23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.” (Matthew 18:23–27 (ESV)
Regarding the subject of forgiveness (Matt. 18:21-22), Jesus taught a parable about the extent of God’s unimaginable forgiveness of sinners and how this should provoke believers in Christ to an eager readiness to forgive others.
The kingdom of heaven, which is God’s rule and reign in the believer’s soul, may be compared to a king seeking to settle accounts with his servants. “Servants probably refers to free provincial satraps, who functioned as the ruler’s tax farmers in various regions; they too were vassals of the king. The ruler would allow them to collect taxes for him at a profit, but he demanded efficiency; this was the time of year when he was going to settle their accounts with him,” explains commentator Craig Keener.
As the king was settling his accounts, there was one servant who owed the master ten thousand talents. Jesus gave no reason as to why the master allowed the servant to accrue so much debt. A talent was the highest monetary unit of currency in first century Judea. It was equal to six thousand denarii. A denarii was a day’s wages. Ten thousand talents was equivalent to sixty million days wages. In other words, the servant owed an unpayable amount.
“Such a debt was practically unpayable, and a debt of this amount would not be repayable over many lifetimes,” explains Dr. R. C. Sproul.
In response, the master ordered the servant to be sold, along with his wife and children and all his possessions. This was so repayment could be made. Selling insolvent debtors into slavery was nothing unusual in the first century, as mentioned in Scripture (Exod. 22:3; Lev. 25:39, 47; 2 Kings 4:1; Neh. 5:5; Isa. 50:1; Amos 2:6; 8:6).
“Outside of the country of the Israelites the practice of selling those who were unable to pay their debts was common, and it is to this that the parable refers. So by royal decree this official, his family, and all his possessions are ordered to be sold. The proceeds must go toward paying the debt. The words used in the original (pay, payment) indicates that the debtor must “give back” what he owes: he must “pay off” his obligation in full. Of course, this was actually impossible. The amount that was to be placed in the king’s treasury, the full proceeds of the sale, would be but a drop in the bucket. So huge was the debt,” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.
What was the servant to do? His sinful irresponsibility resulted not only in his own punishment, but also the punishment of his family. They too bore the consequences of his sin. He faced an unpayable amount of debt and an unfortunate future of regret.
What could the servant do? He begged the master to have patience with him. He promised to repay what he owed. He must have known, as would the master that such a promise was virtually impossible to fulfill.
“The servant is completely crushed by the realization of the severity of his impending punishment. He does not deny that he owes the huge amount, neither does he try to explain how he got into this terrible predicament. He was probably well aware of the fact that excuses would have been useless. It is important to note also that he does not offer to make at least a down-payment on his debt. The implication is clearly this: he makes no such offer for the simple reason that he has nothing! Having prostrated himself, he begged,” states Dr. Hendriksen.
The master was under no obligation to forgive the servant’s debt. There was no one greater than the master who could pressure him to forgive the debt. Yet, that is what master chooses to do. He forgives the debt. Such behavior was not because the servant deserved to be forgiven. It was because the master had pity upon the servant. The master felt love and compassion for an unworthy servant. He forgave him the debt he owed.
“It was out of sheer compassion that the master granted this servant far more than he had asked, completely canceling his huge debt and releasing him from punishment,” concludes Dr. Hendriksen.
Matthew 5:3 (ESV) says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Like the servant in today’s parable, we faced the Lord God with an unpayable debt. We were beggar poor facing a debt we could not pay. We deserved to be punished The Lord would have been just in doing so. However, the Lord Jesus Christ paid our debt of sin on the cross (Rom. 3:21-26). Our debt is paid in full (John 19:30).
- I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His wondrous love to me;
On the cruel cross He suffered,
From the curse to set me free. - Refrain:
Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer,
With His blood He purchased me;
On the cross He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free. - I will tell the wondrous story,
How my lost estate to save,
In His boundless love and mercy,
He the ransom freely gave. - I will praise my dear Redeemer,
His triumphant pow’r I’ll tell,
How the victory He giveth
Over sin, and death, and hell. - I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His heav’nly love to me;
He from death to life hath brought me,
Son of God with Him to be.
Soli deo Gloria!
His Word Today 