Please Forgive My Math

Let's do a little math problem. The Bible talks about "talents" and "denarii" as two forms of money used in Jesus's time. So, what are they worth? Well, in those days, the lowest one was the denarius ("denarii" is the plural). A denarius was simply the coin for a single day's wage for your average worker. The talent was the largest coin in the realm at the time and it was worth about 6,000 denarii. That is, if a worker worked a 6-day work week and saved up all he earned, it would take him 19 years to earn one talent. So let's convert that to something more modern. In Arizona, the average annual income, they tell me, is $31,380. In 19 years (without accounting for inflation), that would come to about $600,000.

"Great, Stan," you're likely thinking, "where are we going with this?" Well, of course, we're going to Scripture. You remember Jesus's parable of the unforgiving servant, right (Matt 18:21-35)? Peter had asked if he could limit forgiveness to 7 offenses from one person. Jesus, in effect, said "No." And He used this parable. A king had a servant that owed him 10,000 talents. Ah! There it is. So, let's see ... 10,000 talents would be on the order of $6 billion. Based on our calculations above, that would take 192,000 years to accumulate (as long as you never spent what you earned). So, when Jesus said "he did not have the means to repay" (Matt 18:25), that's the understatement of the year (so to speak). No way, no how. Could not happen. Impossible. Yet, when the slave prostrated himself and begged for patience so he could repay everything (already an established impossibility), the king felt compassion and released him and forgave his debt. He didn't give him time to pay up; he let it go. He nullified it. He threw it out. No more debt. Wow! So, in sheer gratitude, seeing he no longer owed a penny to the king, he went out and ... demanded 100 days' wages from a fellow slave who, when he asked for the very same thing -- patience until he could pay -- got thrown into jail. Well, you remember the outcome of that foolishness. Word got back to the king and he threw the first slave into jail to be tormented until he repayed all he owed (an eternity, as it were).

It's an enlightening parable. How often should we forgive? Without limit. (Jesus said "70 x 7", but if we're not supposed to keep accounts (1 Cor 13:5), that's without limit.) Why should we forgive? Because they're nice people. No! Because we're forgiven so very much. No one can wrong us as much as we've wronged God. On that basis, it is horribly wrong to fail to forgive anyone. And what does it say if we refuse to obey? We are not forgiven (Matt 18:35). Because, as Jesus says elsewhere, the person who is forgiven much loves much; if you love little (as demonstrated in the lack of forgiveness in this case), you were not forgiven much (Luke 7:47). So you have to ask yourself, "Do I forgive others, or am I more likely to hold a grudge?" The answer might be a spotlight on a bigger problem. Genuine believers ought to be the most forgiving people on the planet. The alternative is not good.