WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:03.600 So I hope you have your Bible open to Matthew 18 now. 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:16.239 A couple weeks ago we began our journey into this chapter, and I said that chapter 18 starts for us, the fourth of five teaching episodes in the Gospel of Matthew. 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:23.519 We saw the first in Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus talks about the characteristics of his kingdom. 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:30.559 And then in chapter 10, we see him speaking, commissioning the messengers of the kingdom. 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:41.039 And then in chapter 13, he gives the parables or what you might call the clues of the kingdom in all the mysteries of those parables. 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:48.560 And then here we see him speaking about predominantly the community of the kingdom, the community of the kingdom. 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:59.520 We looked at the first nine verses a couple weeks ago, and we looked at verses 10 to 20, or verses 1 to 14, and then 15 to 20 last week. 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:02.719 And now we'll be looking through the rest of the chapter. 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:24.239 In the first section there, we see Jesus speaking about the characteristics of his children: being humble, being loving, being careful, and doing so under the wonderful protection of their father, who acts like a good shepherd and goes after the wandering sheep. 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:51.760 In verses 15 to 20, we saw Jesus talking about the accountability of the body of Christ, of taking up that same pursuit of restoration for those who are still caught up in their sin, and doing so with confrontation and care mingled together in the hope that that person might repent of their iniquity and return to the kind of consistent lifestyle that God's children are called to. 00:01:52.079 --> 00:02:02.719 And here in this last section, as we'll begin to look at it, we'll see that Jesus speaks predominantly about the importance of a merciful heart, the importance of a merciful heart. 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:06.079 And he wraps it around the topic of forgiveness. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:07.519 Forgiveness. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.159 Last time Matthew talked about forgiveness was all the way back in chapter 12. 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:24.000 And this section here in chapter 18 leaps us all the way back to chapter 5 and 6, where Jesus makes some statements about mercy and forgiveness in the Sermon on the Mount. 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:35.680 There and here we'll see a connection between and relationship between God's forgiveness and our own, between God's mercy and our own. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:44.080 And as we dive into this passage and as we go through the movements of this passage, I want us to see the implications of that. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:54.479 The implications of God's calling us to be people of mercy and people of forgiveness, just like He is a God of mercy and a God of forgiveness. 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:56.319 There is a connection. 00:02:56.560 --> 00:02:58.639 So let's go right into this passage. 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:05.520 And the first thing we're going to do as we trace these movements is to see the measure of forgiveness that's brought out here. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:11.759 As I said, this fourth teaching section is broken up into four different questions that arise. 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:16.879 And the second of those four questions comes when Peter asks a question in verse 21. 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:24.879 Peter came to Jesus and he asked, Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:26.879 Up to seven times. 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:31.120 So he's looking for a measure of forgiveness there, isn't he? 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:37.599 He's looking for some clearly defined limit of the obligations that he'll have to forgive someone else. 00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:39.520 What's the number, Jesus? 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:41.039 Up to seven? 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:44.000 And he asked this question. 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:49.039 I don't think Peter's being sort of narrow and closed-hearted in this. 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:53.919 I think Peter thinks he's actually being quite generous and magnanimous. 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:59.919 Because the teaching of Judaism at that time would have said that three was enough. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:02.560 Three was enough. 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:08.319 Rabbinic Judaism recognized that repeat offenders may not really be repenting at all. 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:10.719 And I think that's a valid statement. 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:18.000 People do repent, or and there are other people who just keep asking sorry and aren't repented at all. 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:21.920 So some wisdom needs to be made about which is which. 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:30.560 But rabbinic Judaism would say if a man commits a transgression, he'll be forgiven the first, the second, the third, but not the fourth time. 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:38.879 So Peter's here, Mike, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:40.879 How about that, Jesus? 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:42.800 See how generous I am? 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:46.399 I'm doubly generous than the rest of the people around me. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:51.199 And so he offers to forgive a person seven times. 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:59.040 But Jesus quickly replies in verse 22 the measure is not seven, Peter. 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:04.639 Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:09.199 Now, some translations say 70 times seven, 490. 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:11.519 So which is it, 77 or 490? 