Orthodox Sermons & Articles

         As a basis for His parables, Jesus used examples from life of an average Israelite. As illustrated in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus uses the very common example of borrowing money and returning it to the lender. In poor countries it often happens that the one who borrowed money cannot return it back on time. This was also a common problem in Judea in time of Jesus.  Everyone could easily picture this situation in his or her minds; therefore the parable was easy to understand. 

 

The Lord stated: “The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king who desired to settle accounts with his servants”.  And as we heard, the king was merciful to his servants because he forgave the debt of one of them. But notice, please, that there was no forgiveness until the man asked the king to be merciful to him. This is the law of forgiveness: if you do not recognize yourself as a sinner, you will not ask for forgiveness; if you do not ask for forgiveness, you will not receive it. Unfortunately, there are many people who believe we do not have to ask God for forgiveness because as God is all merciful he will automatically forgive us.  All we have to do just to praise the Lord. But looking at this teaching through prism of today’s Gospel reading we should realize that before the man asked his king to forgive him, the king had already ordered the servants punishment; “his master offered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all he had.” So, this shows us that if there is no asking for forgiveness, then we are in slavery. If we do not ask for forgiveness, we are slaves of our own sins and passions; we sell ourselves to sin and to evil. 

 

But look at what happened next. “But the servant fell down and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will pay you all.’ And moved with compassion, the master of that servant released him, and forgave him the debt.” So Jesus Christ shows that the servant did not have to pay his debt back; his debt was forgiven him. He asked for more time to pay his debt, but the king forgave him the entire debt! He was free to go! No questions were asked, no settlements to sign! This is going to happen to each one of us, dear brothers and sisters. We have to ask for forgiveness in order to be forgiven. Forgiveness is not something we can obtain without us working on it, and today’s Gospel is a perfect illustration of this. So, if somebody tells you we are forgiven without asking for forgiveness, I recommend that you closely read today’s passage from the Holy Scripture. 

 

Jesus Christ tells us even more through today’s Gospel. In His parable the Lord shows another aspect of humanity that differs from the king’s mercy – specifically the servant’s unwillingness to forgive. Immediately after being forgiven, the servant assumed the position of a master when he asked his friend to return a debt that he was owed. Jesus uses the same words in describing the second conversation between the servant and his friend. “Have patience with me and I will pay you all” his fellow-servant began to ask him. But there was no mercy in him who was previously mercifully forgiven by the king. He takes his friend into custody and throws him into prison until the debt is returned. 

 

So, dear brothers and sisters, in the first part of today’s Gospel we heard about mercifulness and forgiveness of the king and in the second part we hear a completely opposite story about how the servant deals with his friend. This parable is about our relationship with God and with our fellow-men or friends. We learn that God is merciful and does not remember our debts (sins) if we ask Him to forgive us, but we further learn that we who have much less to forgive than God often are unwilling to forgive the much smaller debts of our friends. Can you see the difference? God is merciful but we are not. We often cannot forgive our friends for their debts or their transgressions against us. Jesus Christ knew this very well because He lived among us and was one of us. He told this parable to people because He wanted to pour the light of truth on our dark human nature; He wanted to open our eyes to show us that we cheat ourselves if we cannot forgive one other. 

 

The final part of the Gospel reading relates the righteous judgment. When the king heard about what his servant has done to his friend, he call him back and immediately punished him. “Wicked servant, I forgave you all the debt, because you begged me. Should not you also have had pity on your fellow-servant, even as I had pity on you?” What a judgment! The king is righteous. God is a righteous Judge! 

 

And Jesus finished His parable, “And his master, being angry, handed him over to the torturers until he would pay all that was due to him. So also my Heavenly Father will do to you, if you do not each forgive your brothers from your hearts.” There is nothing to add; everything is clear. If we choose not to forgive then nobody will forgive us. If we refuse to forgive, then the righteous judgment is waiting for us. 

 

Jesus mentioned that the servant had to stay in the prison until he paid his debt. But it is impossible to be in prison and to earn money at the same time. So, the result is that the servant will stay there forever! We will stay in spiritual prison forever if we are unwilling to forgive, dear brothers and sisters.  In the Lord’s Prayer we ask Him to forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. We ask our Heavenly Father to treat us in the same way that we treat our brothers and sisters and other people of this world. So, let’s be vigilant! Let’s look after our souls so that they will inherit eternal life not an eternal prison! Let’s forgive each other and be saved! May the merciful Lord give us strength to forgive and may He grant us forgiveness. Amen.