The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant—A Walk-through

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant is found in the New Testament, recorded in Matthew 18:21-35. Jesus tells this metaphorical scenario to His disciples to teach them about forgiveness and mercy—as well as about anger, selfishness, and our human tendency toward double standards.

But it also calls attention to our relationship with God, reminding us of His perfect, benevolent justice and mercy.

Jesus frequently talked about forgiveness and mercy during His ministry on earth…probably because those are values we humans have such a hard time balancing between knowing them and actually practicing them.

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant is one of these stories. And it’s bound to stir an emotional reaction in us as we read about a forgiven man who refuses to pay this mercy forward. Clearly, this illustration is still alive with lessons of emotional and spiritual healing for us today.

So let’s break this down:

• What happens in the story?
• What prompted Jesus to tell this story?
• What principles was Jesus illustrating for His disciples?
• What can this story mean for us today?

Let’s start with a quick summary.

What happens in the parable of the unforgiving servant?

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A servant owes a king ten thousand talents—so much money that he couldn’t possibly repay it in a lifetime. Back then, it was the equivalent of twenty years’ worth of wages (about $6 billion dollars today).¹ It’s so much that the king demands the servant not only sell everything he has to go toward the debt, but also sell himself and his whole family into servitude (which was not an uncommon custom for repaying debts).

Knowing he doesn’t have enough to repay the king, the servant begs for more time. But the king does even more for him than that. He has compassion for the servant and forgives his entire debt.

Then that same servant, now free of debt, finds someone who owes him money—one hundred denarii. This is about $12,000 in today’s terms,² so still a lot of money but far less than the first servant’s debt to the king. He also begs for more time…and here’s where the debt-free servant earns the “unforgiving” title. He gets angry with his fellow servant, attacks him, and has him arrested.

Other servants witness this and report it to the king, so the king calls the unforgiving servant to come back. The king is appalled, deeply disappointed that this servant didn’t treat his peer with the same compassion shown to him.

So the king throws the unforgiving servant in jail until he can repay his debt. And the story ends there.

Now why would Jesus use a story filled with so much stress (can you imagine owing someone that much money, or having your family face bonded servitude?) to make a point? And what is the point, exactly?

Let’s unpack this further.

Why did Jesus tell the parable of the unforgiving servant?

Jesus tells the parable of the unforgiving servant as a way to illustrate the level of forgiveness a follower of Christ should show others, which is directly related to God’s unconditional willingness to forgive us when we ask.

But sometimes, considering the inverse of an ideal can be more memorable. It often stirs up our emotions when we hear something that bumps up against our personal codes of ethics. More of the brain is active, so it’s more likely to be remembered.

So, to make this concept stick, Jesus doesn’t present the debt-laden servant as an example of what to do, but what not to do.

(Because doesn’t it make you feel a jolt of anger when reading about what the guy does to his fellow servant after being freed from his enormous debt?)

At this point in His ministry, Jesus was teaching the disciples how to live like Him and love like Him. How to earnestly reflect God’s character. And He approached this from many different angles:

• Respecting the culture they live in (Matthew 17:24-27)
• The curious nature of children, and how that innocent, sincere curiosity is encouraged in God’s kingdom (18:2-5).
• Not leading others into sinful temptation (verses 6-7)
• Earnestly looking for people to add to God’s family (verses 10-14)

He even lays out a blueprint for how to resolve conflict in verse 17.

All of these lessons aren’t just about changes in behavior. More importantly, they’re about where those changes come from and how they affect our relationships. They’re about nurturing an intentional mindset to live for God, and how the evidence of that will naturally show through our habitual actions.

So when Peter asks Him, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?” (Matthew 18:21, CSB), Jesus answers with this story, pointing not just to behavior, but to the heart.

It’s a good question, actually. We can’t fault Peter for asking it. How often should we forgive someone who does us wrong?

