SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/27/2023 9:31 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-6 “The
Example of Forgiveness”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matt. 18:23-35
Message of the verses: “23 “For this reason
the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a certain king who wished to settle
accounts with his slaves. 24
"And when he had begun to settle them, there
was brought to him one who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 “But since he did
not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along
with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. 26 “The
slave therefore falling down, prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have
patience with me, and I will repay you everything.’ 27 "And the lord of that slave felt
compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. 28 “But that slave went
out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he
seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you
owe.’ 29 “So his fellow slave fell down and began to entreat him,
saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ 30 “He was unwilling however,
but went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. 31 “So
when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came
and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32 "Then summoning him, his lord said to
him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you entreated me. 33
‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, even as I had mercy
on you?’ 34 “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers
until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 “So shall My heavenly Father
also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.’”
I mentioned that we would look at the word “dept” as
we begin this section: MacArthur writes “Daneion (dept) literally means ‘loan,’ implying that
in his graciousness the king considered the embezzled fortune a loan and then forgave
it. Even more graciously does God forgive
the sinner who confesses his sin and trusts in Jesus Christ. The moment a person acknowledges the
sinfulness of his sin and turns to the only Savior for sin, his mountain of
debt to God is paid in full forever.”
Think
for a moment about the prodigal son and what it took him to get to the “bottom”
of himself to realize that he could go home and once again live with his
father. He knew that he had forsaken his
father and his family and lived an utterly selfish and debauched life in a
foreign and pagan land. Then after all
his money was gone, and also his so called friends who only liked him because of
his money, and after feeding pigs for a while the man finally realized how he
had sinned against his father. Let us
look at what his father was doing when his son finally came home : “17 “But
when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have
more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! 18 ‘I will get up and
go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against
heaven, and in your sight; 19 I am no
longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men."’ 20
“So he got up and came to his father. But
while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and
kissed him. 21 “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against
heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But
the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on
him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; 23 and bring the
fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine
was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they
began to celebrate.”
MacArthur
writes: “One commentator suggests that
when the father ran out to meet his son he must have had to gather up his long
robe under his arms and thereby expose his undergarments, a great shame for an
older, dignified man of that day. But
the father had no concern but to reunited with his beloved son whom he had
given up for dead.”
Now as we think about the meaning of this parable
from Luke 15 and we must realize that in an infinitely greater way that God
allowed Himself to be humiliated as He came to earth, “emptying Himself, taking
the form of a bond-servant” (Phil. 2:7).
He did this to redeem fallen men back to Himself as He willingly and
lovingly “endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb. 12:2).
Lord
willing we will continue to look at the parable from Matthew 18:23-35 in our
next SD, but it was nice to be reminded of the parable of the “Prodigal Son,” and
even get some new meaning from it.
1/27/2023 9:55 AM
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