Luke 7:42-43 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?… — A debt may be paid, or it may be pardoned. If it is paid, the debtor owes no thanks to his creditor. If it is pardoned, gratitude for the grace is a duty. A man under a burden of debt ought to know whether he can pay what he owes, or whether his only hope is of being forgiven. If he has anything to offer, he ought to proffer it. If he has nothing to offer, he ought to say so, and implore forgiveness as an unmerited favour. These two ways of wiping out a debt ought never to be confounded. In the one case, a man looks for a receipt; in the other for a pardon. It is the same in the moral world as in the material. A man can either meet and discharge his moral obligations, or he cannot. It is the one thing or the other. Apologies or excuses are not a payment. Yet how common it is for one who has nothing to pay with to thrust forward an excuse or an apology in place of a request for forgiveness. This is always evasive and unmanly. Instead of saying, "I forgot," or "I didn't mean to," or "It was a mistake," or "It was an accident," we ought to come out frankly and unequivocally with the admission, "I was wrong. Forgive me"; or "I failed to do as I agreed to do. Forgive me"; or "I did not do as I was directed to. Forgive me." Don't let us shirk our duty of asking forgiveness when we have nothing to pay with. (H. Clay Trumbull.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?WEB: When they couldn't pay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him most?" |
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