The Merciful Master - The Gospels

In this Bible Story, Jesus gives an intense illustration about the true meaning of forgiveness and mercy through a servant and his master. That we must show forgiveness to others because we have been forgiven ourselves. This story is inspired by Matthew 18:21-35 & Luke 10:25-37. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.

Today's Bible verse is Matthew 18:27 from the King James Version.

Episode 200: As Jesus and His disciples were walking, Peter asked Him a question about forgiveness. In response, Jesus told him the story of a servant who owed his King an excessive amount of money. There was no way the servant could pay so he begged the King to spare him and the King forgave him his debt. But later, that same servant went out and found someone who owed him a very small amount of money. When the man begged for mercy, the servant had him thrown into prison. When the King found out about this, the servant who had his large debt forgiven was sent to be tormented in prison until his debt was paid.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray. Then the Lord of that servant was
moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt.
Matthew eighteen twenty seven. Dear Heavenly Father, to day, I
acknowledge that one of the most powerful things I can
do for myself is to forgive others when wrongs are

(00:21):
done against me. I also acknowledge that the longer I
harbor unforgiveness and resentment, the longer I rob myself of
experiencing your freedom and your forgiveness when I mess up
in life. Therefore, my life will be one of mercy
and grace. Because I have been forgiven much, I now

(00:46):
know I can forgive much. I decree and declare that
as much as it remains with me, I will live
at peace with all people. I will realize that life
life is too short for me to afford the enemy
the luxury of keeping me stuck in past hurts. This

(01:06):
is the time, and this is the moment, that I
break free from unforgiveness, bitterness, and resentment. I declare that
Satan has no hold over my life and over my peace.
I declare that Satan has no hold over my joy
and over my peace. I am free to love and

(01:30):
I'm free to forgive, like the Merciful Master in Matthew
eighteen and Luke ten in Jesus name. Amen, thank you
for making prayer a priority in your day. To learn
more about the Bible, stay tuned for today's story, brought
to you by Bible in a Year dot com.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
The Merciful Master and our last story. Jesus spoke of
generosity through the story of a gluttonous rich man and
a poor beggar. The rich man gorged on his wealth
with no attention to the sick and cold beggar right
at his door. As a result, the rich man suffered
when he died, but the poor man was restored. In

(02:24):
this story, Jesus teaches another valuable lesson on forgiveness through
the intense story of a servant and his master, as
inspired by the Gospels.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
We're so glad you've joined us on the Bible Any
of Your podcast today. The Bible any of Your Podcast
is an outreach of PowerPoint Ministries and can only come
to you each week through the support of listeners just
like you. Your support today is so important that we
want to thank you for your gift by giving you
a copy of my book called the Jesus Book. It

(02:57):
is a powerful guide that shows how every book of
the Bible points to Jesus and how his living word,
the truth of God's Word, will transform your life. So
to get a copy of the Jesus Book, simply go
to Jack Graham dot org slash Jesus. That's Jack Graham
dot org slash Jesus, and thank you for your support.

(03:18):
In our last episode, we heard about Lazarus and the
rich Man and how their earthly and eternal lives were
vastly different. It was a picture of the complete restoration
that awaits all who trust and follow Jesus, and the
eternal separation and suffering for those who reject him. Today
we'll hear another parable, this time about a master who

(03:40):
forgives a large debt, only to discover that his debtor
failed to extend the same mercy to another. It's an
important lesson about the forgiveness that we've been given and
the forgiveness that we must give to others. So let's
listen now to the reading of God's Word.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
It was midday and Peter was walking signly behind Jesus
along with the other disciples. The dust drug underneath his feet,
and sweat dripped down his furrowed brow. Jesus knew what
Peter was thinking, as many people do. Peter was thinking
of past wrongs done to him friends, family, and tax collectors.

(04:17):
Peter's memory was filled with people who had done him
a great deal of harm. To make matters worse, he
continually endured the backbiting in spite of the Pharisees because
he followed Jesus. The mental stress was weighing on him.
Good thing for Peter, he was not one to keep
his emotions bottled up. Out of the silence, Peter spoke

(04:37):
to Jesus, asking how often should I forgive a brother
who sins against me? Seven times less more. Jesus smiled
at Peter's question. It was a good inquiry. However, he
was mistaken that there was supposed to be a limit.
Seventy seven times, Peter, as many as it takes for

(04:58):
your heart to learn what forgiveness, Jesus replied. Jesus pulled
in his disciples closer to him. They walked along the countryside.
The rolling green hills sprouted with lilies tossed in the wind.
As they walked, Jesus told them another story. The Kingdom
of Heaven is like a king who wished to settle

(05:19):
his account with his servant. He borrowed money from him,
and now it was time to pay. This servant owed
him ten thousand talents, a very large sum of money. However,
the servant was unable to pay his debts. Because of this,
he was sentenced to be sold into slavery along with
his wife and children. The thought of him and his

(05:41):
family being sold off into the dark unknown broke him.
He knelt before his master and cried aloud to him.
He begged him to spare his life. He fell on
his knees, saying, please, have patience with me, show mercy.
The master was a good man and decided to forgive
his debt, so the servant left with joy. Later that day,

(06:04):
the same servant went out into the market place. There
was a man there that owed him a hundred deny.
Seeing him, the servant burst through the crowd and tackled
him to the floor. The two of them tumbled in
the dirt, and the servant pinned him down. Pay me
what you owe, the servant yelled as he slammed the
man's head into the floor. The man begged for mercy,

(06:26):
but the servant offered none of it. He refused to
forgive him and instead had him thrown into prison. One
of the other servants saw what had taken place and
brought the news back to his master. That evening, the
servant was called into the master's home. Rage boiled deep
in his belly. The master pinned the servant to the ground.

