Breaking Ground
Share about an unreasonable tantrum you had as a kid. What was it over? What happened? How did other people respond? Try to keep it light!
The Dig
This Sunday, we continued our series Jesus the Christ by exploring the parable of the Unforgiving Servant.
Read Matthew 18:21-22 & Genesis 4:23-24. Here, Peter asks Jesus how many times a disciple should forgive someone who hurts them before God would condone not doing so. In response, Jesus cites the story of Lamech, an ancestor of the Bible’s first murderer, who wrote a poem about taking 77 times the vengeance upon someone who wronged him. Critically, in Rabbinical tradition, Lamech symbolizes the endless cycle of vengeance in human history; where we respond to being wounded by retaliating, escalating, & devastating whomever we blame for our injury.
Why does Peter ask this question? What point is Jesus making by citing Lamech’s story when defining the intensity of forgiveness a disciple should extend to others?
Next, read Matthew 18:23-35. Jesus further unpacks his answer with this parable; in which one servant, after being forgiven an absurd sum of money (200,000 years of wages), then immediately goes off to abuse another servant who owes him only about $4,000. In the end, this leads the unforgiving servant to miss out on the freedom that he’d been offered.
How is the unforgiving servant able to treat another indebted person in the opposite way as he’d been treated? What does this reveal about how he understands his own wrongs, the mercy shown to him, & how that compares to those of this other servant?
Why do you think Jesus ends with such a stark warning about the danger of unforgiveness & resentment? What does feeding resentment produce in our hearts & world? HINT: consider the opening reference to Lamech.
How does fostering forgiveness help us to avoid becoming like the unforgiving servant? What freedom does it offer us?
Consider how this parable might speak to you in this season.
Where do you condemn others for something that you know you’ve done or that you continue to do? Why?
Where are you currently struggling to release resentment? What is that costing you? How might this parable help you find release?
Getting Out of the Hole
In this series, take time each week to reflect upon the story from the story & how you can find yourself within it during this season of your life.
- Read Matthew 18:21-35. First, break this story or teaching down into pieces. What is Jesus doing or saying? How are people responding to him? What changes by the end of the story?
- Next, close your eyes & reflect upon the story. Imagine yourself in it. Put yourself into the space of the various characters & imagine what it would be like to encounter Jesus in the story.
- What images, teachings, or ideas speak to you the most in this story? What intrigues or confuses you? What feelings arose as you thought about being in the story? How can this story impact your life & your relationship with Jesus in this next season?
Additional Resources*
TheBibleProject.com
Simply Jesus by NT Wright
The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
Coming Up This Week:*
Sunday, April 6th: Join us next Sunday as we continue our series Jesus the Christ! * Please see mye3.org for details.