Unit 4: Parables of Jesus NT4.5 Parable of Unforgiving Servant
Scripture: Matthew 18: 21-35
Lesson Goal: When Jesus lived on earth He taught people many important things about God and heaven.
To help people understand what He was saying Jesus often told stories called parables. One day Jesus told a story called ""The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant" to teach us to always forgive others.
Introduction: This is the fourth lesson in Unit 4: The Parables of Jesus. When Jesus lived on earth He taught people many important things about God and heaven. To help people understand what He was saying Jesus often told stories called parables. This story is called the Prodigal Son and it shows us how patient and forgiving God is, even when we disobey Him. These stories or parable are found in the gospels. This parable is found in the book of Matthew. Matthew is one of the gospels in the New Testament. The gospels tell the story of the life of Jesus and are the first four books in the New Testament. Let's say the first four books of the New Testament together. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
Attention Getter: (Show a large number of used pencils) Just look at all of these pencils. There are short pencils, long pencils, skinny pencils, and fat pencils. There are yellow, red, black, and white pencils. There are many different shapes, sizes, and colors of pencils but there is one thing that all of these pencils have in common. The eraser is worn off of everyone of them. Do you know what that tells me? It tells me that I make a lot of mistakes. When I make a mistake, I erase it and start over, and over again, until I get it right! I don't know why I keep these pencils, because as many mistakes as I make, a pencil without an eraser is pretty useless. These pencils remind me of people. People come in all different sizes, shapes, and colors too, but we all have one thing in common, We all make mistakes! We make a lot of mistakes. That is why God sent Jesus to die on the cross -- to erase our mistakes. In a way you could say that Jesus is the eraser of our sin! When we do something wrong, we can ask God to forgive us and because of Jesus, He will erase our mistakes and we can start over again, and again, and again. Just like there are lots of pencils in this picture, Jesus forgives us lots of times! And Unlike these pencils, God's eraser never wears out! Just as God forgives us over and over again. Jesus taught us that we should forgive other people over and over again. It doesn't matter if we are short or tall, skinny or fat, red, white, yellow, or black, we all need God's forgiveness. We also need to remember that Jesus taught that we are to forgive others just as God forgives us.
Opening Prayer: Let's pray. Dear Jesus, we all make mistakes, thank you for coming to erase those mistakes. Help us to forgive others the same way you forgive us -- over, and over, and over again. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Memory Verse: The memory verse is Colossians 3:13 "Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive."
Lesson Video: https://youtu.be/GU4HlWs0n8c Did you know that the word forgiveness means to give up being angry with someone or to stop wanting to punish that person. Jesus wanted His disciples and us to understand how important forgiveness is in the kingdom of God. Peter, one of Jesus' disciples, asks: Jesus, I have a question for you. How many times should I forgive someone when he sins against me? Up to seven times? Peter, I tell you, not seven times, but 77 times. Let me tell you a story: (Story music transition)
There once was a king who wanted to collect all the money that his servants owed to him. I want to settle all of my accounts. Bring me the servants who owe me money. Yes, my lord, you have sent for me? Yes, I see that you owe me millions of dollars. I am settling my accounts today, so you will pay me what you owe me. Now. But...but...but...I don't have millions of dollars to pay you back. I can't pay you today. I don't have enough money. Well, then, I order that you, your wife, your children, and everything that you do own be sold to pay me what you owe me. Next. Please, sire, please give me time. I'll pay everything back. I promise. All right, I will forgive you all of the millions of dollars that you owe me. You no longer owe me any money. You are free to go. Thank you so much, my king. Thank you! Soon, this servant who did not have to repay his debt to the king, met a man who owed him money. Hey, you, come here. Yes, what do you want with me? You owe me a few dollars. Pay me back now! Then the king's servant grabbed the man who owed him just a few dollars and began to choke him. Please, just give me some time. I will pay you back the few dollars that I owe you. I promise you that I will pay you your money. No, that is not good enough. I want my money today. I will have you thrown into prison until you pay me. Several other servants saw what happened, and they were very troubled. In fact, they went to the king and told him what his servant had done. Call my servant back. I will speak with him immediately. (Music transition) Yes, my king, what may I do for you? You evil servant. I forgave all that you owed me because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on the other man just as I had mercy on you. Now you will go to prison. You will be punished until you have paid back everything you owe. I tell you, Peter, that this is how God in heaven will treat each one of you unless you forgive other people from the heart. God has forgiven you. You must also forgive others. We know that God forgives us because He sent Jesus to die on the cross to take the punishment for our sins. When we forgive others, we are showing God's love. Our memory verse is Colossians 3:13 "Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive." Sometimes it is hard to forgive other people, especially when our feelings have been hurt. But God will help us forgive others. We can ask Him to help us forgive. Let's say our verse again, Colossians 3:13 "Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive."