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:19.519 Well, numbers are difficult to understand in expressions, and it could be taken one of two ways. 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:29.120 It could be 77 times like the NIV does and the ESV does, or it could be 70 times seven like a couple other versions do, the CSB and the NLT. 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:35.040 In any case, Jesus is not actually giving him a tally. 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:37.519 He's doing something different here. 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:42.560 He's trying to break through Peter's sort of numbering system. 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:48.079 He's trying to tell him: look, that's the wrong way to think about it. 00:05:49.839 --> 00:06:12.160 This phrase that Jesus uses is identical to a phrase in Genesis chapter 4 in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, where Lamech talks about vengeance that's going to be returned upon him, and he said, it's going to be returned on him 70 times, seven times or 77 times, that vengeance is going to be exacted on him. 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:17.680 And Lamech uses that phrase to talk about ultimate vengeance. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:22.560 And here Jesus is using that phrase to talk about ultimate forgiveness. 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:38.240 So Jesus is not pointing to a number so much as he's trying to say that forgiveness and the inner relationship of forgiveness in our relationships with one another is so incredibly high you can't count them. 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:40.160 That's the idea. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:41.839 This is a figure of speech. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:44.480 This is not a tally on a chalkboard. 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:58.560 This is not, you know, someone sins against you and you kind of go, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, seventy-eight. 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:02.319 It's not that. 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:04.160 It's not that at all. 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:07.600 This isn't a tally on a chalkboard. 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:13.120 Lamech was saying there's no limit to hatred and vengeance. 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:18.560 Moses says you need to limit it, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:21.439 Jesus is saying there's no limit to love. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:24.399 There's no limit to mercy. 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:27.759 There's no limit to forgiveness. 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:38.560 Now, Jesus is not giving us a cold, dry dissertation on forgiveness as a subject. 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:55.040 He's not going to say, let me present the definition of forgiveness, let me present the extent of forgiveness, let me discuss the ramifications of forgiveness, let me discuss the qualifications of forgiveness. 00:07:55.360 --> 00:08:02.000 So he's not trying to answer every single question we might have about the type of forgiveness here. 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:05.839 He's trying to drive something into the heart of us. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:08.319 What is it? 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:10.560 We'll find out. 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:14.399 But this measure of forgiveness is what starts it off. 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:29.199 And in order to explain his comment and to give the thrust of his point, Jesus introduces a story to us in the same way that he introduced the stories of the parables in Matthew 13. 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:32.559 The kingdom of heaven is like, he says. 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:35.840 Take a look at that in verse 30 23. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:37.759 The kingdom of heaven is like. 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:48.080 Some people, because of that, and because it sounds and looks exactly like the parables in Matthew 13, people call this a parable. 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:52.960 And it is just somewhat, is somewhat a parable. 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:55.440 It's an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, of course. 00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:59.039 And that is the basic root idea of what a parable is. 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:04.399 But a parable usually takes a conglomerate of an earthly story to tell one point. 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:10.399 And you're not to sort of extrapolate all the little aspects of it and tease them out. 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:16.159 This is more than a parable, if that's our definition of a parable. 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:22.639 But it's also less than an allegory because not everything in it is meant to be teased out. 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:33.679 So we have this interesting way of communicating that Jesus does here that's outside of our normal thoughts of what allegories are and metaphors are and all that other stuff. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:35.679 He's telling a story. 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:43.440 And he's telling a story about his kingdom, about his rule, about what it's like being under his authority. 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:51.759 And he's using all kinds of things to bring out little symbols and ideas and thoughts. 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:55.120 Yes, the king here represents God. 00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:57.039 There is that connection. 00:09:57.519 --> 00:10:00.799 But in this, he uses exaggeration. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:07.679 In this, he speaks almost with fairy tale-like exaggeration. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:11.200 He goes to the extremes with things, as we'll see. 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:19.679 So not every little thing is meant to be pressed one for one in correlation with each other. 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:25.519 We recognize he's using embellishment and he's using exaggeration. