Jesus speaks in a parable about a royal servant who had a huge debt of 10,000 talents. One talent in those days was equal to 20 years of merit. That corresponds
to a sum of one billion dollars today. The day came when the money was to be returned, but the servant didn't have the money. The king then ordered that the servant and his entire family be sold. The servant asked for extra time to pay the debt. The king then writes off the entire debt with mercy. As the man left, he met a fellow servant who owed him 100 denarii. That's about 100 days' wages, some money but still a fraction of the debt he himself had recovered. Even though he had his own debt recovered, he put the servant in prison until he could pay. The king was informed of this, and thought that the servant should have been as merciful to his fellow servant as the king had been to him. Because of that, the king gave him to the jailers. (Mat 18:23–34).
Jesus then said: "My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart." (Matt 18:35).
Jesus means that we, as recipients of God's forgiveness, must also forgive those who hurt us. Forgiving a person also means not bringing it up again. We shouldn't keep a record in our minds of all the wrongs that other people have done to us. Not forgiving a person can result in bitterness, and is against God's will.
(Rom 12:19–21). See 5) Blessed are the merciful in The Sermon on the Mount.
To forgive a person means to release that person from a debt. That doesn't mean you have to open yourself up to this type of debt again. You are under no obligation to lend money again to a person who clearly can't repay. In this case, the man in this parable had proved unfaithful in repaying a debt. A person who has been seriously
hurt should forgive that person, but may make arrangements to avoid being in the same situation again. He can arrange measures to prevent the same abuse from happening again. Forgiving a person doesn't mean you have to have the same relationship with that person, sometimes it has to end.
The message of this parable is as follows:
- Our sins are beyond repayment.
- God has written off our debt.
- Offenses that others commit against us are small in comparison.
- God expects us to forgive as we have been forgiven.
- If we refuse, the result will be God's anger and some form of punishment.
The reason God can cancel our sins is that Jesus took our sins when he died physically on the cross, see Salvation. Jesus then paid the price for us. Jesus gave his life as a ransom for many (Mat 20:28, Mark 10:45, 1 Tim 2:5–6a).
