Dear Readers,
Peter once asked Jesus, ‘How often must I forgive?’ Jesus replied, "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who had a servant who owed him 10,000 talents of silver and could not repay him. The king demanded that the debtor sell his children, his wife and everything he had to pay him back. The debtor fell at the king's feet and begged him, ‘Be patient with me!’ The king had more than that and forgave him the entire debt. Then the servant went out and met someone who owed him 100 silver coins. He grabbed him and choked him, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe me!’ and had him thrown into prison. When the king heard about this, he summoned the servant and said to him, ‘I forgave you your entire debt; should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ (Matthew 18:21-35)
That's crazy. It tells the story of a man who had accumulated debts of 10,000 talents of silver, which is about 12 billion euros, and according to today's calculations, he would have to work for 400,000 years to pay that off! He meets a fellow servant who owes him 100 denarii. That is the equivalent of 9,600 euros – 125 thousandths (= 0.000008 or 1 thousandth of a percent) of what he was forgiven. No one understands that. Or do they?
Of course, debts can be collected. Jesus meant it in a general sense. He meant that people must be aware that only those who forgive others will receive forgiveness from Him! That doesn't necessarily fit into today's world. But God wants people in the Kingdom of Heaven to think differently.
Kind regards,
Wolfram Laube