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:35.840 And while the king is like the heavenly father, not everything the king does here is like our heavenly father. 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:41.039 For one, the king threatens to sell this guy into slavery. 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:49.279 And the word of God tells us that we're not to sell people into slavery. 00:10:50.399 --> 00:11:00.879 Jesus is not teaching us that God is like some Assyrian despot who's going to sell a man's children into slavery to get back the money of their father. 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:05.360 Jesus is exaggerating these points. 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:11.600 And everything in here, all the major points of this, are exaggerated to the extreme. 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:17.360 No servant is ever going to get the kind of debt that we're going to talk about in a minute. 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:22.320 No king would ever loan his servant, the kind of money that's about to be talked about. 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:29.679 No king would ever unconditionally release the size of the debt that we're about to talk about. 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:32.320 These are all exaggerated figures. 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:38.879 And so that question, as it's hanging in the air, what is the measure of forgiveness? 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:43.360 Now gets put into a story as Jesus speaks. 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:46.399 So let's move through this story. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:50.799 And notice, first of all, the standard of forgiveness. 00:11:53.679 --> 00:12:00.080 The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wants to settle accounts with his servants. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:07.279 As he began to settle the settlement, a man who owed him 10,000 talents was brought to him. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:18.720 So Jesus introduces us to a king who, for some unknown reason, has doled out some of his money, a lot of his money, to his servants. 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:21.600 And they have continued to be in debt to him. 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:25.759 And he's finally got to the point where he wants to settle up those accounts. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:35.679 And as he's going through the process of settling up the accounts, and there's probably a line of people that have been talking to him and settling those accounts, this one guy shows up. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:42.080 And the scriptures here tell us that he owed him 10,000 talents. 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:44.399 Well, what is a talent? 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:51.200 Well, a single talent is worth about 20 years worth of wages. 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:53.679 All right. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:58.240 So I figured I'd do a little check to see what that was like. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:04.159 Because this man owes not one talent, not 20 years of wages, but 10,000 talents. 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:07.360 10,000 times 20 years. 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:13.600 Payscale.com said the average yearly income for a New Yorker is$88,000. 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:15.519 Don't you wish, right? 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:18.080 $88,000. 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:27.440 So$88,000 times$20 times$10,000 is$17 billion and$600 million. 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:30.240 That's how much this guy owes. 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:37.840 He's in debt for nearly$18 billion to this king. 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:42.720 What does that mean? 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:50.159 This man would have to work for 60 million days in order to pay this debt off. 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:59.039 He would have to work for 200,000 years to pay off this debt. 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:13.120 And if he was able to work for 50 years in his lifetime, he would have to live 4,000 lifetimes to pay off this debt. 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:27.919 If every single dollar he earned went to paying the debt off, and his paycheck for 4,000 lives of 50 years was always zero because they garnished his wages. 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:33.840 That's what Jesus just said here. 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:44.000 This king wants to settle up his debts with his servants, and he's been dealing with people, and then here comes this guy. 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:55.039 And Jesus uses the term 10,000 because that's the largest numer number that can be written in Greek in a single word. 00:14:55.519 --> 00:15:03.679 So it may, and it was often used just to speak of some indescribable number, some incalculable number. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:08.000 Now, when I was young, I think we would have called that a trillion. 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:10.240 We don't do that anymore. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:13.279 Now we'd have to say, what? 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:15.200 What's after a trillion? 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:17.120 Gazillion. 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:17.600 There you go. 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:18.480 A gazillion. 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:19.519 That'll work. 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:22.159 What is a gazillion? 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:22.720 I don't know. 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:23.679 You can't count it. 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:26.000 That's kind of the point Jesus is making here. 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:30.480 This guy comes to him and he's got a debt so large you can't even count it. 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:35.919 And so he makes this claim upon this man. 