When someone does something mean to us or hurts us we might want to stay away from them. But God has forgiven us so He will help us forgive others. To forgive others means that we treat the person kindly. We don't try to get even. Let's look at some times we might need to forgive others or ask them to forgive us. Here is a boy on a skateboard who has run into the path of a boy who is walking down the sidewalk. What should the boy on the skateboard say? Yes, he should ask the boy to forgive him. What should the boy who was walking do? Did you say that he should forgive the boy? You are right! That is the way Christ wants us to forgive. This girl is so busy talking to her friend that she does not notice that her dog has taken the baby's toy rattle. What should the girl do when she finds out what her dog has done? ..Yes, She should ask the mother to forgive her for not watching her dog better. Then how should the mother respond to what has happened? Should she get angry and yell and scream at the dog? Or, should she forgive the girl and wash the toy off so her baby can play with it again? Sure, she should forgive the girl and her dog. Here is a boy who is flying his kite but he is not watching out where he is going! He is going to run right into the family's picnic! What should he do? Yes, he should tell them that he is sorry and ask them to forgive him! What should the family do? They should accept his apology and forgive him. That would be the Christian way to act. Sometimes it is hard to be kind to people isn't it. When someone hurts us, we want to say unkind things to them. But we must remember what Christ has done for us! He has forgiven us and we are to forgive others 70 times 7. That means over and over again! Remember "Let's forgive others!"
Review Questions: Paper toss
Materials: Bibles, paper, large container such as trash can Procedure: Have children crumble the paper to make paper balls. Set the container or trash can in the center of the open area in your classroom. Children take turns standing in different places around the container to toss paper balls into it. When a paper ball lands in the container, the child who tossed the ball answers one of the questions below:
1. What question did Peter ask Jesus? (He wanted to know how many times he had to forgive someone.) 2. What does the word "forgive" mean? Forgive means to not hold a grudge against someone for doing you
wrong. We treat people who have been mean to us or hurt us with kindness.) 3. Why is it hard to forgive someone? (Our feelings are hurt; we are angry; we want to have revenge; we
feel that they don't deserve good treatment.) 4. In the parable what did the king first say to the servant who owed him a lot of money? (He wanted the
servant to pay what he owed.) 5. What did the king say was the just payment for the servant if he did not pay? (The king said that the
servant and his family should be sold and everything they own would be sold to repay the money.) 6. When the servant pleaded with the king, what did the king say to him? (He felt sorry for him and told him
that he did not have to pay back any of his debt.) 7. What did the servant do later that day when he met a man who owed him a small amount of money? ( He
got angry, grabbed the man, and demanded his money, and then threw the man in jail.) 8. What did the king's servants do when they saw this? (They told the king and the king called for the
servant to return to the palace.) 9. How did the king feel when he heard what the servant did to his friend? (He was angry at the servant.) 10. What did the king say to the unmerciful servant? (He told him that he had forgiven him and that he should
have forgiven the man who owed him. The king threw the man in jail for not treating others as he had been treated--with forgiveness.)
11. How did Jesus say the king in the parable was like God? (God has forgiven us our sins. He has been merciful and kind to us. He wants us to forgive others like He has forgiven us.)
