What the Bible says about Sin, Impact of
(From Forerunner Commentary)
When parents sin, they provide their children with an opportunity to justify sin. The impact of such sin is devastating to a nation when the sins of kings influence their heirs. Some of the kings of Judah probably made excuses similar to those parents use today. How often parents excuse bad behavior by saying, "It's okay, honey. You didn't have your nap"; "You're having a bad day"; or "Johnny next door is a bad influence on you." Our society has become so good at self-justification that people who cannot find any plausible excuse commonly plead "temporary insanity." In most cases, it really is only a justification to get away with abusing our fellow man. It might succeed in man's court, but not in God's.
"The kingdom of heaven" represents God's government, including His church, so God deals with church members as this king with his servants. The debt of the king's servant was an enormous sum. A talent was a denomination of money, or weight of silver or gold, equaling three thousand shekels. By Roman calculation, if this talent were of silver, then ten thousand talents would be equivalent to several million of today's dollars. By Jewish calculation, ten thousand talents would equal three times more, probably over ten million dollars. If this talent were of gold, ten thousand talents would amount to about fifty times more than the silver talent! Nevertheless, Jesus uses this amount to show that the debt—sin—was immense and humanly unpayable. To us, and those we touch, the impact of our sins is immeasurable, but Jesus' sacrifice is greater, covering all sins.
Martin G. Collins
Parable of the Unforgiving Servant