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:42.159 As he begins to make the settlement, a man who owed him a gazillion was brought to him. 00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:48.799 And since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had was sold to repay the debt. 00:15:50.799 --> 00:15:52.639 Is that going to pay for it? 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:56.000 Not in 4,000 lifetimes. 00:15:56.799 --> 00:15:58.240 Not even close. 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:01.679 It's not even the tiniest fraction of what was old. 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:07.600 Everything he has, all that are dear and close to him, he, his own life itself, it can't pay it back. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:09.200 It just can't pay it back. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:12.080 This man will never be free again. 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:13.279 Ever. 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:17.679 So what happens? 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:19.759 Slave. 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:23.120 He knows he's in trouble. 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:32.879 And he thinks about what it's like for him to be sold into slavery and his family to be sold into slavery and all of his goods to be sold and given to the king. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:34.559 What does he do? 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:41.200 He makes this absurd appeal. 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:46.240 The servant fell on his knees, verse twenty-six. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:49.200 Be patient with me. 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:54.240 You mean like four thousand lifetimes patient? 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:00.320 Two hundred thousand years patient? 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:04.000 Be patient with me. 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:09.359 And I will pay back everything. 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:14.640 This man should have resorted to begging. 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:15.839 But what does he do? 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:17.759 He reduces himself to bargaining. 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:19.440 Just give me some time. 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:25.599 This is outrageous of a response. 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:30.160 His helpless plea is for patience. 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:36.640 And it's a desperate, dishonest, despicable appeal. 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:44.480 His debt is so astronomically high there's no patience in the world that could wait for that repayment. 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:48.480 And he knows it. 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:51.200 And he knows the king knows it. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:54.640 This is a slap in the face of the king. 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:02.720 It grossly and blatantly underestimates the severity of the problem. 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:09.599 Jesus is telling this story to his disciples. 00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:22.240 And there's gasp after gasp after gasp as they listen to these extravagant figures and this insane appeal. 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:28.720 But Jesus isn't done causing the air to break with gasps. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:32.160 Because look at what happens? 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:47.839 The servant's master took pity on him, cancelled the debt, and let him go. 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:50.880 How much do you owe me? 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:52.319 What was that again? 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:58.640 Sixteen billion, six hundred million? 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:02.400 How long will you think how much patience do you need? 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:06.079 Sixty million days of work. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:10.400 That's about two hundred thousand years, yeah? 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:11.200 Yep. 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:11.759 Okay. 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:22.319 And if 44,000 people live their whole life to help you out, they would have to give you 50 years of their wages, every bit of it. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:24.480 So you could pay me back. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:32.559 You don't owe me a thing. 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:36.160 Can you believe that? 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:38.799 Can you believe that a king would do that? 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:42.799 We'll talk about that more in a minute. 00:19:45.839 --> 00:20:00.240 This king, who demanded what was due him, shows compassion on this faithless servant who had just mocked him to his face with this plea for patience. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:07.200 He doesn't let him go to try raise the money. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:10.240 He doesn't put him on a time payment plan. 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:13.440 He doesn't garner his wages. 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:15.279 He lets him go. 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:22.799 The debt of four thousand lifetimes is now a gift to this man. 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:27.920 No strings attached, it seems. 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:33.759 The man has just been released of this incalculable amount. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:36.960 More than he can ever even imagine. 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:40.400 This man has just tried to bargain his way out of it. 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:43.680 But the king is moved with compassion. 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:49.759 The king cares more about the man than the money. 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:55.519 The king is willing to take the price that he was owed. 00:20:57.920 --> 00:20:59.519 And he lets him go. