Jesus tells the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant in Matthew 18:23-35. It starts with a King. The King is represents God. There is also a servant. The servant is represents a follower of Jesus.
Jesus tells how the servant has a debt of 10,000 talents. Last week, in another post, I shared the value of a talent. One talent was worth $1.4 million. And this servant owed 10,000 talents. In modern day terms, the debt of this servant would have been $14 billion (not million).
The hearers would have taken notice of that. It was an impossible, mind-boggling debt. First, you are left to wonder how someone could incur such debt. Second, you realize this is not a debt that can be repaid.
The debt represents our sin. The point is that our sin is more gross and obscene than we have ever imagined. And there is nothing we could do to ever pay it back. It is beyond our means and ability.
But the servant says, “Give me time. I will make this right. I will do what I need to do to pay the debt.” He is misguided to think he has any chance to pay back this debt. He is blind to the impossibility of this task.
But this is how we often treat our standing before God. We look at the debt of our sin like a balance sheet. We weigh our debt (the bad in our life) with our profit (the good in our life). If we have a positive balance sheet, we consider ourselves in good standing with God. If we have a negative balance sheet, we see ourselves in default before God. We think if we have enough time or if we do enough good things, we can make our debt right.
But Jesus blows all that out of the water with this parable. He says that your balance sheet is so way out of balance. You have a debt before God that no amount of accounting will balance. You are misguided to think that you can make this right. Your only option is simply to beg for mercy from God to forgive your tremendous debt of sin.
At this point in the parable, the King does something radical. He forgives the debt of the servant. The $14 billion dollars is cancelled right there on the spot. There was nothing the servant had to do. It is an impossible, immense, outrageous, and scandalous act of grace by the king.
How would you respond to such an act of grace? How would you respond to having such a debt forgiven? Would you sing a song? Would you do a dance? Would you tell others of the King’s praises? Would you show kindness and forgiveness towards others?
This is exactly what happens to us. Because Jesus died on the cross, our debt of sin is forgiven. We receive the gift of that cancelled debt through faith. God’s forgiveness is no small thing. It even more than $14 billion thing! It is the precious, innocent blood of Jesus shed on the cross. How will you respond?
Reflection
- Do you trivialize your sin and fail to grasp the enormity of your debt before God?
- How do you begin to grasp the unmeasurable mercy and grace that God shows you through forgiveness?
- What is the proper response to having such a great debt forgiven?
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