The Debtors Prison

This is the 6th in our series on the Apostle’s Creed, after today we will be halfway. We need to ensure our faith is built on the Rock - Jesus, the Word of God, otherwise we will be tossed by every wind of doctrine that sweeps across the Earth especially in these dangerous times we live in. By the time we’ve finished , you will know the Apostle’s Creed by heart. This week we will affirm our belief in the Forgiveness of Sins which puts us halfway through the series. Feel free to join in... 

1. I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. 
2. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. 
3. who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. 
4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. 
5. He descended into Hell. On the third day he rose again from the dead. 
6. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. 
7. From there He will come to judge the living and the dead. 
8. I believe in the Holy Spirit, 
9. the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, 
10. the forgiveness of sins, 
11. the resurrection of the body, 
12. and life everlasting. 

 Amen 

My favourite passage on the forgiveness of sins is the story of the woman who wept as she poured out an expensive bottle of perfume on Jesus feet and dried them with her hair. The version recorded in Luke is different from the other gospel accounts of a woman pouring expensive perfume on Jesus. Let’s compare the version in Luke with the one in John. 

The main 2 objectors in the accounts are Simon the Pharisee in the Luke account and Judas in John’s account. It is interesting to me that Judas was the son of Simon Iscariot but since it’s not said I can’t say Simon the Pharisee and Simon Iscariot were the same person. Since it’s the Luke Passage that relates to the forgiveness of sins, let’s read from Luke 7:36-50; 

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said. “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” 

Simon did not say what he thought out loud but Jesus answered his thoughts. Nothing is hidden from God.

Jesus spoke in accounting terms here and in the Lord’s Prayer to teach about the forgiveness of sins. In Accounting a debt is shown in the Balance Sheet as an asset. It is an asset because in the future it will be converted into money in the bank. Since a Balance sheet must always balance, on the other side of the sheet income is recorded in the Profit & Loss (P&L). The first journal entry is; 

Dr. Assets 

Cr. Income 

For example, a sale was made for $100. The buyer agrees to pay within 30 days and the $100 is recorded as a debt in the balance sheet. At the end of the year, the accounts in the P&L are cleared and the net profit or loss less tax is transferred to the owners equity in the balance sheet. 

The tax becomes a liability in the Balance Sheet owed to the Government. The Corporate tax rate is 28% so $28 is owed to the IRD and the balance of $72 to the owner. 

The debtor pays the company his debt of $100 and the company pays the income tax to the IRD of $28 leaving $72 in the bank account belonging to the owner. 

If the debt is not repaid, it must be written off because the value of the business is not as high as stated. The bad debt becomes an expense in the current year and reduces the profit. 

The accuracy of the balance sheet is so important that companies have to have their accounts audited by law. The Government has an interest because the tax they collect is reduced when a debt is written off. 

A few years ago, a crooked accountant at an Italian company rather than put expenses through to the P&L was adding the debit to a fake bank account in the balance sheet. The owner thought that he had a large balance in his account which of course wasn’t real. When finally caught obviously the accountant went to prison. Therefore the owner and the Government both have reason to be unhappy with a debtor who doesn’t repay. What they thought was an asset was merely an illusion. 

In the same way, when we sin we become a debtor in the balance sheet of both the person we sinned against and also to the Heavenly Government of God. Matthew (the Tax Collector) must have thought Jesus was speaking directly to him when he recorded the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18:21-35; 

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.“ Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” 

If we will not forgive others, Jesus said our Heavenly Father won’t forgive us, why is that ? In the parable, the servant begged for time to repay his debts but the King forgave them all instead. The servant then had one of his own debtors thrown in prison and when the King found out he had the servant thrown in jail until he could repay every penny. His forgiveness was cancelled ! 

Every time we do something wrong we create a debt to someone, ultimately to God. That debt needs to be repaid or forgiven. If you have been really hurt by someone you will know our human nature wants justice. It wants the other person to do something or have something done to them that will cancel out the wrong that has been done. That’s why we send people to prison for the crime they have committed.

People who have done wrong know that they have hurt others but in their selfishness are pleasing themselves and can justify their wrongdoing. As the years go by the number of people we are in debt to can build up to the point we cannot repay. We don’t consider the ultimate consequences. Scripture instructs us to keep short accounts. 

What if I’m the one who’s been wronged and I haven’t done anything wrong ? My balance sheet is strong, I don’t have many debts and I repay them! Don’t be like the rich young ruler who came and asked Jesus what he needed to do to go to Heaven. When Jesus told him he needed to sell everything he had, give it to the poor and come follow Jesus he couldn’t do it. He loved money more than God. He wasn’t as good as he thought he was, he couldn’t obey the 1st commandment. 

Think about what you owe God. 

$300 for the groceries. 

$100 to put petrol in your car. 

$40 for a new gas bottle. 

Birthday BBQ at the Beach on a Sunny Day with your family and friends. 

Priceless. 

You can never repay God. In the parable, the King at first shows Amazing Grace and forgives the man his great debts. The King hopes that such kindness will be life changing and that the debtor will go and make something good from their new start. If he was genuinely thankful he would remember the King’s kindness and try his best to show others the same kind of grace. 

But the man is more like a criminal who begs for mercy only to escape punishment, he doesn’t change at all. He is very good at manipulating others to get off Scot free. The man reveals what he is really like by going out and getting one of his own debtors thrown in Jail. He has an evil heart, he is a crook. 

Once the King realises he has been deceived by crocodile tears, he has the man thrown in Jail « until he can repay every penny ». 

Jesus forgives us all our many debts and expects us to do the same for others on a much smaller scale. 

Getting back to the account in Luke, the woman is a notorious prostitute responsible for her part in the betrayal of many wives and families. She has never sought forgiveness, imagine the great debt she has to all the people she has offended. You will hear it said that as long as I don’t hurt anyone else it’s nobody else’s business. This is simply a lie. When we sin, we hurt our family, bring shame to our parents, embarrass our friends, wear down the community picking up the pieces and even harm the gospel message if we are a Christian. 

The woman can never make amends for all the harm she has done. Her only home is forgiveness from the Lord. That is why the woman is weeping when she comes to Jesus. All her debt is released in tears because of the grace and mercy of God to forgive a repentant sinner. 

We are created in the image of God and he has been hurt many times by each one of us. It’s why Jesus went to the Cross because we cannot repay what we owe for all the wrong we have done. Only God is rich enough to pay for that. And if God himself was the one on the Cross paying the debt for all our sin, who can challenge him ? 

The woman admitted her sin and was forgiven all of it. The Pharisee would not admit his sin and was forgiven none of it. The woman poured out her most valuable possession to show her love for Jesus and he forgave her sin. Judas threw his 30 pieces of silver at the feet of the Pharisees 

saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!” But they said, “What is that to us? You take care of it yourself!” 

Matthew 27:4 

Judas was not forgiven for his crime and he went out and hung himself. There was no mercy from the Purveyors of the Law. 

Jesus will forgive your sin, others may not. As human beings we can barely forgive a single lie said to us, let alone something much worse ! But if you want a friend to love you, forgive them their debts ! 

In the musical Les Misérables, Javert was the Policeman seeking to capture Jean Valjean for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family and trying to escape his prison sentence. He represents the law which pursues our conviction until justice is done.

   

Les Misérables is a story of Law and Grace. You can’t have one without the other. But having received forgiveness ourselves, we also must forgive, I believe in the forgiveness of sins !