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:20.319 And just imagine hearing this inch by inch as Jesus lets it out, as he tells it. 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:25.519 But when that man went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:28.799 He's gone out. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:31.920 He's just walked away from this meeting that he was in. 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:36.079 And he leaves free of any burden. 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:41.200 Obviously, this man's life has been totally transformed, yeah. 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:47.440 But a situation's about to reveal whether it has or not. 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:59.759 This man's face was still flush with the shock, with the with the horror of embarrassment and embarrassment of being caught and the and the flush of the plea. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:14.240 And the bargaining that he thought, and the sort of wondering if he's getting away with it, and then to find out he's released of it all, and he's still breathless and flushed, and he runs across the guy that owns him a hundred denarii. 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:17.440 A hundred days' wages, about four months. 00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:36.400 And everybody's listening to the story goes, here's the moment when this guy's going to act like Zacchaeus, where Zacchaeus climbs down from the sycamore tree and he says, If I've owed any man anything, I'll pay him back fourfold. 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:43.759 You can just, they're just waiting for Jesus to finish the story by saying, and this guy did just like the king did. 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:45.920 But that's not what happens. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:23:00.960 This man meets, maybe finds, I'm not sure which, but he comes across the guy who owes him not 4,000 lifetimes worth of debt, but four months worth of debt. 00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:10.400 And he's unwilling to extend the same forgiveness he's just received. 00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:19.680 And he wants his money immediately, paid in full. 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:28.880 And he wants it so immediately and so paid in full, he grabs the guy by the throat and says, Give it to me now. 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:39.839 He's just been forgiven a debt that's six hundred thousand times greater than the one he's clutching the guy's throat over. 00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:59.279 Sixty million days worth of debt has been let go, and now he's grabbing the throat of a guy over a hundred days worth of debt. 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:07.519 The debtor makes a plea. 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:08.960 Verse 29. 00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:18.640 Fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, be patient with me, and I will pay you back. 00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:26.240 You know what should have been ringing in the ears of this man? 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:30.319 These are the exact same things I I just said. 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:32.799 Except for one word. 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:34.960 They're exactly the same thing. 00:24:37.119 --> 00:24:47.359 The pleas of this man who's calling for patience for a hundred days worth of wages ought to have just flooded back into the mind's the man's mind. 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:53.279 I I just said the same thing, and I had sixty million days released. 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:57.119 Because the king was compassionate. 00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:00.480 The king thought about me and not the money. 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:03.839 The king took the cost and didn't lay it on me. 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:12.640 This man makes an honest plea, not a dishonest bargain like the first guy did. 00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:15.759 He says, Be patient with me and I'll pay you back. 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:25.039 He doesn't go to this everything phrase like the other guy did in the face of 60 million days worth of debt. 00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:31.519 This man can realistically repay it, and he's determined to do so. 00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:34.000 He's going to find a way forward. 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:37.759 But that's not good enough to this guy. 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:40.160 In verse 30, he refuses. 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:44.880 And the Greek puts it this way: this is not what he wanted. 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:46.559 He did not want that. 00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:48.960 He didn't want the repayment. 00:25:49.279 --> 00:25:51.359 He wanted the vengeance. 00:25:53.119 --> 00:25:57.279 Out of compassion, the king set aside what he wanted. 00:25:58.079 --> 00:26:02.240 But now this man is not going to set aside what he wants. 00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:09.599 And he takes this helpless debtor to court and has him cast into prison. 00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:16.240 And that leads us into the next movement, the judgment upon unforgiveness. 00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:22.240 In verse 31, other servants are looking at what's going on and they're greatly distressed. 00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:25.839 They don't feel any power to do anything about it, but it troubles them. 00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:28.720 And so they go to the king and they speak to the king. 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:33.599 And the king hears about it, and he can do something about it. 00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:38.880 The master's heard everything that's happened. 00:26:39.039 --> 00:26:44.240 And the master calls the servant in and begins to rebuke him. 00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:52.160 Even though the debt's been canceled, he's still the master. 00:26:52.400 --> 00:26:54.160 This man's still the servant. 00:26:55.279 --> 00:27:00.799 And he's able to still call him into account for what he's done. 