Parables, can we break the code? (Jesus, moral, Kingdom, beliefs)

[sojourner]

Originally Posted by doppelgänger

But if he is inflexible, should be be judged or held accountable for not being able to reflect the grace he'd found from his own master?

Accountability is the compelling factor here. Everyone is accountable for their own actions. Since he chose to be inflexible (notice that the way it's presented in the parable, flexibility is a viable option for him) he chose to reject, instead of reflect the grace that had been given to him. he is his own judge, and has separated himself from the master, who first reached out to him in love.

The servant, according to the parable is able to reflect grace. He chooses not to.

[doppelgänger]

Originally Posted by sojourner

The servant, according to the parable is able to reflect grace. He chooses not to.

How do you know that? Haven't you encountered many people who think they lean on the grace of "God" in liberating them from condemnation for their own perceived shortcomings, but can't reflect that grace upon others?

[sojourner]

Originally Posted by doppelgänger

How do you know that? Haven't you encountered many people who think they lean on the grace of "God" in liberating them from condemnation for their own perceived shortcomings, but can't reflect that grace upon others?

Look at the parable. The man obviously has a choice. The whole reversal here is caught up in that the man was given great grace, but would not extend a small grace to others. I have encountered lots of people who do this, and they go along, thinking that, because God has given them grace, they can do whatever they want, and, somehow, it's going to be OK. The reversal in that core belief is that it is not going to be OK -- what they do in turn, by not extending grace, fouls the gift, separating them from God. That's why repentance, (itself a reversal of the dynamics arising from core beliefs) is part of the salvific process.

[Heneni]

This king did not pay for the sins of the wicked servant, the servant paid for it himself. The king extended the wicked servant kindness, he did pay for servants mistakes, the servant paid for it himself.

So this parable has nothing to do with salvation.

Heneni

[doppelgänger]

Originally Posted by sojourner

Look at the parable. The man obviously has a choice.

I don't think it's so obvious. Let's say his master is fabulously wealthy, but he is not. The master has a "choice" to forgive the debt, because the master has plenty more and can go without. But what if the servant depends on collecting the debts of his underlings for his family's survival. Does he have a "choice"?

Originally Posted by sojourner

The whole reversal here is caught up in that the man was given great grace, but would not extend a small grace to others.

I have encountered lots of people who do this, and they go along, thinking that, because God has given them grace, they can do whatever they want, and, somehow, it's going to be OK.[/quote]I more frequently encounter the person who thinks its the belief rather than the spirit that matters, that they can be redeemed by their faith and yet still sit in judgment on the unwashed others they perceive. It's not that what they do is okay, it's just that they perceive their redemption as a necessary correlate to their belief, and project that anyone else's redemption is likewise dependent on a profession of belief.

[doppelgänger]

Originally Posted by Heneni

So this parable has nothing to do with salvation.

Heneni

If you say so. Personally, I read it as related to salvation (though I consider that term a reflection of psychological processes rather than having anything to do with supernatural beings or a "God"-being).

[Heneni]

If it had anything to do with salvation, the king should have been tortured instead of the wicked servant.

Heneni

[doppelgänger]

Originally Posted by Heneni

If it had anything to do with salvation, the king should have been tortured instead of the wicked servant.

Heneni

There's more than one kind of salvation, though I agree, in the context of some of them, you are correct.