WHY YOU NEED TO FORGIVE!
As I was reading this Bible passage in the Book of Matthew, the Lord opened my eyes to see some in-depths and to understand it better than before. In the Book of Matthew chapter 18 from verse 21:
“ Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 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. “
My first thought within me was, “Why would the King command the servant to be sold with his wife and children? What kind of command is that? How much are we talking about here?” But it was later the Lord helped me to realize that the debt of Ten thousand Talents was a big debt, and still a big debt for any servant or civil servant of this present generation to ever pay, in fact selling the servant, with his wife and his children would never pay 10% of the debt, what?
Let’s check the other part of the Bible passage from verse 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.” We can see here that the Master is a compassionate person, he knew it was not possible for the servant to pay back that debt of Ten thousand, so he forgave him.
But then let’s see what the forgiven servant did thereafter from verse 28, “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.”
Here we can see that after this servant was forgiven a huge debt of Ten Talents, he went and meet a fellow servant owed him a sum of D100, One hundred denarii, and he would not take no for an answer, he would not take patience for payment, he would not take sorry for debt settlement, so he threw his debtor into prison until he could pay his debt.
Now, the action taken on the matter of money shows how big the amount of the money is. For this servant to throw his fellow servant into prison shows the money is not a small amount also. You cannot jail somebody because of $10 or less.
One hundred Denarii was not small money and not even a small money till today, this is an amount that can pay for 4 months salary of an average man. How do I know? The Bible made me understand in the Book of Matthew 20 about a landowner who hired laborers for his vineyards, it says in verse 2, “Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.” So we can see that a denarius is a day’s pay for an adult. Denarius is a singular and Denarii are a plural form of the same currency. So 100 Denarii can pay 100 workers per day or it can pay 4 months’ salary of a worker.
As of March 2, 2023, the average annual pay for a farm worker in the United States is $32,277 a year, meaning $2,689 per month. So if we want to calculate the worth of One hundred denarii today, it is about $10,700. That is not small money, and that was the reason the servant threw the guy owing him to prison. And that is the reason many of us are throwing people who offend us into the prison of our hearts, into the dark prison of unforgiveness, because the offense they committed against us was not a small one, the disappointment, the betrayal, the pain, the loss and the wickedness. But we need to realize that God has forgiven us much more than one hundred denarii, we need to realize that we have sinned against God, we have done wickedness against God much more than what anyone can ever do against us, and God forgives us. God has forgiven us Ten Thousand Talents!
WHAT IS THE WORTH OF 10,000 TALENTS COMPARED TO 100 DENARII?
As I was reading my Bible few days ago and I got to realize the worth or value of Ten Thousands Talents, I began to cry, I began to ask God for mercy, I began to think of those who offended me that I needed to forgive, because I realized I owe God Ten Thousand Talent, because I realized that God has forgiven me sins worth more than Ten Thousands Talents.
A single Talent is equivalent to 6000 Denarii. A single Talent is a 20 years’ salary of an average worker. That was the reason the Master forgave the servant owing him Ten Thousand Talents, because he knew he would never be able to pay back the debt. To pay one out of the 10,000 Talents debt, you would need to work for 20 good years, 6 days in a week. So to pay back Ten Thousands Talents, it means you would need to work hard for 200,000 years, which is not possible for any human being. We all owe God a debt not possible for us to pay back; we have all sinned against God and come short of His glory. It is impossible for anyone to pay the debt of his sins, and God cannot behold sin, that was the reason He sent His only begotten Son to come to the world and pay for the debt of our sins by dying on the Cross.
The Bible says, “Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.” God does not imprison us for our sins when we ask for forgiveness, but rather, He releases us and forgives us. What a wonderful Savior!
Listen, the least anyone can owe God is Ten Thousand Talents, and the most our fellow human being can owe us is 100 denarii and Ten thousand Talents is equal to 60,000,000 Denarii. So if God could forgive us 60,000,000 Denarii worth of sins, why are we not going to forgive our fellow human beings 100 Denarii worth of offences? When we realize how much we have offended God, we will reason how less people have offended us. When we know how much God has forgiven us, it will not be a problem to forgive our fellow “servants” their offenses.
My fellow servants, let’s open the prisons and release those we have jailed because of one hundred denarii, no matter how much that means to us, as God opens heaven to release His blessings upon us.
Amen!
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God bless you.