October 14, 2007

The Kingdom of Heaven is Like the Master and Unmerciful Servant (Matt. 18:21-35)

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, when my fellow believer sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as seven times?" 22 Jesus answered, "I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he does wrong to you seventy-seven times. 23 "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. 24 When the king began to collect his money, a servant who owed him several million dollars was brought to him. 25 But the servant did not have enough money to pay his master, the king. So the master ordered that everything the servant owned should be sold, even the servant's wife and children.

Then the money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed. 26 "But the servant fell on his knees and begged, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.' 27 The master felt sorry for his servant and told him he did not have to pay it back. Then he let the servant go free.

28 "Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a few dollars. The servant grabbed him around the neck and said, 'Pay me the money you owe me!' 29 "The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.' 30 "But the first servant refused to be patient. He threw the other servant into prison until he could pay everything he owed. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very sorry. So they went and told their master all that had happened.

32 "Then the master called his servant in and said, 'You evil servant! Because you begged me to forget what you owed, I told you that you did not have to pay anything. 33 You should have showed mercy to that other servant, just as I showed mercy to you.' 34 The master was very angry and put the servant in prison to be punished until he could pay everything he owed. 35 "This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."

Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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