January 28, 2013
Radical Debt. Radical Forgiveness.
[Matthew 18:23-35]
Jesus gives an illustration of the Kingdom of Heaven, the way things work in the economy of God. He tells the story of a servant who owed his king 10,000 talents of silver (an insane debt!)
According to the IVP Bible Background Commentary on the NT, in one time period:1 talent = 6,000 days wages. Which means:10,000 talents = 60,000,000 days wages. Which means:10,000 talents = about 164,384 years of salary
So, an average person, like you or I, would have to work over 164,000 years just to pay this guy back (this is a radical debt)! And, since the servant couldn't pay the king ordered that the servant's wife and children be sold. But, the servant begged for the king's mercy. The king had mercy on this man, canceled the debt and let him go (this is radical forgiveness). After receiving such mercy, the servant runs into a fellow servant who owes him 100 denarii (about 100 days wages). Like the first servant, this man is unable to repay his debt. Yet, the servant, who had received so much mercy and forgiveness at the hand of the king, had his fellow servant thrown into prison. When the king found out about this he was angry and turned the man over to the jailors to be tortured until he paid back ALL that he owed. The forgiveness of his debt had been canceled because he did not forgive his fellow servant's debt (see Matthew 6:14-15).
God is so serious about forgiveness that He sent Jesus do die for us that we might be forgiven through Jesus' death. This was radical forgiveness. What God requires of us is so much less in comparison to what He took upon Himself.
Father God, you have forgiven us so much and so many times. Show us who we need to forgive today.
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me'" (Mat. 16:24)."Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children" (Eph. 5:1)."Be merciful even as your father is merciful" (Lk. 6:36).
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Jesus gives an illustration of the Kingdom of Heaven, the way things work in the economy of God. He tells the story of a servant who owed his king 10,000 talents of silver (an insane debt!)
According to the IVP Bible Background Commentary on the NT, in one time period:1 talent = 6,000 days wages. Which means:10,000 talents = 60,000,000 days wages. Which means:10,000 talents = about 164,384 years of salary
So, an average person, like you or I, would have to work over 164,000 years just to pay this guy back (this is a radical debt)! And, since the servant couldn't pay the king ordered that the servant's wife and children be sold. But, the servant begged for the king's mercy. The king had mercy on this man, canceled the debt and let him go (this is radical forgiveness). After receiving such mercy, the servant runs into a fellow servant who owes him 100 denarii (about 100 days wages). Like the first servant, this man is unable to repay his debt. Yet, the servant, who had received so much mercy and forgiveness at the hand of the king, had his fellow servant thrown into prison. When the king found out about this he was angry and turned the man over to the jailors to be tortured until he paid back ALL that he owed. The forgiveness of his debt had been canceled because he did not forgive his fellow servant's debt (see Matthew 6:14-15).
God is so serious about forgiveness that He sent Jesus do die for us that we might be forgiven through Jesus' death. This was radical forgiveness. What God requires of us is so much less in comparison to what He took upon Himself.
Father God, you have forgiven us so much and so many times. Show us who we need to forgive today.
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me'" (Mat. 16:24)."Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children" (Eph. 5:1)."Be merciful even as your father is merciful" (Lk. 6:36).
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