Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

A parable is any image or story taken from everyday life to instruct with hidden meaning. The word for parable came originally from the Hebrew word “Mashal.” When it was translated into Greek, it was written παραβολή (pronounced parabolē). This Greek word meant to “throw beside,” showing that parables throw a story alongside the truth, just using fake figures.

When a person hears the word “parable” they often automatically think of stories told by Jesus. Although Jesus did tell a lot of parables, he was not the only biblical figure to use parables. One example of an Old Testament figure telling a parable is the prophet Nathan’s parable to King David about the rich man seizing and killing the poor man’s sheep. 2 Samuel 12: 1-14. David gets very angry at the rich man and orders him killed before realizing the rich man is himself. The reasons Nathan used a parable are the same reasons Jesus used parables: discretion, to avoid defensiveness, and to stimulate deeper reflection. Parables are discreet because no one can get mad at the parable teller because even if he is talking about you, he doesn’t actually say your name, so you can remain anonymous. Parables avoid defensiveness because if you don’t think the parable is talking about you, you are more willing to listen and understand the wrongdoings in the parable, even if they are your own wrongdoings. Finally, they stimulate deeper reflection because they are stories, and while later remembering and thinking more about the enjoyable story, you can get more meaning from it. By using parables, Jesus helps us, his readers, understand his messages better.

Our parable is the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, found in Matthew 18:23-35. It is in the parable category of parables, so...

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... same thing that happened to the unmerciful servant in the parable will happen to us.

Today, we take this parable very lightly, as we have been brought up in a culture that forgives people’s faults easily. Most people think, “Yeah, I forgive everyone who harms me.” However, if you think about it, this just isn’t true, as everyone has a couple of people they hold a grudge against, and this parable is telling us to stop holding that grudge. Forgiving is a huge part of Christian teaching and should not be taken lightly.

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant is an important parable in terms of what Jesus was trying to teach us in the Gospels. Forgiving is one of the biggest and most important teachings of Christianity. Jesus could not have made the message of His parable clearer, that is: “As God has forgiven you, so should you also forgive others in the same way.”