Mt. Olive Lutheran Traditional Worship - April 19, 2026

The same words, with the same authority that your sins are forgiven. Not just the manageable ones, or the ones that you've worked through, or the ones that you think nobody knows about. We're talking about all of them. The ones that you thought were too much. The ones that you think you can't get past. The ones that are still hanging over your head. Every single one of them has been forgiven, done, canceled, not because you deserve it or because you earn it, but because he took it to the cross for you. [00:54:19] (34 seconds)  #forgivencompletely

The one who has leveled the playing field, the one who has canceled the debt, who has absorbed the debt for us so that we could be forgiven, that we could receive his peace, that we get to carry with us. And as we get to carry that with us, we get to show and demonstrate what that canceled life looks like by exuding love, by allowing his love to overflow into the lives of the people that he places in our path. And so today, as we think about this, it's you, it's me, and it's Jesus. And Jesus has spoken and he has said that the debt is gone, so now go in peace. [00:58:35] (42 seconds)  #cancelleddebt

And this is where we kinda circle back to the theme for the day. It's me, it's you, and Jesus. And for us, we are all in this together. It's a picture of of the church. It's a picture that we all have different stories. We all have different problems and past experiences life, and we're all in different parts of this story. And yet we're all in this together because we together get to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear the words spoken. You are forgiven. You are free. Go in peace. [00:56:00] (39 seconds)  #forgivenandfree

And so now a denarii was about one day's wage. And so 500 denarii is about eighteen months of wages. 50 denarii is about two months of wages. Okay? And so in each of these situations, this is not an abstract number, but rather it's the kind of debt that could ruin a family generationally. And so here he is. He talks about these two debtors who both owed more than they could afford to pay back. And so he says, when they could not pay, he canceled the debt of both. [00:46:30] (39 seconds)  #debtscleared

Now which are he canceled the debt of both. Meaning, he takes the same word and he applies it to both debtors. The one who owes a lot and the one who owes a lot, but less. Neither one could repay, and so he cancels the debt. He absorbs the loss to himself. As a business person, you would say that he wrote off the expense and it's done with. It's no longer counted against them, held against them in their accounts, but the accounts have been cleared. [00:47:09] (31 seconds)  #accountscleared

You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. It's this picture in which it's a compare and contrast. On one hand, the host who has done the least amount required and has kept his distance. Whereas this woman who comes in and she gives everything at the sake of being further disgraced, further judged, she comes and she could not stop. [00:48:49] (39 seconds)  #sacrificialworship

neither of which can pay back their debts. That's us. Whether we realize it, big debt, or whether we just kind of pretend like we're okay, little debt. But in both instances, we cannot pay it back. And yet here's Jesus who levels the playing field, who absorbs the debt that we owed on the cross once and for all for you. And this morning as we sit here, the same Jesus who spoke over that woman in Simon's dining room is speaking over you right now. [00:53:39] (40 seconds)  #debtorsforgiven

And on the other side of that is forgiveness and grace and love. And what we need to understand, again, that we are the debtors. And inside of Jesus' little pinky finger is more grace than the sin that we carry, the sin that we have. Which leads us to the next question that we have to wrestle with. And that is, what does a canceled debt free you to do? [00:54:54] (32 seconds)  #gracebiggerthansin