Storyteller: The Parables of JesusSample

The Power of Pardon (The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant)

There is nothing more miraculous than the act of forgiveness. If you are alive, you know, at least in part, what it feels like to be hurt or mistreated. Though this kind of pain is to be expected in our fallen world, it never feels good. However, our response to it will determine the outcome of our lives.

The parable of the Unforgiving Servant is Jesus’ response to Peter asking how much disciples are supposed to forgive. It reveals Who He is and describes how His followers should treat one another.

A key to living like Christ in unity, love, and patience, according to the apostle Paul, is to “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32, ESV). We are to be people who exercise extravagant forgiveness toward others because Jesus first did so for us. While it is important to forgive often, forgiveness is not about quantity as much as it is about quality and character, the genuine nature of our forgiveness.

There is a supernatural and profound transformation that takes place within us and in the lives of those we choose to forgive of wrongdoing. Yet it is virtually impossible to forgive someone else a minor debt or infraction unless we have come to terms with the insurmountable debt we owe as a result of our sin and how Jesus paid everything on our behalf with His own life. This is the power of pardon.

This exaggerated parable gets Jesus’ point across while holding up a mirror to remind us that we are all guilty of gross unforgiveness. The parable does not stop there, however; it tells how through Christ’s power, He cultivates a heart within us that forgives freely and frequently, which leads to our flourishing.

God is forbearing, showing deliberate restraint by not punishing us according to what our sins deserve, instead forgiving them and removing their stain from our lives.

It is one thing to receive forgiveness, but another to give it away intentionally, without any strings attached, to someone else.

In the story, the heart of the first servant demonstrated that there was no real, deep, and lasting change through repentance, only anger and bitterness. He allowed it to fester and grow, taking over his life and subsequently leading to what happened in the tragic conclusion.

If we allow bitterness and anger in our own lives, the same outcome is possible. These emotions are like a cancer that eats away at us, distorting our hearts and minds and bringing unparalleled destruction.

This is why Jesus uses the image of a prison because there is nothing more miserable and tormenting than living with unforgiveness and hatred of another person.

Oftentimes, we justify our anger, thinking revenge is ours to take and believing it will make us feel better if the other person suffers. The more we fixate on the pain and the person who caused that pain, the more obsessive we become, and the more control they have over us. We are tethered to them by an unseen string, and we carry them everywhere we go and into every relationship we have.

The power of pardon means that when you give someone forgiveness, whether they seek it or not, you step into your God-ordained freedom, where you experience an inexplicable kind of joy and peace that no circumstance or person can ever take from you.

A single act of forgiveness is extraordinary. But even more, a lifestyle of habitual forgiveness is miraculous evidence of a life dependent upon the power and grace of God moving in and through us.

Prayer

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3:12-14, ESV)

Jesus, forgiveness is hard. I cannot do it without You. Please teach me and cultivate in me a forgiving spirit. Amen.