"When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt."
(Matthew 18.24-27 NRSV)
Jesus told a parable. A certain king wanted to settle accounts with his servants so he called them in one by one. There was a servant who owed the king ten thousand talents--a vast sum of money. It would be impossible for the servant to ever pay off his debt. He would have to work 150,000 years to earn ten thousand talents. The average person could not even comprehend such a gigantic sum, like our national debt. Jesus exaggerates the figure deliberately. He wants us to see that the servant could never pay the debt off no matter how hard he worked, no matter how much over time he put in, no matter how many weekends he worked. It was down right impossible.

The king was ready to throw the servant along with his wife and children into prison because he could not pay his debt. The servant fell on his knees and pleaded with the king. "Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything." Out of pity, Jesus said, the king forgave the entire amount of the debt. The servant was free. The only thing he owed the king was a big thank you. What a relief! He would not be sent to prison, his family would not be sold off as slaves. He was free. Thanks to the goodness of the king he didn't owe a cent.

We don't run into such a generous attitude very often, do we? When we do, it makes our day.

Lord Jesus, may I be as generous as you have been to me. Amen.

Ron Newhouse

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