In this parable, God’s extravagance is shown: His extravagant love, His extravagant forgiveness and His extravagant mercy. God is the master who forgives the extravagant debt owed him by his servant. But the servant’s selfish, sinful nature is shown when he doesn’t forgive or have mercy on a fellow servant who owes him a small portion of what he had owed his master. His heart has not been changed. He has NOT been transformed. Good fruit is not part of the process.
So here WE are. God has also forgiven OUR debt to him, the debt of being born into sin. We can NOT pay it on our own – not even close. But God’s love for us is so extravagant that He sent His own Son to pay the debt of sin FOR us.
And our response? Of course that is the question of the day. What IS our response?
- Psalm 103:6-14
- Ephesians 4:32-5:2
- Matthew 18:21-35