Unforgiving Servant

[Jesus said] Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants…one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents…he could not pay…the servant fell on his knees, imploring him…out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt…

Matthew 18:23-35

Today, we look at a very familiar parable Jesus told of the unforgiving servant. Jesus told of a king who decided to “settle accounts” with those who served the king and owed the king money. One servant owed the king an enormous amount of money, ten thousand talents. A talent, in Jesus day, would be about a full year’s labor for a person. So, this individual owed the equivalent of 10,000 years’ labor to his king. Jesus was making the point that this man had no way of repaying the debt he owed to his king. Wisdom is given right here in that every human has a sin debt to God Almighty so enormous that it cannot be repaid! Jesus continues, in His parable, saying the man begged the king to give him more time to repay his debt and, to not send he and his family to prison for the tormentors to extract “payment” from them. Surprisingly, the king forgives the man and “writes off” the debt from his books. Here, we are given more Godly wisdom. In salvation, God works in the sinner to make him willing to become saved, without any coercion, and God forgives the eternal debt the sinner owed to him. What an amazing God we worship! The God who made all humanity has chosen to forgive our “debt” to Him through the works of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. Jesus goes further, now, in His parable, telling of the man, forgiven of his enormous debt by his king, encounters one who owes him a small debt, 100 denarii. A denarius was equivalent to a day’s labor in Jesus’ day. This man’s debtor could be paid with 100 days’ labor. Yet, the man has his debtor, and his family thrown into prison to “repay” his debt. No debt is ever paid while in prison! The rest of the parable is a lesson in the kind of attitude Christians must demonstrate in their lives. Christians have been forgiven much by God. And, Christians must be forgiving of those who sin against them for God forgives our sins in the same way that we forgive those who sin against us, an instruction Jesus gave in the Lord’s prayer. The Christian life must be marked by forgiveness. May God the Holy Spirit strengthen His adopted children in this. Source: S C Ball February 6, 2023


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