Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.But because he couldn’t pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.But forasmuch as he had not wherewith to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
4 sermons cite this verse
… Will my Father in heaven do to all of you, if you do not, each of you, forgive your brother from your hearts, Matthew chapter 18 verses 23 through 35. Jesus compares God, his father, to this king. Now, that doesn't mean that God is like this fictional king in every sense, but at least in one sense. In God's family, forgiveness is a non-negotiable. It's not up for debate, because forgiveness is what makes us who we are. It doesn't mean it's easy Just necessary Necessary because God is not willing That even one of these little ones be lost Not lost to him, not lost to us And we're not going to change God's mind on this And we shouldn't try We can't give up on anyone Because God hasn't given up on us Jesus' story is a comfort and a warning It's a comfort because no debt is too much for God to forgive on account of Jesus. And a double comfort because Christian forgiveness doesn't start with us, but with God. …
… with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him 10,000 talents was brought to him. And as he could not pay, his Lord ordered him to be sold together with his wife and children and all his possessions and payment be made. So the slave fell on his knees before the king saying, have patience with me and I will pay you everything. And out of pity for him, the Lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii. And seizing him by the throat, he said, pay what you owe. Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, have patience with me and I will pay you. But he refused. Then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, They were greatly distressed. They went and reported to their Lord all that had taken place. …
… Verse 25, the man didn't have the means to pay. His Lord commanded him to be sold along with his wife and children and all that he had in repayment to be made, so there would be an indentured service to the whole family, and they would earn back whatever they could, not even coming close to what was possible. But the slave responded, falling to the ground, prostrating himself. He said, have patience with me, and I'll repay you everything. It's ridiculous, not possible. But in spite of the ridiculous nature of the appeal, and in spite of the crime committed, the Lord of the slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. At this point, the Jewish people listening to this would be in an outrage, because they believed in restoration. They believed that whatever you wasted, you had to pay back, that the only way back into favor with God was you earn your way back. And so they would have seen this kind of king as a fool who would feel compassion and free the debt. …
We're looking at, we started a series that I guess could be called a series on character or virtue. At least a lot of people would use those words out in our culture for what we're going to be talking about. But I don't think it's not, it doesn't fit. Those are not adequate terms. We saw last week that Paul, in the famous love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, says that we must remember that morally virtuous behavior can arise out of a heart filled with deep spiritual emptiness. In other words, what Paul said, just a real brief summary. He says people can live, they can be loyal to their families, they can be generous to the poor, deeply committed to moral principles and to biblical principles as well. And the heart motive for that, the force for that, the dynamic for that, can be one of self-centeredness, self-absorption, self-interest, self-righteousness. So see, a character, morally virtuous behavior can arise out of a heart that hasn't actually been changed, that hasn't really been supernaturally changed. …