The Unjust Steward, the Unforgiving Servant, and the Kingdom of Heaven
A Homily by Deacon Tracy Jamison, OCDS, PhD
The parable unjust steward in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 16, is difficult to understand, or is it? The point it makes is very clear. As disciples of Christ and children of light, we must be willing to forgive debts. We must be willing to reduce or even to forgive what people owe us when they are unable to pay us back in full. If even worldly people, as children of darkness, like the unjust steward, are willing to forgive debts for the sake of a temporal good, like winning the favor of their peers, then how much more should the people of God, as children of light, be willing to forgive debts for the sake of an eternal good, like the everlasting happiness of heaven?
There are real conditions under which it is prudent to forgive debts and to practice mercy, and as disciples of Christ we above all satisfy those conditions, because we have asked the forgiveness of our debts, and Christ has paid our debts for us. Thus Christ taught us to pray, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” But do we forgive our debtors, or do we insist that they pay us what they owe us? If we insist that people pay us what they owe us, then we are inconsistent in our values and principles, we are not practicing what we preach, and we are disciples of Mammon, not disciples of Christ. To be a Christian is to be detached from money and the goods of this world, because we recognize that God has had mercy on us, and that Christ has paid all our debts on the Cross. The point of the parable of the unjust steward is the same as that of the parable of the unforgiving servant in the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus said to his disciples:
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to reconcile all accounts with his servants. When he had begun, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And because this servant couldn’t pay, the king commanded that he be sold into slavery, along with his wife and children and all his possessions, so that the debt could be paid. The servant fell down and knelt before him, begging for mercy, “Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you the debt in full!” And the king, being moved with compassion, released him and forgave his debt. But then that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him only one hundred denarii, and he grabbed him and took him by the throat, demanding, “Pay me what you owe!” And that fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged for mercy, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will repay you the debt in full!” But the servant of the king had no compassion and went and cast his fellow servant into prison, until he should pay back that which was due. So when the other servants saw what he had done, they were exceedingly dismayed by his inconsistency and went and told the king about it. Then the king called in that servant and said to him, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all the debt that you owed me, because you begged for mercy. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?” The king was angry, and so delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay back all that was due. So will my heavenly Father also do to each of you, if you don’t forgive your brother from your heart for his misdeeds. (Matthew 18:21-35)
In order to be a true child of God and disciple of Christ, forgiveness of others is essential, and unforgiveness is not an option. If we do not forgive our debtors, then God will not forgive our debts. If we do not have mercy and compassion on others, then God will not have mercy and compassion on us. Our judgment of others is the standard by which God will judge us.
In the end we will be judged by the standard of love, but what exactly does that mean? According to Jesus, it means that the measure that we measured with will be measured back to us. God will reward or punish us in proportion to the degree that we have practiced mercy and forgiven the debts of others. It is prudent, then, for us to be charitable. It is imprudent to be uncharitable and to have no compassion. Are we taking this warning seriously? Will God not forgive us? What is the worst that could happen? Well, consider what else Jesus said about the final judgment:
The King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, and receive your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you fed me; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you welcomed me; I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me; I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will ask him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?” The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Then the King will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you did not welcome me; I was naked and you did not clothe me; I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.” They also will ask him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not help you?” He will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did not do for me.” Then those on his left will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous will go to eternal life. (Matthew 25:31-46)
The teaching of Christ is very clear and not difficult to figure out. The real question is simply whether we are going to practice it. In everything that we do or fail to do for our brothers and sisters, we are determining our own eternal reward or punishment. The corporal and spiritual works of mercy are essential, not an option.
And now I must tell you a sad story.
Joe died and went up to the Pearly Gates and was greeted by St Peter. St Peter took his name and information and then checked the list.
“I’m sorry, Joe,” St Peter said sadly, “Your name is not on the list.”
“What do you mean?” Joe asked. “Don’t you see that I was Baptized and Confirmed, that I believed the Gospel, that I went to Confession and received Holy Communion frequently, and that I asked for the Anointing of the Sick and Viaticum before I died?”
“Hmm…yes, I see that,” St Peter said. “It’s rather puzzling. But what about the charity requirement? Did you meet the charity requirement?”
“The charity requirement?” Joe asked. “What’s that?”
“Well, you know, did you feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, visit those in prison, and forgive those who trespassed against you, like Jesus commanded us to do?”
Joe thought about this for a moment. Then he said, “Hey, I gave some money to the missionary at our Lenten mission before I died, doesn’t that count?”
“O yes, indeed,” said St Peter. “That’s very good. Let’s check the charity records.”
Then St Peter turned around and called to St Michael the Archangel in the back, “Joe says he gave money at their Lenten mission before he died.”
“Yes,” St Michael said. “The charity records do show that. But they also say that he only gave one dollar, and that he really never did anything else to meet the requirement.”
St Peter looked even more puzzled and then called back to St Michael again, “Well, then, what should we do with him?”
And the last thing that Joe heard at the Pearly Gates was the voice of St Michael calling out, “Just give him his dollar, and tell him to go to hell!”
May the Lord have mercy on us and help us to be charitable, before it is too late.
About Deacon Tracy Jamison, OCDS, PhD
Deacon Tracy Jamison was raised in a Christian family as the son of a Scotch-Irish evangelical minister in the Campbellite tradition. As an undergraduate he majored in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Cincinnati Christian University, where his parents had been educated. At this institution he met Joyce, who was completing a degree in Church Music, and after graduation they entered the covenant of Christian marriage in 1988. Through the study of philosophy and the writings of the Early Church Fathers, Tracy was received into the full communion of the Catholic Church in 1992. Under the influence of the theological writings of St. John Paul II he began to study the works of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross and entered formation as a Secular Carmelite of the Teresian Reform. In 1999 he completed the doctoral program in Philosophy at the University of Cincinnati, and in 2002 he made his definitive profession as a Secular Carmelite. In 2010 he was ordained as a permanent deacon of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Currently he is an associate professor of philosophy at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West.
© 2025, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.
One great devo on forgiveness. A lot to take to heart & ponder on & much needed. Thanks for sharing!