------------------------------------------------------------ Jesus and the Kingdom of God E-Mail Bible Study ------------------------------------------------------------ Week 7 - Matthew 18:21-35; 6:9-15 FORGIVENESS IN THE KINGDOM The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant ------------------------------------------------------------ Note the new "rules" of participation this week: 1. Write out answers to ALL the questions at home, preferably ahead of time. 2. Send in only A FEW of your answers, where you think you have something to add. DON'T reply to all the questions this week. 3. COMMENT ON OR ADD TO the answers you see others give for various questions. 4. EVERYONE try to participate AT LEAST ONCE. In the application questions especially, your experiences and struggles and learnings can be helpful to others. Lessons learned in pain are sometimes the most enduring -- and form your own testimony of God's working in and through you. Even if you're in the Digest version of the study, try to send in at least one answer or comment on the appropriate day. 5. To help you participate, I am trying to get the questions to you sooner. ;-) ------------------------------- "Don't be quick to forgive," counsels a secular author on recovery from childhood sexual abuse. "You need your anger to get you through this." Now my heart goes out to women -- and men -- who have suffered sexual abuse as a child. There IS healing for you in Christ! But to find Jesus' wholeness we must come Jesus' way. This week's passages are plainspoken and jarring. They don't leave little cracks for us to squeeze by Jesus' clear teaching. In these passages Jesus outlines the shape of a new and different way of dealing with hurt, and he speaks from hard family experience. Let Jesus instruct and mold your soul this week as we study forgiveness and the Kingdom. MONDAY ------ ------------------------------------------------------------ LEVEL 1: OBSERVATION QUESTIONS. WHAT DOES THE TEXT SAY? ------------------------------------------------------------ COMMENT: Ten thousand talents is a great deal of money. In 133, John Hyrcanus sent 3,000 talents of silver to Antiochus VIII Sidetes as a ransom for the city of Jerusalem. A talent in the Old Testament weighted approximately 73 to 79 lbs. (33-36 kg.) and was equivalent to about 3,000 shekels. The Greco-Roman talent was 58 to 83 lbs. (24-38 kg.). (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia 4:1052ff.) If one were to calculate the current value of silver at US $4.45 per troy ounce (price as of 8-12-97, 12 troy ounces to the pound), and a talent at 75 lbs., then the present-day value of 10,000 talents in Jesus' parable of the unforgiving servant would be a cool US $40 million. Quite a chunk of change. On the other hand a denarius was approximately the value of a day's wages. At a salary of US $25,000 a year, that might be US $115. Figured that way, a hundred denarii might be about US $10,400. 1.1 Read Matthew 18:15-35. While we won't focus on vss. 15- 20, they are important to see the context of our parable. What question prompted Jesus' parable? 1.2 Who are the various individuals mentioned in Jesus' parable? (Answer this for your own notes, but NOT to the list.) 1.3 What kind of position, do you think, would the first debtor in the parable probably have to be able to rack up a $50 million debt? ------------------------------------------------------------ LEVEL 2: INTERPRETATION QUESTIONS. WHAT DOES THE TEXT MEAN? ------------------------------------------------------------ COMMENT: The exact meaning of the Greek words "hebdomekontakis (seventy?) hepta (seven)" in vs. 22 is disputed. Many see the ending -kis as multiplicative, thus "seventy times seven". Others see it as "70 times (and) seven." Leon Morris, Matthew (1972) sees the decisive argument for "77 times" in the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) for Genesis 4:24, where these words translate a Hebrew expression meaning "77 times." 2.1 (vss. 21-22) What is the significance of the number "seven" here? What is the significance of the number "seventy"? Put Jesus' answer to Peter in your own words. TUESDAY ------- 2.2 Luke 17:4 seems to be a capsulation of Jesus' more extended teaching in Matthew 18:15-22. What similarities and differences do you see between the two expressions of this teaching? COMMENT: In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:23-35), we see debtor's prison or workhouse. This may not have been so much punitive as leverage for the lender. The idea was to force the debtor to sell out whatever property he might have secretly retained, or to have the debtor's friends and relatives would come up with the money to get the debtor out of prison. Alternatively, the value of the labor furnished under compulsion might lessen the debt. 2.3 (Matthew 18:23-27) Why do you think the king had mercy on the big-time debtor? What did the debtor do to deserve it? 2.4 (vss. 28-30) Why do you think the big-time debtor treated the two-bit debtor so badly? (Human psychology now. We'll draw the spiritual lessons later.) 2.5 (vss. 31-34) Why do you think the king acted as he did? (Human psychology still.) COMMENT: We're offended by the idea of torture, but the word translated "jailer" is Greek basanistes, "torturer, jailer." The Latin author Livy (2.23) pictures an old centurion complaining that he was taken by his creditor, not into servitude but to a workhouse and torture, and showing his back scarred with fresh wounds. 2.6 (vs. 34) How long would it take for the big-time debtor to pay off his debts? (Just a simple answer. Don't draw the spiritual lessons yet.) WEDNESDAY --------- 2.7 (vs. 35) Jesus is very straightforward: "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless...." Ouch! This isn't just a story but an illustration meant to be taken seriously. Now let's look for the lessons. Why does Jesus contrast the big-time vs. the small-time debtors? What might the debtors prison and torturers refer to? (No, you can't be serious! This is the Jesus who came to show God's love. Can't be!) What is Jesus' main point in this parable? 2.8 (vs. 35b) What does it mean to "forgive your brother from your heart"? THURSDAY -------- 2.9 Read Matthew 6:9-15. How does the way we treat our "debtors" figure in Jesus' teaching here in the Sermon on the Mount? 2.10 Does Matthew 6:14-15 *really* mean that our eternal forgiveness is dependent upon our willingness to forgive? That sounds like "righteousness by works" doesn't it? 2.11 Why is the principle Jesus is teaching in these passages so foundational to the Kingdom of God? Why does it HAVE TO be this way? How can it be right if it is so contrary to the way human beings really are? FRIDAY ------ ------------------------------------------------------------ LEVEL 3: APPLICATION QUESTIONS. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ME? ------------------------------------------------------------ 3.1 How does Jesus' family experience make him uniquely qualified to speak about forgiveness? 3.2 Does forgiveness from the heart require love? Does forgiveness from the heart require trust? Must we forgive those who do not repent? 3.3 Usually, the people we have the most difficulty forgiving are the people who have been closest to us, who have in some way betrayed us. Who do you have the most difficulty forgiving? How do you think Jesus can help you to forgive this person? ------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 1997, Ralph F. Wilson, all rights reserved. Joyful Heart is a trademark of Joyful Heart Ministries. 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