Bible Question (short): Who are the characters in Matt 18:23-35? |
Question (full): My question is about the characters in the story of the unmerciful servant that begins at Matthew 18:23. I am not clear on how many authority figures there are in the story. There is mention of a "king", a "master", and a "servant's master". Is this one person, or two, or three? Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a king settling accounts. A man with a large debt is brought to the king, but after that, the king is no longer mentioned. The rest of the parable tells of the "master" and the "servant's master". The servant begs "the master" for mercy, and the "servant's master" cancels the debt. But if the debt was owed to the king, how can the servant's master cancel it? Alternately, if the servant's master was the actual person who owed the money to the king, how could the servant's master cancel the debt? Is there some cultural context that could help me to understand this parable? |