matthew is concerned to emphasize our accountability to Jesus’ exalted teaching, and the consequences of presuming upon the divine mercy.