Mat 18:28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took [him] by the throat, saying, Pay me what you owe.

In this part of the story, the servant (slave) become the master, "controlling" his debtor. Again, we are following the Lord's Prayer, seeing what happens when we are given freedom, but we do not allow others freedom.

Thinking about this verse in the night, I realized that there is another translation possible for the Lord's Prayer, which renders the kingdom of heaven as the realm of knowledge. Remember, this parable is one of the many defining the kingdom of heaven. As the realm of knowledge, the kingdom of heaven it the tiny seed that grows, the net that captures bad and good fish (ideas) and castes away the bad, the yeast that works its way all the way through the bread. This is important because "bread" is a key symbol in Christ's system. It is the bread that become flesh. On one level, the body that become relationships, but on another, the information that becomes the body.

This parable equates money with knowledge. This works perfectly because all of Christ's other parables and symbols put money into the mental realm.

Using this definition, Christ is saying that we get our knowledge from God, and this a debt that we can never repay. He frees us from this debt because our freedom is necessary to pursue knowledge. Our knowlege gives us power and control over others. However we must give others the freedom from our power and knowledge so that they are also free to pursue the kingdom.


"Owed" and "owest" is from opheilô, which means "to owe," "to have to pay," and "to account for."

"Laid hands on" is from krateô, which means "rule," "hold sway," "conquer," "prevail," "lay hold of," "secure," "control," and "command."

"Took him by the throat" is from pnigô, which means "to choke,""to strangle," and "to drown."