1) The story is about people who have a choice to forgive others or not. The main character of the story is the high level servant. At the end of the parable, Jesus says, "that is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." So, metaphorically, the king is God and the high level servant has the choice to either do as exemplified by his master or to harm his equal. Although the high level servant chooses incorrectly, it is his actions that Jesus wants us to focus on.
2) The King decides to forgive the debt because the high level servant knelt before him and pleaded for him to have patience, knowing that the king was the only one who could help him. The king felt sorry for him and forgave all his debt, knowing that in return the high level servant will love the king even more and be more faithful and loyal to him in the future.
3) The servant does not follow the example of the king because his fellow servant is of the same status as he is. The servant does not see how his fellow servant can benefit him in any way other than to give the high servant what he is owed. He may also feel protected by the king to punish a fellow servant since the king already forgave his debts showing compassion for the high level servant.
4) This parable shows that in the Kingdom of God, everyone is equal. You will be forgiven of your wrongs because God wants love in return. However, if you do not forgive one of your equals, who is of equal value to you in God’s eyes, you will be punished in the same way that you punished your equal. In other words, if we harm our fellow humans and do not give them lenience for their wrongs, we in turn will receive equal harm and our wrongs will not be forgiven.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment