SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/28/2023 9:54 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-7 “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 in our last SD, that after looking
mostly at the parable of the prodigal son that today we would go back to the
parable in Matthew 18 today, and so what happens next in this parable seems
inconceivable—until we realize that each one of us are guilty before the
Lord. We are guilty in various ways, of
doing what that forgiven slave did. I
realize that in are humanness that there are times when we can make excuses and
therefore not believe that we are guilty in not forgiving others. Jesus then goes on to say that he “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.’”
I have to say that this is the part of the parable
that I am confused about, that is the timing of when all of this happened. John
MacArthur writes “The implication is that the first thing the forgiven slave
did after he left the king’s presence was to search out a fellow slave who owed
him some money and violently demanded repayment of a mere pittance compared to
the vast amount he himself had just been forgiven.
“The
second man’s being described as one of his fellow slaves suggests that he represents
a fellow believer and that the principle Jesus teaches here primarily relates
to believer’s treatment of each other.
Although Christians should be forgiving of everyone, they should be
especially forgiving of one another, because they are fellow slaves who serve
the same King.”
I
have mentioned in other SD’s that a denarii was the amount that most people in
that day earned in one day, and so this was 100 days of money that this other
slaved owed to the slave who had been forgiven and unpayable amount of
money. As mentioned the ten thousand
talents amounted to some eleven years of Roman taxes from the providences of
Idumea, Judea, Samaria, and Galilee combined.
Although
this second debt was very, very small by comparison to the first, it was
nonetheless a real debt and so it represents a real offense committed by one
believer against another. Now if the
offense was not real, then it would need no forgiveness. Here Jesus was not teaching that sins against
fellow believers or against anyone else are insignificant but that they are
minute when we compare them to the offenses every one of us has committed
against God and for which He has freely and completely forgiven us.
John
MacArthur writes “The power of the sinful flesh that remains in a transformed
believer is seen in the first servant’s hardheartedness against his fellow
servant, who perhaps was a low echelon official responsible for collecting
taxes from a small village within the providence governed by the first
servant. Even so, the first man was much
further removed from the king in status than he was from the other servant. Those two facts should have made the man not
only especially grateful but especially merciful. His inclination should have been to search
out his fellow slave to forgive him rather than condemn him. There is no indication, however, that his own
experience of mercy made him grateful, and it clearly did not make him grateful. Instead, he became proud, presumptuous, and
hardhearted.
“Unfortunately,
as Christians we sometimes reflect a similar arrogance and insensitivity.
Although we have been totally and forever forgiven of all offenses before God,
on the basis of His grace, we often act as if we were forgiven on the basis of
our own merit. We may even look down on
our brothers and sisters in Christ with disdain and a sense of superiority.”
My
guess is that we are almost half way done with this parable.
1/28/2023 10:48 AM
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