Audio Download

Matthew 18:18–35 The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

[Study Aired August 25, 2025]

Today’s study is mainly centered on the parable of the unforgiving servant. We shall therefore take a look at what the Lord is telling us spiritually about this parable. 

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 

We shall also look at the issue of binding and loosing here on earth and what it means to agree on earth about anything that we ask.  

What We Bind Here on Earth

Mat 18:18  Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 

Here in this verse, the wording seems to suggest that what we bind or loose here on earth is replicated in heaven. In other words, what we disallow or permit here on earth, is what is replicated in Heaven. This is an error and does not reflect the sum of the Lord’s words. Fortunately, there are a few Bibles which have translated correctly verse 18 correctly to show that it is what is disallowed or permitted in heaven first, that we also disallow or permit here on earth. 

Mat 18:18 Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on the earth will be, having been bound in Heaven. And whatever you loose on the earth will be, having been loosed in Heaven. (LITV)

In Matthew 16:19, we are given additional information regarding binding and loosening here on earth. That is, we must first be given the keys of the kingdom of heaven before we can bind and loose. 

Mat 16:19  And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 

To be given the keys of the kingdom of heaven means being given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. In this age, it is the Lord’s elect who are favored by Him to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 

Coming back to verse 18, the question is “what does it mean to bind and loose here on earth? These keys of the kingdom of heaven are the same as the key of David, which is used to open and to shut the house of David. 

Rev 3:7  And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 

Isa 22:22  And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

The house of David is the house of Christ or the assembly of the Lord’s elect. In Revelation 3:8, we are told that to those who are faithful, the Lord has set before them an open door. We know that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and that no man can come to the Father except through Christ. Jesus Christ is therefore the open door to the house of David. 

Rev 3:8  I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.  

As He is, so are we. We, His elect, are therefore the way to Christ or the door to the house of David in this age. This implies that whosoever listens to us is loosed or freed in his or her heart and mind to know Christ, and whosoever refuses to hear us has the door of Christ shut before him. This is all predicated on the fact that Christ, who is in our heavens or our hearts and minds, has already permitted the person to know Him or shut the door to the person to know Him in this age. We know that those who have been called and chosen, that is, His elect, have already been chosen before the foundation of the world. 

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 

Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 

Mat 18:19  Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
Mat 18:20  For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” 

In verse 19, the Lord is showing us the importance of having one mind as His elect. The Lord wants us to have the same mind and the same judgment as His people.

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 

We know from the word of the Lord that He will only do what is in accordance with the purpose of His will. Therefore, in verse 19, the Lord saying that if two of His elect agree about anything they ask, it shall be done for them is to let us know that if we have the mind of Christ, then whatever we ask, we shall receive.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 

We must also understand that there is also the issue of timing. Although what we may ask is according to the will of the Lord, the timing must be right before what we ask materializes. We do not have our own timings. Our timings are in the hands of the Lord.

Psa 31:15  My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. 

Right at the beginning of the human race, the Lord demonstrated to us the power of having one mind through the building of the tower of Babel. Although this episode is a negative example of having one mind, we are given to know that if the people are one, there is nothing they cannot do. 

Gen 11:3  And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 
Gen 11:4  And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 
Gen 11:5  And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
Gen 11:6  And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
Gen 11:7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.  

On a positive note, if we, His elect, have the mind of Christ, there is nothing that can take us away from the love of Christ in this age.  

Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

We must understand that in a father-son relationship, love means obedience from the son. In the case of the father, love means providing as demonstrated by the following verses:

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Joh 14:15  “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.  

Thus, if Jesus is telling us that we shall not be separated from the love of Christ in this age, then it means that Jesus as our father will provide all that is necessary to bring us to an expected end. The expected end is our obedience to the very end. In this physical world, a wealthy father always wants an occasion to demonstrate His love to His children through giving. How much more is our Father in Heaven who has everything? We must therefore continue to ask until we have seen results because it pleases the Lord to give to us. The devil will always accuse us of always asking and not doing much to please the Lord. Let’s not listen to the voice of the evil one and continue to rely on the Lord since we can of ourselves do nothing. 

Joh 5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.  

This reminds me of a song we were singing when we were in the churches of this world which reflects our inability to do anything but to ask so that we receive.  

What shall I render to my God
For all His mercy’s store?
I’ll take the gifts He hath bestowed,
And humbly ask for more.

In verse 20, we must note that the two or three that are gathered represent His witnesses or His elect. When we were in Babylon, we often quoted this Bible verse to show us that the Lord is in our midst. However, this gathering of the two or three refers to the gathering of the Lord’s witnesses or His elect with Jesus in our midst and not our gathering in Babylon. 

2Co 13:1  This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. 

It is in our midst that we have one mind – the mind of Christ. The church system of this world is divided and therefore does not have one mind. 

1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 

It is in our gathering that the Lord has promised us that because He is in our midst, and that we have the mind of Christ, whatever we ask, we shall receive.

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

Mat 18:21  Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 
Mat 18:22  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. 

On the sermon of the mount at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, He had explicitly indicated that we should forgive one another. This might have weighed heavily on the mind of Peter when he asked the Lord how many times, he must forgive his brother who sins against him. Peter suggested whether seven times is enough to forgive his brother.

Mat 6:14  For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 
Mat 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 

In Jesus’ response, He told Peter that seven times was not enough but that he must forgive his brother seventy times seven. To understand what Peter said and Jesus’ response, we must apply the spiritual significance of numbers because every word of the Lord is spirit. 

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.  

