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23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, "Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all." 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. ~ Matthew 18:23-27
Today, we return to our study of Matthew 18 where the Lord Jesus is describing greatness in His kingdom to Peter who had asked Him how often he must forgive a brother who has hurt him. The Lord Jesus told this story in order to accentuate the lesson He desired for Peter to know regarding forgiveness. It is the extremely dark background of sin that makes God's mercy and grace so astounding. The problem is that most do not see the severity of their sin and they seem to exist in order to protect their sin which is why they have become its prisoner.
In v.23 of today's passage we read, "Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants."
This story about the kingdom of heaven was told by the Lord Jesus in order to provide for the disciples more understanding about forgiveness. The subject is the kingdom of heaven or the rule of God. The only way that we realize the culture of God in our souls is if He is our king who is calling the shots regarding our daily lives. In order for the kingdom of God to be realized by you and me, we must have a servant king relationship with the Lord Jesus. The word "therefore" reveals this story was in response to the previous exchange Peter had with the Lord Jesus regarding forgiveness.
God calls all of us to an accounting for our lives. According to Romans 1, before man rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden, God had deposited in us the knowledge of Himself. In Ecclesiastes 3:11 we read, "Also He has put eternity in their hearts." It is clear throughout the Bible that God has given to man the wherewithal, the intellectual capability to understand, and the reason, to see the truth about Him. And, the more man responds to the revelation God has given, the more revelation He will give. Since this is so, God holds all of mankind responsible regarding the response we give to Him. For those who reject His culture will be ruled by the culture of the evil one. They will spend their eternity in Hell with Lucifer because they have chosen his ways.
In v.24-25 of today's passage we read, "24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made."
When the accounts of the servants were considered, there was one who owed 10,000 talents which is the equivalent to more than a billion dollars today. It was an amount he could not possibly pay, but as was customary in the middle east, the servant, in polite reverence, prostrated himself before the master and begged him to have patience with him as he would try to repay his debt. Based on the amount owed, his promise would be impossible to keep, but his master, showing compassion, pitied him and released him with his family and forgave his debt. Amazingly, this is what God has done for us through the sacrifice of His Son. The difference is our debt was much more severe and far-reaching.
People go to Hell to pay for their sins, but an eternity in Hell will never provide the time needed. Realistically, the debt of sin that we owe is so vast that it is unpayable. When we sinned in the Garden of Eden, we tried to rip the glory of God from Him. The glory that we tried to steal from God could never be returned to God. There was no way that we could pay our debt off, even if we spent an eternity in Hell. People who reject the gracious gift of forgiveness from God go to Hell because sin must be atoned for if we are to be forgiven. God is just and sin must be atoned for in order for anyone to go free. Sin is an unpayable debt apart from the incredible accomplishments of Christ on Calvary's cross.
Through this illustration, Peter was granted the understanding that as a fallen sinner, he could not pay for his sin before the Lord. Peter began to understand how much of an enemy his sin had made him before God. In John 16 we are informed that the Holy Spirit came to convict the world of sin, and righteousness, and judgment. It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to call men, women, boys and girls to give an account for their sin. This is called conviction in the Bible. It makes sense that once we have come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and we have realized we could not pay our enormous debt, that we turn to the only One who could fix it. Sadly, most do not do this. When we came to believe in the Lord Jesus as our God and Savior due to the Holy Spirit's convicting work, we experienced the relief of the enormous burden that our sin had created. It is that relief that fuels our reservoir of forgiveness toward others.
In v.26-27 of today's passage we read, "26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, 'Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.' 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt."
As soon as he heard his master's words the servant fell down and worshiped his master. Brokenness is necessary for our worship of God. Through his devastation the servant bowed before his master. Out of the understanding that there was really no way he could have paid his debt, the servant turned in worship of his master. Had he not done this, he knew he would be bound in permanent bondage. Simply, he knew he could never pay off his debt. But, the shackles of Hell stand no match to the liberating freedom that comes from the One who laid down His life for us.
So, here was Peter who didn't realize that he was just like that servant. So were you and I. Like Peter, we didn't understand that our sin under God’s perfect law placed us in the greatest debt. This is why conviction of sin is so necessary. This is why the Word of God must find us guilty. We would not be postured enough to be saved if it weren't so. We owed an amount to God that was so large we could never be able to pay it off. But, due to God's great love and compassion, He sent His Son to die on the cross as our perfect sacrifice to pay our debt. Overwhelmed by our sin debt, we turned to the Savior who Himself overwhelmed sin and death on our behalf. We pleaded for the mercy and grace of God to intervene and praise God that it did.