Peter guesses seven times. The biblical scholars of the time taught that three times was the magic number,³ so Peter probably thought he was being generous by more than doubling it.

But Jesus responds to Peter’s question with an astounding number.

“‘I tell you, not as many as seven,’ Jesus replied, ‘but seventy times seven’” (Matthew 18:22, CSB).

Seventy times seven?! That seems like a ridiculous number, and that’s exactly the point. Jesus wants us to forgive a ridiculous number of times, far more than what would seem to make sense in human terms. So it’s not about a quantifiable “number” at all.

So the point, really, is to just keep forgiving.

Jesus knows His answer is surprising to them, so he tells the parable of the unforgiving servant to explain.

What lessons was Jesus teaching with this story?

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Jesus told the parable of the unforgiving servant as a warning: a lack of forgiveness to one another can put a rift in our relationships with God.

Clinton Wahlen, PhD, of the Biblical Research Institute, sums up the purpose of the story:

“As is often seen in Jesus’ parables, the point is brought home by way of contrast: the abundant forgiveness of a debt impossible to pay with the petty demand of a small debt and refusal to forgive.”⁴

The parable illustrates a fundamental Christian principle that forgiveness is the undercurrent of our relationship with God and our relationship with others. We can choose to swim in that current, or we can choose to fight against it.

More specifically, the characters in the story represent:

• God and His love and mercy
• Humans and our sinful nature
• And, at the same time, those around us—our community

The king in the story represents God. He is master over many servants, just like God is a God for everyone, and in His perfect kingdom, we all serve Him by serving others.

The king’s seat is a seat of power, so he has the authority to demand whatever he wants from his subjects or servants. His position is defined by that degree of sovereignty.

Thankfully, God is a God of love and not a tyrant. So when the king forgives the servant’s insurmountable debt, it represents God’s forgiveness, which is fueled by His love and mercy.

The king could have thrown the unforgiving servant into prison immediately, or demanded that he make due on selling everything he had, including his family. He could have executed him if he’d wanted.

But instead, he “was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt” (Matthew 18:27, NKJV).

What an incredible act of mercy! By the books, the servant deserved that consequence. But the king showed him love instead.

This is exactly what God did for us when He sent Jesus to die on the Cross for us. Jesus took the consequence we deserve because of our unpayable sin debt. All so that we could instead “have life and have it in abundance” (John 10:10, CSB).

Some of us may have experienced great acts of mercy, say, with student loan forgiveness or some other large debt being cancelled or paid off by someone else. The debt was probably way more than you could handle, yet the entire thing was forgiven because you asked for it (and probably filled out some paperwork, of course). Or maybe it was forgiven for an unknown reason, or even forgotten because of someone’s mercy toward you.

God is eager to do the same for us every day. Forgiving us gives Him joy because it’s another way to express His love for us, making it possible for the relationship with Him to continue and grow.

The unforgiving servant symbolizes how each of us has the capacity to be unmerciful. The massive debt he owed reminds us of the incredible debt of sin that entered humanity through Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). Sin became part of the human condition from that point on, and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23, ESV).

And sin can’t just be “fixed” in a transactional way. It’s a destructive corruption that spreads, and that’s why it creates a debt that’s impossible to pay off. Sin naturally leads to death, and it’s only through God’s forgiveness that we can find salvation.

James 1:14-15 gives us insight into how sin works:

“But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death” (CSB).

It’s an unsettling thought, but God always gives us choices. The parable of the unforgiving servant depicts His love for us through cancelling a large debt, and it depicts the consequences of poor choices in response to that.

When the unforgiving servant doesn’t forgive a smaller debt than the king had forgiven of him, he doesn’t stop there. He goes into a rage. “He grabbed [the fellow servant], started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’” (Matthew 18:28, CSB).

He shows zero mercy to his fellow servant. Some scholars even call him the “unmerciful servant” because he doesn’t just refuse to forgive—he gets violent and throws his fellow servant into prison (verse 30). He becomes so enraged that he doesn’t even try to hide his abuse. He does all of this in the presence of other servants, or his community.

