Forgive us our debts

This comparison will be criticized because it, like all comparisons, is imperfect. Jesus fed the thousands through a miraculous act. But let’s look at the story more closely:

“𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑, ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑤 𝑏𝑦 𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒. 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑑𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑠. 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑎 𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑑, ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑘.

𝐴𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑, “𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒. 𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦, 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑔𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑢𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑.”
𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑, “𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑎𝑡.”
“𝑊𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑠ℎ,” 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑.
“𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒,” ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑖𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑠. 𝑇𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑝 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛, ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑖𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒𝑛, 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛.“ Matthew 14:13-21

What does this story communicate to Jesus’ disciples?

– First, it tells us that Jesus had compassion for them and cared about their physical needs. He didn’t criticize the sick who may have been ill because of their poor choices. He simply had compassion and healed them. He had God’s heart and tapped into God’s resources to help them.
– Second, Jesus commands his disciples to feed them. He doesn’t chide them that he could fast for 40 days so these people could certainly deal with a little hunger now. He doesn’t ask them to establish a committee to find a solution to their hunger. He simply sees a need and tells his followers to meet that need. I don’t think Jesus would have been pleased if Peter had said “𝘑𝘦𝘦𝘴𝘩, 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵?”

– Jesus begins by taking what food the disciples had away from them. They didn’t argue with him or worry that they would go hungry. Unlike so many today, they simply trusted Jesus to care for their needs and they sacrificially obeyed.

– Jesus’ faith, and the faith and obedience of his disciples, were miraculously multiplied to meet the needs of the crowd.

There are many reasons that student debt has become an overwhelming and unacceptable burden for so many in America. The majority of those reasons have zero to do with irresponsibility from those getting student loans. I wrote about this briefly in my book- 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑳𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕- 𝑴𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕:

“𝘐𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘶𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥’𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯. 𝘜𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘩𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 — 𝘌𝘹𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘴 22:25; 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘴 25:36,37.

𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘵 𝘰𝘧 $54,000. 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 24 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘥 $140,000 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘸𝘦 $130,000. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘴, 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 (𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴.) 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘭𝘭-𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘩𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘤𝘺. 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 $1.3 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢. 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴.”

For those people of faith who are bemoaning what they see as an “unfair” forgiveness of partial debt (or who support politicians who are complaining about it), keep in mind what Jesus and the entirety of scripture tell you what your response should be. Don’t ignore the utter hypocrisy of whining about this when you said nothing about the multitude of handouts to the wealthy, more costly forgiveness of PPP loans to businesses, or the conservative laws which protect clear usury (most likely the reason Jesus turned over tables in the Temple Courtyard.) Jesus’ response to the genuine need was compassion. His response was to command those who followed him to give to those in need. If the Church fully did this, in faith, we might not need governmental help, but we never have so the government must.

Other advanced nations wisely value the contributions that education offers society. They make that appreciation concrete by providing higher education at no cost to all their citizens. Some pay their citizens to go to college. Some even allow foreign students to attend for free. America is losing whatever greatness it once had because it has lost its appreciation of education. More concerning is that the Church is losing her ability to be salt and light because of political corruption, faithlessness, and a shocking lack of compassion. Only the Church can confirm whether Jesus was sadly mistaken when he said:

“𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑦 𝐼 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑠 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑑𝑜 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒, 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟.” John 14:12