The Servant Who Owed 10,000 Talents. (And how much is 10,000 Talents anyway?)

Have you ever been deeply in debt? I’m not talking about owing your friend $10 for an Uber you split last weekend. I mean, really in deep!

Now that I’m a Mom of teenagers I feel the weighty debt I owe my own Mom and Dad. All those piano lessons, and a mouth full of braces, a good chunk of my college, and a beautiful wedding. Not to mention the two car accidents (I’m so sorry, Mom and Dad!!!), summer camps and gas money (and time!) spent driving me around to hang out with friends. (Gosh, I love them even more just typing this!)

How about you? Have you had a debt you could never repay?!

I was asking myself this questions as I prepared to teach the parable of the King who decided to settle his accounts. (Matthew 18:23-35) In short, the King summoned a servant who owed him a large amount of money. This servant fell on his knees and begged for patience. He would get the money! He would pay the King back! Feeling pity, the King forgave this servant’s debt.

It’s a remarkable story. If we saw this kind of forgiveness, or were benefactors of this kind of loan cancellation, we would be over the moon! Wouldn’t we?

While listening to Help Me Teach the Bible, Douglas O’Donnell taught me that when studying parables you should always ask yourself, “What would have shocked the original audience?” At first blush this story is remarkable, but not particularly shocking. Lots of people have bought me a cup of coffee, or lunch, or a drink at dinner, and said “Don’t worry about paying me back!”

But this servant owed 10,000 Talents, and 10,000 of anything might be a ton of money! (Except Tanzanian Shillings. 10,000 of those are just a couple of bucks. A cup of coffee on the house. That, my friends, is an armful of cash to carry around!)

I was intrigued. And so, thanks to my friend Google, I began my research.

Ok. Work with me here. To begin with, a Talent is a measurement of weight used in places like Rome and Greece. A Denari was the same, except worth a lot less than a talent.

1 Talent = 6000 Denarius

1 Denari = Pay for one day of labor

So, to pay off 1 Talent you would have to work 6,000 days. And to pay off 10,000 Talents you would need to work 60 million days!

A completely unpayable debt!! Forgiven. Wiped Clean. Cast away.

And us? Go and do likewise. Forgive the unforgivable. Have pity. Show mercy. Not just for the petty and small things, but for the debts that can not be payed back! Because revenge and retaliation are shackles we knot around our hearts. But freedom is found in following Jesus’ example.

The King has wiped your debt clean, go and do likewise!

ps – if someone hurt or abused you, please note that Jesus says to forgive from the heart. he would never want you back under the possession of abuse. your heart can forgive from a safe distance. {hugs}