Matthew 18:35

Jesus drew the crucial comparisons in applying the parable to His disciples. He pictured God as forgiving graciously yet punishing ruthlessly. God cannot forgive those who are devoid of compassion and mercy because He is so full of these qualities Himself. Jesus did not mean that people can earn God’s forgiveness by forgiving one another (cf. Matthew 6:12; Matthew 6:14-15). Those whom God has forgiven must forgive as God has forgiven them. This demonstrates true humility.

The idea of God delivering His servants, the disciples, over to endless torment has disturbed many readers of this parable. Some have concluded that Jesus meant a disciple can lose his salvation if he does not forgive. This makes salvation dependent on good works rather than belief in Jesus. Another possibility is that Jesus was using an impossible situation, endless torment, to warn His disciples. If the disciples knew it was an impossible situation, the warning would lose much of its force. Perhaps He meant that a disciple who does not genuinely forgive gives evidence that he or she has never really received God’s forgiveness. [Note: Pentecost, The Parables . . ., p. 67.] That person may be a disciple, but he or she is not a believer (cf. Judas Iscariot). However many genuine believers do not forgive their brethren as they should. Perhaps the punishment takes place in this life, not after death, and amounts to divine discipline (Matthew 18:14). [Note: Walvoord, Matthew: . . ., p. 140.] Another possibility is that Jesus had in mind a loss of eternal reward. Or perhaps this is simply another case of hyperbole to drive home a point.

Jesus concluded this discourse on humility, as He had begun it, with a reference to entering the kingdom (Matthew 18:3). Humility is necessary to enter the kingdom because it involves humbly receiving a gift of pardon from God (Matthew 18:27). However humility must continue to characterize the disciple. Not only must a disciple live before God as a humble child (Matthew 18:4). He or she must also be careful to avoid putting a stumbling block in the path of another disciple (Matthew 18:5-14). He or she must also humbly seek to restore a wayward fellow disciple (Matthew 18:15-20). Forgiving fellow disciples wholeheartedly and completely is likewise important for humble disciples (Matthew 18:21-35).

"His [Jesus’] message to the disciples is that loving concern for the neighbor and the spirit of forgiveness are to be the hallmarks of the community of believers in whose midst he, the Son of God, will ever be present." [Note: Kingsbury, Matthew as . . ., p. 79. Cf. Matthew 18:6; Matthew 18:10; Matthew 18:20-22.]