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:07.039 And he's reminded of the conversation. 00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:13.680 I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:24.480 Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:32.400 This enormous debt had been released. 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:40.079 And the question the king asks him is calling for only one answer. 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:41.039 Yes. 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:45.519 Shouldn't you have had the same kind of compassion I had on you? 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:46.400 Yes. 00:27:46.880 --> 00:27:50.240 Shouldn't you have released the debt that I released on you? 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:51.119 Yes. 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:56.400 Shouldn't you have thought more about the person than the money like I did? 00:27:56.640 --> 00:27:57.279 Yes. 00:27:58.480 --> 00:28:03.279 Should you have laid the cost on yourself instead of laying it on the one that owed you it? 00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:04.160 Yes. 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:06.319 Yes. 00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:32.079 You see, there might have been a legal challenge here that this man could have rightly brought against the person who owed him money, but there was a moral, moral aspect to this as well, that overlaid any of the legal aspect of it at all. 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:38.160 This man had been shown mercy, and mercy triumphs law here. 00:28:40.960 --> 00:29:01.359 This first servant should have had a life so impacted by the release that he had just had from all of his debt that now his whole life and all the values of his life have been upended, and now he's determined to be a person of mercy and care. 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:19.440 But instead, he's not only selfishly taken advantage of the master's mercy, he's now turned his vengeance on others, and he's about to receive the recompense of his evil heart. 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:24.319 The king here in this story. 00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:35.839 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed. 00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:42.400 Which was never, which means the torture was never going to end. 00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:45.680 The imprisonment was never going to end. 00:29:49.920 --> 00:30:03.359 He was going to suffer continually, ongoing, excruciating torments that would go on without end, without end, without end, without end. 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:10.400 And Jesus stops. 00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:34.640 What do we make of this story? 00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:41.279 Well, if we know the gospel of Matthew at all, it should sound familiar to us. 00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:48.799 It should sound familiar to us ringing in our ears ought to be blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:51.279 That ought to be ringing in our ears. 00:30:51.839 --> 00:30:55.519 Or forgive us our debts as we forgive those. 00:30:57.119 --> 00:31:01.359 Forgive us our debts as we've forgiven our debtors in the Lord's Prayer. 00:31:02.079 --> 00:31:08.240 Or the statement Jesus made right after the Lord's Prayer that Banu preached about some weeks ago, months ago now. 00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:14.480 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:20.160 For if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. 00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:23.920 What is all of this? 00:31:24.079 --> 00:31:25.759 What are we to make of this? 00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:41.279 Just like the statements in the Beatitudes and the statements in and just after the Lord's Prayer, Jesus is once again linking the forgiveness of God with a heart of forgiveness toward others. 00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:47.359 He's making an inseparable link between the two. 00:31:51.119 --> 00:32:00.720 Now, obviously, he's not telling us we can get to heaven by forgiving people, because this man is released of a debt he can never pay. 00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:14.480 But what he's saying is, is those who have experienced forgiveness are now people that also need to express forgiveness. 00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:22.480 Those people who have received mercy are to be those people who show mercy. 00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:40.240 And he said, if you don't show mercy and you aren't a forgiving person, there's a great cause to question whether or not you've ever had mercy or ever been forgiven. 00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:42.480 That's the point he's making. 00:32:44.640 --> 00:32:50.079 What he's telling us here is that remember, this is a story about the kingdom of God is like. 00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:17.760 This life that Jesus is inaugurating here and about to bring into a fuller flourishing after the resurrection and what we enjoy and part of are part of today. 00:34:18.960 --> 00:34:42.320 That a person who's truly experienced the mercy and grace of God in Jesus Christ are going to be transformed people who live life in a fundamentally different way, experiencing that transformation in a changed way of life, including how they deal with their relationships and the obligations that are there, and even the hurts and sins that happen. 00:34:44.880 --> 00:34:48.639 That our words and our actions mesh together. 00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:13.679 At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:17.280 Is it Peter? 00:35:17.840 --> 00:35:19.039 Is it James? 00:35:19.519 --> 00:35:20.400 Is it John? 00:35:21.599 --> 00:35:22.559 Is it me? 00:35:23.599 --> 00:35:25.280 Who's the greatest? 00:35:27.039 --> 00:35:30.880 Jesus is still answering their issue. 00:35:33.599 --> 00:35:43.599 And he goes through these three movements of this chapter as he talks about being like a child in humility. 00:35:44.079 --> 00:35:51.039 And he talks about being active and restoring the wayward like the shepherd. 