In order for Jesus to help Peter fully understand what he was saying, Jesus told a parable about a servant who owed his master 10,000 talents. That debt amounted to fifteen years of a labor's wage. The servant could not pay it, so his master forgave the debt.

The servant, in turn, went to a man who owed him a hundred denarii, which was about a day's wages. The man could not pay, so the servant had the man put into jail. When the master heard about it he was furious, and he had the slave tortured.

Jesus' point in this parable is clear. The master is God, and we are the servants. God has forgiven us, so the least we can do is forgive one another. We are forgiven to forgive.