Mercy & Forgiveness

Matthew 18:23-35

Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.  And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.  But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.  The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’  Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.  But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’  So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’  And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.  So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.  Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.  ‘Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’  And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.  So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.

Do you lend money?  What happens if they cannot repay you?  Do you owe money?  Are you able to repay?  How do you want to be treated?

We all have a huge debt that can only be paid by Jesus.  The servant owed a huge debt and begged for mercy from the master.  The master had compassion on the servant and released him from the debt.  He was totally debt free!  How wonderful that must have felt.  Are you burdened by a lot of debt?  Imagine what it would feel like if your debtors canceled your debt – would you rejoice? 

If someone shows you mercy, are you able to pay it forward and show mercy to someone else?  Are we selfish with the mercy we receive?

The servant in these verses was selfish with his mercy.  He would not extend it to his fellow servant who owed him a much smaller amount.

Verse 23:  The kingdom of God is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.  One day God will “settle” accounts with humanity.  It will be judgment day for those who don’t have Jesus as their Savior.  If you are a born-again Christian, all your debts (sins) have been paid.  Your account is settled and forgiven.  Just as Jesus has shown mercy and grace to us, we are to show it to others.  Just as Jesus forgave us, we are to forgive others.  If we do not forgive others, we will not be forgiven.

Matthew 6:14-15  

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

When we cry out to God to save us, are we crying from the heart?  Or are we just trying to get out of the current situation we are in?  When God saves us from our current circumstances, does it change us?  Or do we slide right back into our old ways?

Back to our servant.  In verse 24 the servant owes his master 10,000 talents.  10,000 talents is about a billion days' worth of peasant wages.  This was more money than was even in circulation at the time.  10,000 is the highest single number that can be expressed in Greek.  How did he amass such a huge debt?  What did he buy? Couldn’t those things have been sold to pay the debt?  The servant’s situation was hopeless.  Even if he and his family and things were sold, it would not cover the debt.

The punishment for this huge debt was to be sold as slaves.  And not just for the servant but also his wife and children.  The wife may have had a part in accumulating the debt, but most likely his children did not.  Chances are they could have ended up with different “owners” – maybe never seeing each other again.  The servant couldn’t bear that and he begged for mercy.

Verse 28:  100 denarii is equal to about a day’s wage.  For the price of a day’s wage, the 2^nd servant was thrown into prison.  His debt could have been paid if he was given some time.  Whereas the 1^st servant would never be able to pay his debt no matter how much time he was given.

The moral of the story is that our debt to God is huge.  There is no way we can pay it.  And yet God has mercy on us and sent His Son to pay our debt.

Imagine someone owes you a debt.  Most likely it is payable if given time.  Yet, are we merciful to those who owe us?  It doesn’t have to be money . . .

Mercy should freely flow from us to others.  We are no better than any other person on this planet.  God has given us the best example possible.  We should be able to forgive others no matter how they have wronged us.  When we don’t forgive, we put ourselves in a position higher than God – and that position doesn’t exist.

Psalm 37:21

The wicked borrows and does not repay,

But the righteous shows mercy and gives.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture verses are from the New King James Version of the Bible.