Jesus tells the parable of the unforgiving debtor
Matthew 18:21-35Intro Questions
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- God is ... What do we learn about God in this passage?
- We are ... What do we learn about people in this passage?
- I will ... What has the Holy Spirit revealed to us in this passage? How can I apply it to my life this week?
- You can ... Who do you know who needs to hear this? Feel free to share with others by social media links at the bottom of this.
Series: True Story “Parables of
Jesus”
Stories are the language of the soul. We connect with stories and we
remember them. That is why Jesus used storytelling so often to illustrate
deeper truths. His stories, known as parables, were Jesus’ way to communicate
important Kingdom principles. Although the details of these stories were
imagined, the Kingdom principles are not. They are true and eternal.
Title: “Canceled Debt” (Unmerciful Servant)
Bookmark: Click Here
Opening
Thoughts: There is an undeniable link between God's forgiveness of you and
your forgiveness of others. What does it look like to truly forgive—to cancel
the debt and let someone go?
v “Christianity has an image problem.”
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Text: Matthew 18:21-35
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21 Then Peter came
to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister
who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus
answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 “Therefore, the
kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with
his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed
him ten thousand bags of
gold was brought to him. 25 Since
he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his
children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the
servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged,
‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The
servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that
servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred
silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke
him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow
servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay
it back.’
30 “But he
refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could
pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had
happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had
happened.
32 “Then the
master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all
that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t
you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the
jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will
treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
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Summarize the main story: Describe the
events of the story in your own words.
v Review and
retell the story.
Reflections for applications:
v 10
Thousand Talents?
o
In approximate
modern equivalents, if a laborer earns $20 per hour, at 2,000 hours per year he
would earn $40,000 per year, and a talent would equal $800,000 (USD). Hence,
“ten thousand talents” hyperbolically represents an incalculable debt—in
today’s terms, about $8 billion!
v Hundred denarii ($16,000)
v What God Has Done for Us
o
Romans 5:6-8 You see, at just the right time, when we
were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone
die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly
dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.
v We Need Saving
o
Galatians
1:4 NIV - who gave himself for our sins to
rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and
Father,
o
1 Peter 1:24 NIV - For, "All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the
flowers fall,
v Responsibility to Forgive
o
Matthew
6:12, 14-15 NIV
- 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ... 14 For
if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your
Father will not forgive your sins.
o
Colossians
3:8-10 NIV - 8 But now
you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice,
slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since
you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new
self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
o
Colossians
3:12-14 NIV - 12
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves
with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each
other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.
Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love,
which binds them all together in perfect unity.
v Truly Forgive?
o
2
Corinthians 5:18-19
NIV - 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and
gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world
to himself in Christ, not
counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the
message of reconciliation.
v
How
Joseph Forgave
o Genesis 50:15-21 NIV - 15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their
father was dead, they said, "What
if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did
to him?" 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father
left these instructions before he died: 17 'This is what you are to say to
Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they
committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the
servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him,
Joseph wept. 18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him.
"We are your slaves," they said. 19 But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in
the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for
good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So
then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he
reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
v
Reconciled
o We are reconciled to God when we are forgiven!
o Acts 2:38-39 NIV - 38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your
children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will
call."
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Digging Questions:
·
How will you
respond to God’s “True Story”? What transformative move needs to be made?
·
What do
these biblical texts tell you about God and His nature?
·
What is
God calling us (me and you individually) to do?
Take Away Challenges
·
What has the Holy Spirit revealed to you in this passage?
How will you apply it to your life this week?
·
Whom do you know who needs to hear this?
·
What is
God bringing to your attention in this discussion? What beliefs, thoughts or
actions need to be addressed or changed?
Hash tags #Parables #Sin #Forgiveness #Debt #Unmerciful
Sunday sermon link https://youtu.be/uCJl24a48U4
Kevin’s Blog Link to more resources: Click here for Kevin’s Blog Notes
Comments and resources with
some more resources:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+18%3A21-35&version=NIV
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