The number seven means complete. Therefore, forgiving a brother seven times means that there is a limit to forgiving a brother while we live here on earth. However, in the case of Jesus’ response, there is no limit as long as we live in this tent of flesh. Jesus said that we must forgive our brother seventy times seven (70 x 7 = 10 x 7 x 7). The number ten is about our flesh, and as indicated the number 7 means complete. Since there are two sevens, we are here dealing with a witness or the Lord’s elect. Therefore, what Jesus is saying spiritually is that as long as we live in this tent of our flesh as His elect, we must continue to forgive those who sin against us.   

Mat 18:23  Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 
Mat 18:24  And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 

The word “therefore” show us that what follows the previous verses is an illustration of what it means to forgive seventy times seven. To understand what is said here in these verses, we need to know that the scriptures apply to us, His elect, first. In other words, what is said here in this parable is not talking about somebody else but you and me. The servants here represent us, the Lord’s elect. In verse 23, we are being reminded that as servants of the King, we are to give an account to Him in the fullness of time. The giving of an account here is not referring to the judgment of the human race at the end of the ages, since as the Lord’s elect, we are not going to be part of the second death – the judgment of the human race during the lake of fire age. The giving of an account is the time when Christ starts dragging us to Himself.

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.  

What the servant owed refers to our sins against the Lord. What verse 23 means is that as the Lord’s elect, at a certain stage of our walk in this life, the Lord will confront us with our sins. That is the time of reckoning in verse 24. The ten thousand (10,000 =10x10x10x10) talents that we owe the Lord therefore refers to our sins. Since there are four tens, it means that the every elect would be confronted by the Lord, when our sins are full. A talent is equal to 1152 ounces of gold or of silver.  The talents represent a tremendous sum of money which as servants, we cannot pay. In other words, no man can redeem himself or his brother or give God a ransom for his life. 

Psa 49:7  None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:
Psa 49:8 (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:) 

The justification for what is owed to the Lord as referring to sin is clearly shown in the following example given by Jesus:

Luk 7:40  And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. 
Luk 7:41  There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. 
Luk 7:42  And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? 
Luk 7:43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.

Mat 18:25  But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 
Mat 18:26  The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him,saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Mat 18:27  Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 

The fact that in the parable, the Lord of the servant ordered him to be sold together with his family and all that he had as payment to be made is to make us aware that the propitiation for our sins is at a great price. No man can do that except Jesus who sacrificed everything to become the propitiation for our sins. 

1Jn 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 

The servant falling down and worshiping the Lord and asking for patience for him to pay his debt is to show us that when Christ first came to us, we became aware of our sinful state, and our reaction was to start worshiping Him. Asking the Lord to be patient with us as we pay all that we owe means that in our carnal or baby state as the Lord’s elect, we thought we can work out our own salvation. This was what characterized our walk when we were in the churches of this world – we tried to establish our own righteousness which comes from the law of Moses. 

Rom 10:3  For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 

Gal 2:16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. 

The Lord in His mercy, forgave us our sins through the sacrificial offering of Himself for our sins when He came to drag us to Himself. It is therefore through the mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed. 

Lam 3:22  It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
Lam 3:23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 

The woman who came to Jesus and broke an alabaster box of perfume and wiped Jesus feet with it represents the church of the Lord’s elect. We were sinful to the core, but by the steadfast love of the Lord that never fails, His mercies which never come to an end, but are renewed every morning, we have been forgiven much. That is why we are given to love much. 

Luk 7:37  And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
Luk 7:38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. 

Luk 7:44  And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. 
Luk 7:45  Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. 
Luk 7:46  My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. 
Luk 7:47  Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. 
Luk 7:48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.  

Mat 18:28  But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 
Mat 18:29  And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 
Mat 18:30  And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 

Here in these verses, the servant could not forgive his fellow servant who has wronged him and therefore threw him into prison. This spiritually implies that after we have been set free by the Lord through His mercies, we go through the churches of this world and become worse off.

2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 
2Pe 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. 

Mat 18:31  So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 
Mat 18:32  Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 
Mat 18:33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? 

When we were ruled by our flesh, we were unforgiving, had no compassion and showed no pity in our dealings with our brothers and sisters. We knew that the Lord has been merciful to us but we did not have what it takes to reciprocate the loving gesture of the Lord. It was as if we have been given over to a reprobate mind and therefore did that which was not convenient. 

Rom 1:21  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 
Rom 1:22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 

Rom 1:25  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 

Rom 1:28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 
Rom 1:29  Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 
Rom 1:30  Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 
Rom 1:31 Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful

Mat 18:34  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 
Mat 18:35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses. 

God’s wrath is His holy, righteous, just anger against sin expressed by divine judgment against our old man or flesh.

Rom 2:5  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 
Rom 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds: 

In verse 34 therefore, the Lord being filled with wrath and delivering the servant to the tormentors is the Lord taking us through His fiery trials in this age through the devil and his agents (tormentors). The payment of all that is due to the Lord in verse 34 is the destruction of our old man or flesh in this age as the Lord’s elect. The rest of humanity shall be judged during the lake of fire age. Being handed over to the tormentors is the same as the man who defiled his father’s wife and was handed over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh. 

1Co 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. 
1Co 5:2  And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 
1Co 5:3  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 
1Co 5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
1Co 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 

The use of the word “likewise” in verse 35 is to show us that we are the man described here as the servant who was wicked to his fellow servant after the Lord has forgiven him his great debt and therefore deserved to be judged in this age by the Lord. 

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?  

May the Lord continue to uphold us in Him as we go through His fiery trials in this age. Amen!!