12. Why did Jesus tell the parable of the unforgiving servant? (to teach us to always forgive others). 13. What is our memory verse? (Colossians 3:13 "Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must
forgive.") 14. Why does our memory verse say we should forgive others? (Because Jesus has forgiven us.) 15. What did Jesus do to forgive our sins? (He died on the cross to pay the penalty or the punishment of our
Bible Memory Verse Activity: Paper Tunnels (Grades 1-3) Our memory verse is Colossians 3:13 "Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive." Sometimes it is hard to forgive other people, especially when our feelings have been hurt. But God will help us forgive others. We can ask Him to help us forgive. Have students locate the verse in scripture and repeat together several times. Materials: Bibles, construction paper, marker, small foam or tennis ball. Preparation: fold construction paper in half to make tunnels. Print words of Colossians 3L13 on papers and set up in verse order. Procedure: Students take turns rolling the ball in verse order through the folded paper tunnels. Each child should roll the ball through one tunnel. Each child begins her or his turn from where the ball stopped rolling.
Group Learning Activity: Baseball Game (Grades 3-6) Materials: Bibles, index cards, markers, baseball cap Preparation: On separate index cards print "single," "double," "triple," and "homerun." Fold the cards and place them in the baseball cap. Procedure: In an open area of your classroom arrange four chairs as bases on a baseball diamond, leaving some room between the bases. Show cards that you prepared. Say: "How many bases would you run if you hit a single in a baseball game? (one) Repeat with other cards and then return cards to hat. Today we are going to play baseball without bats or balls! Divide the class into two teams. First tea, stands behind the home plate. Second team stands around the bases. Child from first team closes his or her eyes and then takes a card from the cap, reads it aloud and then puts it back. If the card says, "single," child leads other children in repeating Colossians 3:13 and then runs to first base. If cards says, "double," child tells a time he or she has forgiven someone and then runs to second base.(If a child does not want to tell a time or a way to show forgiveness, invite the child to choose someone else to answer.) If card says, "triple," child tells a way to show forgiveness and then runs to third base. If the card says, "homerun," child runs around the bases and scores a run. Repeat, giving each team three "at bats." Children move and score points as in a game of baseball.
Group Learning Activity: Photo Shoot (Grades K-6) Materials: Bibles, large sheet of paper; cell phone camera Procedure: Lead children in a discussion to suggest situations that require forgiveness. Record the situations on the large sheet of paper with a marker. Encourage children to suggest what would happen after children forgive in each situation. List action beside the situation. Be sure to apply the memory verse for each situation. Say: "Which pose shows people obeying the memory verse? Why are we to forgive others? (Because God has forgiven us.) Sometimes we might not feel like forgiving but God will help us to do what is right when we ask Him to." Examples:
knocking another's markers onto the floor (both children picking up the markers)
a child yelling at another child (children smiling at each other)
one child grabbing a crayon away from another (children sharing a box of crayons)
two friends arguing over a game (friends playing a game together fairly.)
Divide the children into small groups of 2 or 3 children. Each group is to act out or pose in a "freeze position" one of the listed situations and then what would happen when forgiveness was shown. Teacher is to take photo pictures to show both poses. Share the pictures with the whole group,
Group Learning Activity: Float Away! (Grades 2-6) Say: "Today we are learning that God wants us to forgive others like He has forgiven us. When someone treats us badly we sometimes feel angry, hurt or sad. But when we forgive someone we feel very different. We are relieved, happy, and content. Being mad at someone even if the person has treated us badly, makes us feel bad. But it is such a good feeling to forgive and get rid of that pain. Let's try an experiment to learn what happens when we forgive others." Procedure: Have the students line up against the wall with their arms at their sides. Say: "Turn so that your right side is toward the wall. When I ring the bell, press your arm against the wall as hard as you possibly can. Don't stop pressing until you hear the bell ring again. Then take a few steps away from the wall and relax." Ring the bell to begin the experiment. After ten seconds, ring the bell again and remind the kids to step away from the wall. Watch as their arms float up! If you have time let the students turn around to try the experiment with their left arms. Then gather the students together and ask: "What was surprising about this experiment? (I didn't expect my arms to move like that; my arm felt weird.) How was pressing against the wall like being angry with someone. (It hurt, just like anger hurts; it took a lot of energy.) How is forgiveness like stepping away from the wall? (My arm felt light; just like you fell lighter when you forgive someone; it felt better. ) Say: "God wants us to forgive others. He wants us to walk away from the heavy feelings of anger and hurt so that we can be light and free. Forgiveness not only frees us to love others but also frees us to love God with new, changed hearts. The Bible is full of verse that tell about the importance of forgiveness. I need volunteers to read the following verses." Have students read Matthew 6:12; Mark 11:25; Luke 17:4 and Colossians 3:12-13. Why do you think forgiveness is so important to God? (It is why He sent His Son Jesus; because He loves us so much; you can't love if you are still mad.) Forgiveness can bring about lots of changes. It changes our hearts, our relationships, and our view of God. When we don't forgive others we get tangled up in hurt feelings and anger. but forgiveness releases those negative feelings and changes our angry feelings into joyful ones."
