"Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt."
Matthew 18:23-27
This is the first part of a parable that Christ taught soon after being asked by Peter about forgiveness. He explained that we should forgive everyone, every time, and used this parable as an example. This first part is a symbolic representation of what God does for us. Because we sin, and Christ pays the price for that sin, we owe God an immense debt that we cannot pay, because we can't go back and un-sin and make ourselves retroactively perfect. Perfection is what justice demands, because heaven is a place of perfection. Christ makes up the difference between where we are and perfection, which is represented in the parable by the ten thousand talent debt (something like 6 billion dollars in today's money).
Because Christ paid our impossibly large debt for us, we have space to repent and learn our perfection more slowly, with all the second chances that we need. Because we have been saved however, the second part of the parable explains another of God's expectations. The expectation is that we will be as compassionate to others who owe us small debts as Christ is to us with our impossible debt. It's a good parable to help us get a little perspective. It is easy to become frustrated with others and want to get "justice" for being cheated or lied to or stolen from, or whatever it is that just isn't working, but when Christ, who did *everything* for us, comes to us and asks us to forgive, all of those things are minuscule in comparison. That doesn't mean that it is easy, of course. It still takes a large effort to let things go sometimes, and to also let go of bitterness. As we do though, we not only do as Christ asks because we owe him, we actually become better people and closer to that perfection that we continue to strive for.
Today, let's remember what Christ did for us, and the immensity of that debt. Not in order to bring on a guilt trip, but to put the rest of the debts of life into perspective, and encourage ourselves to allow room for other people to change as God gives us room to change. To be clear, Christ isn't asking us to stay in an abusive situation or to allow ourselves to continue to be cheated. He's asking us to heal our hearts and minds of bitterness and leave the long-term judgment to him. Let's be as compassionate to others as Christ is with us.
And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt."
Matthew 18:23-27
This is the first part of a parable that Christ taught soon after being asked by Peter about forgiveness. He explained that we should forgive everyone, every time, and used this parable as an example. This first part is a symbolic representation of what God does for us. Because we sin, and Christ pays the price for that sin, we owe God an immense debt that we cannot pay, because we can't go back and un-sin and make ourselves retroactively perfect. Perfection is what justice demands, because heaven is a place of perfection. Christ makes up the difference between where we are and perfection, which is represented in the parable by the ten thousand talent debt (something like 6 billion dollars in today's money).
Because Christ paid our impossibly large debt for us, we have space to repent and learn our perfection more slowly, with all the second chances that we need. Because we have been saved however, the second part of the parable explains another of God's expectations. The expectation is that we will be as compassionate to others who owe us small debts as Christ is to us with our impossible debt. It's a good parable to help us get a little perspective. It is easy to become frustrated with others and want to get "justice" for being cheated or lied to or stolen from, or whatever it is that just isn't working, but when Christ, who did *everything* for us, comes to us and asks us to forgive, all of those things are minuscule in comparison. That doesn't mean that it is easy, of course. It still takes a large effort to let things go sometimes, and to also let go of bitterness. As we do though, we not only do as Christ asks because we owe him, we actually become better people and closer to that perfection that we continue to strive for.
Today, let's remember what Christ did for us, and the immensity of that debt. Not in order to bring on a guilt trip, but to put the rest of the debts of life into perspective, and encourage ourselves to allow room for other people to change as God gives us room to change. To be clear, Christ isn't asking us to stay in an abusive situation or to allow ourselves to continue to be cheated. He's asking us to heal our hearts and minds of bitterness and leave the long-term judgment to him. Let's be as compassionate to others as Christ is with us.
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