But as it always does, the day came, and the contract fell due. The debt had not been fully paid. His creditor appeared and demanded payment in full. Only then did he realize that his creditor not only had the power to repossess all that he owned, but the power to cast him into prison as well.

"I cannot pay you, for I have not the power to do so," he confessed.

"Then," said the creditor, "we will exercise the contract, take your possessions and you shall go to prison. You agreed to that. It was your choice. You singed the contract, and now it must be enforced."

"Can you not extend the time or forgive the debt?" the debtor begged. "Arrange some way for me to keep what I have and not go to prison. Surely you believe in mercy? Will you not show mercy?"

The creditor replied, "Mercy is always one-sided. It would serve only you. If I show mercy to you, it will leave me under paid. Its is justice I demand. Do you believe in Justice?... It is justice that demands that you pay the contract or suffer the penalty," the creditor replied. "That is the law. You have agreed to it and that is the way it must be. Mercy cannot rob justice."

There they were: One meeting out justice, the other pleading for mercy. Neither could prevail except at the expense of the other.

"If you do not forgive the debt there will be no mercy," the debtor pleaded.

"If I do, there will be no justice," was the reply.

Both laws, it seemed, could not be served.  They are two eternal ideals that appear to contradict one another. Is there any way for justice to be fully served, and mercy also?

There is a way! The law of Justice can be fully satisfied and mercy can be fully extended - but it takes someone else. And so it happened this time.

The debtor had a friend.  He came to help... he wanted to help because he loved him. He stepped between them, faced the creditor, and made this offer.

"I will pay the debt if you will free the debtor from his contract so that he may keep his possessions and not go to prison."

As the creditor was pondering the offer, the mediator added, "You demanded justice. Though he cannot pay you, I will do so. You will have been justly dealt with and can ask no more. It would not be just."

And so the creditor agreed.

The mediator turned then to the debtor. "If I pay your debt, will you accept me as the creditor?"

"Oh yes, yes," cried the debtor. "You saved me from prison and showed mercy to me."

Then said the benefactor, "You will pay the debt to me and I will set the terms. It will not be easy, but it will be possible. I will provide a way."

The debtor, in turn, had been extended mercy. Both laws stood fulfilled. Because there was a mediator, justice had claimed its full share, and mercy was satisfied" (Conference Report, Apr. 1977, 79-80; or Gospel Principles, 76-77).