Jesus teaches about forgiveness
(From the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 18, verses 21-35)
One day Peter asked Jesus a question. "When someone does something bad to me – and keeps doing it to me over and over again – how many times should I forgive him? Once? Twice? Seven times?"
Jesus said to Peter, "Not 7 times – at least 77 times! God always wants us to be kind and forgiving – even when we feel like we don't have any more kindness left inside of us."
Peter didn't like this answer very much, so Jesus told him this parable to help him understand:
A king wanted to straighten things out with a man named Joe who owed him $10,000.
The king sat down with Joe and said, "I want the money you owe me."
"I don't have it," Joe said sadly.
"Then you will have to sell everything you own," the king told him.
"Please," Joe begged, "I promise I will pay you back. Be patient with me! Give me time to find the money."
The king looked long and hard at Joe. He knew Joe would never be able to pay back what he owed. "Let's settle this right now, OK?" the king said. "From now on you don't owe me anything. You don't have to pay me back at all."
Joe couldn't believe it! He thanked the king and headed for home to tell his family and friends the good news. On the way, he met a friend named Bill who owed him $100.
"You owe me money," Joe said to Bill. "Pay me now!"
Bill fell down on his knees and began to plead with Joe. "Be patient with me," he said. "I promise I will pay you back. You just have to give me some time."
Joe looked at Bill. "No way! I want it now!" Joe had Bill put in jail until he could pay his debt.
Friends of Bill and Joe saw what happened. They went to see the king and told him everything.
The king was very angry. He called Joe back for another meeting. "You wicked man," he said to Joe. "I was really kind to you. I told you that you didn't have to pay me back! Couldn't you have shown your friend the same kindness when he pleaded with you?"
The king gave Joe a very long time-out in jail to think about what he had done.
Jesus finished his story: "That's what God will do with you, too – give you a very long time out – if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."
Questions to think and pray about:
Have you ever had to forgive someone? How did you feel? How did the other person feel?
Have you ever been forgiven? How did you feel when that happened?
Have you ever had to forgive yourself?
How do you know that God forgives you?