Matthew 18:23-25

Just a number to illustrate that there is no end to the mercy that we should be willing to give to others. How could Jesus have a basis for saying anything like that?

Let us begin here by looking at the size of the indebtedness to God. If a talent is taken to be of silver, according to the Roman calculation then ten thousand talents would be an amount equal to about $3,000,000 American. If it is of Jewish calculation, then it would be about $10,000,000. If the talent happened to be of gold, then it would be about $150,000,000.

Again, God does not intend you and I to take this figure literally. The figures are given only to present a contrast. Now, in addition to the sheer magnitude of the debt, the man had an additional problem. He had absolutely no collateral, no assets that he could sell, get rid of, cash in, in order to meet the debt. So he was commanded then to go completely and totally into bankruptcy. He was to be sold into slavery, along with his wife and children.