Matthew 18:35

THE UNMERCIFUL SERVANT

‘So likewise shall My heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.’

Matthew 18:35

There are moments in the earthly life of man when the awful question of the Judge shakes the spirit to its centre—moments when the King whom we have been forgetting will not be forgotten—when ‘He speaks and we must hear.’ It is of such a moment as this that the Saviour is speaking in the parable.

I. Taking account.—The King is taking account of His servant. ‘Taking account,’ and what account has he to give? The secrets of his heart are made manifest. The shortcomings of the Past, the weakness of the Present, seem to bind the Future in chains. And the chain with which he had bound himself had bound others also. Their life was darkened by the gloom which he had brought upon his own. No man can live to himself; no man can die to himself. For evil or for good you are leaving your mark upon the souls with whom you dwell. Out of the depths of the servant’s despair a ray of hope begins to shine. He falls down at his lord’s feet. His lord had compassion, and forgave him the debt.

II. Forgiven yet unforgiving.—He has been forgiven, as men count forgiveness. He goes on his way with the light of his lord’s forgiveness resting upon him. But does it rest within him? Has it entered into his heart, and lighted up the dark places of his spirit? Nay, even as he goes out from the presence of his lord, a moment of trial comes, which shows what is in his heart, and proves that there is no forgiveness there. The chains which had been loosened became firm once more, and all the burden of the Past rolled back upon His spirit. He had chosen darkness rather than the light, and the darkness wrapped him in its gloom. And in the darkness dwell ‘the tormentors.’

III. Forgiveness perfected.—Let us learn from the words of Jesus what our Father means by the forgiveness of sin. Let us learn that though His forgiveness stretches free and far throughout the world He made, though it be repeated seven times, yea seventy times seven, yet He counts not that it has had its perfect work, He counts not that it is forgiveness indeed, until it has gained the offender’s heart, until it has destroyed the root of sin, and planted the spirit of Love in its place. In judgment and in mercy, in tenderness and in wrath, His everlasting Love is still the same, still doing battle with the evil that is in man, still taking away the sins of the world.