Today’s passage: Matthew 18:21-35
Helpful thoughts:
- Jesus did not intend for you to count to seventy seven, or four hundred ninety. We don’t count occurrences of forgiveness.
- Ten thousand talents would have taken two hundred thousand years to earn. This debt was never going be repaid.
- One hundred denarii would have taken one hundred work days to earn. This amount could have been repaid over time.
- When a person was thrown into debtors prison, they remained until the debt was paid. Of course, if someone else didn’t pay your debt, and if you could not get out to work and make money, you were never going to get out.
- This parable was intended to be over the top. It’s ridiculousness was part of the point Jesus was making.
Questions to consider:
- Who is the master in this parable?
- Who was Peter (and us) supposed to identify with? (Hint: It’s not the guy who only owed one hundred denarii…)
- How much does someone’s sin against us compare to our sin against God?
- How does your standing in Christ, having been forgiven by God, help you to forgive others?