(06:47):
You wicked man, I forgave you of your debt, and
now I hear you could not show mercy to your brother.
The master threw him against the wall and called for
the jailers, so the servant was taken away until he
could pay his debt. Jesus finished his story and the
disciples had stopped walking to consider the meaning. Jesus looked
at Peter and said, whoever is forgiven much, must also

(07:10):
forgive Your heavenly Father will do to you what you
do to others.

Speaker 3 (07:19):
Today's scripture begins with Jesus continuing to teach in parables.
Parables have been described as short stories with a long meaning.
Jesus is teaching the true nature of the Kingdom of God,
who God is, what he is like, and how we
can know him. Peter begins with a question seeking to
understand the requirement for forgiveness of others. But now the

(07:41):
disciples would have known that forgiving others was really not
a question to be asked. We are all to forgive.
Jesus taught this in the model prayer. In teaching them
to pray, Jesus had instructed them to ask God to
forgive their debts, just as they forgave their debtors. So
Peter was simply trying to deter san how much was
expected of him, and in his mind, seven times was

(08:04):
a pretty good number to forgive someone else. But Jesus's
reply makes it clear that the bar is much higher,
not seven times, but seventy times seven. Jesus said. To
drive home the point, Jesus tells them that God's kingdom
can be compared to a king who was owed different
amounts by his servants. One servant was called before him

(08:27):
to settle his debt, but there was a problem. The
man had absolutely no chance or ability to repay the debt.
It was impossible. His fate was now in the king's hands,
so the king ordered him sold along with his wife
and children, to pay the debt. He was no longer
a free man. His life was basically now over as

(08:47):
he had known it. So in desperation he fell on
his knees and pleaded for mercy. He asked to be
allowed to work and pay off his debt. We need
to remember that this was an impossible feat, and yet
the king granted his release. Not only that he canceled
the man's debt, Jesus said he was now free and forgiven.

(09:07):
The parallel with this in our own lives is obvious,
isn't it. You would think that a man like this,
having received such grace and mercy, would be quick to
forgive others, to give grace to others. Instead, when he
ran into a man who owed him a small amount
of money, he ordered him to pay it and pay
it immediately. But just as he had been, this man

(09:30):
couldn't pay up, and like the servant had done, this
man pleaded for time and mercy, but the servant would
hear nothing of it. He refused to even let the
man go free and work off what he had owed. Instead,
he ordered him thrown into prison until he could pay
off his debt. This unforgiveness did not go unnoticed, and

(09:50):
soon word got back to the king, knowing just how
much grace he had offered this man, his former servant.
He was enraged, so he had the man brought before
him and rebuked him for his lack of mercy. In
Matthew eighteen thirty three, we read these words, and should
not you have had mercy on your fellow servant as

(10:10):
I had mercy on you. So the man was then
bound in prison shackles, made to work to repay his debt.
Jesus then looked at Peter and the others, making sure
they understood the meaning of the story, saying, this is
how God will treat you if you're unwilling to forgive others.
We have been forgiven infinitely more than we could ever

(10:32):
hope to repay, and infinitely more than anyone could ever
owe us. And God's desire is for us to forgive
freely in the same way. Because forgiven people forgive people.
It doesn't mean we allow people to abuse us or
walk over us again it again. But when someone honestly
asked for forgiveness and is willing to repent, we should

(10:55):
consider how gracious God is and how merciful he is
toward us, and show his mercy to others. We who
have been forgiven so much should freely forgive others. In
Jesus's name. Dear Jesus, we thank you for the forgiveness
of our sins. Though we owe a debt we could
never pay. You died for us on the cross to

(11:17):
pay a debt that you did not owe, so that
we could have eternal life. Thank you for your love,
your grace, your mercy, the forgiveness and the freedom that
we have in you. And may we tell this good
news to everyone that we can until you come again
in Jesus' name. Amen, Thank you for listening to today's
Bible into your podcast, And before we go, I wanted

(11:40):
to let you know that the Bible into Your Podcast
is an outreach of PowerPoint Ministries and can only come
to you each week through the support of listeners like you.
Your support today is so important that we want to
thank you for your gift by giving you a copy
of my book called The Jesus Book. This book is
that's a powerful guide that shows how every book of

(12:02):
the Bible points to Christ and how you can better
read and understand the Bible and how God's Word transforms
our lives. So to get your copy of The Jesus Book,
simply go to jaggraham dot org slash Jesus. That's jaggraham
dot org slash Jesus, and thank you for your support.