00:35:51.599 --> 00:35:55.920 Here he talks about being merciful, like the king. 00:35:57.840 --> 00:36:04.639 And he's answering these men in their silly way of thinking about what the kingdom is going to be like. 00:36:05.039 --> 00:36:06.320 Because they are what? 00:36:06.639 --> 00:36:12.239 They're so full of pride that they think they can number each other as better and best. 00:36:13.599 --> 00:36:16.239 Top dog or least one. 00:36:17.920 --> 00:36:22.159 They think that they have a right to argue with each other about it. 00:36:22.960 --> 00:36:28.960 And as they're arguing with each other, they're breaking each other apart and they're not caring for each other. 00:36:29.519 --> 00:36:37.119 They're adding fire to fire and fuel to fuel as they angrily talk about who's better than who. 00:36:42.880 --> 00:36:45.760 Acting independent as well as prideful. 00:36:46.880 --> 00:36:51.679 And then losing the argument sometimes and getting bitter. 00:36:52.079 --> 00:36:54.079 Or do you remember what he said to me? 00:36:54.239 --> 00:36:57.760 I can't believe he just said he was better than I was. 00:36:58.880 --> 00:37:01.280 I'm going to get him back for that. 00:37:02.159 --> 00:37:07.440 And they're not only prideful and independent, they're vengeful and they're bitter. 00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:12.320 And they're asking Jesus, who's the greatest in the kingdom? 00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:15.119 Not a one of you. 00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:18.159 Not a one of you. 00:37:19.360 --> 00:37:21.599 Because God's children are humble. 00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:25.039 God's children are in a restoration project. 00:37:25.199 --> 00:37:26.639 God's children are merciful. 00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:28.400 Are you that, guys? 00:37:32.639 --> 00:37:40.400 And so Jesus lays out for them the aspects of his kingdom: humility and accountability and mercy. 00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:44.480 These are what they need. 00:37:46.079 --> 00:37:52.480 To turn away them from being so proud and independent and bitter and vengeful. 00:37:55.440 --> 00:38:02.960 He's telling them, you need to be humble, you need to be loving, you need to be caring, you need to carefully restore. 00:38:03.920 --> 00:38:06.239 You need to forgive and show mercy. 00:38:07.599 --> 00:38:10.000 Enough of this unhealthy competition. 00:38:10.239 --> 00:38:13.039 Enough of this comparison one against the other. 00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:19.599 Enough of this trying to elbow each other out of the best spots so you can have it. 00:38:21.840 --> 00:38:36.000 Wonderfully, these men, these apostles, will continue to see Jesus' life, and they will begin to experience what seems to be the failure of his mission as he comes to the cross. 00:38:36.639 --> 00:38:43.920 And they'll be puzzled, bewildered by the empty tomb as they can't figure out what's just happened. 00:38:44.320 --> 00:39:01.679 But then the day will come when the awakening will happen and their thoughts and hearts will blaze with the wonderful understanding that truly Christ did bring his rule to bear on earth, and it reigns in the hearts of men and in their hearts. 00:39:03.519 --> 00:39:14.079 And a transformation will occur to these men, so they will be so glad to give their life as they share the gospel around the world. 00:39:14.719 --> 00:39:21.360 Glad to say to the unforgiving, God can forgive you in Christ. 00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:40.559 A transformation where these things are not just gasps and surprises, but the very center of what we believe and experience. 00:39:41.119 --> 00:39:50.320 A king who's given up an insurmountable debt because he's taken an insurmountable cost for us. 00:39:52.000 --> 00:39:58.320 And he calls us to be people of mercy and forgiveness, just like he is. 00:40:00.079 --> 00:40:15.920 And so Peter writes, You're a chosen people, you're a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, so that you may declare the praises of him that called you out of darkness into his eternal light. 00:40:16.239 --> 00:40:20.239 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. 00:40:20.480 --> 00:40:25.920 And once you had not received mercy, but now you've received mercy. 00:40:26.559 --> 00:40:35.840 You are mercy receivers, and now we are to be mercy sharers with one another. 00:40:38.000 --> 00:40:41.280 This world is still full of pride. 00:40:41.519 --> 00:40:43.679 It's still full of independence. 00:40:43.920 --> 00:40:46.000 It's still full of bitterness. 00:40:46.320 --> 00:40:51.760 It's still full of vengeance, and it's on the front pages of our papers every day. 00:40:53.039 --> 00:40:58.800 But there ought to be, and there is, a community of people in this world that show that there's a different way to life. 00:40:59.760 --> 00:41:02.400 There is a life of humility. 00:41:03.519 --> 00:41:06.480 We don't have to argue about who's best anymore. 00:41:06.719 --> 00:41:08.320 There's a life of accountability. 00:41:08.480 --> 00:41:11.519 We care for the wayward and we go after them. 00:41:14.239 --> 00:41:21.119 We care about mercy and we show it even taking cost to ourselves. 00:41:21.920 --> 00:41:30.079 We care about forgiveness because at the heart of it all, there's one who's done all of that for us. 00:41:30.400 --> 00:41:42.000 Who was so humble to leave the environs of heaven to take up a place in a form of a servant and go to the cross and to give it up for us. 00:41:42.639 --> 00:41:53.519 Who was so willing to call us and to come after us, and the hound of heaven, the Holy Spirit to chase us down until we said, I'm yours, Jesus. 00:41:54.960 --> 00:42:05.920 And for us to receive at the end of it all an insurmountable release of an unpayable debt to God. 00:42:06.880 --> 00:42:07.440 Amen. 00:42:07.599 --> 00:42:08.800 Let's pray. 00:42:11.840 --> 00:42:23.840 Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the Lord Jesus and what He's told us here, and what He's done to give us a different perspective. 00:42:25.840 --> 00:42:35.599 Lord, it's too often we're caught up in the pattern and mold of this world and thinking that we have to live our life in the way that it sort of presses us into. 00:42:36.719 --> 00:43:09.039 We thank you that we have a means by which we are transformed into a new way of thought and life, and that is the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ that comes to us undeserving, comes to us and frees us of our iniquity, comes to us with the transforming work of the Word and the Spirit, to make us what we never were, to make us humble when we were proud, to make us care when we were only selfish, to make us merciful when we were only bitter and vengeful. 00:43:09.440 --> 00:43:17.039 We thank you for your work of deliverance and salvation in Christ, and we praise you as we remember you. 00:43:17.760 --> 00:43:19.199 In Jesus' name. 00:43:19.519 --> 00:43:20.159 Amen.