Matthew 18:23. "Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants."

I have lately been taking only a line or two for my readings, trying to dive down into the meeting of even a single verse. This line certainly can stand alone (everything in the Bible can, because every word of it is Truth, it does not need context, but we get further explanation so that we can further understand). Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king (God) who wanted to settle accounts with his servants (us). Note that not everyone is a servant of the king. There are a lot of people who have no account to settle with the king, many of whom have chosen not to serve the king.

But for those of us who have taken the job, how does our King settle accounts with us? If we have done His will, we will be rewarded immensely - we will be welcomed into His kingdom as His sons and daughters! But if we have not done His will, but still consider ourselves His servants, there will be a debt to pay. This is where the context of this verse is instructive. It comes right after Peter asks how many times we must forgive others. Jesus tells Him seventy times seven times, and then tells this parable, in which the king forgives a massive debt of one of his servants who asks for his mercy.

So we see here how God is inclined to settle our debt. If we appeal to His infinite mercy, He will forgive us, just as Jesus told Saint Faustina. The only condition to this mercy and forgiveness is that we must treat others the same way. In the parable, the forgiven servant then demands payment of a much smaller debt from a fellow servant. This, to the king, is grounds for revoking his forgiveness of the debt and jailing the servant until it is paid in full.

Our God does not settle accounts the way we do, and we should be so grateful for that! Even our biggest debt to Him will be forgiven if we ask His mercy, as long as we have treated others the same. We must learn to be like God by imitating His goodness. When we do this, we actively help build the kingdom of heaven here on earth!