“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive our brother from your heart”
Matthew 18:32-35
Lots of titles were rumbling through my head and heart all trying to express some form of the same idea but not really getting to the point. It’s an interesting for of writers block, but not necessarily good for myself imposed deadlines. As I was studying, looking for that one passage that would accurately and contextually say what needs to be said, the parable of the “Unmerciful Servant”, from which this week’s passage came from; popped into my head.
Jesus used this parable to teach about His followers about forgiveness. See the wicked servant in this passage owed his master a ton of money – if it were today, the sum would have likely been in the millions of dollars – imagine owing your boss that much money. His master wanted him to pay up, but in an act of grace and mercy he forgave the debt and sent the servant on his way. The servant in turn found a fellow servant who owed him a couple of bucks and instead of giving the same mercy he had just received; he had him thrown in jail. That’s where we come into the story with this week’s passage. The master caught wind of what happened as was not pleased – needless to say things did not go well for the unmerciful servant and the passage ends with Jesus giving a warning that it would not go well for anyone who had been shown His mercy and then did not give it to someone else.
As followers of Christ we have all been shown a tremendous amount of mercy. None of us, on our own could have repaid the debt we owed because of our sin. If we tried to put a dollar amount on that debt it would be a number so big we would never be able to repay it. But, Jesus paid that debt with his life – an act of mercy so great that we should be filled with awe and humility. Jesus said the two greatest commandments were to love God and love others (see Matthew 22:34-40). Earlier in Matthew Jesus warns his listeners not to judge least they be judged (see Matthew 7:1-6).
Bottom line if you've been to the cross you've been given the gift of mercy so you can give mercy and in turn love someone else to the cross.
A Prayer
Father, really there are no words to fully express what extravagant gift of your mercy and grace means. There is no way we could have paid the debt owed but Your Son paid it in full. Your word tells us that to whom much has been given much will be expected. If we could spend our lives giving to others all that you have given to us with Your love, mercy and grace the world would be a better place but we will still need Your mercy, because we will still be short of Your standard. Help each day to love You, love other and give away the mercy we've been given. In the name of Jesus who paid the debt – Amen.
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