I had a good response from my contemporary interpretation of the parable of the Good Samaritan, and so I thought the need for this kind of biblical study was enough that occasionally I would write up a modern interpretation of the original text. Understand that as I do this, my intention is not to replace the original message or to somehow say that my translation is superior. Instead, my intent is to take a passage that uses illustrations that will no longer make sense to most readers (as they are very tied to their cultural setting) and modernize them so that perhaps we can have a better understanding of what Jesus is asking us in these parables to do today. With that said, let's now look at my modernized translation of the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant which can be found in Matthew 18:21-35.
The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a lender who wanted to settle accounts with his borrowers. He brought in a man who still owed $200,000 on his home, even though his home was not even worth that amount any longer. Due to the recent decline in the economy, this man lost his job and was currently making slightly less than $20,000 a year at the only job he could find. He was behind on his payments and was facing foreclosure if he didn't pay $40,000 by next month. The lender called this man in and was told by this man that he didn't even have $4000 to give the lender. The lender, furious, called for the immediate foreclosure of this man's house and told him that if he didn't come up with the money in the next two weeks, he would take this man to court and seize all of his assets. The man immediately fell on the ground and begged, crying for a little more time, promising to pay the debt. The lender, having compassion on this man, forgave his entire debt and allowed the man to own the home outright.
This man left the lender feeling incredible relief and joy at having been forgiven such an incredible debt that would have been impossible for him to pay off in his own lifetime. This man also had a renter staying at his home who had been living there for the last two years and never missed a monthly rent payment until two months ago, right after he had lost his job. This man went directly to his renter and demanded that he pay him the two months rent. The renter pleaded with this man, asking for a couple more days to come up with the money. But the man immediately evicted his renter, called the creditors to seize the rent from his accounts, and got a restraining order so the renter could not come into the house to get his property.
When the man's forgiving lender found this out, he immediately called the man into his office. "I forgave you an impossible debt to repay," he exclaimed, "and yet you cannot even forgive a small debt? You will regret this." He immediately reissued the debt, tripling the interest rate and doubled the amount the man owed by next month. The lender also froze all of the man's assets until the debt could be fully repaid.
Jesus finishes up the parable by saying, "My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.” This parable teaches us that the debt (the sin) each of us are forgiven by Jesus, is greater than anyone of us can repay in a lifetime of effort. Nothing we can ever do can ever repay the debt we have incurred due to our sin. That is why Jesus died on the cross, providing the forgiveness of our debt. Therefore, it is wrong for us to be unforgiving of the sin of others. We should be forgiving of the sins of others because no sin anyone has committed is ever as great as the sin we are forgiven in our own lives. This should make us pause and think about what we are doing when we are judging another person of their sins. We are saying that since their minuscule sin should not be forgiven, then neither should our great sin. But since God is willing to forgive us of our own sin, we should be willing to forgive others of their sins.
Finally, this parable also teaches us that we are misinformed regarding the sin of others. Often we exaggerate the extent of others' sins, making them greater than they really are. Either that or we make something a sin that is not really a sin. For these reasons also, we need to be forgiving of the sins of others. Otherwise we risk losing the incredible forgiveness we are offered from Jesus. What you consider a sin, may not be considered so bad by God. So if you are met with someone who does drugs or drinks to excess, if you meet a homosexual or someone who has had an abortion, if you meet an illegal immigrant or someone who is covered in tattoos, treat them as Jesus has treated you, with the utmost of compassion, love, and forgiveness. That is what Jesus did.
Blessings,
-Brandon
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