StorytellerSample

If you didn’t already know, a parable is simply a fictional story designed to teach a lesson. This was Jesus’ favorite method of teaching, because people could connect with what he was trying to say. It was his brilliant method of taking heavenly truths and simplifying them into these real-world examples so his audience (and us) could understand a bit better what God is really all about. 

In this particular story, we’re introduced to a guy that no one likes. It’s clear who the villain is in this story, right? This guy was facing a lifetime in prison (that’s how people handled crushing debt back then…they were forced to work it off in service to the person they owed), and then the rich guy he owes money to shows him unimaginable generosity and erases all his debt. This guy skips out of his office with the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders. Then he’s reminded that his buddy owes him $3 for lunch the other day, and he loses…his…mind. And every single one of us reading this story (or the people listening to it live a couple thousand years ago) have the same thought: “this guy is the worst!” 

And that’s right where Jesus wants us to be. He told this story so that we’d see the absurdity of this guy’s reaction. And just when we’re looking around for stuff to throw at this guy, Jesus reveals the real point of the story: WE are that guy. It hurts to see it in black and white like that, but we are. Every single one of us that follows Jesus has been forgiven of more than we could ever keep track of. We mess up ALL. THE. TIME. And yet Jesus is that wealthy landowner who forgives it all…he wipes out the debt, keeps no record of it, and sends us on our merry way to enjoy life. 

But then someone wrongs us. They cut us off in traffic, they talk trash behind our backs, they reveal some secret they promised they’d never tell…people hurt us, it’s inevitable. And that’s when we become this guy. We lose our minds, we hold a grudge forever, we look for ways to get revenge…the idea of forgiving them never even crosses our minds. And that’s what Jesus wants to change. When someone wrongs us (which is going to happen), Jesus wants us to stop and remember just how much we’ve been forgiven by him. We didn’t deserve it - just like they don’t deserve it - but we can’t bask in this life-changing forgiveness from Jesus and then turn around and hold a grudge against that guy who stole your hat in 5th grade. 

So, the question becomes: are you gonna be that guy? Are you going to take the normal path of staying bitter, retaliating, and losing sleep thinking about how right you are and how wrong they are? Or will you take a second to consider just how much Jesus has forgiven you, and realize that your response to that grace should be offering the same kind of radical forgiveness to the people around you. Who do you need to forgive today?