In the gospel this week, Jesus tells us that a King forgave a man the equivalent of $10,500,000,000 just because the man asked for mercy. Then that same man wouldn’t forgive another person a debt of $20,000, even though the person begged. Both of these totals are in today’s terms for easy understanding. Maybe take a look at them again.
Jesus says the King in the story is a metaphor for God. I will let you guess who the other players represent in the story. If you are getting a little uncomfortable thinking about it, please know everyone gets a little antsy thinking about this gospel.
We generally worry about the debts others owe to us and demand payment. Some are concerned more than others obviously. But it’s generally only our kids that get their debts forgiven.
And then there are sorts of debts aren’t there to be forgiven? To list a few, we know that people hurt each other’s feelings, and take things they shouldn’t take, and, oh well, you get the picture. It’s a pretty long list.
Hmmm. We are told we are the children of God. The gifts we have received from God, our lives etcetera, are more valuable than anything else we “own”; more valuable even than the sum total of everything we have.
Hopefully our willingness to forgive others, as God has forgiven us, is impacted by this knowledge. What do you think?
We can talk more about this on Sunday.