March 26th, 2026
Thursday, March 26
The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. There was a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold. But he could not repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees and begged, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. But that servant found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ But he refused…Then the master called the servant. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
~Matthew 18:23-35
The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. There was a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold. But he could not repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees and begged, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. But that servant found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ But he refused…Then the master called the servant. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
~Matthew 18:23-35
__________________________________________
During one of the reflections on God’s love two weeks ago, I mentioned how God’s love found meaning within the “grace” system in the ancient world. The word “grace” did NOT mean “allowance for mistakes.” The word itself just meant “gift.” Grace was understood as a relational interaction between two people. Usually “grace” was some sort of favorable gift that benefitted someone and indicated welcome and fellowship with the giver, sharing with the giver’s livelihood.
Grace was not a “no strings attached” thing. There were strings attached. Relational strings. It was common in the Roman world to talk of the “dance of grace.” If you received “grace” and were welcomed into fellowship to share in the livelihood of the giver, that meant you were brought into a sort of dance. The moves were that you were expected to live in a way that reflected the character of the giver. You essentially became a living billboard; your life became an extension of the giver. You became an agent of grace.
The story of the two servants in Matthew 18 is a great example of this. Both servants are understood to be people within the master’s household. In other words, they were already recipients of grace because they lived by his provision, sharing in his livelihood. The master in the story seemed to be quite generous. He apparently loaned a good sum of money to one of his servants, which was part of the life of grace.
The first servant could not pay back to the master (which would have been the master’s own money anyway). He was probably expected to make a return on the money, but failed to do so. This servant pleaded with his master to dismiss the loan. The master, who was generous, did; an example of this master’s character. The dismissal of the loan is not in itself the grace; it is an example of the sort of graceful character of the merciful master. This is important.
This servant, in turn, whose life existed by the master’s grace and received his mercy was to live accordingly. As the story goes, another servant within the same household of the same master owed a smaller amount to the first servant. The other servant pleaded to dismiss the smaller amount. Servant #1 did not. He failed to be an agent of grace.
What troubled the master so was that this servant forgot or failed in what he was supposed to do: be an agent of the master’s culture of grace. The master had mercy and forgave is failure to make a return on the money – that mattered less than his failure to reflect the character of his generous master. The servant decided he’d be his own agent of ungrace.
Jesus told this story to illustrate forgiveness. His point was that in his kingdom, everyone exists by the kind generosity of the Father. We exist within the culture of God’s grace. Our lives, then, are to be extensions of this. When we too forget this, we are not living as agents of grace. We are attempting to create a world of our own. And that world will always be poor, isolating, and graceless.
___________________________________________
For reflection:
Prayer: Generous father, we all live by your generous grace. Everything we have and everything we are is because of you. By your forgiveness and mercy, we find life. May we extend the same forgiveness and mercy to others. Amen.
During one of the reflections on God’s love two weeks ago, I mentioned how God’s love found meaning within the “grace” system in the ancient world. The word “grace” did NOT mean “allowance for mistakes.” The word itself just meant “gift.” Grace was understood as a relational interaction between two people. Usually “grace” was some sort of favorable gift that benefitted someone and indicated welcome and fellowship with the giver, sharing with the giver’s livelihood.
Grace was not a “no strings attached” thing. There were strings attached. Relational strings. It was common in the Roman world to talk of the “dance of grace.” If you received “grace” and were welcomed into fellowship to share in the livelihood of the giver, that meant you were brought into a sort of dance. The moves were that you were expected to live in a way that reflected the character of the giver. You essentially became a living billboard; your life became an extension of the giver. You became an agent of grace.
The story of the two servants in Matthew 18 is a great example of this. Both servants are understood to be people within the master’s household. In other words, they were already recipients of grace because they lived by his provision, sharing in his livelihood. The master in the story seemed to be quite generous. He apparently loaned a good sum of money to one of his servants, which was part of the life of grace.
The first servant could not pay back to the master (which would have been the master’s own money anyway). He was probably expected to make a return on the money, but failed to do so. This servant pleaded with his master to dismiss the loan. The master, who was generous, did; an example of this master’s character. The dismissal of the loan is not in itself the grace; it is an example of the sort of graceful character of the merciful master. This is important.
This servant, in turn, whose life existed by the master’s grace and received his mercy was to live accordingly. As the story goes, another servant within the same household of the same master owed a smaller amount to the first servant. The other servant pleaded to dismiss the smaller amount. Servant #1 did not. He failed to be an agent of grace.
What troubled the master so was that this servant forgot or failed in what he was supposed to do: be an agent of the master’s culture of grace. The master had mercy and forgave is failure to make a return on the money – that mattered less than his failure to reflect the character of his generous master. The servant decided he’d be his own agent of ungrace.
Jesus told this story to illustrate forgiveness. His point was that in his kingdom, everyone exists by the kind generosity of the Father. We exist within the culture of God’s grace. Our lives, then, are to be extensions of this. When we too forget this, we are not living as agents of grace. We are attempting to create a world of our own. And that world will always be poor, isolating, and graceless.
___________________________________________
For reflection:
- When have you received radical grace, maybe from someone else? How did you respond to that? Is it difficult to extend the same generosity you’ve received?
- For those with kids: Talk about this story. What about this story bothers them? Talk about how life under God’s grace is meant to be life of generosity and forgiveness. Remind them God has forgiven us all and shared good things with us all. Maybe ask how and why it is sometimes difficult to forgive just as God had forgiven us.
Prayer: Generous father, we all live by your generous grace. Everything we have and everything we are is because of you. By your forgiveness and mercy, we find life. May we extend the same forgiveness and mercy to others. Amen.
No Comments