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Chapter 31 - Unmerciful Slave
Matt. 18:28-30
28 But [de] the same [ekeinos] servant [doulos] went out [exerchomai] , and found [heurisko] one [heis] of his [autos] fellowservants [sundoulos] , which [hos] owed [opheilo] him [autos] an hundred [hekaton] pence [denarion] : and [kai] he laid hands [krateo] on him [autos] , and took him by the throat [pnigo] , saying [lego] , Pay [apodidomi] me [moi] that [hostis] thou owest [opheilo] .
29 And [oun] his [autos] fellowservant [sundoulos] fell down [pipto] at [eis] his [autos] feet [pous] , and besought [parakaleo] him [autos] , saying [lego] , Have patience [makrothumeo] with [epi] me [emoi] , and [kai] I will pay [apodidomi] thee [soi] all [pas] .
30 And [de] he would [thelo] not [ou] : but [alla] went [aperchomai] and cast [ballo] him [autos] into [eis] prison [phulake] , till [heos] [hou] he should pay [apodidomi] the debt [opheilo] . KJV-Interlinear
28 'But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, 'Pay back what you owe.' 29 'So his fellow slave fell down and began to entreat him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you.' 30 'He was unwilling however, but went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. NASB
Mans debts to one another are insignificant when compared to the debt we owe to God and of which God has forgiven us.
The amount owed to the slave, 'a hundred denarii' was 100 days pay, or a little over three months work. The amount owed to the King was nearly infinitely greater than this small amount. The small debt was within the possibility of being repaid. One only had to wait a little while and the debt would have been paid.
But the first slave was cold, proud, presumptuous, hardhearted, and grossly insensitive. The first thing that he did once his huge debt had been forgiven, was that he went out to hunt down one who owed him a little. He was not in need of collecting this debt immediately. His huge debt had been canceled. The first slave was no longer under any obligation to repay the king.
Yet his insensitivity led him to harass someone who did owe him. He not only demanded repayment, but used violence to extract it. Then he resorted to imprisonment. Now common sense dictates that when you throw someone into prison, they will not earn any money, let alone be able to repay a debt. The repayment of the debt was not the interest of the first slave, but bitterness and a bully attitude was his intent.
Such is the nature of man. Without some 'perfect' standard to guide us, then we are led by the sin nature within us. The sin nature is relative and tends to look to whatever is convenient or satisfying to ones ego or lusts. Logic and reason go out the window.
The first slave was pleading with the king for his own sake and won favor from the king. He had accumulated a great deal of debt and lived high as a result. He squandered it all, thus his inability to repay. He had very little thus the insignificant amount owed him by the second slave became significant. The latter's inability to repay, set off the first slaves temper. Actually the first slave was angry even prior to his demands on the second slave.
Those who are negative toward Bible doctrine will inevitably demonstrate poor judgment in dealing with others. They become greedy, and insensitive toward others. 'Self' is their only priority.
In so doing, they establish a pattern of life in which it becomes clear to all who observe them, that they deserve no less than tough discipline. And eventually in life, that is exactly what God brings to them. We of course are not to judge anyone, nor even come to any conclusions as to their status with God in the event we observe their difficulties. Not all trouble put upon people is due to Gods discipline. Sometimes it is testing through suffering which God brings into our lives so that our spiritual growth can become stronger. But that is not in view here in this study.
Debt doesn't happen by itself, but is acquired. And the more debt we acquire, places us in a position of having to repay that debt or else. When we are born we are given human life from God. Recall our study of 'neshamah' the spark of life which God imputes (Gods exhale) or life into the human baby (our inhale) when it is born. The baby already has biological life which began at the point of conception.
We have three potential vessels which hold three different categories of life. The physical body holds biological life beginning at conception. The human soul holds human life beginning at birth. And the human spirit holds eternal life beginning at the point of faith in Christ.
When we are given life we incur a debt to God. We did not earn the life. We did not deserve it. Yet God gave us life and in return we are expected to use that life in a manner fitting of Gods righteousness and justice. We are of course imperfect so we fail in life. That brings yet another debt upon us. Christ went to the Cross and purchased our life out of the bonds of sin and death. Now we have another debt. Neither of which we can repay.
Our first debt is canceled when we believe in Christ. The second debt is canceled when we maintain our life in a manner consistent with Gods policy. Believers who ignore their spiritual life are in effect ungrateful for their debt being canceled, ungrateful to God for all He has done for them. They will live their life treating others as the unmerciful slave treats the second slave, with self righteous ill contempt.
Their attitude is one of contempt whether in indifference or in outright rejection of God. Self righteous people are quick to ask for forgiveness for themselves, but quick to judge others with ruthlessness and very slow if at all, to forgive others for even insignificant things.
End of Lesson
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