Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
This servant is in deep, over his head, in fact. The king wants to settle accounts with his servants and this man owes ten thousand talents. A talent is a lot of money. It’s six thousand denarii. You may remember from the parable of the workers in the vineyard that the original day laborers agreed to a denarius for a day’s work. A debt of one talent—six thousand days’ wages—would take just under sixteen and a half years of working seven days a week to repay. That’s for one talent. He owes the king ten thousand talents. If a talent is six thousand days’ wages, and he owes ten thousand talents, there is no way in the world he would be able to ever repay such a loan. The servant is brought to the king and when he doesn’t have the money, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. Payment must be made, even if it’s with this servant’s life, the life of his wife and children, and all his earthly possessions.
Confronted with this terrible judgment, the man does the only thing he can do. He falls before the king and cries out, “Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.” He knows there is no way he can pay back this loan, not six thousand days’ wages ten thousand times over. The king knows this as well. But this is not a promise to repay the loan. It’s a plea for mercy. His master is moved with compassion and has mercy on him. He releases the servant. No longer is he to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. His master forgives him the loan, the entire amount. He cancels the debt and absorbs enormous the loss himself. The servant, who had entered the king’s accounting burdened with an insurmountable debt. He leaves with a clean ledger, not owing part of the balance, not even a penny.
That servant leaves the king’s presence—much lighter on his feet than when he went in, —and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. This fellow servant owes him the equivalent of one hundred days’ wages. That’s no small sum. It wasn’t pocket change. But neither was anything like the ten thousand talents the first servant owed the king. He laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, “Pay me what you owe!” His fellow servant falls down at his debtor’s feet and pleads for mercy, even using the exact same words as the first servant had done before the king, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.” But the first servant would not have patience. He had no mercy for this fellow servant. He can only think of what is owed to him. He threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. The master’s mercy had not penetrated this man’s heart. He could thankfully accept the master’s pity and the complete forgiveness of all his debt, but as soon as he stepped back out into the world, he took it for granted. He refused to show the same mercy to his fellow servant who owed him far less.
This man’s behavior greatly troubled his fellow servants, and they report it to the king. He is summoned back into the king’s presence, where the king judges him according to his deed. “‘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?” Of course, he should have done that very thing. He should have had compassion for his fellow servant. Rejoicing in the forgiveness of his own debt—an enormous, unpayable amount—and moved by his master’s pity and generosity, he should have forgiven his fellow servant’s debt. But he could not. He had hardened his heart against both the master’s compassion and his neighbor. The fate that he had initially been spared, he then suffers. The master, angry at this man’s utter lack of appreciation and love, delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.
Then comes the explanation. It is a parable, after all, by which Jesus wants to teach us what the kingdom of heaven is like. He says: “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” The point of the parable is straightforward. You, dear Christian, member of God’s kingdom, are to forgive your neighbor from the heart. If you do not forgive your neighbor from the heart, God the Father will do you as the king did to the servant.
Why do you forgive your neighbor when they trespass against you? Because God your heavenly Father has forgiven you. And not only has your heavenly Father forgiven you, but He has forgiven you an insurmountable, unpayable debt. When Jesus teaches us the Our Father in Matthew 6[:12] He teaches us to pray, “Forgive us our debts” because our sins are debts in God’s sight. We owe for them. They must be paid for, one way or another. We owe for each and every sin we commit. If we were tally our wicked thoughts which we entertain, our sinful, self-serving words by which we excuse ourselves and judge others, and every deed of ours which is not fully in line with God’s law, we would find the debt calculator adding up fast. When we consider that the sinful impulses, desires, and thoughts that arise from our flesh—even if we don’t let them linger or entertain them—are also sin, we the leger fill up even faster. We should say with David in Psalm 38[:4], “My iniquities have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.” Who among us can know all his or her sins? Who among us can know every thought, word, and deed by which we have offended God and merited for ourselves everlasting punishment. It is impossible for us to repay any of what we owe. Our good works can’t be placed against our mounting debt because our good works are owed already!
We can only do what the king’s servant initially does; plead God’s mercy. This is more than simply saying, “I’m sorry,” with the mouth. This is true repentance which acknowledges our sin, that we have offended God, and deserve punishment—both in this life and in eternity, and that we genuinely want to be rid of the sin. The final part of repentance is to believe that God will be merciful to us, not for our own sakes, but for Jesus’ sake. Jesus paid the debt which we are unable to pay. He suffered greatly and gravely for our many sins and transgressions against God’s law. And He paid for all sins, for as you know, debt can be cancelled on the ledger, but someone somewhere always must pay for it. God the Father delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. And He does just that, for before He dies, Christ says, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Atonement is made. Forgiveness is won, so that all who repent and believe in Him receive all His finished work of atonement. By faith in Christ’s death and merits, God the Father releases us from our debt, forgiving the entire, insurmountable, uncalculatable, unfathomable amount.
Those who receive this by faith are fully forgiven and will freely forgive those who trespass against them. Not without repentance though. Just as God does not forgive our sins until we repent, so we do not forgive our neighbor when they sin against us until they repent. Jesus says in Luke 17:3, “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” God does not forgive our sins apart from repentance, nor does He expect us to forgive our brother when he sins against us without repentance. To forgive without rebuking them only baffles them, so that they ask, “What did I do?” To forgive without repentance on their part only emboldens them to continue sinning against you. Just as God is ready to forgive us as soon as we repent and wants to forgive us as soon as we repent, so we are ready to forgive our neighbor as soon as they repent. We want to forgive them because we want their repentance and restoration. If, when our neighbor sins against us and repents, we refuse, then we must do some soul searching. We pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Our forgiving of others when they sin against us and repent is a sign of consolation and assurance that we are truly forgiven, for when we joyfully receive God’s grace for Jesus’ sake, we gladly forgive our brother who sins against us and repents. If we do not, then we must examine ourselves to see whether we truly believe we are sinners in need of mercy each day.
Jesus is serious when He says, “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” This is how seriously He wants you to acknowledge your sins and your sinfulness, so that you might also acknowledge His compassion, pity, and mercy, and live in them each day. God our Father forgives us daily and fully because we daily repent of our sins and believe the gospel that Christ has paid the debt we owe God, which is a debt far greater than ten thousand talents. Keeping this in mind each day, we forgive from the heart. Amen.
May the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