Craft Learning Activity: Chenille Flowers (Grades K-3) Materials: colored chenille wire; construction paper or colored tissue paper Procedure: Use chenille wire and construction paper or colored tissue paper to make flower bouquets. Shape the colored chenille wires in loops to form the petals of a flower. Use different colors of wire for centers, stems and leaves. See photo. Paper flowers: Cut the colored construction paper into strips and other shapes. Roll the strips of paper into a "bud" shape of the flower. Glue the strips together to make the petals of the flower. Bending a chenille wire back about 1/4 inch and tape it the center of the flower. Tissue Paper flowers: Cut the colored tissue paper into strips approximately two inches wide. Fold accordion style and secure with a piece of paper curling ribbon in the center of folded tissue. (See photo.) Spread the sides or ends of the fold apart to form the tissue paper flower. Add chenille wire stems. Make a card to attach to your bouquet of flowers. Write words of encouragement on the card such as "You've grown on me!" "Thanks for being my rose-buddy." When you hurt someone in your family give the flower to that person as a way of asking forgiveness.
Craft Learning Activity: Building Bridges (Grades 4-6) Materials: craft sticks, glue, large piece of cardboard to use a base for the bridge; paper for designing; blue painters tape; scissors to cut craft sticks; ruler; two bricks Procedure: Have children use craft sticks to make a fence or a bridge. Make a classic truss bridge. 1. Cut out fourteen small 2 inch squares of cardboard to use to build the trusses. Then use the squares of cardboard on each corner of the trusses (shown by the blue tape). 2. Glue the corners of the sticks to the squares of cardboard. Begin by taping 7 gusset plates to your work surface as shown. Hot-glue the craft sticks to the gussets. Take care to make the glued connections neat, aligning the craft sticks to form tidy equilateral triangles. Once the glue sets, flip over the truss and attach craft sticks to the other side in the same fashion, for double strength. Build a second truss in the same way. 3. Add struts and braces. Place the bricks on your work surface 4" apart and make certain the long sides are parallel. Stand each truss vertically against a brick, and tape 3 of its web members to the brick. Then glue the struts and braces across the top and bottom. (Struts are braces that meet the chords at 90° angles.) It’s essential that the trusses are exactly vertical, perfectly perpendicular to the struts and braces. Even a small amount of leaning will cause your bridge to fail prematurely. Finally, add braces across either end of the bridge.
As children work, say: "Sometimes you and I have a disagreement with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Often people say things in an argument that are unkind or hurt us. When that happens, we often build a fence between ourselves and them. We stop talking to them. We don't want to see them. We don't want to be around them. We are not willing to forgive them. That isn't what Jesus wants us to do. Instead of fences, he wants us to build a bridge of love between us. He wants us to forgive each other as He has forgiven us. "
Craft Learning Activity: Forgiveness Squiggle Chart Preparation: Print copies of the "Forgiveness" Chart below, one copy for each child. Children can use neon markers to write or trace "squiggles" circles all around the big word FORGIVENESS. Children can then begin to color the little squiggle circles with various crayons, while trying to count to 7 (for younger children), or 70 for a little old child, or to 490 for the older children! The picture will be colorful and will remind them of their lesson today!
Life Application Challenge: Forgiveness Card Give each child an index card and a pencil. Say: "On your card write the name of someone you need to forgive and a few words to describe what it is you need to forgive that person for. For example you might write, "My sister for breaking my CD player." This week pray and ask God to help you forgive the person. After you've forgiven them, erase the name and words and write a way that you can show kindness to that person. Use as many cards as you need to forgive and start over. Be sure to thank God for forgiving you!"
