Two Debtors: A Parable

A religious leader asked him over for a meal. He went to the house & sat down at the dinner table. Having learned that Jesus was a guest in the religious leader's home, a prostitute from the city came with a bottle of very expensive perfume & stood at his feet, weeping, her tears falling on his feet. She let down her hair, dried his feet, kissed them, & put perfume on them. The religious leader saw this & said to himself, "If Jesus were really the prophet I thought he was, he would know this woman who is falling all over him is a whore."

The Parable:

Two men were in debt to the bank. One owed $20,000, the other $2,000. Neither of them could pay up, & so the head of the bank had mercy & cancelled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful? 

Yes, the one who was forgiven the largest amount. He who was forgiven the largest amount is the most grateful. Yet if the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal. 

Personal Application: 

"If we could see how much You're worth, You're power, You're might, You're endless love, then surely we would never cease to praise You." 

I believe one of the greatest challenges church leaders face is to help people realize the depth of their sin. Otherwise, we have a community of people who, like Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50), do not realize the expanse of God's active mercy, grace, & forgiveness. They, in essence, have fallen for the temptation to "look good without being good" (Brennan Manning). Hoping that "mere time cancels sin. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or the guilt of sin" (C.S. Lewis). One must realize that in order for atonement to be efficient in one's life they must sense it's necessity (Lord Byron). Otherwise, the Pharisee within is all too willing to make himself known in our lives arguing, "compared to _________, you are a really incredible person; what matters most is to be respected." 

Yet, the Bible teaches that God is "opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). To our detriment, we have churches full of prideful, self-sufficient & self-righteous individuals (I include myself in this description). We have either forgotten the depths of sin that we were saved from, have become too accustomed (& numb) to the religious activities of our churches, or we haven't been saved at all. I believe this is manifested in the lack of compassion & love for God that is seen in my life & my church. As John M. Shanahan stated, "Personal sin reflected upon breeds compassion." Sometimes I read the gospels & realize that I resemble those Jesus confronted rather than Christ Himself. Because, "other men's sins are before our eyes; our own are behind our backs" (Seneca). 

I encourage you to spend sometime before God today. "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts..." (Hebrews 3:15). May God reveal to us the depths of our sin so that we may realize the great expanse of His love. While we were opposed to God, enemies of the cross, He gave His life a ransom so that we may be reconciled to God. Our atonement is Christ himself. 

May God have mercy on us for we are sinners & we don't even realize it.