Instead of sitting on their hands and letting the injustice continue, the other servants report everything they see.

“When the other servants saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened” (verse 31, CSB).

Wouldn’t it be upsetting to witness something that? Though, it also might feel a little uncomfortable because the other servants might seem like “snitches.” And in many cultures, snitching is a horrible thing to do because it’s interpreted as being disloyal.

But in this case, it’s an important reminder that sometimes “telling” on someone can be an act of love. “Tattling” is supposed to refer to reporting petty grievances. But speaking out against oppression is different. It’s speaking up for someone who can’t speak up for themselves when they’re mistreated, and it takes courage and strength. The fellow servants in this parable demonstrate that.

And due to this report, the king summons the unforgiving servant. The judgment he previously avoided when he humbled himself before the king is now his sentence for his actions against another.

“‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed” (verses 32-34, CSB).

Compassion is meant to be paid forward. By refusing to do that, the unforgiving servant revealed the true condition of his heart. He had just been freed from debt. He no longer even needed the money his fellow servant owed him! So his loyalty to sin over love resulted in imprisonment.

And in this, Jesus’ point becomes quite clear. Since we have been forgiven much, the most loving response is to also forgive much.

When we forgive more than what seems necessary, it’s a manifestation of God’s love and mercy. It goes against our self-preserving human nature, so we can’t take credit for it. Instead, it can indicate that we’ve truly accepted our own continual need for God’s forgiveness, and we allow His love to reflect through us.

“He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world” (1 John 2:2, CSB).

But even so, we can (and will) still fail at forgiveness and showing mercy. And He still forgives us when we fall short of His standard.

“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14, ESV).

When Peter suggests that we should forgive someone seven times (verse 21), he actually gives a better answer than the religious leaders would have given.

Likely based on Job 33:29 and Amos 1:3, Judaism taught to forgive someone three times.⁵ So Peter offering seven times is a good answer, but it’s still not the right answer because the right answer isn’t a number—the point Jesus made when He suggested 490.

Using an exact number encourages keeping track of every time you forgive, which ultimately defeats the purpose.

When we acknowledge and confess our mistakes, Christ always forgives⁶, so we should always forgive others. Our forgiveness should never run out because forgiving others is one powerful way we show Jesus that we love Him and appreciate His forgiveness in our own lives.

From the outside looking in, it’s easy to see that being forgiven an unpayable debt and then not forgiving someone who owes way less is pretty hypocritical and problematic.

But when we’re the ones who have the power and are owed, it gets a bit more complicated. How can the parable of the unforgiving servant help us?

What the parable of the unforgiving servant means for us today

The unforgiving servant is asked a powerful question at the end of the parable: “Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” (verse 33).

Jesus doesn’t say it explicitly, but the answer is obvious: yes. We should have mercy on others because of the great mercy God has shown us.

And forgiving others comes with other benefits, too.

Forgiveness heals us

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Forgiving seventy times seven, or infinitely, isn’t just a spiritual practice. It’s also a scientifically proven healthy habit.

Director of the Mood Disorders Adult Consultation Clinic at Johns Hopkins, Karen Swartz, MD, says that the more anger, resentment, and hostility we hold, the higher our chances of developing depression, heart disease, diabetes, and other unhealthy conditions.

Because forgiveness is “an active process in which you make a conscious decision to let go of negative feelings, whether the person deserves it or not,” our capacity for compassion and empathy increases when we forgive.⁷

In other words, not forgiving someone can actually start to feel like an emotional prison. It can lead to bitterness, resentment, and deep anger that we carry around (rather than the person who wronged us). So who’s really being punished when we choose not to forgive?

God, the creator of all things, included in His creation a scientific link between forgiveness and being able to regulate our own nervous systems as we reflect His character and strengthen our relationships.

