The forgiven employee
Icebreaker
This is a parable about forgiveness. In the parable the servant/employee experiences being forgiven but is also then challenged to forgive someone else.
1. What does forgiveness mean?
Read; Matthew 18 verses 21-26
Jesus tells this parable in response to a question from Peter (verse21). Peter asks Jesus about the number of times we should forgive our brother/sister.
2. What kind of circumstance do you think might have prompted Peter to ask this question?
Experiencing the forgiveness of our sins
The story starts off with the employee experiencing his own debt being cancelled. Please note that the debt of ten thousand talents was equivalent to millions of pounds so was in effect impossible for him to pay back. In those times when you had such a serious debt the consequences were extremely serious. You and your family could be sold into slavery or you could be thrown into prison until you or your relatives paid off the debt and that could mean you might be imprisoned for life.
3. How do you think the employee might have felt after his master cancelled this massive debt?
4. Do you think the employee had done anything to prompt the master to cancel his debts?
5. Did the master put any conditions on the debt cancellation?
The comparison to be made here is our experience of forgiveness of our sins through Jesus’s death on the cross. ( 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21, 1 John 2 verse 2, 1 John 4 verse 10, 1 John 1 verse 9 ) You may want to look up one or more of those verses to remind everyone of this. Look back at questions 3 to 5 and ask them about the forgiveness of our own sins;
6. How did you feel when you experienced the forgiveness of your sins?
7. What did you do to prompt that forgiveness?
8. Are there any conditions that Jesus puts on the forgiveness of your sin?
Read Psalm 32
This Psalm was written by David who writes about his experience of forgiveness probably after his adulterous and murderous behaviour with Bathsheba and Uriah ( 2 Samuel 11,12). He also writes about his experience of forgiveness in Psalm 51.
9. What aspects of David’s heartfelt experience can you relate to the most?
10. David talks about confessing his transgressions to God (verse 5) How important is confession? Confession can be done corporately as part of our worship or individually, which do you find the most helpful?
What is confession? To confess our sin is to acknowledge that what we have done is wrong is sinful to God and that we are wrong to desire to do it. Confession affirms our intention of abandoning that sin in order to follow God more faithfully.
Forgiving Others
Back to the parable, the employee whose huge debt was cancelled now gets approached by another employee..
Read Matthew 18 verses 28 – 35
The sum of money owed by the second employee to the first employee of a hundred denarii is equivalent to just a few pounds. At that time the law was on the side of the first employee who did have the right under law to have the second employee imprisoned.
11. Do we sometimes focus more on what is right or just in these kinds of situations and forget to show mercy? You could ask anyone in the group if they have experienced a crime committed against them such as a robbery and how they responded to it.
There are many amazing stories of people forgiving others of terrible crimes committed against them. The story of a lady called Eva Kor who experienced being experimented on by Dr Josef Mengele at Auschwitz is a very moving one. She talks about her decision to forgive the Nazis who committed these crimes against her. Below is a link to a short animation ( less than 7 minutes) which describes her story and is worth watching.
Eva’s story highlights the benefits that she experienced for herself of forgiving others.
12. What are the benefits of forgiving someone who has hurt us?
Letting go of grudges and bitterness can lead to better health, happiness and well being as well as restoring our relationship with God.
Forgiving others is so important that it forms part of the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6 verse 12)
You may want to finish your study here, ending by saying the Lord’s Prayer together. However below are some optional further questions on forgiveness which you could choose to explore.
Martin Luther King said “ He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power of love”
13. Reflecting on that quote, how strongly linked do you think love and forgiveness are?
14. Sometimes people say that when you forgive someone you should also forget what they have done? Do you think this is true? For example if someone has abused you might it be unwise to forget what they did in case they repeat it?
15. The forgiven employee begged for forgiveness from his master, however do you think forgiving someone is only conditional on them asking for forgiveness? Can you forgive someone who has died?
16. “Cheap forgiveness” is when someone says they are sorry but it is said just to keep the peace or to please someone else. How can we ensure that we offer genuine forgiveness to others?
“Choosing forgiveness doesn’t mean that the wounds will suddenly vanish. All healing, physical, emotional and mental takes time. Choosing forgiveness means that you’ve decided to begin the healing process” Doe Zantamata
17. Do you agree with the quote above that forgiveness can sometimes be a process? How can we help ourselves and others through this process?
We need God’s help with the process of forgiveness and prayer is an important aspect of this. Perhaps you might like to offer a short time of silence for people to pray about their own personal situations where they need to forgive others.
If during your discussions a difficult situation comes up which you think that person needs help with, I suggest you contact the pastoral team through Sharon Seal.