Commentaries:
"The kingdom of heaven" represents God's government, including His church, so God deals with church members as this king with his servants. The debt of the king's servant was an enormous sum. A talent was a denomination of money, or weight of silver or gold, equaling three thousand shekels. By Roman calculation, if this talent were of silver, then ten thousand talents would be equivalent to several million of today's dollars. By Jewish calculation, ten thousand talents would equal three times more, probably over ten million dollars. If this talent were of gold, ten thousand talents would amount to about fifty times more than the silver talent! Nevertheless, Jesus uses this amount to show that the debt—sin—was immense and humanly unpayable. To us, and those we touch, the impact of our sins is immeasurable, but Jesus' sacrifice is greater, covering all sins.
Martin G. Collins
Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
This servant owed the king 10,000 talents—an immense and practically uncollectible amount, likely in the millions of dollars or beyond in today's value—which we might liken to the enormous and unpayable debt that we, as servants before our eternal King, have accrued.
Whenever we sin, even after we are converted, we come under the death penalty until we repent. Upon our repentance, we receive forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ, and the death penalty is removed. The atoning blood of Christ is a very precious commodity—capable of paying for all the sins of humanity.
Such forgiveness is the reason we need to find and maintain the proper perspective regarding the enormous price continuously being paid—the colossal debt being forgiven—on our behalf.
Austin Del Castillo
The Prisoner
Peter asks in verse 21, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” He probably thought seven times was extremely magnanimous and merciful, as his figure was well beyond the three times rabbis taught was sufficient. Yet, Jesus demolishes His disciple's reasoning, answering, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” Effectively, He teaches there is no limit to how often we should forgive a brother for trespasses against us.
The parable supplies the reason for Christ's insistence in His Model Prayer that we always forgive: The Father, seen in the character of the king who remits the ten-thousand-talent debt, has shown us boundless compassion by forgiving us of our many egregious sins against Him. He asks the unforgiving servant, who would not pardon a coworker's pittance of a debt, “Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” (verse 33). In the next verse, Jesus says the one who would not forgive was “delivered . . . to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him”—the entire ten thousand talents!
Jesus grimly summarizes His point in verse 35: “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” God is serious about His people forgiving one another. It is a necessary first step to restoring harmonious relationships and living in peace. It is an act of love toward our neighbor that reflects the outgoing concern of God Himself toward us, a necessary component of the godly character He is creating in us.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Model Prayer (Part Seven): Forgive Us Our Debts
Jesus, really wanting to drive home the importance of being forgiving (Matthew 18:21), tells the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. The story relates how a king, settling accounts with his servants, finds that one owed him 10,000 talents. Barnes' Notes, written in the late 1800s, estimates the value at $15.8 million! Christ's point, of course, is that no one could ever repay this huge amount. Spiritually, we owe Him far more than we could ever repay.
Normally, the servant would be cast into prison and his family sold into slavery until all was paid. But when the servant entreated the king to have mercy on him, the king, "moved with compassion," forgave the entire debt!
The forgiven servant then found one who owed him 100 denarii or about $15. This petty debtor begged for additional time to pay off the debt, but the servant, without mercy, had him jailed until all was paid. The king's other servants heard of this and told the king.
We can learn several lessons from this parable:
1. Our sins are very great.
2. God has forgiven them all.
3. By comparison to the offenses we have committed against God, our brethren's offenses against us are small.
4. We should be so appreciative of being forgiven that we freely forgive others.
5. We must forgive from the heart, not merely in words. When we truly forgive from the heart, it is as if no offense had ever occurred.
6. If we do not forgive, God is justified in not forgiving us.
John O. Reid
Forgiveness
Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Matthew 18:23:
Matthew 6:11-15
Matthew 14:14
Mark 6:34
John 13:14
