(24) – the word ‘owed’ here is translated ‘guilty of’ in Luke 13:4. Links the primary story line of the parable to the actual subject – forgiveness.
A talent was worth more than a thousand dollars, so the size of the debt owed the King was in excess of $10,000,000.00.
(25) – would this have paid the debt? Doubtful, but it was all he could get, as it was all his debtor had.
(27) – Cancelled the debt. Not rescheduled, not renegotiated the terms of payment. Erased. No real chance of repayment anyway.
The greek word translated ‘cancelled’ means more literally to release or cease to possess. When we forgive, we stop ‘owning’ the harm done to us and the right of reteibution. Often one hear’s people say "I’ll never forget what they did to me". The meaning is not ‘my memory will never be purged of this event’, but rather ‘I refuse to stop meditating on the memory of the wrong done to me’. We need to ‘release’ the memory, i.e., stop obsessing over it. Also, we need to ‘release’ our right to retribution, whether real or imagined.
(28) – under a thousand dollars – utterly insignificant in comparison to the amount of the debt his master had forgiven. A considerable amount in it’s own right though, roughly representing four months wages. The servant viewed his collegues debt from a "world view", the commonalities of everyday life, rather than looking at the big picture.
Began to choke him – the King was trying to get justice. This guy wasn’t even up to that level. He had no right to abuse his fellow servant, no matter how much he owed. Sunk to the level of the ‘Self’ view.
We see then three viewpoints –
- Self View – in which the only relevance is one’s own desire. Lawless, not concerned with rights and responsibilities.
- World View – life seen through day to day structures. Concerned with defined rights and responsibilities, and with justice.
- Kingdom View – events seen in terms of their relevance to Eternity.
Persons who see through the ‘Self View’, often imagine or act as if they had rights that don’t actually exist. For example, the ‘right’ to be thought well of and paid attention to. Though in reality no one has these ‘rights’, someone deeply ingrained in the ‘Self View’ acts as if they do. Persons with either a ‘World’ or ‘Kingdom’ view would not see snobbery as a legitimate offense – they realize they have no right to command the adoration of anyone. Someone deep in the ‘Self View’, however, will seek retribution for it.
(30) – the greek implies that he unswervingly continued in his original intent to punish his fellow servant.
(34) – It would take 70 million years at laborer’s wages to pay back the debt – for all intents and purposes, forever.
(35) – from the heart – genuinely. How can we do this?
- Change ‘View’. The more solid your ‘Kingdom View’ is, the less easy it become to be hurt, and the easier it becomes to forgive. People caught up in a ‘World’ or ‘Self View’ cannot forgive.
- Honesty. To deny that one has been hurt by another is to lie. One cannot reach the point of true forgiveness unless he has honestly faced and dealt with the pain.
This whole subject is interlocked with the subject of loving one’s neighbors and enemies. Matthew 5:38-48. Don’t settle for the ‘World’ view, go for the "Kingdom"!
Mark 12:28-31. How do we love ourselves. We don’t necessarily approve of everything we do, but we desire the best for ourselves, wishing to be the best we can be, protecting and caring for ourselves. See Mere Christianity, C.S.Lewis, book three, chapter seven.
Look for a moment through the ‘Kingdom View’. The one whom you have not forgiven is at this moment either
- On his way to Hell, and thus needs our love and help and prayers, or
- On his way to Heaven, in which case you’d better get used to him, or be prepared not to get to Heaven yourself. There will be no room in Heaven for grudges, so one of you would have to go – namely the one bearing the grudge.
Either way, let’s elect now to see the situation from the perspective of eternity, and act out of that perspective. Let’s pray for honesty in our emotional lives, the strength and insight to forgive our enemies, and the courage to love them.
