The Unmerciful Servant

Now, in order to appreciate the point of this parable, we need to understand that every one of us, every person who ever lived, is in the same position as this slave. Because of our sin, we also owe a great debt, which is far beyond our ability to repay. Our only hope is to have the debt forgiven. The good news is that this is just what God has promised to do. Through the sacrifice of his life on the cross, Christ paid the penalty for our sin. And so He is able to completely forgive the debt of anyone who places their faith in him. Their guilt will be utterly wiped out, and they will be reconciled to God. No punishment. No need for “good works” undertaken in a vain attempt to pay for our sin. Just forgiveness, utter and complete.

I expect most of us here this morning would agree with what I have just said. We know that forgiveness of sins comes through faith alone. We know that we can’t pay for our sin by doing good works, that there’s no cosmic scale on which God is going to balance the good and bad of our lives to see which is greater. In God’s eyes, we’re all guilty, all deserving of condemnation. As Paul teaches,

"As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one.’ . . . This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. " – Romans 3:10, 22-25

There is no one righteous. We all have sinned. We all fall short. We all are guilty. And the only way for us to be justified, that is, judged to be without guilt, is by placing our faith in Christ, who gave his life as a sacrifice in order to make atonement, to pay for our sins. That’s fundamental, and I don’t expect anyone here will object to anything I’ve said. But in my view, the problem is not that we doubt the reality of our sin; the problem is that we don’t fully appreciate the enormity of our sin. It’s no accident that when Jesus was describing this character’s debt, he chose a huge amount, an almost incomprehensible amount. He wanted us to realize just how much evil and wickedness in us needed to be atoned for on the cross. But we tend to minimize our own sin; we excuse it, we overlook it, we plead extenuating circumstances. It reminds me a bit of Lucas Helder, the college student who was arrested a few weeks ago for planting pipe bombs in mailboxes across the Midwest. When he was allowed to see his parents, he reportedly asked, “Mom, do you think I could go to jail for this?” He just didn’t get it. And like him, we don’t fully comprehend the depth of our sin and guilt before God.

Why does that matter? Because the less we appreciate how much God had to forgive in us, the less we love him. As Jesus said,

"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said. " – Luke 7:41-43