Forgiveness is like handing over to God the burden of judgment against someone. When we do that, we’re free to love people as Jesus loves us, and that contributes to spiritual, mental, emotional, and even physical health.

It’s also important to remember that forgiving someone doesn’t mean we have to tolerate abuse or injustice. Forgiveness can lead to a restored relationship, sure, but sometimes relationships that aren’t healthy need boundaries to be put in place. But even so, forgiveness can still be part of that process, so that everyone can walk away with the best chance of a healthier self.

It may not feel natural or automatic to forgive at first, and that’s okay! The Holy Spirit is here to help us forgive, especially when it’s really difficult (Romans 8:26).

Being forgiven (justified) while we are learning to forgive others (sanctified) is an intimate part of being changed into the image of God (1 Corinthians 6:11).

Forgiveness spreads

When we forgive, we are encouraged to forgive again. And when we accept forgiveness from someone else—whether we deserve it or not—it softens our hearts towards others.

Mercy spreads. It’s infectious. It’s often difficult to keep from paying it forward.

It’s sort of like going to a drive-thru and paying for the car behind you, too. That person might also pay for the car behind them, so on and so forth, creating a chain of kindness.

Being hit with an unexpected act of kindness and mercy softens our hearts and often inspires us to share it with someone else.

David talks about this effect of forgiveness when he says, “How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!” (Psalm 32:1, CSB).

Giving and receiving forgiveness can be really tough. But it’s also an opportunity to be an active participant in the culture of Christ. The more forgiveness we accept, the more we’re encouraged to give that same forgiveness to others and spread mercy and grace throughout God’s family.

Forgiveness brings us closer to God

We don’t often think of it this way, but forgiveness can start to create a new culture in our minds. One that’s based on who God is rather than how others treat us.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean never being hurt again. But having a culture of forgiveness in your mind can mean you respond to hurt or betrayal differently.⁸

For the Christian, that can mean leaning more on Christ than on the strong emotions that come along with pain.

This doesn’t mean ignoring emotional pain or injustice. Instead, let those things take their proper place—behind Christ—and let Christ take His—in front of everything else. He can help us with the anger and pain we feel. When we make it a habit of going to Him first, that only brings us closer to Him.

“For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses” (Matthew 6:14-15, CSB).

 

“And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:25, ESV).

At first glance, these verses seem a bit harsh, or even like an ultimatum. But if we take a step back, we’ll see that it’s really like a cheat code for intimacy with God. He wants to be close to us, and these verses tell us how to do that. Just like the parable of the unforgiving servant shows us how to create distance between us and God—by being unforgiving.

If our own debt is lessened or forgiven altogether and we refuse to lessen or forgive others’ debts, that’s a pretty good sign that there’s a disconnect between us and God. Something needs attention. More often than not, pain is getting in the way, causing misalignment with His love, which He expresses through mercy and forgiveness.

A persistent, unforgiving spirit, like we see in the story, is a sign of a hard heart that ultimately rejects God’s grace. It’s like building a wall to shut out the influence of God’s love, refusing to let it soften us.

But we have a choice. We can choose forgiveness and a close relationship with God over being unforgiving. Jesus told this story so we can recognize what’s really at stake when His grace is ignored or misused.

“And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ” (Ephesians 4:32, CSB).

Want to keep learning about the power of forgiveness?

1. Wilkins, Michael J. “Notes on Matthew,” ESV Study Bible, pg. 1859. [↵]
2. Ibid. [↵]
3. Ibid. [↵]
4. Wahlen, Clinton, PhD. “Lessons from Matthew 18,” Biblical Research Institute. [↵]
5. Wilkins, Michael J. “Notes on Matthew,” ESV Study Bible, p. 1859. [↵]
6. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, ESV). [↵]
7. “Forgiveness: Your Health Depends On It,” Johns Hopkins Medicine. [↵]
8. Simon-Thomas, Emiliana R. “How Forgiveness Changes You and Your Brain,” Greater Good Magazine, 2025. [↵]

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